Main Engine Cut OffRapid Agile Launch Initiative
I was on a call earlier this week with US Air Force officials talking about the Rapid Agile Launch Initiative (RALI), which is the program handling the acquisition of new small launch vehicles.
346 results for “SpaceX”
T+114: EM-1 Hot Drama with Eric Berger
Eric Berger of Ars Technica joins me to talk about the latest in SLS Hot Drama: the 2020 budget request and a Bridenstine appearance in the Senate that might just go down in history. This week, NASA has proposed flying the three prime missions of SLS on commercial vehicles, setting the stage for an interesting few months of politics and engineering, and introducing some serious questions about the future of SLS.
SpaceX’s First Dedicated Starlink Launch Set for May
The downrange distance for landing suggests that the launch will carry quite a payload.
T+111: SpaceX, the Established Launch Provider
A tale of politics, protests, and contracts tells the story of how SpaceX is in transition—and maybe has already transitioned—from a scrappy upstart to an established launch provider.
Air Force Awards EELV Phase-1A-6 Contracts
Big news from the Air Force, with 3 launch contracts going to each provider for the 2021–22 timeframe.
NASA Looking to Buy Two More Soyuz Seats, Even Though They Always Say It’s Too Late to Do That
This is obviously a bad look for NASA, Boeing, SpaceX, and Congress, but it’s smart to have Soyuz overlap with the early Commercial Crew flights, just in case. However, let’s not forget the constant fearmongering from Bill Gerstenmaier and other NASA officials about how it’s too late to buy more Soyuz seats.
SpaceX Protests Lucy Launch Contract
It’ll be endlessly interesting to see how this turns out, but now is precisely the right time for SpaceX to protest an award like this. They’re fresh off their Category 3 certification from the NASA Launch Services Program, they’re on a hell of a roll, and ULA has had quite a few scrubs and some long delays of late.
T+110: Starship, New Glenn, and RS1 Updates
ABL Space Systems announced some changes to RS1, Blue Origin broke ground in Huntsville and signed a new customer, and SpaceX has been making steady progress on Starship.
California Space Mafia Needles the Air Force
This shit is as annoying as when the Alabama Space Mafia does the same sort of thing.
Wyler’s Wafers
A $200–300 user terminal like this is the critical technology piece for OneWeb, SpaceX’s Starlink, and the like. Their business case would be near a complete collapse without it.