...I didn't know there were even 18 candidates, let alone 18 would survive initial selection. This suggests a) The number of ELV/RLV startups is a lot bigger than I thought (can anyone here name 18 US based LV startups of any type?)b) The bar for entry is pretty low....
Tweet from C. G. Niederstrasser:QuoteDid you know that @SmallSat makes their conference proceedings available online for *free*? #smallsatCopies of my #SmallLVSurvey paper can be found at:https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/smallsat/2018/TPS09-2018/
Did you know that @SmallSat makes their conference proceedings available online for *free*? #smallsatCopies of my #SmallLVSurvey paper can be found at:https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/smallsat/2018/TPS09-2018/
U.S. companies, which has a list of 30, obviously with different criteria.Even with these numbers of possibilities, I am surprised that 18 managed to pre-qualify, so maybe the bar was low, we will see how many qualify in the next step.
This is a long winded way of saying that this DARPA project is probably in the same 'let a thousand flowers bloom' phase as the autonomous challenge in 2007. The capital cost of a flying orbital air frame is rather more than that for sensors, CPUs, software and a second hand car, so we'll get through that stage earlier. I'd expect culling along milestones like credible simulations, functioning static fired engines, assembled airframe, etc. that will have the weeding out effect. Meanwhile, they will effectively map out the territory - the real technology, financial, and feasibility tradeoff space - for the benefit of the program officers.
https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1085532584342360069QuoteTodd Master, DARPA: 18 teams in the DARPA Launch Challenge made it through pre-qualification step. Plan to select those that qualified for the competition by late February/early March. Goal of holding the first round of the competition late this year.
Todd Master, DARPA: 18 teams in the DARPA Launch Challenge made it through pre-qualification step. Plan to select those that qualified for the competition by late February/early March. Goal of holding the first round of the competition late this year.
I am curious to see how many contestants will remain after February 1st, but would not be surprised if this is a single digit number!According to the linked document, "DARPA plans to announce successful teams no later than March 2, 2019."P.S. I only discovered now that, likely in Revision 3 of the Guidelines, the eligibility was reduced from previously (rather) unlimited participation to "United States-based teams" only. Thus the correct assumption that the 18 teams are all US-based.
@cubecabGiving thanks for teamwork: our DARPA Launch Challenge application is in, just in time! Next step: apply for a launch license from the FAA.
@cubecabFAA launch license app submitted last night, just before DLC deadline. Now to wait. Considering giving Space Access talk about app.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, Earth to Sky formally announced their participation in the DARPA Launch Challenge.“Earth to Sky was formed in Huntsville, Alabama in 2008 as an aerospace engineering services company. Currently, we provide subject matter expertise in rocket systems to federal government agencies such as MDA and NASA, but we have a 25-year pedigree of commercial launch vehicles,” said Chris Barker, President at Earth to Sky.Services DifferentiatorEarth to Sky currently offers a series of low cost, small launch vehicles branded Sleek Eagle. We have entered the DARPA Launch Challenge with our small vehicle configuration capable of lofting over 800 kg to Low Earth Orbit.“We have a unique business model that allows any customer the ‘right to drive’,” said Mr. Barker “The ‘right to drive’ is a product offering that allows any payload position to determine the mission destination and secure its commitment.”Product AvailabilityCurrently, the small satellite market is underserved in availability of affordable launch vehicle options. “We are poised to unlock this backlog by providing unprecedented flexibility in access to space,” said Mr. Barker.As a US launch site based option, the Sleek Eagle family will be an FAA licensed launch vehicle allowing US government missions ready access for launching small satellites.We will be opening manifest positions in early 2020 following the DARPA Launch Challenge.
It’s been a battle. Following months of intense technical development, challenging meetings, and a nailbiting waiting game, Saturday morning we got the email. “Your Application to the DARPA Launch Challenge has been approved."No doubt, our proposal has some really exciting parts. But lately, we have watched our fellow challengers get millions of dollars in funding and populate their boardrooms with important names. Would we stand a chance? Growing up in communist Czechoslovakia and then socialist Sweden, once in a while I’d see people on TV grinning from ear to ear while exclaiming, “only in America.” I moved here and, well, look at us now.We are not home free yet. The last step of the qualification phase is acceptance by FAA, which has a rigorous technical review process for flight safety. That's our fun over the holidays. At least we have lots of snow in the mountains for quick skiing escapes. And then, of course, we’ll have to build and fly the rockets.Only two private companies have managed thus far to send a rocket with payload to orbit. SpaceX, which is history now, and Rocketlab, valued at +1 billion dollars already before their first launch.Make no mistake - Mars is still number one. DARPA only just became a major step to make it happen.
