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stevecarell600 · 8 months

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US Reusable Launch Vehicle Market Industry Brief Analysis and Top Leading Players by 2027

As of my last knowledge update in September 2021, the U.S. Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) market was characterized by significant advancements and competition among private aerospace companies aiming to revolutionize space access. Key players like SpaceX and Blue Origin were at the forefront of this market, driving innovation and reducing launch costs through the development of reusable rockets. The U.S. reusable launch vehicle market size stood at USD 482.4 million in 2019 and is projected to reach USD 1,634.9 million by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 14.77% during the forecast period.

Informational Source:

SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets had already demonstrated the viability of reusability by successfully landing their first stages back on Earth after launch. This achievement significantly lowered launch costs, making space access more economically feasible and fostering an environment for increased satellite deployment, space tourism prospects, and exploration missions.

Blue Origin, led by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, was working on their New Shepard suborbital vehicle and New Glenn orbital rocket, with both designs featuring reusability as a central tenet. These efforts aimed to offer more flexibility to a variety of customers, ranging from satellite operators to government agencies and commercial entities, and potentially pave the way for more ambitious space missions.

Major Companies Covered in U.S. Reusable Launch Vehicle Market are:

ArianeGroup (Paris, France)

Blue Origin LLC (Washington, the U.S.)

Lockheed Martin Corporation (Maryland, the U.S.)

Master Space Systems (California, the U.S.)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (Washington, the U.S.)

Rocket Labs USA (California, the U.S.)

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) (California, the U.S.)

The Boeing Company (Illinois, the U.S.)

The Spaceship Company (California, the U.S.)

United Launch Alliance (ULA) (Colorado, the U. S.)

Other Players

The U.S. government agency NASA was also fostering the growth of the RLV market through its Commercial Crew and Commercial Resupply Services programs, which aimed to facilitate the transportation of astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station using privately developed spacecraft. This support encouraged competition and diversity in the launch vehicle market.

A reusable launch vehicle (RLV) is a type of vehicle that can help a satellite or payload lift off into space. The vehicle makes use of several modern concepts and its ultimate aim is to reduce the massive costs that are incurred for launching satellites. The RLV has the ability to recover and re-use all components of the system. Recent advances in RLV by private as well as government space organizations such as NASA will have a massive impact on the growth of the US reusable launch vehicle market in the coming years. The presence of several large scale companies in this market, coupled with the increasing adoption of reusable vehicles by companies such as Tesla (SpaceX), will bode well for the growth of the regional market in the foreseeable future.

Delays in Proposed Satellite Launches during the Covid-19 Pandemic to have a Negative Impact on the Market

The recent coronavirus outbreak has had a negative impact on several industries across the world. As most businesses have been compelled to shut down, it has become difficult to operate in a constrained environment. The rising Covid-19 cases in the United States, has not only affected the economy, but has also resulted in an increase in the unemployment rate. Several companies had lined up respective space launches in the year 2020, but with limited manpower and confined budgets, these satellite programs have been delayed.

Company Mergers are an Increasing Trend Among Major Companies in the United States

The report encompasses several factors that have contributed to the growth of the market in recent years. Among all factors, the increasing number of company mergers and acquisitions as well as collaborations has made the highest impact on the growth of the market. In April 2020, Masten Space announced that it has signed a contract with the US Air Force. The company announced that this contract is part of the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program. Through this contract, the company will be developing a reusable rocket-powered landing craft. This contract will not just be beneficial for the company, but also for the regional market. Increasing number of company collaborations will have a massive impact on the growth of the market in the coming years.

Industry Developments:

August 2020: Space Exploration Technologies Corp. announced that it has received a contract worth USD 316 million for Falcon Heavy launch by the U.S. air force.

In summary, the U.S. Reusable Launch Vehicle market was marked by intense competition among companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin, leveraging reusability to reduce launch costs and broaden access to space. These developments were anticipated to have significant implications for various sectors, including satellite deployment, space tourism, and exploration missions. Please note that developments in this field may have occurred after September 2021, and I recommend checking more recent sources for the latest information.

#US Reusable Launch Vehicle Market Share

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drcpanda12 · 10 months

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The realm of space exploration and technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace, with groundbreaking advancements on the horizon. From space tourism to ambitious missions to the Moon and Mars, innovative technologies are shaping the future of space exploration. Private companies, space agencies, and research institutions are actively working on projects that promise to revolutionize our understanding of the universe and open up new possibilities for human exploration beyond Earth's boundaries. In this article, we will explore some of the exciting upcoming space technologies that hold the potential to transform the way we interact with and explore outer space. From reusable rockets to satellite constellations and advanced space telescopes, these developments are set to redefine the possibilities of what we can achieve in the vastness of the cosmos. Join us as we delve into the forefront of space technology and witness the dawn of a new era in human space exploration. Space Tourism Space tourism refers to the concept of enabling individuals to travel to space for recreational purposes. It involves the transportation of private individuals, who are not astronauts or space agency personnel, to experience space travel and witness the unique perspective of Earth from space. Companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic are at the forefront of developing space tourism programs. These companies aim to make space more accessible and affordable for private individuals by pioneering reusable rocket technology and spacecraft. Space tourism experiences typically involve suborbital flights, where passengers are taken to the edge of space, experience weightlessness, and enjoy breathtaking views of Earth before returning to the planet. These flights offer a relatively short duration in space, typically ranging from a few minutes to a couple of hours. While the cost of space tourism remains high, efforts are being made to bring down the prices and increase the frequency of flights to cater to a broader market. The introduction of commercial spaceports and the development of advanced spacecraft capable of carrying more passengers are among the steps being taken to make space tourism more accessible in the future. Space tourism holds the potential to not only offer a unique and awe-inspiring experience to individuals but also contribute to the further development of space technologies and infrastructure. It is an exciting frontier that brings us closer to a future where space travel becomes a part of our everyday lives. Reusable Rockets Reusable rockets are a significant advancement in space technology that aims to revolutionize space travel by making it more cost-effective and sustainable. Traditional rockets have been mostly expendable, meaning they are used once and discarded after a single mission. However, reusable rockets are designed to be capable of returning safely to Earth and being used for multiple missions, significantly reducing the cost of space missions. Companies like SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, have made significant strides in developing and demonstrating the viability of reusable rockets. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, for example, is equipped with landing legs and a guidance system that allows it to autonomously land back on Earth after delivering its payload to orbit. The recovered first stages can then be refurbished and launched again, reducing launch costs significantly. The key advantage of reusable rockets is their ability to drastically lower the cost of space missions. By reusing the most expensive and complex components of the rocket, such as the first stage, companies can save a substantial amount of money on each launch. This cost reduction opens up opportunities for increased access to space, including commercial satellite deployments, resupply missions to the International Space Station (ISS), and future crewed missions to the Moon and Mars. In addition to cost savings, reusable rockets also contribute to the sustainability of space exploration.

