QuoteGwynne Shotwell talks about selling flight-proven rockets, Starship"It was easier to sell 'flight proven' to customers than it was to sell Falcons."ERIC BERGER - 1/4/2021, 8:45 PMSpaceX enjoyed its most successful year in 2020. Amidst the pandemic, the company set a record for total number of launches: 26. All met their objectives. The Crew Dragon spacecraft flew humans—Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken—into orbit for the first time. And then it did so again, with the Crew-1 mission in November. SpaceX also made demonstrable progress on its next-generation Starship launch system.https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/01/gwynne-shotwell-talks-about-selling-flight-proven-rockets-starship/
Gwynne Shotwell talks about selling flight-proven rockets, Starship"It was easier to sell 'flight proven' to customers than it was to sell Falcons."ERIC BERGER - 1/4/2021, 8:45 PMSpaceX enjoyed its most successful year in 2020. Amidst the pandemic, the company set a record for total number of launches: 26. All met their objectives. The Crew Dragon spacecraft flew humans—Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken—into orbit for the first time. And then it did so again, with the Crew-1 mission in November. SpaceX also made demonstrable progress on its next-generation Starship launch system.
In truth, Shotwell said, it has not been particularly difficult to convince customers to fly on flight-proven rockets. It has been easier to sell customers on the technology than it was selling them on the first Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 rockets.
twitter.com/thesheetztweetz/status/1354800132777267203Quote NASA plans to reuse a Falcon 9 first stage for the Crew-2 mission later this spring. I asked for an update from Steve Stich, NASA's program manager for commercial crew, and it sounds like they're working through the review process.https://twitter.com/sciguyspace/status/1354800376978042880QuoteStich: "So far, the team has not identified any showstoppers and the Commercial Crew Program Control Board continues to review the components for flight using the standard process."
NASA plans to reuse a Falcon 9 first stage for the Crew-2 mission later this spring. I asked for an update from Steve Stich, NASA's program manager for commercial crew, and it sounds like they're working through the review process.
Stich: "So far, the team has not identified any showstoppers and the Commercial Crew Program Control Board continues to review the components for flight using the standard process."
NASA's Steve Stich confirms all remains on track to fly a used first stage for the Crew-2 mission in April. Completed a certification review last Friday.This is a huge milestone for reusable rockets—NASA putting its most valuable missions on them.
This is a huge milestone for reusable rockets—NASA putting its most valuable missions on them.
Quote from: jbenton on 03/02/2021 07:11 amQuoteThis is a huge milestone for reusable rockets—NASA putting its most valuable missions on them.They've done that about 135 times before...You mean the system they retired because it was unsafe? That system?
QuoteThis is a huge milestone for reusable rockets—NASA putting its most valuable missions on them.They've done that about 135 times before...
You mean the system they retired because it was unsafe? That system?
Quote from: abaddon on 03/02/2021 01:04 pmYou mean the system they retired because it was unsafe? That system?Yes the system to complete ISS, fix Hubble and send/return 22 crews/147 humans to space, all while down 1/4 of the STS fleet of Orbiter Vehicles.That 2003 decision to retire STS was hugely politically motivated.
Quote from: Hog on 03/04/2021 08:44 pmQuote from: abaddon on 03/02/2021 01:04 pmYou mean the system they retired because it was unsafe? That system?Yes the system to complete ISS, fix Hubble and send/return 22 crews/147 humans to space, all while down 1/4 of the STS fleet of Orbiter Vehicles. That 2003 decision to retire STS was hugely politically motivated.I loved the shuttle, but the system killed more astronauts than all other LVs combined. By a lot.Feel free to think of that as "political". The fact of the matter is that NASA has higher standards of reliability for CC systems, which Shuttle was not able to reach as a core element of its design. SpaceX reaching those standards with reused booster and capsule should not be handwaved aside because Shuttle existed, which was my original point.
Quote from: abaddon on 03/02/2021 01:04 pmYou mean the system they retired because it was unsafe? That system?Yes the system to complete ISS, fix Hubble and send/return 22 crews/147 humans to space, all while down 1/4 of the STS fleet of Orbiter Vehicles. That 2003 decision to retire STS was hugely politically motivated.
The actual number killed on shuttle is a bad metric IMO.
