Catching Up

After a very long absence, Epic Future Space is back with updates about SpaceX, Orbital Sciences, Bigelow Aerospace, NASA, and Virgin Galactic. It’s been an amazing past couple of months in space.

For more Information about the stories I talked about click the following:
SpaceX CRS-1 Mission: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_C…
SpaceX CRS-2 Mission: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_C…
SpaceX’s Grasshopper: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grasshop…
Orbital Sciences Antares Flight: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antares_…
Bigelow Aerospace’s BEAM Module: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigelow_…
Virgin Galactic first powered test flight: http://www.virgingalactic.com/news/it…

If you’d like to hear Orbital Transit: http://www.reverbnation.com/orbitaltr…
And check out Audio Martyr: http://www.reverbnation.com/audiomartyr

Another gem from Epic Future Space. Thanks Mikhail

Orbital Sciences Launches a New Rocket

Up until now the word Antares has had only one meaning in our language, the given name of a star, but not anymore.  Sure, it is still the name of a giant red binary star, the brightest in the constellation Scorpio, about 424 light-years from Earth. The word Antares has its roots in ancient Greek meaning simulating Mars.  It looked red to them, just like Mars.

However, things change.  On Sunday, April 21, from a beach on Wallops Island Virginia, our own Orbital Sciences launched its newest horse in its extensive stable of rockets, the Antares. And for the first time in my memory, a first launch of a new rocket didn’t end prematurely in a puff of smoke or debris cloud. It went so smoothly that almost no one heard about it. That’s success in the rocket industry but a marketing failure.

ESA to Supply ATV for Use as Orion Service Module

European Space Agency ATV as Orion Service Module Image Credit: The European Space Agency (ESA) has reached an agreement with NASA to build a Service Module for the Orion spacecraft based on their Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), which has been a workhorse in the resupply of the International Space Station (ISS) since 2008.

Flight Events – International Space Station 2013

Here is the current calendar of flight events for 2013 for International Space Station as listed on the Forum at NASASpaceFlight on 21 November 2012:

2013

• Complete
• Upcoming
• January 17 – ISS orbit’s reboost by Progress M-17M engines
• February 6 – ISS orbit’s reboost by Progress M-17M engines
• February 10 – Progress M-16M undocking (from Pirs)
• February 11 – Progress M-18M launch
• February 11 – Progress M-18M docking (to Pirs)
• March 1 – Dragon (SpX-2) launch
• March 3 – Dragon (SpX-2) capture and berthing (to Harmony nadir) by SSRMS
• March 15 – Soyuz TMA-06M undocking (from Poisk) and landing [Novitskiy, Tarelkin, Ford]
• March 28 – Soyuz TMA-08M launch [Vinogradov, Misurkin, Cassidy] and docking (to Poisk)
• April 2 – Dragon (SpX-2) unberthing (from Harmony nadir) and releasing by SSRMS
• April – spacewalk (ISS Russian EVA-32) from Pirs airlock [Vinogradov, Romanenko]
• April 15 – Progress M-17M undocking (from Zvezda)
• April 18 – ATV-4 “Albert Einstein” launch
• April 23 – Progress M-18M undocking (from Pirs)
• April 24 – Progress M-19M launch
• April 26 – Progress M-19M docking (to Pirs)
• May 1 – ATV-4 “Albert Einstein” docking (to Zvezda)
• May 14 – Soyuz TMA-07M undocking (from Rassvet) and landing [Romanenko, Hadfield, Marshburn]
• May 28 – Soyuz TMA-09M launch [Yurchikhin, Parmitano, Nyberg]
• May 30 – Soyuz TMA-09M docking (to Rassvet)
• June – spacewalk (ISS Russian EVA-33) from Pirs airlock [Yurchikhin, Misurkin]
• July 23 – Progress M-19M undocking (from Pirs)
• July 24 – Progress M-20M launch
• July 26 – Progress M-20M docking (to Pirs)
• August 4 – HTV-4 “Kounotori-4” launch
• August 9 – HTV-4 “Kounotori-4” capture and berthing (to Harmony nadir) by SSRMS
• August – spacewalk (ISS Russian EVA-34) from Pirs airlock [Yurchikhin, Misurkin]
• August – spacewalk (ISS Russian EVA-35) from Pirs airlock [Yurchikhin, Misurkin]
• September 6 – HTV-4 “Kounotori-4” unberthing (from Harmony nadir) and release by SSRMS
• September 11 – Soyuz TMA-08M undocking (from Poisk) and landing [Vinogradov, Misurkin, Cassidy]
• September 25 – Soyuz TMA-10M launch [Kotov, Ryazanskiy, Hopkins] and docking (to Poisk)
• October – spacewalk (ISS Russian EVA-36) from Pirs airlock [Yurchikhin, Ryazanskiy]
• October 15 – ATV-4 “Albert Einstein” undocking (from Zvezda)
• October 16 – Progress M-21M launch
• October 18 – Progress M-21M docking (to Zvezda)
• November 10 – Soyuz TMA-09M undocking (from Rassvet) and landing [Yurchikhin, Parmitano, Nyberg]
• November 25 – Soyuz TMA-11M launch [Tyurin, Wakata, Mastracchio]
• November 27 – Soyuz TMA-11M docking (to Rassvet)
• December – spacewalk (ISS Russian EVA-37) from Pirs airlock [Tyurin, Ryazanskiy]
• December 11 (TBD) – MLM launch (or 2014)
• December 18 – Progress M-20M with Pirs module undocking (from Zvezda nadir)
• December 20 (TBD) – MLM docking (to Zvezda nadir) (or 2014)

