overview for thwomp

SpaceX wins venture-class launch contract in c/spacex@sh.itjust.works

[–] thwomp@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 year ago

Weird. They must be manifested on a rideshare mission? I don't have any problems with NASA awarding a launch to a reliable company, but I thought the point of VADR was to help funnel money to sketchy startups.

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SpaceX wins venture-class launch contract (arstechnica.com)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by thwomp@sh.itjust.works to c/spacex@sh.itjust.works

1 comments fedilink

SpaceX wins venture-class launch contract. Well, this is a bit of a surprise. NASA announced this week that it awarded a Venture-class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) launch services contract to SpaceX to launch two Cubesats on a Falcon 9 rocket in 2025. Building on what NASA says is its "previous procurement efforts to foster development of a growing US commercial launch market," VADR provides launch services for payloads that can tolerate higher risk. Plainly speaking: If the rocket goes boom, it's not the end of the world.

Falcon 9, the experimental rocket? ... Recent awards under the VADR program have gone to less advanced launch companies, such as Phantom Space. And it's not like the Falcon 9 requires payloads to tolerate a higher risk, as this booster is arguably now the most reliable and proven rocket in the world. While SpaceX is one of 13 companies NASA selected for VADR contracts in 2022, there may be a bit more to this story. I'll try to find out. Feel free to reach out if you know. Anyway, if you're the principal investigator for one of these Cubesat missions you've got to feel like you hit the lottery here. (submitted by Ken the Bin)

What is the new stubby vacuum engine bell made of? in c/spacex@sh.itjust.works

[–] thwomp@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Full-size engine bells also barely light up at the top, so it might be the same material but shorter.

NASA agreements to support work on commercial spacecraft and space stations in c/spacex@sh.itjust.works

[–] thwomp@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 year ago

This also confirms that Blue Origin is still working on a crew vehicle. Old info about the "biconic capsule" that they bid for ISS Commercial Crew showed a 4-7 seater. Who knows what it is at this point or when or if it'll ever fly, but it's always fun to add more mysterious programs to the Blue Origin mystery chronicles.

NASA agreements to support work on commercial spacecraft and space stations in c/spacex@sh.itjust.works

[–] thwomp@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

It looks like this is the first official mention of a Starship station.

Eric Berger also said:

To add a bit of context: A couple of years ago SpaceX considered working with one of the four current providers of commercial space stations for NASA. But when it came time to decide Musk pulled back, saying SpaceX needed to focus on getting Starship into orbit first.

At the time, IIRC, the speculation was that SpaceX really phoned in their Commercial LEO Destinations bid. Berger makes it sound like they might have withdrawn?

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NASA agreements to support work on commercial spacecraft and space stations (spacenews.com)

submitted 1 year ago by thwomp@sh.itjust.works to c/spacex@sh.itjust.works

3 comments fedilink

SpaceX received a CCSC-2 agreement to work on an “integrated low Earth orbit architecture” involving both its Dragon and Starship vehicles. “This architecture includes Starship as a transportation and in-space low-Earth orbit destination element supported by Super Heavy, Dragon, and Starlink,” the announcement stated.