By reducing the amount of space debris generated from discarded rocket stages, reusable rockets help mitigate the growing issue of space debris, enhancing the long-term viability of space activities. The development of reusable rockets represents a significant step forward in the commercialization and exploration of space. As technology continues to advance, it is expected that reusable rockets will become more commonplace, making space travel more affordable, frequent, and sustainable. Satellite Internet Constellations Satellite Internet Constellations involve deploying hundreds or even thousands of small satellites into orbit, forming a network that works in unison to provide internet connectivity. Each satellite in the constellation communicates with neighboring satellites, relaying data signals and ensuring continuous coverage as they orbit the Earth. Companies like SpaceX (Starlink), Amazon (Project Kuiper), and OneWeb are leading the development of satellite internet constellations. They leverage advances in miniaturized satellite technology and efficient launch systems to deploy their constellations rapidly. The satellites in these constellations are typically smaller and lighter than traditional communication satellites, allowing for more cost-effective production and deployment. They operate in LEO, which offers lower latency compared to geostationary satellites, resulting in faster internet connections. Satellite internet constellations work by establishing a connection between ground-based user terminals (dishes or antennas) and the satellites. These terminals communicate with the satellites, transmitting and receiving data signals to access the internet. The satellites, in turn, relay the data signals to one another and eventually connect to ground-based gateway stations that interface with the internet backbone. The proliferation of satellite internet constellations has the potential to bridge the digital divide by providing internet access to underserved and remote regions worldwide. It can support a range of applications, including residential internet access, rural connectivity, emergency communications, and global connectivity for Internet of Things (IoT) devices. However, the deployment of satellite constellations has raised concerns about the increasing amount of space debris and the potential impact on astronomical observations due to their visibility in the night sky. Efforts are being made to address these challenges through responsible satellite deployment and orbital debris mitigation measures. In-Space Manufacturing In-Space Manufacturing aims to reduce the cost, complexity, and logistical challenges associated with launching fully assembled structures from Earth. By manufacturing and assembling components in space, it eliminates the need for launching large, pre-assembled structures, which can be expensive and difficult to transport. ISM technologies include 3D printing (also known as additive manufacturing), robotic assembly, and in-orbit manufacturing techniques. These technologies allow for the creation of complex structures, such as spacecraft components, satellites, antennas, and even habitats for future human space exploration missions. One of the key advantages of ISM is the ability to utilize resources available in space, such as lunar or asteroid resources, as raw materials for manufacturing. This concept, known as In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), could potentially enable sustainable space exploration by reducing the dependency on Earth for resources. ISM has the potential to revolutionize space missions by enabling on-demand manufacturing and repair capabilities in space. It can lead to faster mission turnaround times, reduced costs, and increased flexibility in designing and adapting space infrastructure. The development of ISM technologies is still in its early stages, with ongoing research and experimentation being conducted by space agencies, private companies, and research institutions.

The International Space Station (ISS) has served as a platform for testing and validating ISM technologies in the microgravity environment. Asteroid Mining Asteroids are rocky bodies that orbit the Sun, primarily located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. They contain a vast array of resources, including precious metals like platinum, rare earth elements, water ice, and other minerals. These resources have immense value both on Earth and for supporting future space missions. The process of asteroid mining involves identifying suitable asteroids, capturing them, and extracting the desired resources. Several methods have been proposed for mining asteroids, including robotic missions to extract materials, using solar-powered furnaces to process the resources, and even redirecting small asteroids closer to Earth for easier access. The potential benefits of asteroid mining are numerous. It could provide a sustainable source of raw materials for space exploration, reducing the need to launch everything from Earth. The extracted resources can be used for in-space manufacturing, construction of space habitats, refueling stations, and supporting long-duration missions to other planets, such as Mars. Asteroid mining also holds commercial potential, as the resources obtained from asteroids can have significant value on Earth. Precious metals and rare earth elements, for example, could be used in industries such as electronics, renewable energy, and manufacturing. While asteroid mining offers exciting possibilities, it also poses technical, legal, and ethical challenges. The technical complexities involve identifying suitable asteroids, developing efficient extraction methods, and transporting the extracted resources back to Earth or using them in space. Legal and ethical considerations include issues surrounding property rights, environmental impacts, and the preservation of celestial bodies for scientific research. Currently, asteroid mining is in its early stages, with ongoing research, feasibility studies, and missions being planned by both private companies and space agencies. It represents a frontier that holds the potential to unlock valuable resources and shape the future of space exploration and commercial endeavors.

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knewtoday · 10 months

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201914864caic2021 · 3 years

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A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Space Race: What You Need to Know About the Space Race in 2020

‘3…2...1…0. Ignition. Lift-off… Go NASA! Go Space X! Godspeed!’ These words uttered before the Crew Dragon spacecraft launch on May 30th, 2020 are all too familiar to us today, and the generations that have grown up in an era in which space travel is possible. The countdown, NASA, the behemoth that is the rocket, the agonising anticipation, and the eventual relieving launch are all at this point usual sights, and feelings associated with a standard space launch. Yet this event was different in so many ways to a typical launch and offered something new. The new, and revolutionary technology on display was undoubtably a part of this, with the rocket, and space suits looking like something straight out of a sci-fi movie, and the rocket’s reusable Falcon booster being landed with previously unseen precision. However, another noticeable element of the launch was the participants involved. Of course, as previously mentioned NASA were involved in the launch, but they were not alone in this endeavour. Sharing the honour with NASA on this occasion was Elon Musk, and his Space X company, with the launch marking the first time a private company has sent humans into space, and a spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS). As such it can be argued Space X in 2020 is currently leading in a new ‘Space Race.’ This begs several questions. What is a Space Race? Who are the competitors is today’s Space Race? Who is winning? And should we even encourage such a competition?

The First Space Race (1955-1975)

The original ‘Space Race,’ has been defined by Space.com as a ‘series of competitive technology demonstrations between the United States, and the Soviet Union, aiming to show superiority in spaceflight… a tense global conflict that pitted the ideologies of capitalism, and communism against one another.’ This first Space Race started with announcements four days apart in 1955 from Leonid I Sedov of the Soviet Union, and James C Hagerty of the United States that the two nations intended to launch the first manmade satellites into orbit. The Soviets were first to succeed in this effort, launching their Sputnik I satellite in October 1957. Following this, on October 1st, 1958 NASA opened, but was able to achieve little compared to the Soviet space programme in its early years, with the Soviet Union taking more victories, and making history by putting both the first man (Yuri Gagarin), and first woman (Valentina Tereshkova) in space on April 12th, 1961, and June 16th, 1963 respectively. It was in between these two events in 1961 that President John F Kennedy (JFK) challenged NASA to send a man to the moon ‘before this decade is out,’ resulting in the establishment of the Apollo Programme. It is through this program that NASA was able to eventually turn the tide, and on July 20th, 1969, landed on the moon and the US ‘effectively won,’ the Space Race. This Space Race is largely regarded as coming to an end with the collaboration of the US, and Soviets on the Apollo-Soyuz mission in 1975, which saw a US Apollo craft, and Soviet Soyuz craft dock with one another, and the crew shake hands. Since then, the US, and Soviets have largely co-operated on space projects together. Particularly the ISS, described by NASA as ‘the most politically complex space exploration programme ever undertaken,’ has seen extensive US-Soviet co-operation, as well as widespread international collaboration, with 15 countries in addition to the ‘[principle]… space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada, being involved in the ISS. In addition to this, 18 countries in total have visited the ISS. Evidently, the Space Race no longer exists in its initial form, and the US, and Soviet Union (Now Russia) are no longer competitors, but rather allies. But who are the participants in the Space Race today?’

The New Space Race

China

China is arguably a candidate for this new Space Race. With a ‘trade war,’ declared by Donald Trump ongoing between the US, and China since 2018, and the two countries blaming each other for the COVID 19 pandemic, it is clear a great deal of economic, and political animosity exists between the two nations. This combined with China’s exclusion from the International Space Station in 2011, and an already ongoing battle for ‘technology primacy,’ in which (in Cold War fashion) Trump accused China of using its Huawei devices for spying has naturally set up China, and the US for a space industry conflict reminiscent of the original Space Race. China conducted the most launches of any nation in 2019 and is ‘the only country in the world to obtain all industrial categories listed in the United Nations industrial classification,’ leading the world in both steel, and aluminium production. Despite this ‘China has suffered setbacks on… its heavy-lift launch vehicle program,’ and as a result of exclusion from co-operation with other space agencies ‘lags behind in its human spaceflight, and space station programme.’ As a result, whilst China can be viewed as a contender in the Space Race in 2020, the country is certainly not amongst the most powerful within the space industry. However, it should be recognised that ‘China has all the technology available, and figured out,’ and with so many of the materials necessary for the construction of space equipment being domestically produced, China could be a major power within the space industry in the near future and may be able to turn things around similar to the US in the Space Race of the 20th Century.

