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http://www.theverge.com/2017/3/28/15071288/spacex-launch-recycled-falcon-9-rocket-landing-schedule
On Thursday, SpaceX is set to launch yet another satellite into orbit from the Florida coast — but this mission will be far from routine for the company. The Falcon 9 rocket that SpaceX is using for the launch has already flown before. Around the same time last year, it sent cargo to the International Space Station for NASA, and then came back to Earth to land upright on a floating drone ship at sea. This is the first time that SpaceX will attempt to reuse one of its rockets.
[...] In truth, only part of the Falcon 9 is being reused on this upcoming mission. After each launch, SpaceX tries to save just the first stage of its vehicles. That's the 14-story-tall main body of the Falcon 9 that contains the primary engines and most of the fuel.
[...] Not only is this Falcon 9 rocket launching for a second time, but it's landing again, too. The first stage will attempt another drone ship landing in the Atlantic Ocean after takeoff, meaning this particular vehicle could see even more flight time in the future. It's still unclear just how many times a single first stage of a Falcon 9 can be used again. In the past, Musk has boasted that parts of the Falcon 9 could be reused up to 100 times, but he expects 10 to 20 reuses out of a single vehicle.
[...] It's not known just how much launching a used rocket saves the company, but SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell estimated that customers could see a price reduction of about 30 percent for launches that use landed rockets. (In October, however, she told Space News that SpaceX is only offering 10 percent discounts for the time being.) That means the Falcon 9, which starts at a little more than $60 million, could eventually go for $40 million if it's a reused vehicle.
[...] SpaceX performed a successful static fire test of the Falcon 9 engines on Monday, and right now, takeoff of SES-10 is scheduled for 6PM ET [2200 UTC] on Thursday from Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. There's a two-and-a-half-hour launch window, so the Falcon 9 can conceivably take off anytime until 8:30PM ET [0030 UTC]. So far there's a 70 percent chance that weather conditions will be favorable, according [to] Patrick Air Force Base.
The Verge story says it will be updated 20 minutes before the scheduled launch to provide a live-stream of the launch.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday March 29 2017, @06:36PM (2 children)
NASA has already been shifting towards greater cooperation with private industry:
NASA to Focus on Small Satellites [soylentnews.org]
NASA handing out money for cargo and passenger flights to the ISS is pretty straightforward. Cooperation on satellites for asteroid mining is a bit sketchier because that industry doesn't exist yet (maybe they can make some money on the side with imaging services). Bigelow has a plan to put inflatable habitats on space stations or even the Moon.
What has Trump changed about the SLS, other than altering mission priorities for its use (like affirming a trip to Mars or dropping an asteroid visitation mission)? Has Trump ordered engineering changes that will turn it into "an actual space system"? Because SLS testing is underway and it seems too late to do that.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 29 2017, @07:25PM (1 child)
What has Trump changed about the SLS...
First, some context. The SLS began development in 2010. The first launch, an unmanned lunar flyby, was scheduled for 2018. Let's put these numbers in context. JFK's famous space speech was in 1962 when our space technology was at a near zero level. 7 years later, 1969, the first man stepped foot on the moon. In 8 years the SLS couldn't manage, even with complete knowledge and generous contracts, what we we did in 7 years 45 years ago.
The reason it was a big deal when Trump "inquired" into NASA's ability to change the unmanned flyby into a manned flyby is because of implication. He's been working on trimming a lot of fat and the big beneficiaries of the SLS have already been target of his cuts prior. He's also publicly shamed the companies which is enough to shake their prices even without major action. That "inquiry" is not a coincidence. It's an offer they cannot refuse and the reason it was big news. If Boeing/Lockheed can't actually deliver the goods - expect to see the SLS program cut.
The above is already perfectly reasonable, but there's something that makes it all doubly clear that this is the situation. SpaceX will be sending two space adventurers in a manned flyby of the moon next year - having built up their entire project on a relative hand-to-mouth (or rocket at least) budget. That will make a complete mockery out of the SLS. I would also speculate that Trump and certainly NASA were likely aware, at least in broad terms, of SpaceX's plan there even though it had not yet been publicly announced. If implicitly threatening to cut the umbilical is what it's going to take to get ULA (the unholy anticompetitive merger of Boeing and Lockheed developing the SLS) to start actually putting out results, then I'm happy to see it happen.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday March 29 2017, @07:39PM
Oh yeah, I completely forgot about NASA's unmanned/manned flyby of the Moon with SLS/Orion.
There's reasons to be skeptical of SpaceX's manned flyby plan. They have yet to launch a manned mission, to the ISS for example, and they have not launched the Falcon Heavy (scheduled for Summer 2017). I think they can still do it and do all of these things way faster than the existing players, but if somebody dies in the attempt it will look really bad for the company. Heck, another exploding unmanned rocket will look really bad for the company.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]