Main Engine Cut OffFour months ago, we heard about the tricky situation Inmarsat is in with this satellite. It’s not a big surprise that they switched, and while it’s a bad look for SpaceX, it’s not that big of a deal. Yet.
Tory Bruno took to the stage to announce RocketBuilder, their new way to market and sell Atlas V launch services. I discuss my initial thoughts about it and what the announcement means for ULA going forward in the commercial market.
The announcement didn’t contain breaking news or mind-blowing visions of the future, but that doesn’t mean it was entirely inconsequential. It showed that ULA is learning how to speak to the market, and they’re finding new ways to reach out to potential customers. We’ll see just how many customers they get out of this effort, but their improved messaging should not go unnoticed.
Marcia Smith of SpacePolicyOnline.com got her hands on a draft of the upcoming NASAÂ authorization act.
A website alone won’t attract more customers, so it’s tough to read the tea leaves and say what exactly is transformative about the announcement. But the existence of the announcement alone shows how much of an effort ULA is making towards becoming competitive in commercial launch services.
Next week will be very interesting to watch. Keep an eye out for any and all decisions coming out of Lucerne, Switzerland.
Electron is to one-month increments as Falcon Heavy is to six.
This is an interesting development that could point a few directions.
Friday afternoon before a holiday: the time to bury press releases. I’m not sure why SpaceX buried this particular update since the news is encouraging.
It’s important to keep the budgets of NASA and other governmental agencies in context: NASA is spending billions per year on Orion’s development. Roscosmos is spending an average of $122 million per year on Federation.