Private Companies

Arguably, the more interesting focus of the Space Race currently though is the competition between private space companies with the ‘three that are furthest down the road [being] Space X, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic.’ The three are currently focussed on a variety of issues concerning space travel and are bidding to ‘reduce the cost of access to space,’ the reusability of spacecrafts, and ‘making space accessible to people who are not trained astronauts,’ including pushing for tourism in space. This may initially raise questions about private space agencies versus public space agencies, however ‘the… “public versus private,” space race isn’t one that NASA feels overly competitive about… relying on private corporations rather than challenging them.’ Most recently this has been demonstrated by the Artemis Program with which NASA has promising they ‘will land the first woman, and next man on the Moon by 2024,’ resulting in private space companies ‘competing to provide their services of commercial lunar payloads.’

Space X

Of these three companies Space X, founded in 2002 by Elon Musk, seems to be the strongest contender in the Space Race. As previously mentioned, Space X has already astounded the world, showing off the technological capabilities, and sheer power of its Falcon 9 rocket, as well as the prowess of its reusable launch system which was landed with previously unseen accuracy. Additionally, ‘Space X operates the largest commercial satellite constellation,’ with a total of 180 satellites in orbit. In relation to NASA contracts, Space X has also pulled ahead of course winning the contract to replace Russian rocket technology in 2019 which resulted in the Falcon 9’s flight to the ISS, as well as several other contracts, including a $50.3 million contract involving an X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer, and an $80.4 million contract for a Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem Spacecraft. Most importantly, Space X was awarded NASA contracts, alongside Blue Origin and Dynetics, totalling $1 billion towards the Artemis project. As a result, Musk’s future plans, such as sending the first humans to Mars on a Space X craft and creating a reliable Starlink satellite internet service don’t seem too far-fetched, so long as Space X keeps winning these contracts through technological development, and sheer dominance of the satellite industry. Subsequently, it seems Space X will be the leading company in the Space industry for decades to come.

Blue Origin

Competitor to Space X, and founded in 2000 by Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin has also made impressive strides within the space industry. Arguably, their most impressive achievement, the ‘Blue Moon,’ lunar lander is capable of carrying 3.6 metric tons. The company has also ‘developed a suborbital capsule system, acquired the technology of reusable rockets… made a two-stage orbital launch vehicle with ‘New Glenn,’ and has flown its New Shepard rocket 7 times. However, compared to Space X’s Falcon 9 rocket, it is apparent that Blue Origin still has a long way to go, with their New Shepard rocket reaching only a maximum velocity of Mach 3, compared to the Falcon 9 which is able to reach Mach 5.5 in it’s first stage alone, and then Mach 7.5. The New Shepard also is only able to produce 100,000 pounds of thrust, whereas the Falcon 9 can create 1.5 million pounds of thrust. Subsequently, the technological gap between the capabilities of the two companies’ spacecraft is vast, and currently Blue Origin does not seem to be able to generate the sheer power Space X has demonstrated. As a result, Blue Origin has missed out on a multitude of NASA contracts. However, as mentioned earlier, Blue Origin has been awarded contracts for the Artemis project, and the Blue Moon lunar lander appears to be a genuine candidate for the craft that will eventually land the new generation of astronauts on the moon. As well as this, Bezos has taken an interest in the space tourism industry, one that Musk appears to have little desire to pursue. Perhaps this could provide Blue Origin with the extra money they require to develop new technologies capable of bridging the gap, and rivalling Space X. For now, however, Blue Origin appears to be stuck with its only real potential challenge to Space X being its aforementioned lunar landing capabilities. Yet to win this Space Race, Blue Origin will eventually need to expand its abilities in Space travel, or ultimately admit defeat.

Virgin Galactic

The third major competitor in this private company space race, though arguably the weakest is Virgin Galactic founded by Richard Branson in 2004. Unlike Blue Origin, and Space X, Virgin Galactic’s primary focus is the space tourism industry. At first glance Virgin Galactic certainly ‘appears to be ahead of Elon Musk’s Space X, and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin in fulfilling the vision of space tourism,’ having already sold 600 tickets to those wishing to take a journey to space. However, for several reasons Virgin Galactic currently offers little competition against Space X, and Blue Origin. Despite ambitious ideas, many of Virgin Galactic’s plans to reduce fuel usage, and costs have failed to materialise. The company’s intention to launch their Launcher One rocket from the wing of a Boeing 747, in order to use less energy during take-off was one of these failed projects, with the rocket failing ‘to climb into orbit,’ and igniting over the Pacific Ocean. Furthermore, it is evident that Virgin Galactic does not possess rockets with as much power as those of Space X, and more importantly their rival in the space tourism industry, Blue Origin. Although Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo is capable of reaching an impressive height of 295,000 feet, Blue Origin’s New Shepard exceeds this at an impressive 330,00 feet. With this in mind, and Blue Origin set to match Virgin Galactic’s prices for space tourist flights it becomes clearer that Virgin Galactic’s control over the tourist sector of space travel could be short lived. In addition, Virgin Galactic’s lack of involvement in NASA space contracts, puts Virgin at a huge disadvantage, receiving no money, or assistance from NASA in order to develop their space technology. In contrast Blue Origin’s involvement in NASA’s programs (even if they are currently losing to Space X) has aided them in bringing their space technology to new heights and allowed them to compete simultaneously in the private contract Space Race, and the space tourist sector.

Should the Space Race be Encouraged?

Another important focal point of the Space Race are the positive, and negative aspects associated with it. Many would argue that the Space Race, being a competition between multiple groups promotes conflict, which can be especially dangerous in the case of international conflict escalation. As well as this, a rather strong argument can be made that the Space Race promotes the use of resources, and spending on extra-terrestrial projects that could be better spent on initiatives on Earth. This argument against pursuing the Space Race becomes especially strong in relation to Space tourism which merely serves entertainment purposes. Furthermore, a huge issue of the current Space Race is that the private companies involved become richer, making their billionaire owners wealthier, and more powerful, reaching levels some may call excessive, and even dangerous. However, the Space Race also arguably has positive implications. With competitors pushing each other to new heights technology seems to be developing faster than ever, and with these developments in space technology also often proving useful in other fields, perhaps this extra-terrestrial competition is just what our planet needs. So far medical advancements, such as artificial hearts, and laser eye surgery, industrial developments, including the mass production of carbon nanotubes, and even progress in environmental analysis through the use of satellites can all be attributed to space travel, and the rapid development of these technologies to the competitive nature of the space industry. Furthermore, these major developments in turn provide inspiration for young people to also pursue careers in the sciences, and push these technologies even further, as demonstrated by the number of ‘graduates holding bachelor’s in science, and engineering fields [peaking] in the late 1960’s.’ The expansion of these major private space corporations simultaneously provides jobs in these fields to these young aspiring scientists, and engineers, allowing again for people to pursue these careers. As well as this, the Space Race should not be viewed as an event completely built on conflict. The original Space Race, whilst causing great division between the participants, also eventually resulted in highly effective co-operation through the aforementioned Apollo-Soyuz mission, and ISS. This Space Race seems to be exhibiting similar signs of co-operation with the introduction of the Artemis Accords a series of ‘bilateral agreements with other space agencies that want to participate in the Artemis program.’ Therefore, whilst these companies are indeed competing for contracts it must be remembered that overall, they are working towards similar goals, and often in co-ordination with NASA, and each other.

Upon examination of the Space Race in 2020, it is evident many comparisons can be made to the original US-Soviet Space Race, however this more internal, US-centric Space Race appears to have reached new heights. It is also apparent that though the Space Race is currently dominated by Space X, closely followed by other US private companies that this could change. This Space Race is also a testament of what we can achieve when we really push each other, and though we must be weary for this contest not to get out of hand (becoming a full-blown conflict) it would seem a little friendly competition is a good thing.

#caic2021

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scifigeneration · 4 years

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SpaceX reaches for milestone in spaceflight – a private company launches astronauts into orbit

by Wendy Whitman Cobb

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft onboard is raised into a vertical position on the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A. NASA/Bill Ingalls

On May 27, two American astronauts, Robert L. Behnken and Douglas G. Hurley, are planning to launch from the Kennedy Space Center on a mission to the International Space Station. If successful, this will mark the first time in nine years that American astronauts will launch into space from American soil. What’s even more remarkable is they will not be launched by NASA but by a private company, SpaceX.

