NASA launched a lunar lander from Cape Canaveral last month, but the rocket booster was not from the well-known and often-used SpaceX.
United Launch Alliance (ULA), owned by Lockheed Martin and Boeing, was formed in 2005 to make rockets. They dominated the market for almost a decade, charging NASA over $400 million per launch. NASA contracted with them in 2013 for 28 launches, but SpaceX protested, offering a price of just $90 million using their Falcon 9.
A major restructuring of ULA followed with the goal being to cut its launch pricing in half so that it could compete, but the company was still in danger of bankruptcy by 2015. They asked for $1+ billion from the US Air Force to help them develop a new rocket called the Vulcan. Today that rocket provides 22,000 jobs across the country.
Jumping over the intervening years, last month's launch was delivered by ULA's brand new rocket, the Vulcan Centaur, at a price to NASA of $108 million for its five payloads.
I still have questions about ULA. If I find answers, I'll continue this.
Superstar Elon Musk dominates public attention whenever SpaceX makes news. He founded the company, but he doesn't actually run it anymore. Elon gets headlines, but there's an engineer who runs it.
Gwynne Shotwell is President and Chief Operating Officer of SpaceX.
Space operations used to be the domain of governments only. But now there's a big private sector. In the private, non-government space business, there's no more important name than Gwynne Shotwell, President and Chief Operating Officer of SpaceX.
Kennedy Space Center on the Atlantic coast of Florida will open a new 50,000 square foot attraction next March. NASA calls it "Gateway: The Deep Space Launch Complex."
New goals for space travel were set during the last administration, including missions both to the moon and to Mars. With attention again on space travel, the new Gateway will simulate what that's going to be like with multiple guest experiences.
At "Spaceport KSC" you'll enter a galactic airport of the future. You'll hear atmospheric airport chatter, watch launches and landings through the windows, and view destination promo videos. You can then board a spaceship (2-story 4D flying theater) for one of four different journeys.
On the second floor you'll get up close to an actual (SpaceX) Falcon 9 rocket booster which launched a satellite in 2016 and was a side booster on the first Falcon Heavy launch in 2018. Watch its arrival on site:
"Featuring a comprehensive collection of modern-day spacecraft, Gateway will offer the opportunity to explore the future of space travel in a way never before possible."
from Space
So remote that fresh water is trucked in, Boca Chica is - or was - a sleepy, unincorporated little community in Texas. Residents like the quiet life there near the shore of the Gulf of Mexico, at Texas' southern tip, with no shops or amenities.
A new neighbor wanted to move to Boca Chica in 2012, a newcomer so significant that a public meeting was called. SpaceX wanted to build its own launch site there for twelve launches per year of the Falcon 9 -- just a little noise 12x/year.
SpaceX broke ground in 2014 and Boca Chica will never be the same. Residents make a hobby of watching the rocket company and taking pictures. Federal regulations required a level of safety around the site, so checkpoints were set up to stop anyone who wasn't on the list of property owners from getting close.
As you know, SpaceX is way beyond Falcon 9 now. All testing of their new Starship is done here, the one that is designed to take 100 people at a time to Mars. It's much bigger, there's a lot of construction, and the new neighbor is looking pretty burly.
from The Atlantic
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(cont'd from yesterday's post)
What if airplanes were not re-usable, what if they were destroyed after every flight? It would be so expensive to fly to your destination that you would be lucky to fly once ever in your life.
It used to be that way with space launches. Up until recently, a brand new rocket had to be built for every single launch. SpaceX was first to put a rocket into orbit and return it safely for another flight, a huge cost savings.
From the beginning, this was the SpaceX vision. They've done it with Falcon 9 over 300 times, and Starship will be reusable as well. It's a game changer, no question: a spaceship to transport people safely in space, usable again and again like an airplane. It will take NASA astronauts to the moon (Artemis mission).
Starship will also carry cargo. The price to get your satellite or experiment into space will drop something like ten-fold. NASA's old Space Shuttle had to charge $25,000 per pound of payload. Starship will probably be able to charge about $1500 per pound.
from Business Insider
