Quote from: Avron on 03/02/2014 11:33 pmI wonder how come there is no activity here.. with engine needs and what the supply line looks like going forwardWhat's there to say? No news from an engineering perspective. The politics needs to stay in the politics section.
I wonder how come there is no activity here.. with engine needs and what the supply line looks like going forward
"If", a big if, there are no more Ukrainian tanks coming, what affect would that have on schedule? If the decades-old engines being rebuilt need spares, are they accounted for or will there be one less engine as it's turned into parts? How "fixed" is the contract for the Italian SV and off-the-shelf solid uppers, specifically could they be delayed or cancelled if there's nothing to put them on? Could this be a catalyst for turning this imported and assembled rocket into a domestically produced one?
Orbital Sciences Examining 2-3 Russian Alternatives to Antares’ AJ-26 Enginehttp://www.spacenews.com/article/launch-report/39715orbital-sciences-examining-2-3-russian-alternatives-to-antares%E2%80%99-aj-26
Just went on a trip to interview at Orbital with Launch Systems Group. Got to see the avionics flight units with the avionics ring for a couple of the upcoming Antares flights. Surprised they let me just walk around (with accompaniment) all the flight hardware being assembled. No clean room either. Was really cool. No pictures of course, they take away your cell phone upon entering.Also, apparently there isn't much worry about the Ukraine situation yet (at least among the lower level people that I talked to).And I'll leave it at that as not sure what I'm allowed to repeat (without risking possible employment).
ULA maybe woke up and realized that having another user for the engine may help the business case for domestic production.
What about the stage itself? If they choose a US-built motor, are they still going to source the stage from Ukraine? What if the factory ends up annexed by Russia?
Quote from: Halidon on 04/21/2014 10:32 pmWhat about the stage itself? If they choose a US-built motor, are they still going to source the stage from Ukraine? What if the factory ends up annexed by Russia?This is a purely commercial rocket that barely makes the US built percentage. If Yuzhnoye is annexed by Russia, they'd be happy since that would give them immediate access to the Russian government market. And keeping the tooling working would probably make them keep a very special price for Orbital. Of course that's always the chance that some of the SLS tank researches (one is even RP-1/LOX composite out of autoclave common bulkhead) might be offered. But of course that would be an Antares II. And for that they would need an actual demand for such a rocket. As it is, they have something like one year to actually get all the necessary tanks for the CRS-1 contract.
Please don't forget T/W and isp. Antares relies on a 130:1 T/W and SC isp. You can't use gas generators and get the same performance. Not even a scaled Merlin 1D.
Quote from: baldusi on 04/22/2014 02:26 pmPlease don't forget T/W and isp. Antares relies on a 130:1 T/W and SC isp. You can't use gas generators and get the same performance. Not even a scaled Merlin 1D.Don't fall into the "isp uber alles" philosophy. Of course a different engine could be used. Just add power, and stretch the tanks. The primary performance that actually matters is how much payload is put in the desired orbit. Isp and T/W are secondary to that.