Human spaceflight is incredibly difficult and expensive; the rockets must be reliable and the vehicle must be built with expensive life support systems and a certain level of redundancy. To date, only three countries – Russia, the United States and China – have achieved this feat.

As a space policy expert, I find it hard to overstate the significance for both SpaceX and spaceflight in general. For SpaceX, it’s another step on their road to Mars, but more generally, it demonstrates that spaceflight need not be reserved for only the most powerful of states.

Astronauts Douglas Hurley (left) and Robert Behnken before boarding the Gulfstream jet that will carry them to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA/James Blair

A dream and an opening

In many ways, SpaceX’s achievement is due not only to technological advances, but opportunity brought about by disaster. The breakup of the space shuttle Columbia in 2003 led the Bush administration to decide to end the shuttle program by 2010. They directed NASA to develop a replacement, Project Constellation, but due to budget cuts and other problems, NASA failed to make significant progress. As a result, in 2010, the Obama administration directed NASA to refocus its efforts on deep space missions and rely on private companies to provide access to the ISS and low Earth orbit.

The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft is designed to carry up to seven passengers. NASA/Kim Shiflett

Enter SpaceX. Dreaming of colonization of Mars but frustrated with the slow pace at which it was coming, Elon Musk founded SpaceX in 2002. To get to Mars, he decided that spaceflight would first need to be made cheaper. His philosophy was to devise a rocket system that could be used again and again with minimal refurbishment between flights. Over the next decade, SpaceX designed, built and tested its Falcon series of rockets. It signed contracts with NASA to provide cargo services to the ISS and with other companies and the U.S. military to provide general launch services. Perhaps most importantly, SpaceX has demonstrated that its rockets can be reused, with the core stages flying their way back to Earth to land themselves.

The 2010 shift in American space policy gave SpaceX an opportunity to build on its early successes. By 2014, both SpaceX and Boeing were given contracts from NASA to provide commercial crew launch services. And it appears, so far, that SpaceX has made good on its promise of reducing the cost of human spaceflight. Compared to an average space shuttle mission that cost US$1.6 billion, NASA is paying only $55 million per seat for SpaceX’s upcoming ISS flights.

A picture taken June 13, 2007 in Paris shows the inside part of the mock-up of the future tourism plane-rocket, made by the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EADS Astrium branch. OLIVIER LABAN-MATTEI/AFP via Getty Images

Tourists in space?

This massive reduction in cost made possible through reusable rockets is contributing to several developments in spaceflight. First, it provides NASA a means of access to the ISS without relying on the Russian Soyuz. Since 2011, the U.S. has been paying Russia upwards of $86 million per seat for flights to the space station.

Second, with SpaceX and Boeing providing access to the ISS, NASA can concentrate on Project Artemis, which intends to return humans to the Moon by 2024. They are also leveraging new commercial capabilities from SpaceX, Blue Origin and others to further reduce costs to get there.

If SpaceX is successful, it could also mean the opening of space to tourism. Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic are planning to offer brief suborbital launches that don’t enter Earth orbit. SpaceX, on the other hand, is already signing up passengers for several-day trips to space at $35 million a seat. Even Tom Cruise is looking to fly on SpaceX and film a movie aboard the ISS. While space companies have long predicted opportunities for space tourism, SpaceX’s Dragon brings that possibility closer to reality.

More broadly, adding tourists to the mix in low Earth orbit may even help make space safer. Debris in orbit is a growing problem, along with increasing tensions between the U.S., China and Russia in space. Both of those things make operating in space more difficult, dangerous and costlier.

For the space economy to really take off, countries will need to put in place regulations that ensure safety and reliability in several areas, including vehicle safety and debris mitigation. And, as I suggest in my new book, having more humans in space might force countries to think twice before taking potentially dangerous actions in space. While orbital space tourism might still be far off for the average American, SpaceX’s crew launch brings us closer to the day when an extraordinary event is a normal occurrence.

About The Author:

Wendy Whitman Cobb is Professor of Strategy and Security Studies at the US Air Force School of Advanced Air and Space Studies

This article is republished from our content partners over at The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

#science #space #NASA #SpaceX #space exploration #space tourism #featured #project artemis #blue origin #virgin galactic #boeing

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themakersmovement · 4 years

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Blue Origin Opens Its New Rocket Engine Facility in Alabama Huntsville, Alabama, is now home to Blue Origin‘s brand new rocket engine production facility, the latest addition to Huntsville’s Cummings Research Park (CRP), the second-largest research park in the United States and the fourth largest in the world. The 46-acre plant in The Rocket City will strengthen the production of Blue Origin’s BE-4 and BE-3U engines, which will power both Blue Origin’s own orbital launch vehicle, the New Glenn rocket, and United Launch Alliance’s next-generation Vulcan Centaur launch system for national security, civil, human and commercial missions. The BE-4 Engine (Credit: Blue Origin) In development since 2011, the BE-4 is a liquefied natural gas (LNG) fueled rocket engine. Using an oxygen-rich staged combustion cycle, BE-4 is capable of delivering 2,400 kN of thrust at sea level. The engine uses additive manufacturing as part of its critical manufacturing processes for the thrust chamber and nozzle. And according to this article on Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Spectrum, “the BE-4 uses 3D printing to accelerate the design process, replacing cast or forged parts that used to take a year or more to source with parts made in-house in just a couple of months; the technology also allowed intricately shaped components to be made from fewer pieces.” No surprise there, additive manufacturing is powering rocket engine production and improving the time to delivery. Like its competitors, Blue Origin is expanding the use of the technology to improve the quality and efficiency of its rocket engines, offering simpler, safer and cheaper reusable products, in line with company founder Jeff Bezos founding principle, of creating low cost, reusable and highly operable rocket engines. Blue Origin CEO, Bob Smith, said during the inauguration that “at the core of every successful launch vehicle program are the engines that power those vehicles to space. Early on in Blue Origin’s history, we made a crucial decision to invest in developing the next generation of reusable rocket engines. And now, it’s an exciting time for Blue, our partners and this country – we are on the path to deliver on our promise to end the reliance on Russian made engines – and it’s all happening right here, right now, in the great state of Alabama. We couldn’t be prouder to call this our home for engine production.” Huntsville has a very rich legacy in liquid rocket engines. Nearly every major US aerospace corporation is represented in CRP and the community, and even NASA operates the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, which for the past 60 years has been leading on space propulsion, designing the rockets that put man on the moon, and is currently designing the propulsion system for NASA’s Space Launch System. The new $200 million rocket-engine facility in Huntsville will expand the state’s already robust capabilities in space flight as well as add more than 300 jobs to the local economy. The new facility demonstrates part of a bigger plan for Blue Origin, as the company is also working on two other engines, including the BE-7 destined for the company’s Blue Moon lunar lander. Although their BE-4 is the largest of the three and will undergo testing at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center on the historic Test Stand 4670. U.S. Congressman Robert Aderholt speaking at the inauguration of the Huntsville facility (Credit: Robert Aderholt) Although all early BE-4 components and full engines to support the test program were built at Blue Origin’s headquarters location in Kent, Washington, and the BE-4 is currently undergoing full-scale engine development testing at Blue Origin’s facilities in Van Horn, Texas, full-rate production of the engine will occur in Huntsville. Moreover, seven BE-4 engines are expected to power New Glenn’s reusable booster, and two BE-4 engines will drive the first stage of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan launch vehicle. Blue Origin is hoping to move for the development of new spacecraft, and they have already flown commercial payloads aboard New Shepard nine times. The suborbital space-tourist vehicle which should make its first crewed flight later this year is being launched to carry experimental payloads that will be used for research, including materials used in student studies. The massive rocket called New Glenn could enable more lunar missions and make Bezo’s dream of “building a road to space” a reality. A big part of commercializing space entails being able to innovate, develop and manufacture new products that astronauts and space tourists can use in orbit. 2019 was a big year for space agencies and companies looking to get a place in the next big space race, and 2020 seems to be starting out with big news, let’s hope some of the deadlines for many of the space ventures hold up. One thing is for sure, 3D printing will continue to play an important role in the development of … https://buff.ly/2P8gYfV

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spaceexp · 5 years

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Four NASA-Sponsored Experiments Set to Launch on Virgin Galactic Spacecraft

Virgin Galactic logo. Dec. 13, 2018 A winged spacecraft will soon take off with four NASA-supported technology experiments onboard. Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo will separate from the WhiteKnightTwo twin-fuselage carrier aircraft and continue its rocket-powered test flight.

