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SpaceX Falcon 9 v1.1 - ASIASAT-6 - DISCUSSION THREAD
by
Chris Bergin
on 08 Feb, 2012 15:15
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#1
by
Garrett
on 08 Feb, 2012 16:26
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Interesting article Chris.
From the article:
“We are pleased to have SpaceX as our launch partner for the two upcoming missions. We look forward to the timely and successful launches of AsiaSat 6 and AsiaSat 8, ..."
(bold highlighting mine)
Am I reading too much between the lines or is that a direct message to SpaceX that they won't tolerate delays of any sort?
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#2
by
sammie
on 08 Feb, 2012 16:43
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who are the back up launchers? Has SpaceX signed an agreement with any of the other companies to swap payloads? I can imagine their one pad being a tad busy
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#3
by
Danderman
on 08 Feb, 2012 17:26
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http://blogs.forbes.com/alexknapp/"
SpaceX announced today that it’s signed a deal with AsiaSat to launch two of its communications satellites in the first half of 2014. The satellites will be launched using SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch vehicle.
“SpaceX is proud to be the choice of AsiaSat, a pioneer in advancing satellite communications in Asia,” said Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO and Chief Technology Officer in the press release. “We are producing the most advanced launch vehicles in the world, and the international launch market has responded–commercial launches now represent over 60 percent of our upcoming missions.”
The fact that commercial launches are now such a large majority of SpaceX’s portfolio is, I think, a big deal. Between SpaceX’s strides in developing rocket technology, NanoRacks standardizing basic research, and Virgin Galactic hitting the tourist market, I think this is the decade where private space travel is really going to come into its own.
There are a lot of business opportunities in outer space, and I think the people getting in on the ground floor are going to find their investments pay off."
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#4
by
ugordan
on 08 Feb, 2012 17:32
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Do we have any estimates of the satellite masses? 3500-ish kg?
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#5
by
Prober
on 08 Feb, 2012 17:38
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Do we have any estimates of the satellite masses? 3500-ish kg?
This could be very good for Fla. Is Astrotech going to be used for processing?
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#6
by
baldusi
on 08 Feb, 2012 18:23
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Chris, this is why I love this site. It's so much more than a simple copy & paste. You deserve more credit!
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#7
by
Chris Bergin
on 08 Feb, 2012 21:11
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Chris, this is why I love this site. It's so much more than a simple copy & paste. You deserve more credit!
Thanks!
Press releases are no longer media only, everyone gets to see them via the internet, so you can't go serving your readers by copying and pasting them as articles.
Pressers with quotes are great, as you can write around the quotes, but we've covered two previous AsiaSat launches with ILS and the Shuttle element for the bird that became AsiaSat 1 gave it some good history. Keeps it fresh.
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#8
by
kevin-rf
on 08 Feb, 2012 22:26
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Chris, this is why I love this site. It's so much more than a simple copy & paste. You deserve more credit!
Yeah, Chris's copy and paste skills are a bit below par, instead we end up with well researched articles
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#9
by
Chris Bergin
on 08 Feb, 2012 23:35
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Sorry about that!
So, I wonder if we can work out why AsiaSat switched to Falcon 9? Always thought ILS Proton was reasonably cheap.
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#10
by
Art LeBrun
on 08 Feb, 2012 23:40
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Sorry about that!
So, I wonder if we can work out why AsiaSat switched to Falcon 9? Always thought ILS Proton was reasonably cheap.
Maybe to start some competitive bidding downwards?
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#11
by
Blackjax
on 09 Feb, 2012 01:11
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#12
by
HammerD
on 09 Feb, 2012 01:28
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#13
by
Seer
on 09 Feb, 2012 11:27
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Yeah I would like to know the mass of satellites too. I've seen the mass of previous asiasats as 3700kg.
As for the reason for the switch from proton. Well the cost is cheaper, Spacex is $60 million, whereas proton is more like $80 million.
The other reason is that russian launches including proton have had problems recently with reliablity.
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#14
by
corrodedNut
on 09 Feb, 2012 12:58
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I hope no one minds if I copy-and-paste this relevant tidbit, which has not been reported elsewhere:
"The commercial Falcon 9 missions require the development of the booster's 17-foot-diameter payload fairing... the company expects to fly the nose shroud on a Falcon 9 rocket later this year, according to Kirstin Brost, a SpaceX spokesperson."
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1202/08spacexasiasat/
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#15
by
kevin-rf
on 09 Feb, 2012 13:24
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It would be nice to see the 5m fairing fly. It is in the critical path for commercial operations.
So the question for another thread is, who first?
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#16
by
PDJennings
on 09 Feb, 2012 13:27
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From what I remember, AsiaSat has always been a bottom feeder when it comes to launch services pricing. They also have a habit of announcing the contract price. I don't have the sources handy, but from my notes AsiaSat-5 was poached from Land Launch for $95m (announced Feb 2009) and AsiaSat-7 was $101m (announced Nov 2010). I wouldn't read too much into the Russian launcher problems of late. AsiaSat-3 was ILS' first Proton failure, but the customer came right back to ILS for the launch of AsiaSat-3S. It's all about the price.
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#17
by
ugordan
on 09 Feb, 2012 13:44
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So the question for another thread is, who first?
Almost certainly the tentative Cassiope (MDA) launch from VAFB which was bumped up ahead of FH.
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#18
by
kevin-rf
on 09 Feb, 2012 14:33
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They also have a habit of announcing the contract price.
That would be nice to see...
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#19
by
sammie
on 09 Feb, 2012 18:35
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About the SpaceX commercial launches. Two launches that were scheduled for the Falcon 9, and were supposed to go to GEO, have diverted to alternative launch providers (HYLAS 1 to Ariane 5 - and - AMOS 4 to Zenit3SLB). The next GEO launches would be either the SES-8 or Thaicom, both scheduled for 2013. So they got another 2 years to prepare for that.
Also they have to use the Falcon 9 for contracts that first were supposed to go on the Falcon1E (CASSIOPE & the Orbcomm constellation).
I have the idea that the commercial GEO launches becoming a victim of demands for increased attention for Dragon and other projects. I guess a real test will be whether they can indeed support these commercial Comsat in their rather busy COTS schedule.