2014

• January – spacewalk (ISS Russian EVA-38) from Poisk airlock [Tyurin, Ryazanskiy]
• January – spacewalk (ISS Russian EVA-39) from Poisk airlock [Tyurin, Ryazanskiy]
• January – spacewalk (ISS U.S. EVA-21) from Quest airlock
• January – spacewalk (ISS U.S. EVA-22) from Quest airlock
• February 5 – Progress M-22M launch
• February 7 – Progress M-22M docking (to MLM nadir)
• March 12 – Soyuz TMA-10M undocking (from Poisk) and landing [Kotov, Ryazanskiy, Hopkins]
• March 25 – Progress M-22M undocking (from MLM nadir)
• March 26 – Soyuz TMA-12M launch [Skvortsov, Artemyev, Swanson]
• March 28 – Soyuz TMA-12M docking (to MLM nadir)

Updated 1 January 2013

Flight Events 2012

Launch Schedule – Russia 2013

Here is the current calendar for 2013 for Russian satellites and rocket launch vehicles as listed on the Forum at NASASpaceFlight on 20 December 2012:

2013

• Complete
• Upcoming
• January 15 (TBD) – three Kosmos (Rodnik-S) satellites – Rokot/Briz-KM – Plesetsk 133/3
• February 5 – six Globalstar-2 – Soyuz-2-1A/Fregat-M – Baikonur 31/6
• February 11 – Progress M-18M (No. 418) – Soyuz-U – Baikonur 1/5 – 14:43 UTC
• February 22 (TBD) – Resurs-P No. 1 – Soyuz-2-1B – Baikonur 31/6
• March 20 (TBD) – three Gonets-M satellites – Rokot/Briz-KM – Plesetsk 133/3
• March 28 – Soyuz TMA-08M (No. 708) – Soyuz-FG – Baikonur 1/5
• March 30 – Kosmos (Persona) – Soyuz-2-1B – Plesetsk 43/4
• March – Meteor-M No. 2, Baumanets-2 (TBD), MKA-PN2 (Relek), Venta-1 (TBD), Ukube-1 – Soyuz-2-1B/Fregat-M – Baikonur 31/6
• first quarter – Kosmos (Glonass-K1) [block K2s] – Soyuz-2-1B/Fregat-M – Plesetsk 43/4
• first quarter – Kosmos (Glonass-M) [block 47s] – Soyuz-2-1B/Fregat-M – Plesetsk 43/4
• April 15-20 – Bion-M No. 1, BeeSat-2, BeeSat-3, SOMP, OSSI-1, flight satellite AIST – Soyuz-2-1B – Baikonur 31/6
• April 24 – Progress M-19M (No. 419) – Soyuz-U – Baikonur 1/5
• May 28 – Soyuz TMA-09M (No. 709) – Soyuz-FG – Baikonur
• end of second quarter (TBD) – two calibration spheres SKRL-756, test satellite AIST – Soyuz-2-1V/Volga – Plesetsk 43/4
• July 24 – Progress M-20M (No. 420) – Soyuz-U – Baikonur
• July/August – Kosmos – Proton-M/Briz-M – Baikonur
• August – Yamal-401 – Proton-M/Briz-M – Baikonur
• September 25 – Soyuz TMA-10M (No. 710) – Soyuz-FG – Baikonur
• September – Inmarsat 5 F1 – Proton-M/Briz-M – Baikonur
• September – EgyptSat-2 – Soyuz – Baikonur
• October 16 – Progress M-21M (No. 421) – Soyuz-U – Baikonur
• October – MexSat-1 – Proton-M/Briz-M – Baikonur
• October/November – Ekspress-AM6 – Proton-M/Briz-M – Baikonur
• November 25 – Soyuz TMA-11M (No. 711) – Soyuz-FG – Baikonur
• November – Resurs-P No. 2 – Soyuz-2-1B – Baikonur
• November/December – Amos-4 – Zenit-3SLB/DM-SLB – Baikonur 45/1
• December 11 (TBD) – MLM – Proton-M – Baikonur (or 2014)
• fourth quarter – three Kosmos (Glonass-M) satellites [block 51] – Proton-M/DM-03 – Baikonur
• end of year – Turksat 4A – Proton-M/Briz-M – Baikonur
• end of year – Kosmos (Musson-2) – Rokot/Briz-KM – Plesetsk 133/3