Image above: Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity SpaceShipTwo conducted a supersonic test flight in July 2018. Image Credit: Virgin Galactic. The flight, scheduled for no earlier than Dec. 13, is Virgin Galactic’s first mission for NASA. The agency’s Flight Opportunities program helped the four experiments hitch a ride on SpaceShipTwo. The program purchased flight services, the accommodation and ride, from Virgin Galactic for the payloads. During the flight, the payloads will collect valuable data needed to mature the technologies for use on future missions. “The anticipated addition of SpaceShipTwo to a growing list of commercial vehicles supporting suborbital research is exciting,” said Ryan Dibley, Flight Opportunities campaign manager at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. “Inexpensive access to suborbital space greatly benefits the technology research and broader spaceflight communities.” NASA’s investment in the growing suborbital space industry and strong economy in low-Earth orbit allows the agency to focus on farther horizons. NASA will venture forward to the Moon – this time to stay, in a measured, sustainable fashion - in order to develop new opportunities and prepare for astronauts to explore Mars.

Animation above: Video of the Physics of Regolith Impacts in Microgravity Experiment, or PRIME, to study the response of asteroidal or lunar regolith in reduced gravity conditions on parabolic airplane flights. The Collisions Into Dust Experiment, or COLLIDE, studies the same phenomena but with longer duration and better quality microgravity on a suborbital flight. Data collected onboard Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo will help the experiment obtain data from slower impacts as well as study the behavior of the regolith and ejecta after the impact. Animation Credits: Josh Colwell/University of Central Florida. The planned technology demonstrations onboard SpaceShipTwo could prove useful for exploration missions. For Principal Investigator Josh Colwell at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, the Virgin Galactic flight will help further refine the Collisions Into Dust Experiment (COLLIDE). The experiment aims to map the behavior of dust particles on planetary surfaces. Suborbital flights let Colwell and his team gather data useful for designing exploration architectures at the Moon, Mars and beyond. The presence of dust on asteroids and moons with low surface gravity introduces challenges for both human and robotic missions. Particles can damage hardware and contaminate habitats. Understanding dust dynamics could help NASA design better tools and systems for exploration missions. On this microgravity flight, COLLIDE will simulate the dusty surface of an asteroid and a surface impact. The experiment will collect high-quality video of the dust dispersing. “We want to see how dust in microgravity behaves when it’s disturbed. How fast will it fly around? How careful do you have to be to avoid disturbing the surface too much? If you have a hard landing and disturb the surface a lot, how long will you have to wait for the dust to clear?” Colwell explained. Here on Earth, this isn’t as much of a concern. Colwell explained that in space, where the absence of gravity complicates every task at hand, such considerations are significant for mission planning.

Image above: The Vibration Isolation Platform from Controlled Dynamics Inc. has completed five successful Flight Opportunities-sponsored flights on suborbital reusable launch vehicles (sRLVs). The scheduled flight on SpaceShipTwo will mark its sixth. Image Credit: Controlled Dynamics Inc. “If you have a small dust disturbance and can work around it, great. If the dust particles have enough speed, they can contaminate and stick to equipment well above the surface, posing problems for safety as well as mission success,” Colwell said. COLLIDE data collected on its first to suborbital space, as well as data from a related experiment previously tested on NASA-sponsored parabolic aircraft flights, could help future human and robotic explorers throughout the solar system. The other technology payloads slated for the SpaceShipTwo flight are: - Microgravity Multi-Phase Flow Experiment for Suborbital Testing NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston Life support systems are an integral part of a deep space habitation capability. They typically include processes where liquids and gases interact, therefore requiring special treatment in space. This two-phase system separates gas and liquid in microgravity. The technology could also be applied to in-situ resource utilization, power systems, propellant transfer and more. https://flightopportunities.nasa.gov/technologies/20/ - Validating Telemetric Imaging Hardware for Crew-Assisted and Crew-Autonomous Biological Imaging in Suborbital Applications University of Florida in Gainesville In order to live in deep space, astronauts will have to grow their own food. This experiment studies how microgravity affects plant growth. The experiment uses a biological fluorescent imaging instrument designed to collect data on the biological response of a plant, or plant tissue. https://flightopportunities.nasa.gov/technologies/53/ - Vibration Isolation Platform Controlled Dynamics Inc. in Huntington Beach, California Spacecraft and payloads are subject to intense launch environments. This mounting interface for orbital and suborbital vehicles is designed to lessen disturbances on payloads during launch, re-entry and landing. https://flightopportunities.nasa.gov/technologies/77/ All four payloads are currently scheduled for future flight demonstrations, enabling researchers to gather additional data and mature their technologies. About Flight Opportunities The Flight Opportunities program is funded by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate at the agency’s Headquarters in Washington and managed at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley manages the solicitation and selection of technologies to be tested and demonstrated on commercial flight vehicles. Virgin Galactic and other U.S. commercial spaceflight providers are contracted to provide flight services to NASA for flight testing and technology demonstration. Researchers from academia and industry with concepts for exploration, commercial space applications or other space utilization technologies of potential interest to NASA can receive grants from the Flight Opportunities program to purchase suborbital flights from these and other U.S. commercial spaceflight providers. The next solicitation for potential payloads is anticipated for release in January 2019. For information about current opportunities, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/flightopportunities/opportunities Editor’s Note: Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo successfully flew to suborbital space Dec. 13 with four NASA-supported technology payloads onboard. The rocket motor burned for 60 seconds, taking the piloted spacecraft and payloads beyond the mission’s 50-mile altitude target. Space Technology Mission Directorate: https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/home/index.html Armstrong Flight Research Center: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/home/index.html Ames Research Center: https://www.nasa.gov/ames Virgin Galactic: https://www.virgingalactic.com/ Images (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Clare Skelly/Loura Hall/Armstrong Flight Research Center/Leslie Williams. Greetings, Orbiter.ch Full article

#space #science

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sciencespies · 3 years

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China launches secretive suborbital vehicle for reusable space transportation system

https://sciencespies.com/space/china-launches-secretive-suborbital-vehicle-for-reusable-space-transportation-system/

China launches secretive suborbital vehicle for reusable space transportation system

HELSINKI — China conducted a clandestine first test flight of a reusable suborbital vehicle Friday as a part of development of a reusable space transportation system.

The vehicle launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center Friday and later landed at an airport just over 800 kilometers away at Alxa League in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC) announced.

No images nor footage nor further information, such as altitude, flight duration or propulsion systems, were provided. The CASC release stated however that the vehicle uses integrated aviation and space technologies and indicates a vertical takeoff and horizontal landing (VTHL) profile.

The test follows a September 2020 test flight of a “reusable experimental spacecraft”. The spacecraft orbited for days, releasing a small transmitting payload and later deorbited and landed horizontally. The spacecraft is widely believed to be a reusable spaceplane concept, though no images have emerged.

Giant space and defense contractor CASC also developed that vehicle and stated that the new vehicle tested Friday can be used as a first stage of a reusable space transportation system. The implication is that the two vehicles will be combined for a fully reusable space transportation system.

The developments have not come out of the blue. China stated in 2017 that it aimed to test a reusable spaceplane in 2020. The United States Air Force’s X-37B spaceplane is currently carrying out its sixth mission in orbit. Last year Boeing exited the Experimental Spaceplane (XSP) program, also known as the XS-1 program, another VTHL concept.

