Quote from: ugordan on 12/16/2014 08:25 pmSo Atlas might not have been even considered. I wonder what that says about the other options like Antares and Athena and their cost?Athena 2c is supposedly priced at $65 million, less than the $87 million now allocated for this Falcon 9 launch, but NASA would also have had to fund a Star 37 kick motor for an Athena 2c launch, not to mention restarting the long-dormant SLC 47 launch site. Falcon 9 probably also provides a lot more wiggle room on weight growth.I wonder where the second stage will be disposed. - Ed kyle
So Atlas might not have been even considered. I wonder what that says about the other options like Antares and Athena and their cost?
I don't think Delta II would be competitive with Falcon 9 now. The article I found on last Delta II purchases said NASA paid $400M for 3 flights (including processing and everything else). SpaceX has been offering that for less than $90M/flight.
NASA pays more than $120m for an Atlas V.
QuoteDidn't ULA have one more Delta II to bid with?
SLC-2 is owned by NASA
Quote from: gongora on 03/21/2015 01:47 amI don't think Delta II would be competitive with Falcon 9 now. The article I found on last Delta II purchases said NASA paid $400M for 3 flights (including processing and everything else). SpaceX has been offering that for less than $90M/flight.That makes the last Delta II cost more than a Atlas V: D II $133M to Atlas V 401 $120M. So yes it is not worth the effort.
Tweet from Sara SeagerQuoteLooks like we’ll be spending Xmas 2017 at Cape Canaveral. New TESS launch date “no earlier than 20 December, 2017”
Looks like we’ll be spending Xmas 2017 at Cape Canaveral. New TESS launch date “no earlier than 20 December, 2017”
The thread title still says v1.1, but I assume TESS will be launched on a F9 v1.2 instead?
It is a good thing then that this is not launched on something that "de facto" is the American version of Proton.
Quote from: Dante80 on 10/07/2016 06:49 pmIt is a good thing then that this is not launched on something that "de facto" is the American version of Proton.Well, since Lar warned against discussing F9 vs Proton, I will say just that: two failures in 14 months is unacceptable. Period. No wild handwaves nor endless excuses will change that.I do not want for F9 to launch anything important (read: costing billions) any time soon. It must prove itself all over again from scratch.
I didn't realized that a) TESS was going to fly next year and b) it was booked to a Falcon 9. Considering Kepler (including the K2 mission) outstanding results, I just can't imagine what TESS results will be.
Quote from: Hobbes-22 on 10/07/2016 09:48 amThe thread title still says v1.1, but I assume TESS will be launched on a F9 v1.2 instead?Or 1.3 as suggested by recent news maybe it's better to remove the v number altogether
Quote from: gongora on 05/27/2016 01:50 pmTweet from Sara SeagerQuoteLooks like we’ll be spending Xmas 2017 at Cape Canaveral. New TESS launch date “no earlier than 20 December, 2017”
Quote from: Archibald on 10/09/2016 10:34 amI didn't realized that a) TESS was going to fly next year and b) it was booked to a Falcon 9. Considering Kepler (including the K2 mission) outstanding results, I just can't imagine what TESS results will be. The article above says "TESS is scheduled to launch no later than June 2018." Considering how spacecraft and launches are so often delayed, I would expect a launch to be in 2018.
SpaceX Falcon 9 v1.1 Launch Vehicle
The TESS launch date is NLT June 2018 (the current working launch date is December 2017).