SpaceX's Rising Tide - Discussion of non-SpaceX launch companies

[ecarfan]

Personally, I doubt it was SpaceX's intention to target Rocketlab but they will be impacted nonetheless.

Sure, every small sat launch company is impacted by what SpaceX announced. It’s business. SpaceX wants to boost revenue and try to ensure all those Block 5 boosters are thoroughly used.

As I understand it, there is a market for individual small sat launches for specific orbits and use cases. But as been clear for some time now, there is no way the myriad number of small sat launch startup companies that haven’t even put anything into orbit yet have a viable future. This new announcement from SpaceX may signal the end of the line for most of those companies.

I hope Rocket Lab survives. I like their rocket and their Kiwi “can do” attitude!

 

[bxr140]

The annual smallsat conference is this week. Rocket lab has their Photon here, which is cool, but firefly wins both replay porn.

 

[Grendal]

Rocketlab is going to attempt reusability!!!

 

[Cosmacelf]

Well that was an interesting live presentation. Rocket Labs will attempt reuseability at some point in the future.

I'm kinda worried about their pricing though. From Rocket Lab's wikipedia page: "The vehicle is capable of delivering payloads of 150 kg to a 500 km Sun-synchronous orbit,[40] the target range for the growing small satellite market. The projected cost is less than US$5 million per launch."

That is double the cost of what SpaceX announced yesterday: SpaceX

 

[Grendal]

Well that was an interesting live presentation. Rocket Labs will attempt reuseability at some point in the future.

I'm kinda worried about their pricing though. From Rocket Lab's wikipedia page: "The vehicle is capable of delivering payloads of 150 kg to a 500 km Sun-synchronous orbit,[40] the target range for the growing small satellite market. The projected cost is less than US$5 million per launch."

That is double the cost of what SpaceX announced yesterday: SpaceX

True. However, Rocketlab offers a monthly launch currently and potentially a weekly launch. Also the ability to pick your orbit. So versatility as well.

 

[Grendal]

 

[ecarfan]

Interesting. As I understand it, the Electron rocket is mainly carbon fiber and the dry weight is about 3,000 lbs? (Searched but can’t find the exact weight). So it is light enough that a properly designed drogue chute and main chute can slow it down to a speed where the helicopter can snag it and then carry it. I didn’t see any indication in that video of the stage’s rockets firing to slow it down.

If Electron can pull that off, could it lower their per kg payload launch cost below the new pricing that SpaceX just announced for shared small sat launches, or at least be competitive? Maybe.

 

[Grendal]

Interesting. As I understand it, the Electron rocket is mainly carbon fiber and the dry weight is about 3,000 lbs? (Searched but can’t find the exact weight). So it is light enough that a properly designed drogue chute and main chute can slow it down to a speed where the helicopter can snag it and then carry it. I didn’t see any indication in that video of the stage’s rockets firing to slow it down.

If Electron can pull that off, could it lower their per kg payload launch cost below the new pricing that SpaceX just announced for shared small sat launches, or at least be competitive? Maybe.

The engines won't fire at all. The testing the CEO discussed is all about having it survive reentry and have the atmosphere slow the booster enough to allow for the chutes to deploy. Electron has no extra fuel or battery supply to allow for an engine firing. So it will either work - or it won't. They'll lose a number of boosters during the process but it would be amazing if they pull it off.

 

[ecarfan]

Electron has no extra fuel or battery supply to allow for an engine firing.

Oh right, since the Rutherford engines require electricity, and the batteries are jettisoned when the first stage separates, they can’t restart the engines.

I will be very impressed if Electron can recover the booster with just chutes and a helicopter.​

 

[Nikxice]

Teslarati has published an informative article on the recovery issues Electron engineers are attempting to conquer. Without the ability to execute a re-entry burn their most serious challenge will be diverting shockwaves of plasma to avoid destroying the booster. They're referring to it as breaking through "The Wall". According to Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck, the parachute catch is "super easy".
SpaceX's Falcon 9 may soon have company as Rocket Lab reveals plans for Electron rocket reuse

 

[EVCollies]

Scott Manley explains very well on his YouTube channel:

 

[Grendal]

Oh right, since the Rutherford engines require electricity, and the batteries are jettisoned when the first stage separates, they can’t restart the engines.

I will be very impressed if Electron can recover the booster with just chutes and a helicopter.​

Actually, two corrections. Electron drops the batteries on the second stage, not the booster stage. So they would recover the batteries and the engines as well as the entire booster stage. And two, Electron is an entire magnitude lighter than a Falcon 9. In fact, the booster is not much more heavy than one of the fairing halves of the Falcon 9. So in some ways it will be easier than the fairings to catch since the booster isn't lifting body shaped. The major hurdle is surviving reentry. I'm not exactly sure how they will control reentry without grid fins or some sort of guidance fins. They'll probably need some PICA-X in just the right spot to avoid burning up if they do maintain control during the reentry process. It's going to be very interesting and I really hope they pull it off.

 

[Grendal]

Tim Dodd, the Everyday Astronaut, also gives his take on Electron reusability.

 

[bxr140]

Form a good news, bad news perspective:

The Chinese (Linkspace) are landing demo rockets:
Chinese Linkspace reaches 300 meters with launch and landing test - SpaceNews.com

But Vector is falling on hard times:
Vector replaces CEO, suspends operations amid financial problems - SpaceNews.com

 

[bxr140]

Beyond the obvious, which is that internet constellations are finding it hard to secure funding with the impeding Starlink juggernaut, there's some good stuff in here on the chess game of being a space startup.

LeoSat, absent investors, shuts down - SpaceNews.com

 

[bxr140]

Little, dry, but: FAA approves commercial space office reorganization - SpaceNews.com

TLDR: The Man realizes The System is not compatible with future launch rates; re-org initiated to be more responsive.

 

[HVM]

Peter Beck‏ @Peter_J_Beck
"All payloads deployed, 100% mission success! Stage 1 Recovery was better than expected. More on that soon."

 

[ecarfan]

What does Peter Beck mean by “Electron made it through wall”? Does he mean the transition from supersonic to subsonic during the stage descent?

 

[HVM]

What does Peter Beck mean by “Electron made it through wall”? Does he mean the transition from supersonic to subsonic during the stage descent?

Yes, here is the video of the reusability plan. I tried to find tweets where the wall metaphor is explained, but Twitter's usability/search function is just awful.

 

[bxr140]

What does Peter Beck mean by “Electron made it through wall”? Does he mean the transition from supersonic to subsonic during the stage descent?

Its a reference to surviving the extreme heat during the re-entry phase--and specifically to the point where they believe the equipment can be reused.

Electron launches smallsats in test of rocket reusability - SpaceNews.com