The new test also follows days after a flight of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo flew passengers to the edge of space for the first time.

A spaceplane project was included in a 2017 CASC ‘space transportation roadmap’. The plans also included fully reusable launch vehicles and, around 2045, a nuclear-powered shuttle.

Chen Hongbo, from CASC’s China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), told Science and Technology Daily (Chinese) in 2017 that the reusable spacecraft would be capable of carrying both crew and payloads. Chen stated that some vehicles would have the characteristics of both aircraft and spacecraft. CALT was noted as the developer of Friday’s suborbital reusable demonstration vehicle.

Chen stated the aim was full reusability, moving beyond partial reusability of Falcon 9-like launchers. The spaceplane, the development and testing of which is to be completed by 2030, should be capable of being reused more than 20 times.

It will be oriented to orbital altitudes of between 300 to 500 kilometers, meet criteria of being “fast, reliable, and economical,” and meet the needs of military and civilian payloads, and be applicable for space tourism.

The China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp. (CASIC), another giant state-owned enterprise, is working on its own spaceplane, named Tengyun. Demonstration and verification of the reusable two-stage-to-orbit Tengyun spacecraft is to be completed by 2025. Tengyun will be a horizontal takeoff, horizontal landing (HTHL) system.

Chinese commercial companies and CASC are also developing reusable rockets. A number of private companies are planning “hop” tests in the coming months.

#Space

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the-moon-cheese-blog · 6 years

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What goes up, must come down – Re-entry and it’s many challenges

Yesterday was the anniversary of Apollo 17′s splashdown so I thought it would be a good time to talk about the ironically fatal difficulties of returning through the blue layer which supports all life on earth.

It was an early, yet not often talked about, observation in space literature that a consequence of going to space would be that you would have to come back from space. This, unsurprisingly, is quite difficult. A spaceship travels very fast to remain in orbit in the vacuum of space. When it comes back into the comparatively thick atmosphere the immense stresses a spacecraft is put under could easily be enough to rip it apart. Even then, if you could design a structure to sustain this force the things inside the capsule could be destroyed by the huge heat supplied as the craft slows down. So how did engineers view this problem, and what did they do to overcome it?

What causes things coming into the atmosphere to get hot?

Space can be considered a vacuum. As an object moving very quickly starts to enter the atmosphere it starts to compress the air it collides with. When the air is compressed by something moving at this speed it gets hot, very hot and this heat is transferred to the object moving through it. Some may remember a demonstration in science class of using a sudden compression of air with a piston in a tube to ignite a cotton bud, or know that a diesel engine works by compressing the air/fuel mixture in the chamber. It’s much the same concept.

Nearly all the kinetic energy of a spacecraft is converted into heat. As a thought experiment, let’s say we put you into a ballistic re-entry path. You are a human who weighs 50kg travelling at 17’500 mph. You have 153 million joules of kinetic energy which is enough to turn half a ton of ice into steam. Clearly spacecraft weigh much more than you and me, so we can see magnitude of the problem the engineers faced.

In the early ponderings of spaceflight, the dominant vision of a spacecraft was of a plane launched from rockets or even a runway. One of these spaceplanes, the Silverbird (above), designed by Eugen Sänger and Irene Brendt was a suborbital spacecraft that re-entered the atmosphere by “skipping”. This method would incrementally slow down the craft and extend its flight time using lift. After each skip, the heat generated during would be radiated into space. This theoretical method of re-entry lasted for many years until the 1950s when the NACA (the predecessor to NASA) labs showed it wouldn’t have been as effective as a method of direct re-entry. Under direct re-entry the temperature would be higher, but for a shorter period and thus was deemed more manageable. With the mounting pressures of the Cold War and looming space race, NACA decided to abandon the spaceplane model in favour of the blunt body capsule design we associate with the space race today.

But the craft is still dealing with large amounts of heat, how did they try to deal with this? One of the first ideas engineers designing ballistic missiles, such as NACA’s H. Julian Allen and Alfred J. Eggers in the 1950s, tried was a heat sink. The principle was that a material of high melting and sublimation point could absorb all the energy of re-entry as heat without reacting with oxygen at the very high temperatures it was subjected to. Copper, beryllium, graphite, and an alloy called Inconel X were shortlisted and subjected to a series of tests measuring their suitability as heat sinks. Graphite had the best thermal qualities, but was readily oxidized in air. As such, a large amount of copper was chosen to be the heat sink on the first warheads on missiles designed by General Electric despite the extra mass required.

Whilst the US Air Force were conducting their tests and usage of heat sinks the US Army was leading the way in ablative heat shields. An ablative heat shield is a semi-passive thermal protection system. A heat shield is constructed from a material which is designed to sublime at the high temperatures of re-entry. The gas it creates forms a boundary layer of gas which protects the craft and is jettisoned as the craft moves through the air. These heatshields proved much better at protecting the contents of the craft were lighter than the heat sinks originally posed by the air force and all future warheads and some other space craft still use the design today.

As the space race heated up as the Cold War continued the challenges faced by engineers grew even larger. Not only would they now need to be able to return a capsule at a much higher velocity (i.e. from circumlunar orbit) NASA would need the pilots to be able to control their craft through re-entry and perform a much more accurate landing. Ablator heat shields remained the main method of heat rejection, but grew in complexity and size. To control the descent accurately astronauts could now offset the centre of gravity of their ships and as such change it’s pitch to lead to much more accurate landings. However, despite their best predictions, NASA scientists could not be sure of the conditions of lunar re-entry without attempting it.

In the years after Apollo the main challenge became reusability. The space shuttle needed to go to space and return many times in it’s lifetime and so ablative heat shield technology wasn’t suitable. Instead, the famous (or infamous) tiles of the Space Shuttle were developed. These tiles are very good insulators and were incredible at absorbing heat. Today, and in future the problems of space flight will be returning not just the payload or capsule to Earth, but fuel tanks and engines used to get up there.

#space #outer space #apollo #nasa #earth #science #engineering

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lonestarflight · 2 months

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"The X-34 demonstrator is shown being taken out of its hangar and placed on the tarmac. The X-34 was classified as part of the Pathfinder class demonstrators which include small experimental vehicles or less expensive flight experiments. These demonstrators were driven by technology and were executed every one to two years. They were done quickly, for low cost, and for a wide range of technologies and applications. The X-34 program was cancelled in 2001."

Date: April 15, 2004

NASA ID: 9906384

#Orbital Sciences X-34 #X-34 #Spaceplane #Reusable Launch Vehicle #NASA #cancelled #suborbital reusable-rocket technology demonstrator #Advanced Space Transportation Program #ASTP #April #2004 #my post

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un-enfant-immature · 5 years

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HyperSciences wants to ‘gamechange’ spaceflight with hypersonic drilling tech

It’s no coincidence that Elon Musk wants to both tunnel down into and soar above the Earth. If you ask the team at HyperSciences, the best way to get to space is to flip drilling technology upside down and point it at the sky. In the process, that would mean ditching the large, expensive fuel stages that propel what we generally think of as a rocket — massive cylindrical thing, tiny payload at the tip — into space.

This month, the company hit a major milestone on its quest to get to suborbital space, capping off Phase I of a research grant with NASA with a pair of successful proof-of-concept launches demonstrating the company’s one-two punch of ram acceleration and chemical combustion.

HyperSciences put its vision to the test at Spaceport America, conducting a series of low altitude tests at the desolate launch site an hour outside of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. The company launched “a number of projectiles,” ranging from 1.5 ft long to over 9 ft long. HyperSciences sent up some off-the-shelf electronics in the process, in a partnership with an aerospace research group at the University of Texas.

“We targeted hitting 600 to 1000 G’s (multiples of Earth’s gravity) on the payloads and accomplished that,” HyperSciences Senior Adviser Raymond Kaminski said. “The payloads felt similar levels to what commercial off-the-shelf electronics (like a cell phone) would feel when getting dropped on the floor.” Kaminski returned to aerospace with HyperSciences after a turn in the startup world following an earlier career with NASA, where he worked as an engineer for the International Space Station.

