Commercial Space Developments

[AnimeFan188]

Stratolaunch's Massive Mothership Rolls Out Of Its
Nest For The First Time:

"After the better part of a decade of development, we are getting our first glimpse of
Stratolaunch's massive mothership outside her low-slung hangar at Mojave Air and Space
Port. As expected, the size and design of the huge and exotic aircraft is impressive to say
the least. At 385 feet wide, it has the longest wingspan of any aircraft in the world—even
longer than the record-setting Hughes H-4 Flying Boat, aka the "Spruce Goose." Loaded
fully, it will tip the scales at a whopping 1,300,000 pounds, and is powered by six Pratt &
Whitney PW4056 turbofan engines—the same engine that powers many 747-400s
—putting out a combined 340,500 pounds of thrust.

There is no doubt about it, Stratolaunch has given birth to a truly technologically wondrous
machine."

See:

http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone...the-first-time

[AnimeFan188]

Moon Express Aims for Multiple Lunar Landings,
Sample Return Mission By 2020:

"Last month, Popular Mechanics covered the exciting prospect of the first ever
commercial moon landing, which could launch by December 2017 if everything goes
according to plan. That mission involves Moon Express, a company that hopes to build
a number of commercial lunar landers, and Rocket Lab, a launch vehicle company that
recently conducted its first flight test of the Electron rocket.

Yesterday, Moon Express unveiled design details for its lunar spacecraft at a hearing
held by the House Science, Space and Technology Committee. The company is planning
three missions to the moon by the end of 2020, with the ultimate goal of establishing a
permanent station near the moon's south pole and returning lunar samples to Earth.
Moon Express has revealed a number of spacecraft designs to help it achieve its various
goals. The first up is the MX-1E, which is the small craft designed to launch on the
Electron rocket and land on the moon later this year."

See:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/spac...sample-return/

[AnimeFan188]

Spacex Big Rocket will go down in history like DC-3 and
Caravel sailing ships:

"The 150 ton payload fully reusable Spacex Big F*ing Rocket (BFR) will make it easy to
begin a true space age.

Each Spacex BFR launch would enable the placement of 2 to 4 times larger space
stations than the International Space Station which took dozens of Shuttle launches.

The BFR will be able refuel in orbit and go to the moon, land and launch from the moon
and return to earth without refueling.

The BFR establishing new commercial space age like DC-3 boosting commercial aviation
before WW2"

See:

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2017/0...ing-ships.html

[Ithekro]

A full on space economy needs a good start followed by more places to go up there. First you have the explores, then the markets start looking for something to exploit, than the people start to move it to make a profit off something, than they stay and live because its theirs.

[AnimeFan188]

China wants to catch up to US rockets in 2020
and then get nuclear spaceships in 2045:

"China plans a fleet of nuclear carrier rockets and reusable hybrid-power carriers by the
mid-2040s. They will be ready for regular, large scale interplanetary flights, and carrying
out commercial exploration and exploitation of natural resources by the mid-2040s.

China plans to catch up with the United States on conventional rocket technology by
2020.

If Spacex and Elon Musk achieve fully reusable rockets with the Falcon 9 or the BFR in
the 2020-2022 timeframe then China would be 13-15 years behind if they hit their
target for reusable rockets in 2035.

By 2030, China will put astronauts on the moon and bring samples back from Mars."

See:

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2017/1...s-in-2045.html

[AnimeFan188]

Spaceplane meant to resupply the space station pulled off
a successful glide flight this weekend:

"On Saturday, private spaceflight company Sierra Nevada announced that its Dream
Chaser spaceplane had successfully glided and landed on a runway after being released
from a helicopter. The stunt, done at Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California, is
known as a free-flight test and is meant to test out the vehicle’s landing capabilities. It’s
an important milestone in the Dream Chaser’s development, as Sierra Nevada readies
the plane for spaceflight."

See:

https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/13/...am-free-flight

[AnimeFan188]

Elon Musk’s ‘Big F**king Rocket’ Is a Big F**ing Deal:

"Elon Musk, the maestro of SpaceX, has figured out a new way to fly into deep space. In
doing so he seems to have disrupted all previous proposals for returning to the moon
and reaching beyond to Mars.

Musk is gambling on the success of a project that is a radical departure from anything
seen before—and far simpler than any competing space program. It is centered on a
157-foot long spaceship named BFR (Big Fucking Rocket). No kidding: That’s longer than
the longest version of the Boeing 737 and, with a width of 29 feet it’s eight feet wider
than the Airbus A380 super jumbo’s fuselage.

It will be designed to be used in three ways: to carry three kinds of payloads—people,
cargo, or fuel (playing the role of a tanker to refuel other vehicles in space)."

See:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/elon-m...-deal?ref=home

[Ithekro]

As long as they do it I don't care how exactly. Just get this planet's space economy going places that are outside of our own orbit.

[AnimeFan188]

Scientists Map Out How to Nudge Small Asteroids into Earth’s Orbit:

"The notion of an asteroid headed for Earth is typically seen as a bad omen. On the
flip side, some scientists and entrepreneurs increasingly see this scenario as a
potential opportunity. Deliberately redirecting asteroids to our planet’s vicinity could
enable us to study them up close, or even mine them.

Given that these objects are packed with valuable resources, building a collection of
them nearby could spark major advances in spaceflight, to say nothing of the scientific
research that might result from easy access to these extraterrestrial bodies.

A recent paper published in Acta Astronautica suggests that asteroids could be
captured in Earth’s orbit with aerobraking, a maneuver that uses atmospheric drag to
decelerate and position objects in stable trajectories around a planet. Aerobraking has
helped place interplanetary spacecraft in orbit around Mars and Venus, and to slow
down spacecraft returning to Earth.

Led by Minghu Tan, a PhD student at the University of Glasgow, the paper
immediately addresses the most obvious concern with this scenario: What if there’s
some mistake in the redirect process and an asteroid accidentally impacts Earth? It’s
bad enough that the dinosaurs were oblivious to their doomsday space rock, but it
would be especially embarrassing if we humans smack ourselves in the face with one."

See:

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/a...o-earths-orbit

[AnimeFan188]

Rocket Lab’s Modest Launch Is Giant Leap for Small Rocket Business:

"A small rocket from a little-known company lifted off Sunday from the east coast of
New Zealand, carrying a clutch of tiny satellites. That modest event — the first
commercial launch by a U.S.-New Zealand company known as Rocket Lab — could mark
the beginning of a new era in the space business, where countless small rockets pop off
from spaceports around the world. This miniaturization of rockets and spacecraft places
outer space within reach of a broader swath of the economy."

See:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/10/s...ab-launch.html

[Ithekro]

Best someone do something. NASA seems to be kind of half heartedly making an explorer vessel starting with the remains of the Orion craft due for a test moon shot in 2020 asnd a manned effort in 2023. There seems to be a plan for some kind of transfere station in Lunar orbit, followed by a modular explorer craft for Mars and Venus around 2033. If any of it is funded.

But there doesn't seem to be an effort for a Lunar base to attempt to mine for fuel for the long ranged missions. Though maybe the Chinese are doing that or it will be a commercial contract effort.