Aviation Week reports that Japan is looking to commercialize its new Epsilon small-satellite launch vehicle, which flew successfully for the first time earlier this month: Morita says the prototype Epsilon rocket, known as the E-X, is able to loft 1.2 metric tons to orbit for about $38 million (¥3.8 billion), though the inaugural mission launched this month from Japan’s Uchinoura Space Center cost closer to $53 million, a figure he […]
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Doug Messier
UPDATE 2: The flight has been rescheduled for Nov. 12. This post has been revised to include a sixth experiment by Satwest.
UPDATE: Due to the government shutdown, this launch has been postponed. A new date will be set after the government is up and running again.
The NASA Flight Opportunities Program next launch campaign will take place on Oct. 9 at Spaceport America in New Mexico. A SpaceLoft XL will test six technologies on a suborbital flight.
Descriptions of the payloads and the launch vehicle follow after the break.
Holy shi’ski! The rocket…it go KABOOMSKI! (Credit: Tsenki TV)
Space News reports that while launch companies say too many providers are creating a buy’s market that has left them with razor-sharp profit margins, satellite operators are complaining about the lack of dependability of the rockets they fly on.
SES, for example, has spread its business around among SpaceX, Arianespace and International Launch Services (ILS), yet it is grappling with delays on each of the launch vehicles.
The construction of the Cyclone-4 assembly and test facility. (Credit: HCA)
Aviation Week reports the decade-long effort to launch Ukraine’s Cyclone-4 rocket from Brazil’s Alcantara Launch Center is going to take a little longer.
The inaugural flight has now slipped into late 2015 at the earliest, adding to what has already been years of delay. Meanwhile, costs of building the launch complex have nearly doubled and are approaching $1 billion.
A P3 Navy aircraft with Hangar One at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. (Copyright 2008: Douglas Messier)
Google’s founders, Sergei Brin and Larry Page, have saved millions of dollars in fuel costs and property taxes through a lease deal with NASA Ames that allows them to house their private aircraft at Moffett Field, according to an investigation by NBC Bay Area.
Nearly $8 million worth of jet fuel that sold for as little as $1.68 a gallon was put into a fleet of seven different airplanes and two helicopters that are kept on taxpayer-owned land at NASA’s Ames Research Center at Moffett Field. The same jet fuel sells for two to four-and-a-half times that amount, up to $8.05 a gallon, at fixed-base operators at nearby airports in the Bay Area.
SCRAMSPACE vehicle. (Credit: University of Queensland)
ANDOYA, Norway (UQ PR) — Australia’s SCRAMSPACE hypersonic flight experiment from the Andøya Rocket Range in Norway has ended in an unsuccessful launch.
The launch was the culmination of the three-year SCRAMSPACE research program, and was designed to conduct a flight-test of a free-flying scramjet at Mach 8.
Rainbow over the Mojave Air and Space Port. (Credit: Douglas Messier)
So, you’re visiting Mojave on Wednesday. Some of you will be coming here for the first time. Others are veterans, having been here during the great SpaceShipTwo roll out/wind storm/flying party tent near-disaster of December 2009.
Well, newbie or jaded returnee, there are a few fun facts you might want to know about the Mojave for your visit….
Multiple images are taken of the Sierra Nevada Corporation Dream Chaser model during each wind tunnel run to measure the spacecraft’s temperature and heating rate. (Credit:
NASA/David Bowman)
HAMPTON, VA (NASA PR) — When Sierra Nevada Corporation’s (SNC) Dream Chaser spacecraft flies through the atmosphere, it will encounter a wide variety of environmental conditions. Any spacecraft traveling at hypersonic velocities must have a robust thermal protection system (TPS) to protect astronauts and cargo from the extreme temperatures associated with ascent and re-entry.
NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., recently conducted hypersonic testing of Dream Chaser models for SNC as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program in order to obtain necessary data for the material selection and design of the TPS. SNC conducted wind tunnel tests to reduce risk and improve the reliability of the Dream Chaser TPS under milestone eight of the agency’s Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative.
This week on The Space Show with David Livingston: 1. Monday, September 23, 2013; 2-3:30 PM PDT (4-5:30 PM CDT, 5-6:30 PM EDT): We welcome DAVID BRIN to the program to discuss his chapter in “Starship Century,” The Heavy Generation. We will also be discussing his books and other work. Visit his blog at davidbrin.blogspot.com. 2. Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013; 7-8:30 PM PDT (9-10:30 PM CDT, 10-11:30 PM EDT): We […]
XCOR piston pump (Credit: XCOR)
September 23rd, 2013, Mojave, California and Centennial, Colorado (XCOR/ULA PR) – XCOR Aerospace and United Launch Alliance announced significant progress today in the XCOR/ULA liquid hydrogen (LH2) engine development program.
“We are happy to announce that we have successfully operated our liquid hydrogen pump at full design flow rate and pressure conditions,” said XCOR Chief Executive Officer Jeff Greason. “This milestone builds on our earlier success with liquid oxygen and kerosene pumps, which have powered many of our hotfires. Achieving this goal allows us to proceed with integrated testing of our liquid hydrogen demonstrator engine, fed by our liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen piston pumps. The ultimate goal is a far more cost-effective upper-stage engine for ULA and their customers.”