TUSCON, Ariz., July 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Vector Space Systems, a micro satellite space launch company comprised of new-space industry veterans from SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, McDonnell Douglas and Sea Launch, today announced it has finalized the acquisition of Garvey Spacecraft Corporation. As part of the acquisition, Garvey Spacecraft Corporation Founder and CEO John Garvey joins Vector Space Systems as Chief Technology Officer.
- They have a suborbital launch planned from Mojave on July 30th
http://spacenews.com/vector-space-systems-plans-2018-first-flight-of-small-launch-vehicle/Article has excerpts from an interview with Steve Cantrell, Vector CEO, which gives quite a lot of new info and clarification. The important points are;- Garvey had already been hired, but the complete acquisition of Garvey Space wasn't complete until the July 20th release, it's not a late announcement.- They have a suborbital launch planned from Mojave on July 30th (presumably the P-19 vehicle Garvey Space had already completed) and another from Kodiak in September.- Suborbital tests of the full-scale Vector-1 are to start in 2017, and orbital tests in 2018- They have one customer and are in negotiations with another, both wanting to launch constellations; about 30 launches between the two- In the future, they plan to increase launch rate but not vehicle size- Kodiak is the planned site for orbital launches, negotiation is ongoing with Space Florida for a second pad at the cape
https://twitter.com/vectorspacesys/status/759065073289617408First suborbital flight for Vector tomorrow testing 2nd stage engine on lox & propylene.
Quote from: Davidthefat on 07/29/2016 04:50 pmhttps://twitter.com/vectorspacesys/status/759065073289617408First suborbital flight for Vector tomorrow testing 2nd stage engine on lox & propylene. Follow the below link to watch the below mentioned video.Vector Space @vectorspacesys 23h23 hours agoVector CTO John Garvey discussing the purpose of our test launch tomorrow #startuphttps://twitter.com/vectorspacesys/status/759098434355814401
Quote from: russianhalo117 on 07/30/2016 05:59 pmQuote from: Davidthefat on 07/29/2016 04:50 pmhttps://twitter.com/vectorspacesys/status/759065073289617408First suborbital flight for Vector tomorrow testing 2nd stage engine on lox & propylene. Follow the below link to watch the below mentioned video.Vector Space @vectorspacesys 23h23 hours agoVector CTO John Garvey discussing the purpose of our test launch tomorrow #startuphttps://twitter.com/vectorspacesys/status/759098434355814401Per their Facebook: P20 leaving the launch rail. Another successful test!
Photo from the July 30, 2016 launch of our P20 sub-scale test vehicle. Another successful launch!
Vector Space Systems, a micro satellite space launch company comprised of new-space industry veterans from SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, McDonnell Douglas and Sea Launch, today finalized an agreement with Finnish-based Iceye to conduct 21 launches for Iceye's commercial SAR (synthetic aperture radar) satellite constellation. The payload flights, Vector's first customer flights since it started operations in early 2016, will be conducted over a four-year span as part of a larger partnership with Iceye. The first test launch as part of this agreement was successfully completed July 30 in Mojave, which included hosting a prototype of Iceye's microsatellite's core computing and communications systems to test its electrical and mechanical resilience in a launch environment on Vector's P-20 sub-orbital launch vehicle. Iceye and Vector continue to explore future elements of their partnership related to space flight hardware development and data resale agreements.
Quote from: Davidthefat on 07/29/2016 04:50 pmhttps://twitter.com/vectorspacesys/status/759065073289617408First suborbital flight for Vector tomorrow testing 2nd stage engine on lox & propylene. Background on this photo is consistent with FAR's big Quonset hut, so looks like that is indeed the launch site.
Quote from: Kryten on 07/29/2016 05:27 pmQuote from: Davidthefat on 07/29/2016 04:50 pmhttps://twitter.com/vectorspacesys/status/759065073289617408First suborbital flight for Vector tomorrow testing 2nd stage engine on lox & propylene. Background on this photo is consistent with FAR's big Quonset hut, so looks like that is indeed the launch site.Just going by the size of that section, is this actually any bigger than sub-orb rockets launched by people like Copenhagen Suborbitals?