I've been able to find four companies which say they've entered the prize, two of which have definitely passed the pre-qualification step. One is BlackSky from Australia who will have been disqualified by the rules change...
Very little information given about the rocket, other than payload and price targets (1,200kg to LEO for $14 million) and renders of a slender, triple-core vehicle. There's no further statement about the challenge after this article, so I don't know if they passed pre-qualification.
Pythom;https://pythom.com/ps/Its-a-Go-Pythom-approved-for-the-next-step-of-Darpa-Launch-Challenge-2018-12-19-60948 Their vehicle is a two-stage, ground-launched hypergolically fueled vehicle that can put 100kg to LEO. I don't know if they look entirely serious, their team seems to mostly be made up of polar explorers (?!) and they've only shown off some small 3D prints.
I've been able to find four companies which say they've entered the prize, two of which have definitely passed the pre-qualification step. One is BlackSky from Australia who will have been disqualified by the rules change. The others are:
Quote from: Kryten on 02/01/2019 06:02 pm Pythom;https://pythom.com/ps/Its-a-Go-Pythom-approved-for-the-next-step-of-Darpa-Launch-Challenge-2018-12-19-60948 Their vehicle is a two-stage, ground-launched hypergolically fueled vehicle that can put 100kg to LEO. I don't know if they look entirely serious, their team seems to mostly be made up of polar explorers (?!) and they've only shown off some small 3D prints."Hypergols" in this context have to mean HTP for the oxidizer. No one would seriously be talking NTO/UDMH on this scale.
Quote from: john smith 19 on 02/02/2019 09:16 amQuote from: Kryten on 02/01/2019 06:02 pm Pythom;https://pythom.com/ps/Its-a-Go-Pythom-approved-for-the-next-step-of-Darpa-Launch-Challenge-2018-12-19-60948 Their vehicle is a two-stage, ground-launched hypergolically fueled vehicle that can put 100kg to LEO. I don't know if they look entirely serious, their team seems to mostly be made up of polar explorers (?!) and they've only shown off some small 3D prints."Hypergols" in this context have to mean HTP for the oxidizer. No one would seriously be talking NTO/UDMH on this scale.According to their website, it looks like they're going with WFNA and furfuryl alcohol.
Interesting. This is the stuff Copenhagen Suborbitals have been working with and it looks like Orbex might be using it too.
Quote from: john smith 19 on 02/20/2019 03:57 pmInteresting. This is the stuff Copenhagen Suborbitals have been working with and it looks like Orbex might be using it too.Copenhagen played with it a while ago, but I'm pretty sure that are using LOX/alcohol now, and Orbex is using LOX/propane. Interorbital is using WFNA, but they are burning it with turpentine instead of furfuryl alcohol.
@cubecabDropping our entry to the DARPA Launch Challenge: we launch 5 kg, DLC insists on minimum 10 kg. In talks re: helping another DLC entrant.
https://twitter.com/cubecab/status/1101519140009926657Quote@cubecabDropping our entry to the DARPA Launch Challenge: we launch 5 kg, DLC insists on minimum 10 kg. In talks re: helping another DLC entrant.
@jeff_foustTodd Master of DARPA is giving an update on DARPA Launch Challenge at #35SS. First part of the competition will be in Jan/Feb 2020 at a site announced with about 30 days notice from a list of predetermined sites.
@jeff_foustMaster: three teams have qualified for the DARPA Launch Challenge: Vector, Virgin Orbit, and a company in stealth mode (maybe “Stealth Space Company”) #35SS
@pbdesMore Peter B. de Selding Retweeted DARPAEach team, including one that, curiously, is not named, gets $400k now, $2M on first orbital launch delivering payload, and $8-$10M for successful second launch.
@jamesncantrellIt's Astra out of Alameda CA