SpaceX Signs Launch Agreements with Asia Broadcast Satellite and Satmex

[agman25]

Are the two spacecraft to be built to different designs or will the top one just the stronger than it needs to be? Also, could anybody explain why "a." is true. I'm having trouble picturing it.

[Prober]

Ah, the launch manifest keeps growing and growing and yet the launch rate stays the same.  Not sure how this'll work out.

Just contracts, and they can be broken.  Maybe we should watch the IPO thread, this might be just about the $$.

[McDew]

Also, could anybody explain why "a." is true. I'm having trouble picturing it.

Most of the real estate on the earth deck of the lower spacecraft is used to accommodate the adapter and upper spacecraft.

[Blackjax]

I was reading this:

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/jsp_includes/articlePrint.jsp?headLine=Electric%20Satellites%20For%20Commercial%20Satcom&storyID=news/awst/2012/03/19/AW_03_19_2012_p28-436631.xml

...and the following quote stood out to me:

“We think this might expand the market quite a bit,” says Steve O’Neill, president of Boeing Satellite Systems International, who spent the past five months negotiating the deal. “The total cost to market will be significantly different for a satellite operator than it is currently."

I am assuming he means that satellites based on this will be significantly cheaper in the future, but it isn't clear to me why.  Does anyone have any insight into this?

If true, it interests me because you now have a significant drop in both launch costs (via SpaceX) and the payload itself.  This will consequently also mean a drop in insurance costs.  Could this new combined price point result in a significant uptick in the market?

[Kaputnik]

Interesting article but this part confused me:

The new technology has long-term implications for the industry, not the least of which is that equatorial launch sites, such as the Guiana Space Center operated by Arianespace, would no longer boast a decisive advantage over a spaceport located far from the equator. Given a modest supply of lightweight xenon fuel, an all-electric satellite could easily make up the distance it must travel from the equator if it is launched, for example, from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, or Cape Canaveral.

That's not quite how it works, is it? I thought equatorial launch was principally about velocity, not distance.

[ugordan]

Actually, I'd say it's principally about a cheaper plane change maneuver than a slight velocity gain at equator, when it comes to GTO launches.

[Comga]

Interesting article but this part confused me:

The new technology has long-term implications for the industry, not the least of which is that equatorial launch sites, such as the Guiana Space Center operated by Arianespace, would no longer boast a decisive advantage over a spaceport located far from the equator. Given a modest supply of lightweight xenon fuel, an all-electric satellite could easily make up the distance it must travel from the equator if it is launched, for example, from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, or Cape Canaveral.

That's not quite how it works, is it? I thought equatorial launch was principally about velocity, not distance.

I agree with you and ugordon.  This is quite poorly worded at best.  There are other errors in the article, like "most geostationary telecom satellites are dropped off in an equatorial parking orbit after separating from their launch vehicles".  The most efficient division of plane change maneuvers between GTO injection and circularization was a problem in Orbital Mechanics 101, and it did NOT result in an equatorial transfer orbit.  That answer changes again, in favor of later plane changes, if you have the low thrust, high ISP of ion engines.  Which is essentially what the author is trying to say.

[baldusi]

And very eccentric orbits. See how the Proton will improve performance by doing supersynchronous missions. The plane change maneuver is proportional to the cosine angle of the vector delta-v difference. I.e. a 90 degrees plane change on a circular orbit would basically be the same as a launch (save drag and gravity losses). But since at apogee your potential energy is at maximum and the speed at minimum, the plane change is much cheaper. Is easier to transform potential energy than speed.
I'm pretty sure that for MTI almost any place is the same, save for launch windows.

[agman25]

More form AvWeek...

Electric Satellites For Commercial Satcom

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/awst/2012/03/19/AW_03_19_2012_p28-436631.xml&headline=Electric%20Satellites%20For%20Commercial%20Satcom&channel=awst

[Robotbeat]

More form AvWeek...

Electric Satellites For Commercial Satcom

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/awst/2012/03/19/AW_03_19_2012_p28-436631.xml&headline=Electric%20Satellites%20For%20Commercial%20Satcom&channel=awst

You know, this is great for electric propulsion in general... It should provide an extra market driver for developing higher power and more efficient elements, since doubling the specific power can mean halving the time-to-market of the satellite (from 6 months to 3 months, for instance). That should provide a more direct incentive to invest in higher specific power solar electric elements. Also, in order to be competitive, more satellite manufacturers will be wanting to advertise their firm's competitive advantage in electric propulsion elements, thus driving the development of new electric thrusters (longer life, lower mass, higher power, higher reliability, etc).

And by using electric propulsion for more and more of the delta-v needed to get to GSO, this should also help reusable launch vehicle developments (which would have a hard time getting stuff beyond LEO by themselves).

A very good development, IMHO.

(Of course, the flip side of this is that, if the market doesn't expand, it would reduce the annual launched IMLEO of the comm-sat market... On the other hand, by providing more value for the same price, it may have the effect of expanding the market which is good for everyone in this business...)

[Ronsmytheiii]

loan has gone through:

NAPLES, Italy — The U.S Export-Import Bank on Nov. 19 agreed to make $461 million in direct loans for the construction of three satellites for Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) of Hong Kong and the launch and insurance of two of them aboard Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) Falcon 9 rockets.

http://www.spacenews.com/article/spacex-boeing-among-beneficiaries-of-461m-satellite-export-deal#.UKw26IbPaSo

[kevin-rf]

Sounds like Margarita and Tequila time on the Party thread. Excellent News!

[Ronsmytheiii]

Looks like Falcon 9 might be busy for awhile with the 702SP bus:

Boeing is reviewing 14 separate requests for information or bid solicitations for commercial telecommunications satellites from prospective customers interested in the company’s new all-electric 702SP satellite design, Boeing officials said March 19.

http://www.spacenews.com/new-boeing-satellite-platform-drawing-lots-of-customer-interest#.UUpod1dUbSg

[kevin-rf]

Spaceflightnow is reporting that Boeing has sold three more all electric 702SP satellites to an undisclosed US government customer...

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1403/12boeing702sp/#.UyGm6_ldUuc

I wonder if they will fly on Falcon's or go for a single launch on a large EELV...

[Ben the Space Brit]

Spaceflightnow is reporting that Boeing has sold three more all electric 702SP satellites to an undisclosed US government customer...

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1403/12boeing702sp/#.UyGm6_ldUuc

I wonder if they will fly on Falcon's or go for a single launch on a large EELV...

I suppose the target orbits will be the driver of that one.

[kevin-rf]

Are you implying something other than GSO, like Tundra or Molniya?

I think it will be more, how risk adverse is the customer.

Put all the satellites on one launch (Could be done with an Atlas v541, v551 or Falcon Heavy)

or

Spread it out across multiple launches (Could fly or ride share on a Falcon 9 v1.1, Delta IV Medium, Atlas v401, or even an Antares).

[Robotbeat]

I think you can fit two on a Falcon 9.

[kevin-rf]

The undisclosed customer ordered three....

[Zed_Noir]

The undisclosed customer ordered three....

Two operational sats dual manifest with one spare in storage.