Moderators: richierich, ua900, PanAm_DC10, hOMSaR
N328KF wrote:ESA has several Galileo launches coming up that no longer have rides. Could this easily be done by SpaceX, or would the EU not even consider it? (ExoMars is now an even bigger problem.)
Francoflier wrote:It would be cool to see ESA use Falcon 9 for the Galileo sats however. They'd probably save money too...
mxaxai wrote:Francoflier wrote:It would be cool to see ESA use Falcon 9 for the Galileo sats however. They'd probably save money too...
Money that would not go to Arianespace ... From a European politics perspective, launching with SpaceX would be bad PR. It would signal "we're dependent on other superpowers to provide basic space services" and "we're unwilling to support our own launch providers in times of crisis".
N328KF wrote:mxaxai wrote:Money that would not go to Arianespace ... From a European politics perspective, launching with SpaceX would be bad PR. It would signal "we're dependent on other superpowers to provide basic space services" and "we're unwilling to support our own launch providers in times of crisis".
Do you really think that sort of signaling or cooperation would be so bad given events?
mxaxai wrote:Francoflier wrote:It would be cool to see ESA use Falcon 9 for the Galileo sats however. They'd probably save money too...
Money that would not go to Arianespace ... From a European politics perspective, launching with SpaceX would be bad PR. It would signal "we're dependent on other superpowers to provide basic space services" and "we're unwilling to support our own launch providers in times of crisis".
Francoflier wrote:Musk, in his usual trolling/PR-seeking ways, responded to threats by Russia of abandoning the ISS (and letting it crash over the US or Europe ) by saying that SpaceX would step up to the plate:
https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-mu ... ats-2022-2
FGITD wrote:Logistically I’m sure it would be a huge hassle and probably not worth it, but really other than money and National pride, what’s to stop ESA from telling SpaceX that they want to launch their own astronauts on SpaceX hardware?
Francoflier wrote:FGITD wrote:Logistically I’m sure it would be a huge hassle and probably not worth it, but really other than money and National pride, what’s to stop ESA from telling SpaceX that they want to launch their own astronauts on SpaceX hardware?
ESA has already launched astronauts on SpaceX hardware.
FGITD wrote:Francoflier wrote:FGITD wrote:Logistically I’m sure it would be a huge hassle and probably not worth it, but really other than money and National pride, what’s to stop ESA from telling SpaceX that they want to launch their own astronauts on SpaceX hardware?
ESA has already launched astronauts on SpaceX hardware.
Oh yes, I understand that. What I mean is to do so through their own facilities, crewed entirely by ESA astronauts. Totally independent, not going via NASA at all
flyingturtle wrote:SpaceX purchased oil rigs, and has moved them to Pascagoula to be refitted into the Deimos and Phobos launch platforms.
But to launch something from an offshore platform, the rokkit needs to be fueled.
Has SpaceX already purchased a fuel farm tanker?
N328KF wrote:Because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, OneWeb is moving all future launches to Falcon 9. Seems like that SpaceX's ability to reuse broomsticks is paying off.
https://oneweb.net/resources/oneweb-res ... ent-spacex
ReverseFlow wrote:Interestingly OneWeb are using SpaceX even though they are the competition with Starlink.
But I guess there aren't many rides in town!
GDB wrote:I think that Musk does not see One Web as a real threat to Starlink,
ReverseFlow wrote:Interestingly OneWeb are using SpaceX even though they are the competition with Starlink.
But I guess there aren't many rides in town!
ThePointblank wrote:ReverseFlow wrote:Interestingly OneWeb are using SpaceX even though they are the competition with Starlink.
But I guess there aren't many rides in town!
Gwynne Shotwell is on record as saying SpaceX will launch a payload for any customer at list price, regardless if they are a competitor.
ThePointblank wrote:ReverseFlow wrote:Interestingly OneWeb are using SpaceX even though they are the competition with Starlink.
But I guess there aren't many rides in town!
Gwynne Shotwell is on record as saying SpaceX will launch a payload for any customer at list price, regardless if they are a competitor.
kurtverbose wrote:ThePointblank wrote:ReverseFlow wrote:Interestingly OneWeb are using SpaceX even though they are the competition with Starlink.
But I guess there aren't many rides in town!
Gwynne Shotwell is on record as saying SpaceX will launch a payload for any customer at list price, regardless if they are a competitor.
I look at the very late BE-4 engine for ULA and think would ULA go to SpaceX as an alternative supplier, and if they did would SpaceX sell to them?
ssteve wrote:kurtverbose wrote:ThePointblank wrote:Gwynne Shotwell is on record as saying SpaceX will launch a payload for any customer at list price, regardless if they are a competitor.
