spaceX delays

[space otter]

sorry if there is a space x thread already

https://bgr.com/2019/08/05/spacex-satellite-launch-amos-17-delay/

SpaceX repairs and bad weather force multiple satellite launch delays
Mike Wehner 
August 5th, 2019 at 7:00 PM

Sending stuff into space isn't easy. SpaceX has made the process of making satellite deliveries into Earth orbit look incredibly easy, but there are still a million things that can derail an otherwise routine mission, and the delayed launch of the AMOS-17 communications satellite by Spacecom is a great reminder of that.

The mission was originally scheduled to be launched on July 24th, but poor weather forced a delay. The backup launch window on the following day was also marked by bad weather and yet another delay. The skies eventually cleared, but that's when SpaceX's Falcon 9 began acting up.

As SpaceFlight Insider reports, the next possible launch window was this past Saturday, August 3rd, but that, too, was scrubbed due to issues that arose during a static fire test of the Falcon 9's engines. The launch was pushed back, with the earliest possible launch coming on Monday, August 5th.

SpaceX tweeted out a brief update, noting that it was adding another static fire test for the rocket "after replacing a suspect valve." That additional test was completed on Saturday, and everything would seem to be in working order.

Unfortunately, it seems the mission won't make its August 5th launch window and SpaceX is now targeting a launch on Tuesday, August 6th instead. No time has been set, and the company noted that the launch would be carried out "pending range availability."

The AMOS-17 will be launched as a replacement for the AMOS-5 satellite which launched way back in 2011. The spacecraft will enter a geosynchronous orbit, and due to the specific demands of sending the satellite into the correct orbit, SpaceX will not attempt a soft landing of the first stage of the Falcon 9.

Image Source: Terry Renna/AP/REX/Shutterstock
Tags: delay, launch, Satellite, SpaceX

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https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/08/05/space_roundup/

Waiting for Amos: SpaceX delays satellite launch as it tries hard not to blow this one up
Also: ISS traffic, Intelsat results, India swings ever closer to Moon
By Richard Speed 5 Aug 2019 at 15:59

Roundup Space fans enjoyed a busy week thanks to a plethora of spacecraft attached to the International Space Station, India continuing its journey to the Moon and SpaceX teasing its next launch.

Amos delayed while SpaceX fiddles with Falcon, teases Starship and attracts NASA attention
Rocket fanciers hoping for a Falcon 9 launch were to be disappointed as SpaceX called it off over the weekend. An issue found with a valve following last week's static firing meant the company had to replace the faulty item.

The company was aiming for a 6 August launch of the Amos-17 satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's SLC-40 pad.

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Science
Waiting for Amos: SpaceX delays satellite launch as it tries hard not to blow this one up
Also: ISS traffic, Intelsat results, India swings ever closer to Moon
By Richard Speed 5 Aug 2019 at 15:59 5  Reg comments SHARE ▼

Static fire anomaly, AMOS-6
Roundup Space fans enjoyed a busy week thanks to a plethora of spacecraft attached to the International Space Station, India continuing its journey to the Moon and SpaceX teasing its next launch.

Amos delayed while SpaceX fiddles with Falcon, teases Starship and attracts NASA attention
Rocket fanciers hoping for a Falcon 9 launch were to be disappointed as SpaceX called it off over the weekend. An issue found with a valve following last week's static firing meant the company had to replace the faulty item.

The company was aiming for a 6 August launch of the Amos-17 satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's SLC-40 pad.


SpaceX
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@SpaceX
Static fire test of Falcon 9 complete—team is now working toward August 6 for launch of AMOS-17 from Pad 40 in Florida, pending Range availability

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Every launch is significant, but this one is possibly more so for a number of reasons.

Firstly, SpaceX accidentally blew up the earlier Amos-6 satellite on the launchpad back in 2016 thanks to the company's habit of having the payload attached to the rocket during static fire testing. It doesn't do that anymore.

Handy, since Amos-17 has required two such tests so far.

Secondly, this will be the third use of this particular Falcon 9 first stage, which saw action on the Telstar 19 VANTAGE and Es'hail-2 missions. This time around the performance required to put the Israeli communications satellite into the required orbit means that SpaceX won't be attempting a recovery of the stage.

Look Ma, no legs.

Finally, the weekend marked 11 years since the failure of the company's third Falcon 1 rocket. While the Merlin engine did its stuff, a botched stage separation meant the first stage reconnected with the second and the company failed, once again, to reach orbit. It would be fourth time lucky as the upstart rocketeers stared into the abyss.

Head honcho Elon Musk was in reflective mood over the weekend.


Elon Musk
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@elonmusk
Replying to @EvaFoxU @SpaceX
That was our last chance to reach orbit. If it had failed, SpaceX would have died.

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But not so reflective that he was unable to plug an upcoming 24 August update on the progress of his Starship monster rocket.

Mutterings that NASA might be taking the concept a tad more seriously while its own super heavy lifter, the SLS, struggles illustrates just how far the company has come.

ISS entertains Dragon, Cygnus and Progress
While SpaceX tiptoed around the launch of Amos-17, the company's Dragon spacecraft was successfully captured and attached to the International Space Station (ISS).

