The second stage is inside the fairing, isn't it? How could it possibly ignite before fairing separation?
Just noticed this from the AONE-Mission Overview PDF.The fairing is jettisoned BEFORE second stage ignition while the stack is in freefall. Why is this supperior to jettison while accelerating? There is excess capacity being trimmed as gravity losses in the adjustable duration of the long coast. Why not start accelerating earlier and jettison a few seconds later while the acceration can help the fairing halves depart?
Quote from: Kryten on 04/08/2013 11:16 pm The second stage is inside the fairing, isn't it? How could it possibly ignite before fairing separation?Comga means during 1st stage flight
Quote from: Silmfeanor on 04/08/2013 11:19 pmQuote from: Kryten on 04/08/2013 11:16 pm The second stage is inside the fairing, isn't it? How could it possibly ignite before fairing separation?Comga means during 1st stage flightIt is an intersting set of system choices. Many are the polar opposites of "the other CRS provider."
I was wondering exactly how large of a payload Antares could deliver to GTO. My thinking was that Orbital could be a "single-source" supplier
I was wondering exactly how large of a payload Antares could deliver to GTO. My thinking was that Orbital could be a "single-source" supplier that eventually they would be a one-stop shop where Intelsat or SES would purchase a SAT with X amount of transpoders, and Orbital could put that into the correct orbit using Antares. It looks like a SAT the size of SES-8 is about 3.5 mT, so that's probably out of their range at the moment.