Recent Posts

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 10 Next
1
Advanced Concepts / Re: Spinlaunch on the Moon
« Last post by lamontagne on Today at 11:39 am »
A small array of spinlaunchers close to a lunar factory.  Would need to have more for the full output of the factory..

The towers are 25 m tall, 1.5m in diameter, about 1 cm thick aluminum.  The rotors have a radius of 25m.
These ones have 150 hp motors and launch 50 kg every two hours, 500 kg per hour for the array, ot about 2000 tonnes per year.
Spinlaunch without the box, basically.

Awesome! I like the detail of the factory. And I also appreciate the brown tones in the regolith. Too many space artists just assume that moondirt is just pure grey.

Two things come to mind:

First, though this is likely artistic licence, the spacing of the launchers so close to each other and the rest of the plant. A failure on these things is likely to be catastrophic. Close to release, a broken tip is going to hit the ground at ~2000m/s and then kick up a spray of regolith at similarly high velocities, not to mention a LOX payload rupturing. So you want a good deal of space between them. Or use fewer, beefier ones with higher mass at lower rates?

Second, aluminium might not be the best choice since it has quite a coefficient of expansion and has lifetime fatigue issues (the arms will be rotating quite fast, with a wobble when the payload has departed). On that note, I expect you'll have some really DEEP anchoring. How are tensegrity towers for this kind of application? You could make the tower a tripod, pentapod shape or whatever because you just need to clear the arm (failure modes notwithstanding).

For the last mile problem catching, you could probably use some kind of electrostatically charged net. Payload has a positive charge, and so does the net except near the middle.
-Spacing was more or less based on wind turbines.  They probably wouldn't be all aligned in the way I showed them.
-Perhaps just stronger arms.  The arms mass is a kinetic energy storage and the energy is not lost.  so they can be more massive with little energy cost.
-The tower will probably have problems with whiplash.  Need to redesign I think.  I used wind turbine towers,  but I think I'm wrong on this.  There's probably a reason why the large Spinlaunch is on the side of a mountain!
2
Advanced Concepts / Re: Spinlaunch on the Moon
« Last post by lamontagne on Today at 11:29 am »
I'm not sure if I'm thinking this through correctly, but a spin-launch in vacuum would have another advantage: Instead of the payload and small maneuvering unit being mounted perpendicular to the arm (and thus having to be proof against high g-forces to the side), it could be mounted nose-to-arm, thus maybe simplifying construction. As for the maneuvering units, they could be collected after use, and periodically returned in groups to the Moon.

I could see this as a way of getting construction material for large habitats into space. A few handwavy details omitted, of course.
One of the main design problems, I think, is holding the payload in place against the g-force and releasing it at the right time.  Spinlaunch seem to have a handle on that, so I'm going with their arrangement. 
A grapple would need to handle the entire load, so it would be big! Some kind of slider, perhaps combined with a brake on the arm? could limit itself to the force needed to keep the launcher from falling out, which should be smaller.
Yes, collecting the maneuvering units would be part of the system.
I think orbital settlements is the main use case.  It's a specialized system.  No large habitats, no need.  As shielding is the main mass item of habitats, it makes sense to have low costs systems to send up the materials.
3
Can anyone comment on the latest payload bay size?

For a long time the 1000 cubic meter “larger than a Boeing 747” pressurised volume was the stated goal. But recent specs seemed to indicate a somewhat smaller ~600 cubic meter payload bay size.

Is this expected to be temporary with the larger payload bay returning at some point in the future?  For Mars journeys (and as an initial Mars base) we want Starship’s living and cargo area to be a ~20m, 7 story building, not a just a jumbo version of a space capsule. Also necessary for launching large space telescopes and space habitats.

Any insights on this?

Elon mentioned that a version 3 of Starship would be longer, so perhaps a cargo stretch.
4
https://adm-severouralsk.ru/news/media/2024/3/27/informatsionnoe-soobschenie-2/

"Ракета-носитель «Союз-2-1б» № 067 (стартовая масса 313 тонн, длина 46,3 метра, диаметр 2,9 метра) с разгонным блоком «Фрегат» № 122-05 и космическим аппаратом «Ресурс-П» № 4."

Why are they talking about a Fregat upper stage?
5
There were a bunch of USAF-sponsored orbital spaceplane concepts in the late 1970s/early 1980s. My favorite was the Air Launched Sortie Vehicle, which I wrote about. There may be a thread about them in this history section. If not, it might make sense to have a single thread bout them rather than one devoted to a specific proposal (because that thread will be short and fade away quickly).
8
???
Errr... What?