Quote from: Hog on 03/04/2021 10:52 pmThe actual number killed on shuttle is a bad metric IMO.How about vehicle loss? 40% of the fleet was lost to various lack of safety oversight by NASA and its contractors.The Starship landing certainly looks scary, and personally I think it will be a while until SpaceX allows humans to land in it, and only when they get some sort of crew compartment installed that can survive some form of crash.But the Shuttle was retired for all the right reasons - it was going to require a LOT of rework and upgrades to maintain what was left of the fleet, and even then there was little for it to do after the ISS was complete. Not political at all, and I say that as someone that initially thought it was a bad idea - I came to realize it was the only logical decision.For Starship there will be great debate when the first humans fly on it, so we can take our handwringing about crew vehicles in the past and start looking to the future...
Quote from: abaddon on 03/02/2021 01:04 pmYou mean the system they retired because it was unsafe? That system?That 2003 decision to retire STS was hugely politically motivated.
What was the topic of this thread again? It's been so long now that I can't remember.
Was able to confirm with NASA that SpaceX now, essentially, chooses which rockets it will use from its fleet to launch astronauts. SpaceX can propose a new booster, or a first stage that has flown once. Further certification is needed for boosters used more than once.
Dr. Lauderdale says SMC has "no other constraints" for SpaceX's use of this Falcon 9 booster after the GPS III SV05 launch, and the military is "certainly open to using" other boosters (i.e., not just ones that launched NSSL missions) for the GPS III SV06 launch.
The lack of constraints is notable as SMC required SpaceX use the booster that launched GPS III SV04 for this first reuse mission.
Interesting SpaceNews article regarding the change in launch site and booster for this mission:SpaceX moved NROL-85 from the Cape to Vandenberg at no extra cost, in exchange for reusing booster [dated May 6]Quote from: SpaceNewsThe National Reconnaissance Office’s NROL-85 mission launched April 17 by SpaceX was originally scheduled to fly from Cape Canaveral, Florida. But just 12 months before the launch, the NRO informed SpaceX it needed to send its payload to a different orbit so the launch had to be moved to the western range at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.“This was a challenge,” NROL-85 mission manager Maj. Jonathan Schirner said this week on the NRO’s “The Dish” podcast.National security space launch missions are rarely, if ever, moved from coast to coast on such short notice, Schirner said. “It’s the first time we’ve done a range change at the 12 month mark in the NSSL timeframe.”<snip>The NRO and SpaceX worked out a deal to move NROL-85 to the West Coast at no extra cost to the government and in exchange the NRO agreed to fly the mission on a reused first stage that had previously flown another NRO mission.Under the agreement, SpaceX would launch NROL-87 in February at Vandenberg and reuse the boost for NROL-85 in April. Schirner said the deal also was possible because the Space Force’s Space Systems Command was able to examine the recovered booster and approve it for reuse in just two months, a much shorter than usual turnaround.
The National Reconnaissance Office’s NROL-85 mission launched April 17 by SpaceX was originally scheduled to fly from Cape Canaveral, Florida. But just 12 months before the launch, the NRO informed SpaceX it needed to send its payload to a different orbit so the launch had to be moved to the western range at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.“This was a challenge,” NROL-85 mission manager Maj. Jonathan Schirner said this week on the NRO’s “The Dish” podcast.National security space launch missions are rarely, if ever, moved from coast to coast on such short notice, Schirner said. “It’s the first time we’ve done a range change at the 12 month mark in the NSSL timeframe.”<snip>The NRO and SpaceX worked out a deal to move NROL-85 to the West Coast at no extra cost to the government and in exchange the NRO agreed to fly the mission on a reused first stage that had previously flown another NRO mission.Under the agreement, SpaceX would launch NROL-87 in February at Vandenberg and reuse the boost for NROL-85 in April. Schirner said the deal also was possible because the Space Force’s Space Systems Command was able to examine the recovered booster and approve it for reuse in just two months, a much shorter than usual turnaround.
NROL-85 manager Maj. Jonathan Schirner: "When we talk about benefits of a reused booster, we’re talking about taxpayer savings on one end but specifically on this mission, we were able to get a priority of the director of the NRO done while spending zero taxpayer dollars."