2014

• beginning of year – Ekspress-AT1, Ekspress-AT2 – Proton-M/Briz-M – Baikonur
• beginning of year – Ekspress-AM8 – Proton-M/DM-03 – Baikonur
• beginning of year – Turksat 4B – Proton-M/Briz-M – Baikonur
• beginning of year – Kosmos – Proton-M/DM-03 – Baikonur
• February 5 – Progress M-22M (No. 422) – Soyuz – Baikonur
• March 26 – Soyuz TMA-12M (No. 712) – Soyuz-FG – Baikonur
• first quarter – KazSat-3, Luch-5V – Proton-M/Briz-M – Baikonur
• first quarter – Inmarsat 5 F2 – Proton-M/Briz-M – Baikonur
• first quarter (TBD) – Kosmos (Bars) – Soyuz-2 – Plesetsk
• first quarter – three Gonets-M satellites, DOSAAF-85 – Rokot/Briz-KM – Plesetsk 133/3
• April 28 – Progress M-23M (No. 423) – Soyuz – Baikonur
• April – Sentinel-3A – Rokot/Briz-KM – Plesetsk 133/3
• May 28 – Soyuz TMA-13M (No. 713) – Soyuz-FG – Baikonur

Updated 1 January 2013

2012 Launches
2011 Launches

Launch Schedule – European Space Agency 2013

Here is the current calendar for 2013 for the European Space Agency (ESA) satellites and rocket launch vehicles as listed on the Forum at NASASpaceFlight from 22 December 2012:

2013

• Complete
• Upcoming
• February 7 – Amazonas 3, Azerspace-1/Africasat-1a – Ariane 5 ECA (VA212)
• March 13 – Proba-V, multiple auxiliary payloads – Vega (VV02) (or April)
• April 18 – ATV-4 Albert Einstein – Ariane 5 ES (VA213) – 16:45
• May (TBD) – Alphasat I-XL/Inmarsat-XL – Ariane 5 ECA (VA214) (or second quarter)
• May 29 – O3b (4 sats) – Soyuz-STB/Fregat-MT (VS05)
• June – INSAT 3D – Ariane 5 ECA (or second quarter)
• June – GSAT 7 – Ariane 5 ECA (or second quarter)
• July – Galileo-FOC (2 sats) – Soyuz-STB/Fregat-MT (VS06) (or late Summer)
• midyear – ABS 2- Ariane 5 ECA
• midyear – Eutelsat 25B/Eurobird 2A/Eshail – Ariane 5 ECA
• midyear – Optus 10 – Ariane 5 ECA
• Late July-Early August – O3b (4 sats) – Soyuz-STB/Fregat-MT (VS07)
• Late August-September – Galileo-FOC (2 sats) – Soyuz-STB/Fregat-MT (VS08)
• third quarter – Astra 5B – Ariane 5 ECA
• September – Arsat 1 – Ariane 5 / Soyuz
• October – Gaia – Soyuz-STB/Fregat-MT
• November – Sentinel-1A – Soyuz-STB/Fregat-M