While the 1.5 ft. system launch was enough to meet its goals for NASA’s purposes, the company was testing the waters with an admittedly more impressive 9 ft. 18” projectile. “We’re going to launch a nine foot section — you can’t deny this anymore,” Kaminski said.

Oddly enough, the whole thing started after HyperSciences founder and CEO Mark Russell drilled a bunch of really, really deep holes. Russell formerly led crew capsule development at Jeff Bezos space gambit Blue Origin before leaving to get involved in his family’s mining business. At Blue Origin, he was employee number ten. Russell’s experience with mining and drilling led him to the idea that by elongating the chemical-filled tubes that he’d use to drill in the past, the system he used to break up rock could go to space.

“You have a tube and you have a projectile. It’s got a sharp nose and you’ve pre filled your tube with natural gas and air,” Russell explained. “It rides on the shock wave like a surfer rides on the ocean”

vimeo

The team believes that launching something into space can be faster, cheaper and far more efficient, but it requires a total reimagining of the process. If SpaceX’s reusable first stages were a sea change for spaceflight, the technology behind HyperSciences would be a revelation, but that’s assuming the vision — and the hypersonic tech that propels it — could be scaled up and adapted to the tricky, high-stakes business of sending things to space.

A hypersonic propulsion system can launch a projectile at at least five times the speed of sound, causing it to reach speeds of Mach 5 or higher — more than a mile a second. Most of of the buzz in hypersonic tech right now is around defense technology — missiles that travel fast enough to evade even sophisticated missile defense systems or strike targets so quickly they can’t be intercepted — but aerospace and geothermal energy are two other big areas of interest.

Last December, the Washington Post reported that moving from rocket-boosted weapons to hypersonic weapons is the “first, second, and third” priority for defense right now. The Pentagon’s 2019 budget currently has $2 billion earmarked for its hypersonics program and that funding grew by almost a third year-over-year. “You never want to put out a tech when the government is asking for it,” Kaminski said. “At that point it’s too late and you’re playing catch up.”

In spite of the opportunity, HyperSciences isn’t keen to get into the world of weaponry. “We are a platform hypersonics company, we are not weapons designers,” the team told TechCrunch. “We do not plan on being a weapon provider. HyperSciences is focused on making the world a better place.”

To that end, HyperSciences is maneuvering to the fore of non-weaponry hypersonics applications. The company sponsors the University of Washington lab that’s pioneered applications for ram accelerator technology it uses and has sole right to the tech invented there.

On the geothermal energy note, with $1 million from Shell, HyperSciences was able to develop what it calls a “common engine” — a hypersonic platform that call drill deep to reach geothermal energy stores or point upward to launch things toward the stars. “HyperSciences is about getting really good on earth first,” Russell said, pointing to one advantage of the cross-compatible system that lets the company apply lessons it learns from drilling to its plans for flight.

“Our HyperDrone technology can be used to test new air-breathing hypersonic engines for NASA or aircraft companies that want to build the next gen super- and hypersonic aircraft to go point-to-point around the world in an hour or two,” the team explained. “Right now, you need a rocket on a big aircraft, just to get experiments up to speed. We can do that at the end of our tube right from the ground.”

Though there have been rumors of acquisition interest, for now HyperSciences is pursuing an offbeat crowdfunding model that’s certainly out of the ordinary in a literally nuts and bolts aerospace business. The company is currently running a SeedInvest campaign that allows small, unaccredited investors put as little as a thousand dollars toward the team’s vision. At the time of writing, the campaign was sitting at around five million dollars raised from nearly 2,000 relatively small-time investors.

“SpaceX’s seed rounds were run by big VCs,” Russell said. “Where do you get access? These are big industries the public never usually gets to invest in.”

Russell prefers to keep HyperSciences flexible in its pursuits and believes that relying on venture capital would force the company to narrow the scope of its mission. The team is quick to note that in spite of its relationship with Shell, the oil and energy giant doesn’t own any equity in the company. By hopping between industry-specific contracts with a boost from crowdfunding, HyperSciences hopes to continue pursuing its platform’s applications in parallel.

“The next overall architecture for spaceflight will be using hypersonics,” Russell said. “We obviously started this with the idea that you could gamechange spaceflight. By removing the first and potentially the second stage of a rocket [and] putting all of that energy in the ground… you could gamechange spaceflight, no doubt.”

#TechCrunch

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drcpanda12 · 10 months

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knewtoday · 10 months

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ntrending · 5 years

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SpaceX hops toward the next generation of rockets with latest flight test

New Post has been published on https://nexcraft.co/spacex-hops-toward-the-next-generation-of-rockets-with-latest-flight-test/

SpaceX hops toward the next generation of rockets with latest flight test

SpaceX’s new engine, the Raptor, pushes a prototype vehicle above Boca Chica, Texas. (SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES CORP./)

It was one giant leap for a silo-shaped prototype, one small hop for SpaceX’s Martian ambitions.

The 60-foot-tall “Starhopper,” a partial mockup of the vehicle Elon Musk hopes will one day land on other worlds, soared nearly 500 feet into the Texas sky on Tuesday afternoon. This second and final test flight represents the most significant trial yet of the company’s Raptor engine. While the trial frustrated residents in Boca Chica, many of whom evacuated their homes for safety concerns, it encouraged aerospace enthusiasts with its demonstration of a new type of rocket that runs on methane—an essential feature for a space program targeting the moon and beyond.

“People have talked about using methane engines for decades, and they’re finally here,” says Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and spaceflight historian.

Tuesday’s flight was the latest run in a sequence of increasingly demanding experiments for the Raptor engine. After years of development, SpaceX began test firings with the contraption on its side and locked in place. It then followed with two more tests of the prototype nose up and tethered. The six-story, stainless steel cylinder finally flew freely for the first time in July, hovering a few dozen feet off the ground—although a cloud of billowing smoke obscured the vehicle for most of the time.

Tuesday’s round marked SpaceX’s second flight attempt this week—a day after an electrical issue stopped the Raptor’s igniter (like a spark plug for rockets) from setting off the controlled explosion just as the countdown hit zero. The more recent, successful test showcased the engine’s capabilities in a clearer light. It rose about 50 stories into the air, appearing to hover above the mottled brown and green landscape before touching down on a nearby pad. The full flight clocked in at 57 seconds.

In addition to tens of thousands of online viewers following various livestreams, a number of Boca Chica residents watched the hop too—although not necessarily out of interest. Fearing that a “malfunction” such as an explosion could shatter windows in nearby houses, the police department handed out fliers asking people to leave their homes (with their pets) when they heard the wail of a siren, ten minutes before flight.

Rocket scientists and aficionados, however, embraced the display of technology that will likely power the next generation of spacecraft. The single-engine Starhopper is a baby step toward the full vision: a 35-engine booster rocket (the Big Falcon Rocket) and a six-engine “Starship” spacecraft that Musk hopes will someday carry people to the moon and Mars.

“This is a key test of the Raptor in flight,” McDowell says.

The Raptor replaces the company’s Merlin family of engines, which ran on a refined form of kerosene, like most traditional rocket engines. The oil emerged as the industry favorite in the 1950s because it offered the most push per pound of fuel. Methane, however, has other advantages. In addition to producing fewer toxins, it’s the obvious choice for anyone who wants to leave this planet—and its abundant stockpiles of energy—behind.

Even if Mars were somehow hiding an unexpectedly rich fossil record, petroleum, the source of kerosene, needs a lot of processing to be turned into rocket fuel. Future astronauts could manufacture methane on Mars, though, by shuffling around the carbon and hydrogen atoms in the planet’s naturally occurring ice and CO2-rich atmosphere, McDowell explains. Leftover oxygen atoms could be turned into liquid to make up the other half of the explosive formula. Looking even farther out into the solar system, the compound appears to be everywhere. “In the lakes of Titan,” McDowell says, “you can put in a teacup and scoop up some methane.”

