Jim what do you charge to launch a single cube sat?
We have a third party partner who is going to do this for us and it should be about 250K for a 3U cubesat
Quote from: Bananas_on_Mars on 07/25/2017 06:32 pmTheir workshop really doesn't look like i would think serious rocket manufacturing would look like...In the picture above i see at least 3 different angle grinders within 3m of flight hardware, none of them with a guard on it.And there's a cut-in-half bottle catching fluids dripping from the rocket, i guess.Compared to what we see from RocketLab, it's night and day.Yeah, but RocketLab is apparently valued at $1 billion dollars already. They also likely got hefty deposits for launches long in advance which really helped them. I personally love the garage build rocket devs. They are more inspiring to me and I think to the average person too. The mindset that only billionaires can do it is toxic to space progress and innovations. We barely just broke down the barrier that only governments can do it, so I really want one of the little guys to make it, and set down a blueprint for others to follow, so that mentality that you have to be a billionaire to do it doesn't become the next imaginary roadblock that sets in.
Their workshop really doesn't look like i would think serious rocket manufacturing would look like...In the picture above i see at least 3 different angle grinders within 3m of flight hardware, none of them with a guard on it.And there's a cut-in-half bottle catching fluids dripping from the rocket, i guess.Compared to what we see from RocketLab, it's night and day.
Bezo and Musk were not born billionaires. Musk has become a billionaire because of SpaceX and Tesla.
Quote from: ringsider on 07/25/2017 09:29 pmI genuinely think that some amateur teams like Copenhagen Suborbitals have a much higher grade of technology but for some reason people treat these guys like they already built a Saturn V and personally escorted Armstrong to the surface of the moon...I think the name Cantrell carries it pretty far, given he's associated with SpaceX, and "also played key roles in the development of Skybox Imaging (now Terra Bella) and has had developmental roles in numerous venture funded space efforts including Rocket Lab, Planet, Black Sky and Spaceflight."To an investor that's not an aerospace engineer through and through that's a big selling point. Given most of these VC's investments have been in software it seems.
I genuinely think that some amateur teams like Copenhagen Suborbitals have a much higher grade of technology but for some reason people treat these guys like they already built a Saturn V and personally escorted Armstrong to the surface of the moon...
Yeah, but RocketLab is apparently valued at $1 billion dollars already. They also likely got hefty deposits for launches long in advance which really helped them. I personally love the garage build rocket devs. They are more inspiring to me and I think to the average person too. The mindset that only billionaires can do it is toxic to space progress and innovations. We barely just broke down the barrier that only governments can do it, so I really want one of the little guys to make it, and set down a blueprint for others to follow, so that mentality that you have to be a billionaire to do it doesn't become the next imaginary roadblock that sets in.
Quote from: russianhalo117 on 07/25/2017 04:59 amQuote from: IanThePineapple on 07/25/2017 03:07 amQuote from: Lars-J on 07/25/2017 03:03 amBlock 0.002? This means that it will be another low altitude fixed engine flight, I presume?Since it's not another block 0.001 it's probably slightly upgraded from the previous model. Pure speculation though.Either that or they are going to do 999 test flights before they reach 1.0. It wouldn't surprise me at this point. Vector's fun-raising strategy is pretty novel, using every small launch as a fun-raising opportunity. Which may work fine for this upcoming launch... But eventually even the gullible investors will catch on if no real progress is demonstrated.
Quote from: IanThePineapple on 07/25/2017 03:07 amQuote from: Lars-J on 07/25/2017 03:03 amBlock 0.002? This means that it will be another low altitude fixed engine flight, I presume?Since it's not another block 0.001 it's probably slightly upgraded from the previous model. Pure speculation though.Either that or they are going to do 999 test flights before they reach 1.0.
Quote from: Lars-J on 07/25/2017 03:03 amBlock 0.002? This means that it will be another low altitude fixed engine flight, I presume?Since it's not another block 0.001 it's probably slightly upgraded from the previous model. Pure speculation though.
Block 0.002? This means that it will be another low altitude fixed engine flight, I presume?
So that would make it August 4 for the launch.
Quote from: Lars-J on 07/25/2017 04:49 pmIt wouldn't surprise me at this point. Vector's fun-raising strategy is pretty novel, using every small launch as a fun-raising opportunity. Which may work fine for this upcoming launch... But eventually even the gullible investors will catch on if no real progress is demonstrated.Vector VS Masten (or Armadillo), who have more progress?
It wouldn't surprise me at this point. Vector's fun-raising strategy is pretty novel, using every small launch as a fun-raising opportunity. Which may work fine for this upcoming launch... But eventually even the gullible investors will catch on if no real progress is demonstrated.
Quote from: Katana on 07/26/2017 11:55 amQuote from: Lars-J on 07/25/2017 04:49 pmIt wouldn't surprise me at this point. Vector's fun-raising strategy is pretty novel, using every small launch as a fun-raising opportunity. Which may work fine for this upcoming launch... But eventually even the gullible investors will catch on if no real progress is demonstrated.Vector VS Masten (or Armadillo), who have more progress?Vector has a long way to go before they match either, IMO. But don't tell Vector that, they already assume that they are in LEO.
...Vector Space Systems has already begun engine-level static fire testing and is working toward the start of sub-orbital test flights that will pathfind operations and manifest key technology experiments in Q3 2016, followed by large-scale sub-orbital test flights of a aluminium structure Block 0 prototype in 2017 and composite tank vehicle orbital launches in 2018....
Quote from: LooksFlyable on 07/25/2017 10:29 pmQuote from: Bananas_on_Mars on 07/25/2017 06:32 pmTheir workshop really doesn't look like i would think serious rocket manufacturing would look like...In the picture above i see at least 3 different angle grinders within 3m of flight hardware, none of them with a guard on it.And there's a cut-in-half bottle catching fluids dripping from the rocket, i guess.Compared to what we see from RocketLab, it's night and day.Yeah, but RocketLab is apparently valued at $1 billion dollars already. They also likely got hefty deposits for launches long in advance which really helped them. I personally love the garage build rocket devs. They are more inspiring to me and I think to the average person too. The mindset that only billionaires can do it is toxic to space progress and innovations. We barely just broke down the barrier that only governments can do it, so I really want one of the little guys to make it, and set down a blueprint for others to follow, so that mentality that you have to be a billionaire to do it doesn't become the next imaginary roadblock that sets in.Bezo and Musk were not born billionaires. Musk has become a billionaire because of SpaceX and Tesla.
Musk became a billionaire when he sold his shares of PayPal to Ebay.
Beck of RL started from nothing just hard work and determination. Found backers that believed in him and is now worth a few million if $100m on paper if RL valuations are to believed. RL still to prove its self but looking good.W
Vector probably has that southern country mechanic mentality. They want to build rockets like they build race cars. As more start-ups do rockets, I expect we'll see a lot of things like that, and fewer and fewer clean rooms. I mean even SpaceX was criticized at one point for their employees stepping on the hardware. The horror! They seem to be doing ok now, to put it mildly. At least none of these little guys blew anything of concern up yet so I think it's a good thing to de-regulate the process for now and hold them at lower standards, at least until some accident occurs. I'm sure it will naturally resolve itself. I just hope it doesn't kill anybody.
. The romantic notion that any idea can be hatched and executed in a garage if you just work hard enough may not be realistic...
If anyone is interested I interviewed Jim about 2 weeks ago for my podcast. He provided some updated information. It's on spaceq.ca.