Author Topic: Phantom Space  (Read 21271 times)

Offline su27k

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Re: Phantom Space
« Reply #40 on: 09/21/2022 03:32 am »
Phantom Space: A new rocket startup says it can launch at half the cost of SpaceX

Quote from: interestingengineering.com
"Our first space launch will occur in less than half the time it took Space X to achieve that milestone."

New rocket startups will invariably have to face comparisons to SpaceX — the company's successful pioneering of reusable rocket technologies has positioned it as a reference point for all private space firms.

The trouble is that, given SpaceX's achievements, it's a high bar to live up to, and the comparisons will increasingly become unfavorable the longer a company goes without bringing something new and substantial to the table.

Jim Cantrell, CEO and co-founder of startup Phantom Space doesn't shy away from those comparisons. In fact, he claims his company aims to outdo Elon Musk's space firm when it comes to small, cost-effective payload launches.

Offline Celeste_El

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Re: Phantom Space
« Reply #41 on: 10/02/2022 05:39 am »
Stumbled across an interview of Cantrell. Despite its run time not much about their rocket is actually discussed. From the few brief moments the topic was brought up Cantrell explained that the company is developing 3 "blocks" of the Daytona rocket. He explained that Block1 will be primarily made of aluminum to reduce initial development cost and fast track the rocket to orbit. Once they have the data and capital they will develop a Block2 version which is the same rocket with "a lot of composite pieces". Nothing on Block3 was mentioned as he went on an unrelated tangent completely changing the topic mid explanation.

Some additional tid bits are the company has secured SLC-5 at Vandy to launch from apparently slated for 2023 and they have clearance for up to 48 launches a year (doubt they use any of those).

Link to the interview if anyone is intersted:https://spacebusiness.podbean.com/e/77-jim-cantrell-phantom-space/?fbclid=IwAR2Q6qJG9tH2ewrEsDe01VtLuOxAEHgDXjl-Z6oY3UUss_V08uuD5Q6-LMU
I would advise against listening to it, Cantrell has mastered the art of saying nothing of substance despite talking for an hour.

Edit: Incase anyone was curious as to the state of SLC-5. Lets just say they don't have a lot to work with.
« Last Edit: 10/02/2022 05:42 am by Celeste_El »

Offline Mandella

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Re: Phantom Space
« Reply #42 on: 10/02/2022 05:08 pm »
Stumbled across an interview of Cantrell. Despite its run time not much about their rocket is actually discussed. From the few brief moments the topic was brought up Cantrell explained that the company is developing 3 "blocks" of the Daytona rocket. He explained that Block1 will be primarily made of aluminum to reduce initial development cost and fast track the rocket to orbit. Once they have the data and capital they will develop a Block2 version which is the same rocket with "a lot of composite pieces". Nothing on Block3 was mentioned as he went on an unrelated tangent completely changing the topic mid explanation.

Some additional tid bits are the company has secured SLC-5 at Vandy to launch from apparently slated for 2023 and they have clearance for up to 48 launches a year (doubt they use any of those).

Link to the interview if anyone is intersted:https://spacebusiness.podbean.com/e/77-jim-cantrell-phantom-space/?fbclid=IwAR2Q6qJG9tH2ewrEsDe01VtLuOxAEHgDXjl-Z6oY3UUss_V08uuD5Q6-LMU
I would advise against listening to it, Cantrell has mastered the art of saying nothing of substance despite talking for an hour.

Edit: Incase anyone was curious as to the state of SLC-5. Lets just say they don't have a lot to work with.

Replying to my bold:

So this is going to be a repeat of previous efforts where Cantrell slaps together a hodgepodge of old tech to show investors "progress," and then folds before Block 2 ever appears?

I wonder how many times he can rinse and repeat this business model? That guy must throw some amazing fundraising parties.

Offline Celeste_El

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Re: Phantom Space
« Reply #43 on: 10/03/2022 12:45 am »
Quote
Replying to my bold:

So this is going to be a repeat of previous efforts where Cantrell slaps together a hodgepodge of old tech to show investors "progress," and then folds before Block 2 ever appears?

