I can only assume this use of common refers to the future use of Vulcan to launch Starliner. If that’s the case, it’s a good sign about where they’re at with the design of Vulcan, that they’re ready to make hardware changes to accommodate Vulcan in the future.
Great news for the likes of Audacy and others looking to build commercial alternatives to TRDSS, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the first step towards a commercial communications orbiter at Mars.
We knew this would be sole-sourced to Lockheed Martin, just like we knew that for the polar vehicles awarded to Northrop Grumman. What we didn’t know was the award value, and it’s huge.
Lockheed Martin has been slowly revealing their small sat strategy over the last three years, and it’s shaping up to be quite interesting and potentially very compelling. And NASA announced 10 Tipping Point awards last week, which include some very interesting projects from Blue Origin, ULA, and Astrobotic.
Destin from SmarterEveryDay was invited down to the Parker Solar Probe launch, and got to hang out with Tory Bruno (and zero entourage) as the Mobile Service Tower rolled away from the rocket. He posted an absolutely lovely photo series with some commentary.
Destin from SmarterEveryDay was invited down to the Parker Solar Probe launch, and got to hang out with Tory Bruno (and zero entourage) as the Mobile Service Tower rolled away from the rocket. He posted an absolutely lovely photo series with some commentary.
The switch to expander cycle is a big deal. Because of the BE-3U’s thrust level, it’ll be an open/bleed cycle. That does decrease efficiency a bit, but its specific impulse will be very much in the ballpark of the RL10 and Vinci.
I’m excited to see this constellation deployed. It’s not just another imaging constellation. It’s something new and different, and something that I think will find a market.
Eric Berger joins Jake and Anthony to talk about his recent trip to Kourou, the European launch sector, Commercial Crew announcements, and the social eating segment of JAXA launch streams.
I’ve also heard from a few different places that ahead of this launch, they’re taking some time to knock off a few other items from their to-do list. Let’s hope all goes well and they can get into smooth operations for 2019.
Eric Berger joins Jake and Anthony to talk about his recent trip to Kourou, the European launch sector, Commercial Crew announcements, and the social eating segment of JAXA launch streams.
Eric Berger joins Jake and Anthony to talk about his recent trip to Kourou, the European launch sector, Commercial Crew announcements, and the social eating segment of JAXA launch streams.
Eric Berger joined Jake and I to talk about his recent trip to Kourou, the European launch sector, Commercial Crew announcements, and the social eating segment of JAXA launch streams.
“On 17 July 2018, an ancient lump from space thwacked into the Moon with enough energy to produce a brilliant flash of light. With another space rock seemingly in pursuit, a second flash lit up a different region of the Moon almost exactly 24 hours later.”