****ing Russians
The commies tested an anti-satellite weapon last week that puts the ISS in peril. Other countries, including the US, have done similar tests but what makes this particularly outrageous is that they choose to destroy a satellite in a very used orbital range. The US and India did similar tests but the target satellites were in low orbits such that the debris burned up within weeks. China's test was at 800km which doesn't have a lot of traffic but as that stuff decays over decades it will pass through critical orbits. The fcvking Russians destroyed a satellite that f's up the range between 420-550km. This stretches from the orbit of the ISS to the orbits of internet satellites such as Starlink. The Russians are either very stupid or something worse.
****ing Bean Counters
The OIG released it's report on NASA's management of Artemis. Basically they aren't a fan. They believe NASA will be years late in delivering warm bodies to the moon. Among many things they site the use of cost-plus contracts and expendable designs as somewhat responsible and they lean heavy into COVID delays. But basically they laugh at NASA's estimates noting previous performance and a sever lack of accounting. They estimate the cost of each SLS launch at over $4B. That does not include the $20B development costs. I wonder how this is going to play out in public when NASA is throwing billion dollar rockets in the ocean while SpaceX is reusing 100 million dollar rockets.
Some Good News (SpaceX edition)
The FAA has said they will wrap up their environmental assessment by the end of the year. Elon says November will be for finishing the orbital launch facility, December for booster testing, and an orbital test as early as January. But add your Elon-Time factor as desired.
Some Weird News (SpaceX edition)
Elon let a tweet fly that generated more questions than answers. About development of Raptor 2 (an improved, clean version of Raptor 1) he said that a new engine, not named Raptor, will have to be developed to make humanity multi planetary. Immediately we wondered if that meant going back to square one with engine testing. It appears that they will continue with Raptor 2, which will presumably be built in the new Texas factory. So Raptor 2 will be used for cargo and Starlink deployment and fuel depots and the HLS moon missions. And probably even the first trips to Mars. So we don't know why the need for a new engine. Is it because of producibility? Elon often complains that manufacturing is the hardest part. Have they discovered some flaw in Raptor that makes it unacceptable. Or have they discovered a way to vastly improve the Raptor design. You can't get much more ISP out of methane so maybe a huge boost in thrust? Or maybe they're going nuclear.
Some Good News (Dream Chaser edition)
Sierra Nevada (Space) received $1.4B in Series A funding. With that money they will be able to fast track crewed Dream Chaser to 2025. Crew Dream Chaser is part of Blue's Orbital Reef Station concept. Since Cargo Dream Chaser will be docking with the ISS so will Crew be capable. Which means it will also be capable of docking with Axiom's commercial station. Lifting Bodies rock.
Some Good News (Astra edition)
Astra, the little rocket company that gave us the walking rocket, has successfully launched a dummy payload to orbit as part of a demo before launching an actual payload. Good fer them.
Some Good News (Rocket Lab edition)
After a successful satellite deployment Rocket Lab stationed a helicopter in the recovery zone offshore to track and observe the descending stage. In the future RL will catch the first stage with the helicopter as it descends under parachute.