Is there supposed to be some context?
9
https://twitter.com/ulalaunch/status/1773302998132801891

Quote
The Mobile Service Tower at Space Launch Complex-37 is retracted and secured in the launch position about the length of a football field away from #DeltaIVHeavy. Activities remain on schedule for today's liftoff of #TheDeltaFinale at 1:40pmEDT (1740 UTC). http://bit.ly/div_nrol70
10
Launched:

Date - Satellite(s) - Rocket - Launch Site (Country) - Time (UTC)


2009.08.25 - STSAT-2A - Naro-1 (KSLV-1) - Naro (South Korea/Russia) - 08:00 (Failure)
2010.06.10 - STSAT-2B - Naro-1 (KSLV-1) - Naro (South Korea/Russia) - 08:01:00.320 (Failure)

2013.01.30 - STSAT-2С - Naro-1 - Naro (South Korea/Russia) - 07:00
2021.10.21 - Dummy Payload - Nuri (KSLV-2) - Naro LC-2 - 08:00 (Failure)
2022.06.21  - PVSAT (Performance Verification Satellite) [STEP Cube Lab 2, MIMAN (Cubesatyonsei), RANDEV (ASTRIS 2), SNUGLITE 2], Dummy Payload - Nuri (KSLV-2) - Naro LC-2 - 07:00
2023.05.25 - NEXTSat-2, SNIPE A (KASI-SAT A), SNIPE B (KASI-SAT B), SNIPE С (KASI-SAT С), SNIPE D (KASI-SAT D), JLC-101-v1-2, KSAT3U, Lumir-T1 - Nuri (KSLV-2) - Naro LC-2  - 09:24:03
2023.12.04 - S-STEP 1 ? (SAR satellite) - GYUB-TV2 - Sea launch near Jeju Island

Foreign launchers:
1992.08.10 - Kitsat 1 (Uribyol 1, Kitsat-OSCAR 23, KO 23) - Ariane-42P H10 - Kourou ELA-2 -23:08:07
1993.09.26 - Kitsat 2 (Uribyol 2, Kitsat-OSCAR 25, KO 25) - Ariane-40 H10 - Kourou ELA-2 - 01:45
1999.05.26 - Kitsat 3 (Uribyol 3) - PSLV-G (2) - Sriharikota FLP - 06:22
1999.12.21 - KOMPSAT 1 (Arirang 1) - Taurus-2110 - Vandenberg 576E - 07:13
2003.09.27 - STSAT 1 (KAISTSat 4, Uribyol 4) - Kosmos-3M - Plesetsk 132/1 - 06:11
2006.07.26 - HAUSAT 1 - Dnepr - Baikonur 109/95 - 19:43 (Failure)
2006.07.28 - KOMPSAT 2 (Arirang 2) - Rokot/Briz-KM - Plesetsk 133/3 - 07:05
2012.05.17 - KOMPSAT 3 (Arirang 3) - H-2A-202 - Tanegashima YLP-1 - 16:39
2012.09.13 - CINEMA 1 - Atlas V 401 - VandenbergSLC-3E - 21:39
2013.04.19 - OSSI 1 - Soyuz-2-1a - Baikonur 31/6 - 10:00
2013.08.22 - KOMPSAT 5 (Arirang 5) - Dnepr - Dombarovskiy 370/13 - 14:39
2013.11.21 - STSAT 3 (Gwahaggisul-wiseong 3), CINEMA 2 (KHUSAT 1), CINEMA 3 (KHUSAT 2) - Dnepr - Dombarovskiy 370/13 - 07:10:11
2015.03.25 - KOMPSAT 3A (Arirang 3A) - Dnepr - Dombarovskiy 370/13 - 22:08
2017.04.18 - LINK (QB50 KR01), SNUSAT 1 (QB50 KR02), SNUSAT 1b (QB50 KR03) - Atlas V 401 (AV-074) - Canaveral SLC-41 - 12:29
2018.01.12 - CANYVAL-X 1, CANYVAL-X 2, CNUSail 1 (Papillon), KAUSAT 5, SIGMA (KHUSAT 3), STEP Cube Lab - PSLV-XL - Sriharikota FLP - 03:59       
2018.12.03 - NEXTSat 1, SNUSAT 2, K2SAT, SNUGLITE, VisionCube - Falcon-9 - Vandenberg SLC-4E - 18:34:05
2018.12.04 - GEO-KOMPSAT 2A (GK 2A, Cheollian 2A) - Ariane-5ECA - Kourou ELA-3 - 20:37:07.3
2020.02.18 - GEO-KOMPSAT 2B (GK 2B, Cheollian 2B) - Ariane-5ECA+ - Kourou ELA-3 - 22:18:07.3
2021.03.22 – CAS500-1, CANYVAL-C 1 (Pumbaa), CANYVAL-C 2 (Timon), KMSL – Soyuz-2-1A/Fregat-M – Baikonur, 31/6 - 06:07:12.770
2022.05.25 – Sejong 1 (LEMUR 2 HANCOM-1) - Falcon 9-156 (B1061.8 LZ-1) - Canaveral SLC-40 - 18:35:00
2022.08.4 - Danuri (KPLO - Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter) - Falcon 9-168 (B1052.6 JRTI) - Canaveral SLC-40 - 23:08:48
2023.11.11 - JINJUSat-1 - Falcon-9 - Vandenberg SLC-4E - 18:49:00.118
2023.12.01 - 425 Project EO/IR satellite 1 - Falcon 9 - Vandenberg  SLC-4E - 18:19