NASA has fired methane rockets on the ground and with small aerial craft before, but this week’s SpaceX flight cues their debut on a large-scale vehicle intended for orbit—putting the commercial company on track to be the first to use them for suborbital and orbital flights, possibly as soon as 2020.

But Musk and his team will have competition. Blue Origin, an aerospace company run by Jeff Bezos that’s also developing reusable rockets, has similarly chosen methane as the fuel for its BE-4 engine. The company carried out firing tests at full power in early August and hopes to use the model to push its upcoming New Glenn vehicle into orbit in the early 2020s.

Now that SpaceX has gotten its Raptor off the ground, the next technical hurdle will be turning what looks like a “flying water tower” into a proper spacecraft that can withstand the heat generated by hurtling through the atmosphere at multiple times the speed of sound. The engine will also have to prove itself under various air pressures at different altitudes, as well as in the vacuum of space.

These environments aren’t likely to foil SpaceX’s veteran engineers, McDowell says. Instead, he thinks the real test of the Raptor’s design will be whether unforeseen bugs like corrosion or clogged fuel lines crop up during the longer firing durations needed for it to actually travel somewhere.

Nevertheless, McDowell expects that between SpaceX and Blue Origin, a new era of rocket engines is on its way. “Methane engines are coming,” he says, “and this is the first real serious free flight.”

Written By Charlie Wood

#Science

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dorcasrempel · 5 years

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Six suborbital research payloads from MIT fly to space and back

Blast off! MIT made its latest foray into research in space on May 2 via six payloads from the Media Lab Space Exploration Initiative, tucked into Blue Origin’s New Shepard reusable space vehicle that took off from a launchpad in West Texas.

It was also the first time in the history of the Media Lab that in-house research projects were launched into space, for several minutes of sustained microgravity. The results of that research may have big implications for semiconductor manufacturing, art and telepresence, architecture and farming, among other things.

“The projects we’re testing operate fundamentally different in Earth’s gravity compared to how they would operate in microgravity,” explained Ariel Ekblaw, the founder and lead of the Media Lab’s Space Exploration Initiative.

Previously, the Media Lab sent projects into microgravity aboard the plane used by NASA to train astronauts, lovingly nicknamed “the vomit comet.” These parabolic flights provide repeated 15 to 30 second intervals of near weightlessness. The New Shepard experiment capsule will coast in microgravity for significantly longer and cross the Karman line (the formal boundary of “space”) in the process. While that may not seem like much time, it’s enough to get a lot accomplished.

“The capsule where the research takes place arcs through space for three minutes, which gives us precious moments of sustained, high quality microgravity,” Ekblaw said. “This provides an opportunity to expand our experiments from prior parabolic flight protocols, and test entirely new research as well.”

Depending on the results of the experiments done during New Shepard’s flight, some of the projects will undergo further, long-term research aboard the International Space Station, Ekblaw said.

On this trip, she sent Tessellated Electromagnetic Space Structures for the Exploration of Reconfigurable, Adaptive Environments, otherwise known as TESSERAE, into space. The ultimate goal for these sensor-augmented hexagonal and pentagonal “tiles” is to autonomously self-assemble into space structures. These flexible, reconfigurable modules can then be used for habitat construction, in-space assembly of satellites, or even as infrastructure for parabolic mirrors. Ekblaw hopes TESSERAE will one day support in-orbit staging bases for human exploration of the surface of the moon or Mars, or enable low Earth orbit space tourism.

An earlier prototype, flown on a parabolic flight in November 2017, validated the research concept mechanical structure, polarity arrangement of bonding magnets, and the self-assembly physical protocol. On the Blue Origin flight, Ekblaw is testing a new embedded sensor network in the tiles, as well as their communication architecture and guidance control aspects of their self-assembly capabilities. “We’re testing whether they’ll autonomously circulate, find correct neighbors, and bond together magnetically in microgravity for robust self-assembly,” Ekblaw said.

Another experiment aboard New Shepard combined art with the test of a tool for future space exploration — traversing microgravity with augmented mobility. Living Distance, an artwork conceived by the Space Exploration Initiative’s art curator, Xin Liu, explores freedom of movement via a wisdom tooth — yes, you read that correctly!

The tooth traveled to space carried by a robotic device named EBIFA and encased in a crystalline container. Once New Shepard entered space, the container burst open and EBIFA swung into action, shooting cords out with magnetic tips to latch onto a metal surface. The tooth then floated through space with minimal interference in the virtually zero-gravity environment.

“In this journey, the tooth became a newborn entity in space, its crystalline, sculptural body and life supported by an electromechanical system,” Xin Liu wrote. “Each of its weightless movements was carefully calculated on paper and modeled in simulation software, as there can never be a true test like this on Earth.”

The piece builds on a performance art work called Orbit Weaver that Liu performed last year during a parabolic flight, where she was physically tethered to a nylon cord that floated freely and attached to nearby surfaces. Orbit Weaver and Living Distance may offer insights to future human space explorers about how best to navigate weightlessness.

A piece of charcoal also made the trip to space inside a chamber lined with drawing paper, part of a project designed by Ani Liu, a Media Lab alumna. In microgravity, the charcoal will chart its own course inside the chamber, marking the paper as it floats through an arc far above the Earth.

When the chamber returns to the Media Lab, the charcoal will join forces with a KUKA robot that will mimic the charcoal’s trajectory during the three-ish minutes of coasting in microgravity. Together, the charcoal and the robot will become a museum exhibit that provides a demonstration of motion in microgravity to a broad audience and illustrates the Space Exploration Initiative’s aim to democratize access to space and invite the public to engage in space exploration.

Harpreet Sareen, another Media Lab alum, tested how crystals form in microgravity, research that may eventually lead to manufacturing semiconductors in space.

Semiconductors used in today’s technology require crystals with extremely high levels of purity and perfect shapes, but gravity interferes with crystal growth on Earth, resulting in faults, contact stresses, and other flaws. Sareen and his collaborator, Anna Garbier, created a nano-sized lab in a box a little smaller than a half-gallon milk carton. The electric current that kicked off growth of the crystals during the three minutes the New Shepard capsule was suborbital was triggered by onboard rocket commands from Blue Origin.

The crystals will be evaluated for potential industrial applications, and they also have a future as an art installation: Floral Cosmonauts.

And then there are the 40 or so bees (one might say “apionauts”) that made the trip into space on behalf of the Mediated Matter group at the Media Lab, which is interested in seeing the impact space travel has on a queen bee and her retinue. Two queen bees that were inseminated at a U.S. Department of Agriculture facility in Louisiana went to space, each with roughly 20 attendant bees whose job it was to feed her and help control her body temperature.

The bees traveled via two small containers — metabolic support capsules — into which they previously built honeycomb structures. This unique design gives them a familiar environment for their trip. A modified GoPro camera, pointed into the specially designed container housing the bees, was fitted into the top of the case to film the insects and create a record of their behavior during flight.

Everything inside the case was designed to make the journey as comfortable as possible for the bees, right down to a tiny golden heating pad that was to kick into action if the temperature dropped too low for a queen bee’s comfort.

Researchers in the Mediated Matter group will study the behavior of the bees when they return to Earth and are reintroduced to a colony at the Media Lab. Will the queens lay their eggs? Will those eggs hatch? And can bees who’ve been to space continue making pollen and honey once they’ve returned to Earth? Those are among the many questions the team will be asking.

“We currently have no robotic alternative to bees for pollination of many crops,” Ekblaw said. “If we want to grow crops on Mars, we may need to bring bees with us. Knowing if they can survive a mission, reintegrate into the hive, and thrive afterwards is critical.”

As these projects show, the Space Exploration Initiative unites engineers, scientists, artists, and designers across a multifaceted research portfolio. The team looks forward to a regular launch cadence and progressing through microgravity research milestones — from parabolic flights, to further launch opportunities with Blue Origin, to the International Space Station and even lunar landings.

Six suborbital research payloads from MIT fly to space and back syndicated from https://osmowaterfilters.blogspot.com/

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