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#20
by
mn
on 27 Dec, 2017 19:26
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As a general question, now that they have two east coast pads. (perhaps this belongs in the manifest thread?)
How far in advance do they need to know which pad a particular mission would use? can that be decided in the last couple of weeks when they do the vehicle integration to the TEL? or are there reasons why it needs to be known earlier?
Does payload processing/fairing integration need to know which pad before it begins? or can any payload easily move to either HIF after processing?
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#21
by
Lars-J
on 27 Dec, 2017 22:19
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As a general question, now that they have two east coast pads. (perhaps this belongs in the manifest thread?)
How far in advance do they need to know which pad a particular mission would use? can that be decided in the last couple of weeks when they do the vehicle integration to the TEL? or are there reasons why it needs to be known earlier?
Does payload processing/fairing integration need to know which pad before it begins? or can any payload easily move to either HIF after processing?
Zuma is your answer. (was going to be 39A, is now using 40)
They can be flexible. Only FH and Crew launches require 39A - everything else can be shifted between the pads on pretty short (weeks) notice.
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#22
by
FutureSpaceTourist
on 28 Dec, 2017 06:31
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They can be flexible. Only FH and Crew launches require 39A - everything else can be shifted between the pads on pretty short (weeks) notice.
Based on Gwynne Shotwell’s testimony to the National Space council in October, it seems getting the FAA launch license updated is one of the limiting factors currently (although hopefully moves are afoot to improve that).
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#23
by
deruch
on 28 Dec, 2017 08:52
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As a general question, now that they have two east coast pads. (perhaps this belongs in the manifest thread?)
How far in advance do they need to know which pad a particular mission would use? can that be decided in the last couple of weeks when they do the vehicle integration to the TEL? or are there reasons why it needs to be known earlier?
Does payload processing/fairing integration need to know which pad before it begins? or can any payload easily move to either HIF after processing?
Zuma is your answer. (was going to be 39A, is now using 40)
They can be flexible. Only FH and Crew launches require 39A - everything else can be shifted between the pads on pretty short (weeks) notice.
The real answer is that it very much depends on their licensing situation for launches from the FL pads. Zuma is a bad
general example for switching because the end-user for that payload is USG (presumably for defense/intel). So, while the launch was being treated as a commercial launch for licensing, the speed with which it was able to get a new license for a launch from SLC-40 is not at all indicative of what is "normal".
It likely won't matter at all for GTO launches because SpaceX should have licenses for both pads that will cover multiple launches of that type without a need to specify the specific payload/mission. The challenge would only be for moving a LEO launch from one pad to another because with the exception of Iridium or CRS launches, SpaceX hasn't gotten licenses that allow for multiple launches to LEO. The advantage for GTO is that they are all launching on a 90deg. azimuth whereas for LEO each launch is going to a different inclination and so launches on a different azimuth.
My guess is that for moving a LEO launch from one pad to another will require at least 60 days for new licensing.
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#24
by
speedevil
on 28 Dec, 2017 11:23
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Based on Gwynne Shotwell’s testimony to the National Space council in October, it seems getting the FAA launch license updated is one of the limiting factors currently (although hopefully moves are afoot to improve that).
From memory, it was asked that she and others supply actual proposals for change with a deadline that has passed by now.
I wonder if these are public yet.
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#25
by
MazenHesham
on 06 Jan, 2018 04:43
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#26
by
Yeknom-Ecaps
on 06 Jan, 2018 22:16
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Mon, 18 Dec 2017
SSTL ships RemoveDEBRIS mission for ISS launch
Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) has shipped the RemoveDEBRIS spacecraft to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for launch to the International Space Station (ISS) inside a Dragon capsule on board the SpaceX CRS-14 re-supply mission, a service provided through supply agent, Nanoracks. RemoveDEBRIS is an Active Debris Removal (ADR) demonstration mission led by the Surrey Space Centre at the University of Surrey and co-funded by the European Commission and partners.
Has RemoveDEBRIS arrived at KSC? If so, when? Any photos?
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#27
by
brujhar
on 11 Jan, 2018 23:58
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Hello guys,
Do you know the exact launch date of this mission?
I read on some sites that it would be on 03/13/2018 at 00:00 a.m.
Thank you
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#28
by
ZachS09
on 11 Jan, 2018 23:59
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#29
by
gongora
on 12 Jan, 2018 01:10
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With CRS missions I wouldn't count on a particular date staying the same for the next two months.
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#30
by
gongora
on 16 Jan, 2018 15:52
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The SpaceflightNow schedule shows this moving to April 2.
