Main Engine Cut OffThese numbers are getting more and more unbelievable by the day. The Intelsat-OneWeb merger is very interesting to follow, too. Hot on the heels of the big investment OneWeb received back in December, the merger gives them more resources, knowledge, experience, and a customer-base. That’s a pretty good mixture.
It’s somewhat of a lackluster response to all the excitement this past week to say “Oh yeah? Well we’re lobbying for the obvious next step of Commercial Cargo!”
To me this reads a lot like Blue Origin isn’t quite ready to talk about any additional plans, but wanted to make their voice heard alongside SpaceX. As I said on this week’s podcast, none of the old insiders (Boeing, Lockheed, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Orbital ATK, …) are going to invite SpaceX and Blue Origin into their club. They have to insert themselves into these conversations, and will inevitably ruffle some feathers doing it.
Architectures like these could flourish with the budget levels that SLS and Orion receive. Things are coming to a head now with the NASA exploration program, and it’s hard to say where it will go. No matter what, the next few years are going to be thrilling.
This week is all about #hotdrama, with two surprise media briefings: one from NASA on a potential crewed EM-1, and one from SpaceX on a privately-crewed journey around the Moon—riding on a Dragon 2 and Falcon Heavy—at the end of 2018. I discuss the implications of both, and go on a rant about SpaceX and “focus.” This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 5 executive producers—Pat, Matt, Jorge, Brad, and one anonymous—and 34 other supporters on Patreon.
A perfect Florida sky, the blending of past and future hardware with the weathered Fixed Service Structure and SpaceX’s brand-new transporter-erector, the sleek-as-ever Falcon 9 complete with landing legs…the absolute beauty of this photo is endless.
Our old friend u/Death_Cog_unit posted some photos over on r/spacex of the ITS composite tank back in port after its most recent test outing. This time, it came back in pieces.
A Falcon Heavy side booster was seen outside SpaceX HQ wrapped and ready to hit the road. On the ITS front, the composite tank was seen on the move in Anacortes, WA.
It took a while for this to be announced officially. I talked with Mike Johnson, Chief Designer at NanoRacks, back in September about the airlock project (among a lot of other very interesting topics) and he said on the podcast that they were all set on the NASA side and were about to start finding a launch slot.
CRS-10 has been set as the first SpaceX launch from 39A, with pad renovations taking longer than expected. EchoStar 23 will be launched after CRS-10.
SpaceX added over 40,000 square feet of space in Redmond, Washington, where their satellite internet operation is based.