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Welcome to Edition 1.24 of the Rocket Report! This week we are catching up to date on Europe, Japan, and China to develop reusable rockets. (Spoiler alert: they're a bit behind their Western competition.) We've also got a couple of articles about NASA's wide-ranging Space Launch System. (Spoiler alert, part two: Boeing says everything is fine.)
As always, we would like to make submissions, and if you do not want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on the AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.
A Chinese commercial rocket failed to reach orbit. The Chinese private company LandSpace launched its solid-fueled Zhuque-1 orbital launch vehicle on Sunday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. However, the launch fails to deploy the spacecraft in the correct orbit, NASASpaceflight.com reports. According to gbtimes, the failure was later attributed to a problematic reaction-control system.
If at first you do not succeed … This was the first attempt by the Chinese company to put the satellite into orbit, but it will not be the last. LandSpace and other companies such as OneSpace will soon make more attempts, with solid- and liquid-fueled rockets. The Chinese private sector has grown enormously over the last three years. (submitted by Unrulycow and Ken the Bin)
Scottish spaceport may have a NIMBY problem. A campaign group called Protect The Mhoine has been set up against a proposed spaceport for northern Scotland, which was the first satellite launch site. Opponents fear it would impact the environment, archeology, and roads, have a potential risk to the public, and create noise, the The Press and Journal carryforwards.
Crofters not happy … Small-scale farmers in the area, called crofters, have banded together. Crofter George Wyper, 72, said, "There is a lot in the community and a lot of bad feeling about it. the Scottish Land Court, which could take years to resolve. "
Rocket Lab sets launch date for It's Business Time. The nine-day launch window will open from November 11 to 19, with daily launch between 03:00 to 07:00 UTC, the company said. The Electron rocket is on site at Launch Complex 1 undergoing final pre-launch checkouts, following a successful final stage-one static fire test last week.
Still adding customers The company also added two satellite satellites from Fleet Space Technologies to the first Electron launch, Parabolic Arc reports. These two 1.5 U CubeSats are the first of a small, low-cost satellite that will provide Internet connectivity for millions of sensor devices based in remote locations on Earth. (submitted by Ken the Bin)
Europe, Japan take steps to reusable launcher. Aviation Week reports that the French space agency, CNES, is pressing ahead with counterparts from Germany and Japan for the development of a reusable launcher first stage. Kourou, French Guiana, in 2021.
Starting from behind The rocket is modestly sized at 15m tall and 1m in diameter. It has a reusable LOX-hydrogen engine built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan. This Callisto project aims to eventually test its rocket up to an altitude of 50 meters and may (or may not) be a precursor to European development of a reusable rocket. The company is about a decade behind SpaceX. (submitted by DougF)
China advancing towards reusable launch, too. Chinese space-launch startup Linkspace appears close to testing a tech-demonstrator reusable rocket similar in utility to the Grasshopper Rocket SpaceX used in its development of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle. There are other efforts towards success in China.
Reusing design concepts, too? SpaceX and Masten Space Systems. Not that we're making any innuendo or anything. We're pretty sure of these efforts were conceived of and independently developed in China. Pretty sure.
Soyuz problem identified as deformed sensor. On Thursday, Russian space officials held a news conference in Soyuz FG rocket and its spacecraft. The problem has been caused by a "bent" sensor on one of the rocket 's four boosters that failed to properly signal separation stage. This is one of the booster stages to be improperly separate from the rocket and then strike the core of the rocket.
Two in a row … Fortunately the crew escaped safely. According to the officials, the sensor rod was a little more than six degrees, and this happened during assembly of the rocket. The Russian space corporation, Roscosmos, has classified this as a handling error. For the sake of keeping the score down, the last two launches of Russian crew missions have been made to reduce the risk of failure.
China remains on pace for record-setting year. China's previous record for orbital launches in any given year was 22, set in 2016. This year, it has already conducted 30 successful launches, and its final total by the end of the year global launches. That would be China above the United States and Russia for the first time, gbtimes reports.
Close to its goal The main contractor for the Chinese space program, CASC, has been targeted with 35 launches, with private companies, which may be more or less of a total. At the time, this seeming ambitious, but it looks like the country is going to come close, further cementing its status as a major power in spaceflight.
Europe backs its own launchers competition. Ministers from Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland on Thursday, their "full support" for the development of the Ariane 6 and Vega-C rockets and their use for European Space Agency missions, ABC News reports. The move was seen as a response to the Air Force rocket development awards private American space companies.
A sensitive subject … There is a view held in Europe, Japan, and elsewhere that SpaceX and, to a less extent, other US companies are heavily subsidized by the US military. The idea is that their success is due to military funding. The irony here, of course, is that SpaceX did not receive any of the Launch Service Agreements awards announced by the Air Force on October 10.
SpaceX hot-fires its crew demo Falcon 9 rocket. The company said on Twitter that it completed a static fire test on October 25th of the Falcon 9 booster that will launch SpaceX's first demonstration mission. The test occurred at SpaceX's rocket development facility in McGregor, Texas.
An extended test period? … Teslarati reports that this booster has been developed in Texas, which is very popular in the United States. NASA as part of the commercial crew program is one of the largest companies in the world. (submitted by Ken the Bin)
Boeing manager defends SLS in an op-ed. In a SpaceNews op-ed that draws heavily on nostalgia, Boeing's Space Launch System Project Manager John Shannon says the rocket has a bright future. "We should identify and recognize the speed bumps, roadblocks, and setbacks we encounter along the way-the more mundane ones that do not make it to the movies-and continue to adapt and improve our trajectory," Shannon writes. "In that sense, I remain confident in our deep-space exploration prospects and see a bright future for SLS production.
Follows the IG report … The op-ed was written after the release of a report from NASA's general inspector that was highly critical of the SLS program, which is significantly over budget and already running three years late. Shannon argued that, in the past, it should be noted that, "no longer reflect the SLS program of today."
Another SLS official says costs are a concern. At a meeting, train astronaut and Vice President and General Manager of Propulsion for Northrop Grumman Charlie Precourt said that the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft move from development to operations, costs must come down. "We have to execute, but we are planning for the future in terms of sustainability, sustainability, and affordability," Precourt said.
More truths … Precourt, whose company manufactures the solid rocket boosters for the SLS, made at the American Astronautical Society's Wernher von Braun Memorial Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama. "All of us need to be thinking about [how] "It is a very serious problem that we are in the process of becoming sustainable."
Next three launches
Nov. 3: Soyuz 2.1b | Glonass-M satellite | Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia | TBD
Nov. 3: Pegasus XL | NASA's ICON satellite | Air launch from Florida | 08:00:00 UTC
Nov 7: Soyuz ST-B | MetOp-C satellite | Kourou, French Guiana | 00:47 UTC
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