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#31
by
vaporcobra
on 24 Jan, 2018 00:10
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#32
by
cuddihy
on 27 Jan, 2018 18:18
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So IDA-3 is not going up on this one is it?
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#33
by
IanThePineapple
on 27 Jan, 2018 18:30
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So IDA-3 is not going up on this one is it?
I think it goes up on CRS-16
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#34
by
kdhilliard
on 27 Jan, 2018 18:34
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So IDA-3 is not going up on this one is it?
I think it goes up on CRS-16
Yes, Spaceflight 101's
ISS Calendar shows it being installed in December, during SpX/CRS-16's visit. They don't give a source, but I assume they are working from the ISS FPIP.
Edit: Is there a recent public source (beyond SF101's calendar) for IDA-3 being on the SpX/CRS-16 manifest?
SpaceNews, 16 July 2016:
NASA is developing a third IDA to replace the one lost in last year’s launch failure. That third adapter is tentatively scheduled to launch on SpaceX’s CRS-16 cargo mission in 2018, said Kirk Shireman, NASA ISS program manager, during a July 13 briefing at the ISS Research and Development Conference in San Diego.
The stand down following Amos-6 could have delayed SpaceX CRS missions sufficiently for it to have been scheduled at some point on CRS-14 (was it?), but other issues may have shifted it back to CRS-16.
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#35
by
gongora
on 27 Jan, 2018 19:28
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IDA takes the whole trunk. We know there are other external payloads scheduled on SpX-14 and SpX-15.
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#36
by
catdlr
on 04 Feb, 2018 23:56
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This Satellite Might Be The Solution To Space Junk
Tech Insider
Published on Feb 4, 2018
There is an estimated 7,000 tons of junk orbiting the Earth. The Surray Space Center wants to clean it up, so they designed a satellite called RemoveDebris. It will test cheap methods of picking up litter in space. The satellite will go up into space and deploy artificial space junk. It can use nets or harpoons to capture the junk. Finally, the satellite will enter Earth's atmosphere and while it's dragged down the junk will burn up. Where does space debris come from? Debris comes from old bits of rocket, disused satellites, or debris from collisions. Space debris is a major threat to space assets. The Internet, GPS, and weather tracking all use satellites and RemoveDebris could keep them same from junk.
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#37
by
Svetoslav
on 09 Feb, 2018 08:01
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EnduroSat is being moved from this flight to Cygnus on may.
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#38
by
Roy_H
on 09 Feb, 2018 18:50
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This Satellite Might Be The Solution To Space Junk
Tech Insider
Published on Feb 4, 2018
There is an estimated 7,000 tons of junk orbiting the Earth. The Surray Space Center wants to clean it up, so they designed a satellite called RemoveDebris. It will test cheap methods of picking up litter in space. The satellite will go up into space and deploy artificial space junk. It can use nets or harpoons to capture the junk. Finally, the satellite will enter Earth's atmosphere and while it's dragged down the junk will burn up. Where does space debris come from? Debris comes from old bits of rocket, disused satellites, or debris from collisions. Space debris is a major threat to space assets. The Internet, GPS, and weather tracking all use satellites and RemoveDebris could keep them same from junk.
What? Its going to take up its own junk? Seems like a pretty lame test, the challenge it to capture fast-moving junk in orbit, all this does is show that they can take something up and de-orbit burning in the atmosphere. This is done routinely with every launch upper stage.
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#39
by
sewebster
on 09 Feb, 2018 19:20
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This Satellite Might Be The Solution To Space Junk
Tech Insider
Published on Feb 4, 2018
There is an estimated 7,000 tons of junk orbiting the Earth. The Surray Space Center wants to clean it up, so they designed a satellite called RemoveDebris. It will test cheap methods of picking up litter in space. The satellite will go up into space and deploy artificial space junk. It can use nets or harpoons to capture the junk. Finally, the satellite will enter Earth's atmosphere and while it's dragged down the junk will burn up. Where does space debris come from? Debris comes from old bits of rocket, disused satellites, or debris from collisions. Space debris is a major threat to space assets. The Internet, GPS, and weather tracking all use satellites and RemoveDebris could keep them same from junk.
What? Its going to take up its own junk? Seems like a pretty lame test, the challenge it to capture fast-moving junk in orbit, all this does is show that they can take something up and de-orbit burning in the atmosphere. This is done routinely with every launch upper stage.
Well, two separate problems... rendezvous, and dealing with the junk when you get there... adds significantly complexity to include rendezvous if you are just trying to validate the second step...