NASA and the Private Sector - Page 54

WASHINGTON – SpaceX and the U.S. Air Force will enter mediation later this month to resolve a lawsuit SpaceX filed contesting an $11 billion sole-source contract the Air Force gave United Launch Alliance to produce enough rocket cores to launch dozens of military satellites, according to court documents filed Jan. 13.

The new documents also raise questions about when the Air Force will make its first competitive launch contract award in nearly 15 years.

SpaceX filed a lawsuit April 28 asking the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to void a large portion of the deal, under which the Air Force ordered 36 rocket cores from ULA on a sole-source basis. Both the U.S. Department of Justice, representing the Air Force, and ULA have asked the court to dismiss the case.

In a Jan. 13 order, Judge Susan Braden denied ULA’s motion to dismiss and said SpaceX and the Air Force would begin mediation this month.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla — One of the most anticipated flights of 2015 is still on track according to representatives from Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX ). The first flight of the company’s Falcon Heavy booster, is on track for a third quarter launch. SpaceFlight Insider spoke with SpaceX’s John Taylor to find out a bit more about what we can expect to see from the NewSpace firm’s latest offering.

Taylor, a spokesperson for the company was asked if the launch of the Falcon Heavy was still on track for this year. He confirmed it was and that both the vehicle and its launch site, historic Launch Complex 39A, located at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, were moving ahead with a launch date currently planned for sometime in the third quarter of 2015.

SpaceX is gearing up for two critical commercial crew tests involving its Dragon capsule in the coming months: a pad abort test in Florida, and an in-flight abort at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

The pad abort test will occur sometime between Feb. 10 and May 10 according to an application for special temporary authority (STA) that SpaceX has filed with the Federal Commission Commission. The STA is required for use of radio frequency during the test.

The application specifies a maximum altitude of 6,000 feet and a maximum downrange distance of three kilometers. SpaceX will conduct the test from Complex 40 of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

The STA application indicates this is an extension of an earlier FCC approval. SpaceX had earlier anticipated conducting the abort test no earlier than Nov. 20, 2014.

No date has been announced for the in-flight abort test at Vandenberg.

Delighted to share news of an incredibly exciting project that could transform the world: we are creating a new constellation of satellites to make high speed internet and telephony available to billions of people who don’t currently have access.

OneWeb Ltd will build, launch and operate the world’s largest ever satellite network. Virgin Galactic’s LauncherOne programme will help make it possible with frequent satellite launches at a much lower cost and with greater reliability.

Virgin Galactic has always planned to build a commercial spaceline that can create positive change back on earth. Well, both human spaceflight and the satellite constellation have the potential to transform lives in ways that almost no other companies have done before.

On January 19 2015 13:16 Millitron wrote:
Can anybody tell me why they want to land on a barge at sea?

Why not just pave a 1km x 1km square on land and land on that? Certainly thats much easier than landing on a tiny barge at sea.

The attempted landing was the latest in a series of tests by the company to demonstrate the ability to recover and reuse the first stage.

On January 19 2015 13:16 Millitron wrote:
Can anybody tell me why they want to land on a barge at sea?

Why not just pave a 1km x 1km square on land and land on that? Certainly thats much easier than landing on a tiny barge at sea.

On January 19 2015 14:40 dae wrote:


Most launches are over sea to reduce collateral damage if the rocket doesn't do what it is expected to do. This makes the only real place to land it being a barge in the sea, especially for ISS missions.

Google is close to investing in rocket maker SpaceX, according to several people familiar with the talks, creating a formidable alliance in Silicon Valley’s accelerating Internet space race.

The purpose of a deal, which is still in the works, is to support the development of SpaceX satellites that could beam low-cost Internet around the globe to billions who don’t have it.

The price and terms Google and SpaceX are discussing couldn’t be learned although one person familiar with them said Google has agreed to value SpaceX north of $10 billion and that the size of the total round, which includes other investors, is very large.