And here’s the megafeed of everything I’ve been doing.
It’s good to see them making quick work on this reusability effort. They released a ton of video to go along with this, and from watching that, it sure looks like a Rocket Lab-painted version of PDG Aviation’s 2017 test in cooperation with Airborne Systems and Lockheed Martin.
A flurry of Commercial Crew news hit last week: new crew members were announced for SpaceX Crew-1, Jim Bridenstine shed some light on the DM-2 schedule, and Boeing will refly the Starliner uncrewed test flight. I break down each of those and talk through why those stories are more connected than was hinted at by NASA and others.
I wasn’t feeling overly sentimental, but then I read Eric Berger’s piece and started thinking back. As Eric makes clear, it’s hard not to argue that Dragon and its Falcon counterpart are the defining vehicles of this era. And boy did I have an epic day back in 2010.
In a world where SpaceX was not doing as well with Dragon 2 as they are, the decision on whether or not to refly Starliner’s test might have gone differently.
Surprisingly, OmegA is on track to be the first to fly of the three new launch vehicles bidding for the National Security Space Launch program. Northrop Grumman is looking mighty smart to use a pair of RL10 engines on their upper stage rather than the BE-3U.
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This makes me so happy. I absolutely adore the NASA worm and it looks so damn good on SpaceX hardware. I wish it were the main logo for the agency.
NASA selected SpaceX and their new Dragon XL vehicle as the first Gateway Logistics Services provider. I take some time to think through why SpaceX is interested in this program, what they might want to get out of it, and what we could see Dragon XL doing in the future.
Really nice work by Virgin Orbit. However, it’s an odd time for Virgin Orbit to take this on. They are in for a tough stretch in terms of funding.
Where OneWeb goes from here is going to be a hell of a story. By some estimates, they need at least $4 billion to finish off their constellation.
Bummer for everyone there, but for years it has been known that Bigelow was a hot mess internally. So much potential in what they could have done if they had the right mix of leadership and vision and drive.
Bummer to hear that they’ve lost the vehicle as well as some equipment on the ground. Good thing they have 2 more following closely in the pipeline.
After a tumultuous past few years, DARPA has selected a new partner for RSGS. It is none other than Northrop Grumman, who has found early success with their satellite servicing ventures.
Great news for all involved. Sinclair becomes part of what has to be one of the most exciting space companies operating today, and Rocket Lab gets a jump up the timeline of their work on Photon.
Cool read on a very cool development.
If it wasn’t clear in my post yesterday, I’m annoyed at California’s overly-broad definition of aerospace manufacturers that allows Virgin Orbit to keep its facilities open in any capacity.
With all due respect to anyone reading this who works at Virgin Orbit, this is quite frankly bullshit. I’m fine with designating high-visibility, time-sensitive launch campaigns like Mars 2020 (Perseverance), Commercial Crew, or even AEHF-6 as essential services. But a company still in the development and testing phase of a launch vehicle that has been delayed for several years now with the only government flight being a Space Test Program launch?
Andrew Jones, far and away my favorite source (and podcast guest!) for Chinese space news, has a great rundown on SpaceNews on Long March 7A and the impacts its failure could have.
Jake and Anthony are joined by fellow space podcaster Brendan Bryne for a self-quarantine edition of the show. Jake developed a new bit for this grab bag episode with talk of Schrödinger’s Gateway, SpaceX’s DM-2, and a whole bunch more, including (obviously) COVID-19 and its impact on space. Also how Brendan’s cat almost ruined OSIRIS-REx.
Jake and Anthony are joined by fellow space podcaster Brendan Bryne for a self-quarantine edition of the show. Jake developed a new bit for this grab bag episode with talk of Schrödinger’s Gateway, SpaceX’s DM-2, and a whole bunch more, including (obviously) COVID-19 and its impact on space. Also how Brendan’s cat almost ruined OSIRIS-REx.