I wonder how many times he can rinse and repeat this business model? That guy must throw some amazing fundraising parties.

Jim is a bit of deadbeat whos been kicked between 20 different advisory position at other peoples companies and his own failing start ups for the last 20 years. He somehow spins his long career of short stints at companies as "industry experience". That mixed in with the lie that he was a founding member of SpaceX you get a man who can lure in a few million any time he needs to start a new company.
 
At this point Phantom feels more like a sales company for Ursa because all they really have to show for the last two years of work is their off the shelf engines and maybe some aluminum tubes. I came across a tour of the company from April and all I will say is its some of the saddest conditions at any rocket company I've seen. Between half welded tanks sitting on the floor to a Hadley engines using a cheap office desk as work bench, its not impressive.

The tour: https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/essays-and-commentaries/a-tour-at-rocket-startup-phantom-space/#more-83945
« Last Edit: 10/03/2022 12:53 am by Celeste_El »

Offline PM3

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Re: Phantom Space
« Reply #44 on: 10/03/2022 06:16 am »
I wonder how many times he can rinse and repeat this business model? That guy must throw some amazing fundraising parties.

This worked because money was ridicuously cheap, because interest rates were ridiculously low. Investors were drowning in cheap money and threw it at everyone who was good in selling some business model. (Btw, the sales king is Tim Ellis with Relativity.)

Now that interest rates are skyrocketing, the party is over. All those Cantrells, Skylusses etc. will soon be washed down the drain.
"Never, never be afraid of the truth." -- Jim Bridenstine

Offline john smith 19

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Re: Phantom Space
« Reply #45 on: 10/03/2022 09:25 am »
Checked the website.

So it looks like they want to be another Rocket Lab, in the sense of offering satellite launch and build.

Trouble is that niche has already been filled so it's hard to see what PS will offer that's better against an established player. Especially one that seems to have bought up the #1 providers in their market sector of specific satellite subsystems. IE panels, power systems, reaction wheels etc.

That said it could be that this is the one where Cantrell put's into practice the line of Tom Cruise's character that "Every failure is a dress rehearsal for success"  :)

Or not.  :( 

Time will tell.
« Last Edit: 10/03/2022 09:27 am by john smith 19 »
MCT ITS BFR SS. The worlds first Methane fueled FFSC engined CFRP SS structure A380 sized aerospaceplane tail sitter capable of Earth & Mars atmospheric flight.First flight to Mars by end of 2022 TBC. T&C apply. Trust nothing. Run your own #s "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof" R. Simberg."Competitve" means cheaper ¬cheap SCramjet proposed 1956. First +ve thrust 2004. US R&D spend to date > $10Bn. #deployed designs. Zero.

Offline ParabolicSnark

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Re: Phantom Space
« Reply #46 on: 11/14/2022 03:40 pm »
Looks like Phantom has lit up the flight-like stage of Daytona with a 60 second Hadley hotfire. Video hosted on LinkedIn (doesn't look like they have their own YouTube channel yet).

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/chris-thompson-b3b5588_im-very-proud-of-the-phantom-team-and-our-ugcPost-6997747936709283840-WvKn?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

Quote from: Chris Thompson
I'm Very proud of the Phantom team and our partner Ursa Major Technologies in achieving this major milestone supporting the development of our Daytona Launch System. The 60 second test conducted at our interim test site located at Spaceport America, New Mexico was conducted smoothly. The test ran the planned full duration of 60 seconds with all vehicle and ground systems working nominally leading to a smooth shutdown. The pathfinder test stage used in this test is a combination of first and second stage systems allowing us to test those systems prior to production builds leading into the qualification of the Daytona Launch System.

Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: Phantom Space
« Reply #47 on: 11/14/2022 04:58 pm »
https://twitter.com/phantomspacec/status/1592207673474576384

Quote
We are proud to present to you our first successful hot fire test. This is an integral step in the development of our Daytona Launch System, and a proud accomplishment of our teams and suppliers.

Special thanks to the teams at  @ursamajortech & @Spaceport_NM for the support!

Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: Phantom Space
« Reply #48 on: 11/25/2022 05:20 pm »
https://blogs.nasa.gov/smallsatellites/2022/11/25/nasa-awards-phantom-launch-services-task-order-for-csli-mission/

Quote
NASA Awards Phantom Launch Services Task Order for CSLI Mission

NASA has awarded Phantom Space Corp. four task orders to launch four CubeSat Launch Initiative missions as part of the agency’s Venture-class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) launch services contract. The CubeSats will launch no earlier than 2024 on Phantom’s Daytona rocket.

Building on NASA’s previous procurement efforts to foster development of new launch vehicles for NASA payloads, VADR provides Federal Aviation Administration-licensed commercial launch services for payloads that can tolerate higher risk. By using a lower level of mission assurance, and commercial best practices for launching rockets, these highly flexible contracts help broaden access to space through lower launch costs.

Phantom is one of 13 companies NASA selected for VADR contracts in 2022. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, manages the VADR contracts.

Author Jason Costa
Posted on November 25, 2022
Categories CubeSat Launch Initiative, Kennedy Space Center, Launch Services Program, NASA, Venture-class Acquisition of Dedicated and RideshareTags commercial launch services, CSLI, CubeSats, Daytona rocket, FAA, Federal Aviation Administration, Phantom, Phantom Space Corp., VADR, Venture-class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare

Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: Phantom Space
« Reply #49 on: 03/08/2023 05:10 am »
Phantom Space have been allocated SLC 13 with Vaya Space:

https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=58427.msg2464474#msg2464474

Offline trimeta

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Re: Phantom Space
« Reply #50 on: 03/08/2023 05:57 am »
This is in addition to Vandenberg SLC-5, which they secured a lease for back in 2021. For a Jim Cantrell company, the Space Force sure takes them seriously...

https://twitter.com/jamesncantrell/status/1404886113139916800

Offline Steven Pietrobon

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Re: Phantom Space
« Reply #51 on: 04/21/2023 04:55 am »
Phantom Space are going to launch from the Arnhem Space Centre, Northern Territory, Australia.

https://ela.space/phantom-space-and-ela-anounce-mou/

Phantom Space Corporation and ELA expand scope of future equatorial orbit launches from ASC
by Cohen Creeper | Apr 20, 2023

Equatorial Launch Australia (ELA) the developer, owner and operator of the Arnhem Space Centre (ASC) on the Gove Peninsula in Australia’s Northern Territory,  having previously signed an undisclosed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with American space transportation and rocket manufacturing company Phantom Space Corporation in Sept 2022, is now working towards a multi-launch contract as well as expanding the scope and detail of future cooperation to develop mission profile and launch requirements for multiple launches from the ASC.
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Re: Phantom Space
« Reply #52 on: 11/09/2023 05:03 am »
So I guess these guys are still around.

Quote
We’re pleased to announce PhantomSpaceCorp and D_Orbit have signed a contract for multiple launches where Phantom will provide launch services. We recently conducted a Daytona Pathfinder stage long-duration hot fire test & are expecting the first flight in early 2025.

https://twitter.com/jamesncantrell/status/1722383652959457627?s=20

Offline tyrred

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Re: Phantom Space
« Reply #53 on: 11/09/2023 05:21 am »
So I guess these guys are still around.

Quote
We’re pleased to announce PhantomSpaceCorp and D_Orbit have signed a contract for multiple launches where Phantom will provide launch services. We recently conducted a Daytona Pathfinder stage long-duration hot fire test & are expecting the first flight in early 2025.

https://twitter.com/jamesncantrell/status/1722383652959457627?s=20

What is that thing, and what does it have to do with a long duration hot fire test?

It's like this guy isn't even trying and is still getting suckers investors to give him money.

Tax havens or something something dark side. Jeez.

Offline Hug

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Re: Phantom Space
« Reply #54 on: 11/09/2023 11:20 am »
What is that thing, and what does it have to do with a long duration hot fire test?

It's a D-Orbit tug.

Also some random car guy had a look at the factory, here's a pic.


Offline matt19215

Re: Phantom Space
« Reply #55 on: 03/12/2024 02:58 pm »

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