It joined the Northrop Grumman Cygnus freighter, named for astronaut Roger Chaffee, which was bolted to the orbiting outpost in April. The Cygnus is due to depart shortly, freeing up the Earth-facing Harmony port.

Unlike the Cygnus, which will not survive its fiery return to Earth, SpaceX's Dragon is capable of transporting payload safely to a splashdown in the ocean. After a month attached to the laboratory, the freighter will be charged with returning a cargo of mice from the station among the ISS parts and experiment results also loaded aboard.

The two freighters have also been joined by a Russian Progress freighter which docked to the outpost's Pirs docking port a mere three hours and 19 minutes after launching from Kazakhstan. The uncrewed spacecraft, designated 73P, carried three tons of supplies and will remain docked for four months before being filled with rubbish and sent to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere.

The Progress will share space on the Russian segment with the uncrewed Soyuz MS-14, due to launch before the end of the month as part of a test of the 2.1a Soyuz booster. MS-14 will be docked to the Poisk docking port (assuming the launch goes as planned) and parachute back to Earth two weeks later ahead of Roscosmos, possibly using the rocket to launch astronauts and cosmonauts later in 2020.

Intelsat: it was the micrometeoroid wot dunnit. Maybe
Hidden away in Intelsat's quarterly earning commentary (PDF) was a terse summary of the investigation into the 7 April Intelsat 29e "anomaly".

At the time, it appeared that a mystery fuel leak followed by something altogether more catastrophic befell the stricken spacecraft. According to the failure review board: "The anomaly was either caused by a harness flaw in conjunction with an electrostatic discharge event related to solar weather activity, or the impact of a micrometeoroid."

The former indicates a potential issue with the design of the satellite while the latter is just plain bad luck. Intelset 29e is (or was) a Boeing 702 Medium Power Series spacecraft. Intelsat operates another six of the things and reckoned there was a "very low risk of a similar event occurring".

So that's all right then.

In terms of financial impact, the company recorded an asset impairment charge of $382m for Q2 2019. Total revenue for the quarter was $509m, down $28m on the same time in 2018. The net loss was $530m compared to $47m the previous year.

Ouch.

ISRO: Onward, to the Moon!
Finally, the Indian space agency, ISRO, was pleased as punch to confirm that the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter/lander/rover combo had successfully completed its fourth and penultimate orbit raising manoeuvre.


ISRO
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@isro
#Chandrayaan2
Today marks the successful completion of the fourth orbit raising maneuver. The last Earth bound maneuver is planned on August 6, 2019#ISRO

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A final firing on 6 August should be enough to see the spacecraft eventually captured by the Moon's sphere of influence ahead of a planned September landing.

Boffins minding the probe have busied themselves with snapshots of Earth because, well, who wouldn't?


ISRO
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@isro
#ISRO
Earth as viewed by #Chandrayaan2 LI4 Camera on August 3, 2019 17:34 UT

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https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-rideshare-program-space-affordable

AUGUST 5TH 19__KRISTIN HOUSER__FILED UNDER: OFF WORLD
Team Effort
On Monday, SpaceX launched its SmallSat Rideshare Program, an initiative designed to make it easier — and cheaper — for smaller satellite operators to reach space by letting them split the cost of regularly scheduled launches.

Currently, many smaller satellite operators cut the cost of reaching space by hitching a ride aboard a rocket already launching a "primary" payload into orbit, with the operator of that primary payload paying the bulk of the launch fee.

The problem is that the smaller company is then beholden to the larger one's timeline — if for some reason the primary payload's operator needs to delay the launch, the smaller company has no choice but to delay its own launch as well.


Booking Basics
For the SmallSat Rideshare Program, SpaceX will pre-schedule launches, letting smaller satellite operators book spots on the rockets well in advance. The idea is that the launch will still move forward even if one or more of the companies back out — so no more unexpected delays.

If one of the smaller satellite operators does have to delay its own launch, SpaceX will even put 100 percent of what the company already paid toward the cost of rebooking.

As for what that cost will be, launches will start at $2.25 million for payloads of up to 150 kilograms (330 pounds) and $4.5 million for 300 kilograms (660 pounds) — a fraction of the minimum $57 million a company would pay to book a SpaceX rocket all for itself.

READ MORE: SpaceX will now offer dedicated 'rideshare' launches for small satellites [TechCrunch]


More on satellite rideshares: Europe Is Starting a "Ride-Share" for Small Satellites

[spacemaverick]

Right now it is raining every day.  They try to find a window of time, conditions etc...to launch.

[The Seeker]

Right now it is raining every day.  They try to find a window of time, conditions etc...to launch.

Hi Mav  just watching an Atlas 5 launching from the Cape live on the toob; my original post in this thread went poof!! while I was working on it  when the 'net waffled...

what we are looking at is the state of affairs and progress for spacex projects, what happened to the 2018 circum-lunar flight, timeline for Moon/Mars endeavours, issues and delays...

weather on the cape and 'window of opportunity' due to all the space crap make scheduling difficult, but they did have a glitch during a static test this weekend...

Seeker

[spacemaverick]

Got it...thanks seeker.