ZCZC
BFF-04
US-SPACE-SATELLITE
The rockets that are pushing the boundaries of space travel
WASHINGTON, June 27, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Friday morning at 5:24 am (0924 GMT), a rocket
owned by the US company SpaceX will blast off from Florida carrying two and a half
tons of gear from NASA, only to dock three days later and 250 miles (400 kilometers)
above Earth at the International Space Station.
The rocket itself is not new. It launched a NASA satellite into orbit two months
ago, then landed back on Earth — upright — on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean off
Cape Canaveral.
Even the Dragon capsule, carrying the cargo and affixed to the top of the rocket was
used before, having flown a mission to the ISS in 2016.
Friday’s flight will be the 15th SpaceX mission for the US space agency since 2012,
one of which exploded in flight. Another company, Orbital ATK, has completed nine
supply trips, with one explosion as well.
These missions may appear routine, but they represent a revolution in space travel.
Before SpaceX, only national governments resupplied the space station.
Today, NASA is so dependent on the private sector that the US space agency has
signed contracts with SpaceX and Boeing to send astronauts to space beginning next
year, as soon as their capsules are ready.
NASA has been unable to send people to space since the space shuttle program ended
in 2011. Instead, the world’s space agencies buy seats aboard Russia’s Soyuz
spaceships, which launch from Baikonur, Kazakhstan.
“The combination of government and private sector activity is unrivaled,” said John
Logsdon, professor emeritus of political science and international affairs at George
Washington University.
– American resurgence –
SpaceX, founded by Tesla CEO and space enthusiast Elon Musk, has shaken up the
satellite launch sector, with more than 55 launches of its Falcon 9 rocket since
2010.
MORE/AU/08:10 hrs
ZCZC
BFF-05
US-SPACE-SATELLITE-2-LAST
Thanks to SpaceX, the United States has taken the global lead in launches once
again, after losing ground for more than a decade to Russia and China, which
launched even more rockets.
“The Russians have certainly been one of the countries that have had the greatest
loss in terms of launch market share,” said Tom Stroup, president of the Satellite
Industry Association.
The number of satellite launches is expected to surge in the coming years.
Never before has low-Earth orbit been so accessible.
Miniature satellites weighing a few pounds (kilograms) can be made quickly and
launched for tens of thousands of dollars.
These CubeSats make up 292 of the 345 satellites launched in 2017, according to the
Satellite Industry Association.
“They are almost disposable,” said Claude Rousseau of Northern Sky Research,
explaining that their operational life expectancy is about seven years and they can
be easily replaced.
In the coming months, SpaceX and the startup OneWeb want to send into orbit
constellations of hundreds of small satellites that will provide internet access.
Competition in fierce in the Earth observation market, with multiple companies at
work on constellations to offer military or civilian clients high resolution imagery
of infrastructure, farming areas and military installations.
To meet the demands on the small satellite market, companies are working on smaller
rockets.
One, made by the US venture Rocket Lab, is to try its first launch from New Zealand
on Wednesday.
China and India, whose space programs are mainly backed by public funds, also aim
to boost market share.
China has already launched more rockets this year than it did in all of 2017,
according to Northern Sky Research.
– Tourism, Moon and Mars –
The age of space tourism is also approaching.
Virgin Galactic is ramping up tests for its piloted SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity, which
is launched from an airplane. A seat will cost $250,000.
And Blue Origin, founded by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, will sell tickets next year for
a seat on its New Shepard spacecraft, which is designed to carry six people to
space.
These two vehicles will not go into orbit around Earth, but will allow passengers
to experience spaceflight and weightlessness for several minutes before returning to
Earth.
Finally, NASA is working on a space station that would orbit the Moon, as a
stepping off point for missions to Mars in the coming decades.
NASA is building the Orion capsule and Space Launch System (SLS) rocket to send
people around the Moon for the first time since 1972. The SLS will be the most
powerful rocket ever built by the United States. Its first lunar orbit mission is
planned for 2020, with astronauts on board by 2023.
BSS/AFP/AU/08:15 hrs