I look at the very late BE-4 engine for ULA and think would ULA go to SpaceX as an alternative supplier, and if they did would SpaceX sell to them?
SpaceX providing launch services to all comers including StarLink competitors is something that, I'd think, keeps them out of anticompetitive hot water. Because they already sell this service.
SpaceX selling products that it does not otherwise sell is less likely to be something they would do to avoid antitrust regulators. Conceivably if SpaceX were the only launch provider in the world, you could argue that it could be trustbusted, but that's a longer game than simply not kicking the hornets nest on purpose.
kurtverbose wrote:ssteve wrote:kurtverbose wrote:
I look at the very late BE-4 engine for ULA and think would ULA go to SpaceX as an alternative supplier, and if they did would SpaceX sell to them?
SpaceX providing launch services to all comers including StarLink competitors is something that, I'd think, keeps them out of anticompetitive hot water. Because they already sell this service.
SpaceX selling products that it does not otherwise sell is less likely to be something they would do to avoid antitrust regulators. Conceivably if SpaceX were the only launch provider in the world, you could argue that it could be trustbusted, but that's a longer game than simply not kicking the hornets nest on purpose.
But there's no way ULA can compete with SpaceX with the Vulcan Centaur.
I think SpaceX would see it as a revenue opportunity if they had spare production slots / engineering capacity, which they may not have.
ThePointblank wrote:At this very late stage, it would be extremely difficult for ULA to switch engines. For better or for worse, they are stuck with Blue Origin unless they want to completely scrap everything they've done up until now.
SpaceX ending production of flagship crew capsule
March 28 (Reuters) - SpaceX has ended production of new Crew Dragon astronaut capsules, a company executive told Reuters, as Elon Musk's space transportation company heaps resources on its next-generation spaceship program.
Capping the fleet at four Crew Dragons adds more urgency to the development of the astronaut capsule's eventual successor, Starship, SpaceX's moon and Mars rocket. Starship's debut launch has been delayed for months by engine development hurdles and regulatory reviews.
It also poses new challenges as the company learns how to maintain a fleet and quickly fix unexpected problems without holding up a busy schedule of astronaut missions.
"We are finishing our final (capsule), but we still are manufacturing components, because we'll be refurbishing," SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell told Reuters, confirming the plan to end Crew Dragon manufacturing.
Francoflier wrote:The Axiom-1 mission just launched successfully. 4 tourists are on the way to the ISS for a 10 day stay with full board.
It was a nice feed including - for once - a clear and uninterrupted view of the first stage landing from both the booster and the droneship... Nice.
B1062 was on its 5th flight, which makes it the booster with the most cycles to launch a manned mission.
B1067 will launch NASA's Crew-4 mission later this month on its 4th flight.
Confidence in the flight-proven boosters is definitely increasing.
The Crew Dragon capsule (C206, the first Dragon to fly humans to the ISS) was on its 3rd launch.
zanl188 wrote:Axiom-1 just docked at ISS. Docking delayed by communications difficulties. Dragon voice comms were getting cut off, resolved by crew delaying speech after pushing talk switch. Then ISS crew was not receiving Dragon centerline camera views, resolved by waiting for a pass over a SpaceX ground station then routing video to the ground and sending to ISS.
zanl188 wrote:Axiom-1 just docked at ISS. Docking delayed by communications difficulties. Dragon voice comms were getting cut off, resolved by crew delaying speech after pushing talk switch. Then ISS crew was not receiving Dragon centerline camera views, resolved by waiting for a pass over a SpaceX ground station then routing video to the ground and sending to ISS.
GDB wrote:Good launch, the NRO originally mandated that only new boosters be used, however they relented and this one used the same booster as the previous NRO two months ago.
zanl188 wrote:GDB wrote:Good launch, the NRO originally mandated that only new boosters be used, however they relented and this one used the same booster as the previous NRO two months ago.
Leads me to wonder if there will be unique documentation or inspections for boosters used in NRO missions. Or if boosters will be fenced off for the NRO. Stay tuned!
GDB wrote:I understand that they are happy using ‘their’ boosters!
An accommodation given the proven reliability of the Falcon and saving tax $?
After SpaceX sent Starlink terminals to Ukraine in February in an apparent effort to help Ukraine maintain its internet connection amid war with Russia, SpaceX founder Elon Musk claimed that Russia had jammed Starlink terminals in the country for hours at a time. After a software update, Starlink was operating normally, said Musk, who added on March 25 that the constellation had “resisted all hacking & jamming attempts” in Ukraine.