Scheduled:
Date - Satellite(s) - Rocket - Launch Site (Country) - Time (UTC)


2024
TBD - TBD - Nuri (KSLV-2) - Naro LC-2
TBD - PolCube - Nuri (KSLV-2) - Naro LC-2

Foreign launchers:
Early April - Bandwagon-1: 425 Project radar satellite 1,  - Falcon 9 - Canaveral SLC-40 / Kennedy LC-39A - 17:24
NET  March  April - NeonSat-1 - Electron/Kick Stage - Mahia LC-1 (NZ)
November - Bandwagon-2: 425 Project radar satellite 2 - Falcon 9 - Canaveral SLC-40 / Kennedy LC-39A
NET December - KOMPSAT-6 (Arirang-6) - Vega C - Kourou ELV

From Foreign Launch Site:
TBD - SISNAV (Brazil) - Hanbit-Nano - Alcantara (Brazil)

2025
TBD - CAS500-3 - Nuri (KSLV-2) - Naro LC-2

Foreign launchers:
TBD - 425 Project radar satellite 3 - Falcon 9 - Canaveral SLC-40 / Kennedy LC-39A / Vandenberg  SLC-4E
TBD - 425 Project radar satellite 4 - Falcon 9 - Canaveral SLC-40 / Kennedy LC-39A / Vandenberg  SLC-4E
TBD - CAS500-2, CAS500-4 - Falcon 9 - Vandenberg  SLC-4E

2026
TBD - TBD - Nuri (KSLV-2) - Naro LC-2

Foreign launchers:
NET December 2024  TBD - KOMPSAT-7 (Arirang-7) - Vega C - Kourou ELV

2027
TBD - TBD - Nuri (KSLV-2) - Naro LC-2

2030
December - Translunar Injection Capability Verification Vehicle - NGLV (KSLV-III) - Naro LC-1
TBD - TBD - Geostationary satellite launch vehicle - TBD


2031
December - Lunar Soft Landing Verification Vehicle - NGLV (KSLV-III) - Naro LC-1

2032
December - Lunar Lander - NGLV (KSLV-III) - Naro LC-1

2040
TBD - TBD - Large geostationary satellite launch vehicle - TBD

Unclear:
NET 2026 - CAS500-5 - Nuri (KSLV-2) - Naro LC-2
2026-2028 - 20 small-sized reconnaissance satellites [multiple launches] - Nuri (KSLV-2) - Naro LC-2
2028-2030 - 40 reconnaissance microsatellites [multiple launches] - GYUB-TV2 - Sea launch near Jeju Island

2020s - NeonSat-2, NeonSat-3, NeonSat-4, NeonSat-5, NeonSat-6 - Nuri (KSLV-2) - Naro LC-2
2020s - NeonSat-7, NeonSat-8, NeonSat-9, NeonSat-10, NeonSat-11 - Nuri (KSLV-2) - Naro LC-2
2020s - Lunar orbiter - KSLV-2 - Naro LC-2
2020s - Perseus O 1, Perseus O 2, Perseus O 3, Perseus O 4 - TBD - TBD
2020s - Perseus O 5, Perseus O 6, Perseus O 7, Perseus O 8 - TBD - TBD
Early 2030s - Lunar lander/rover - TBD - Naro
Mid-2030s - missions to Mars - TBD - Naro
Mid-2030s -  near-Earth asteroids - TBD - Naro

Naro LC-1 to be rebuilt and repurposed for KSLV-III

Changes on March 28th
Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 10 Next
Advertisement NovaTech
Advertisement Northrop Grumman
Advertisement
Advertisement Margaritaville Beach Resort South Padre Island
Advertisement Brady Kenniston
Advertisement NextSpaceflight
Advertisement Nathan Barker Photography
0