2014

• January – Seosat-Ingenio – TBD
• early – THOR 7 – Ariane 5 ECA
• early – Amazonas 4A – Ariane 5 / Soyuz
• early – DirecTV 14 – Ariane 5 ECA
• early – Arsat 2 – Ariane 5 / Soyuz
• April 12 – ATV-5 Georges Lemaître – Ariane 5 ES
• first half – SES-8 – Ariane 5 ECA – (or second half 2013 on Falcon 9 v1.1)
• June – Prisma – Vega
• second quarter – Kazakhstan DZZ-HR sat – Vega
• July – LISA Pathfinder – Vega (VV03)

Updated 1 January 2013

2012 Launches
2011 Launches

Launch Schedule – United States 2013

Here is the current calendar for 2013 for United States satellites and rocket launch vehicles as listed on the Forum at NASASpaceFlight on 9 December 2012:

2013

• Complete
• Upcoming
• January 30 – TDRS-K – Atlas V 401 – Canaveral SLC-41 01:52-02:32
• February 11 – LDCM (Landsat 8 ) – Atlas V 401 – Vandenberg SLC-3E – 18:04-18:48
• NET February – WGS-5 – Delta IV-M+(5,4) – Canaveral SLC-37B
• NET February early January/NLT early March – Cygnus Mass Simulator, Dove 1, PhoneSat v1a, PhoneSat v1b, PhoneSat v1c – Antares-110 – MARS LP-0A
• March 1 – Dragon CRS2, CUSat 1&2 – Falcon 9 v1.0 – Canaveral SLC-40
• March – SBIRS-GEO 2 – Atlas V 401 – Canaveral SLC-41
• April 5 – Cygnus COTS Demo – Antares-110 – MARS LP-0A
• NET April 29 – IRIS (SMEX-12) – Pegasus XL – Vandenberg, L-1011 “Stargazer” – 02:25:26-02:30:26
• April – Cassiope, POPACS (x6) (TBD) – Falcon 9 v1.1 – Vandenberg SLC-4E
• May – GeoEye-2, TBD? – Atlas V 401 – Vandenberg SLC-3E (or 2017)
• May – GPS IIF-4 – Atlas V 401 – Canaveral SLC-41
• June – WGS-6 – Delta IV-M+(5,4) – Canaveral SLC-37B
• June – SES-8 – Falcon 9 v1.1 – Canaveral SLC-40 (or Ariane 5ECA)
• midyear Early July-August – GPS IIF-5 – Delta IV-M+(4,2) – Canaveral SLC-37B
• first half of July – MUOS-2 – Atlas V 551 – Canaveral SLC-41
• August 12 – LADEE – Minotaur V – MARS LP-0B
• August 13 – Cygnus CRS1 – Antares-120 – MARS LP-0A
• August – NRO L-65 – Delta IV-H – Vandenberg SLC-6
• August – ORS 3: STPSat 3, ORSES, ORS Tech 1, ORS Tech 2, Prometheus 1, Prometheus 2, Prometheus 3, Prometheus 4, SENSE 1, SENSE 2, Firefly, STARE B (Horus), NPS-SCAT, CSIP, Rampart, CAPE 2, KYSat 2, Lunar Orbiter&Lander CubeSat, SwampSat, Black Night 1, SPA-1 Trailblazer, TetherSat, DragonSat 1, Copper-Cube, PhoneSat 2.0 – Minotaur I – MARS LP-0B
• August – Orbcomm 2G (x8) – Falcon 9 v1.1 – Canaveral SLC-40 (or 2014)
• NET September – HiakaSat-1/HawaiiSat 1, ORS-4: EDSN 1, EDSN 2, EDSN 3, EDSN 5, EDSN 6, EDSN 7, EDSN 8, cubesats (TBD) – SPARK/Super Strypi – Kauai Test Facility (KTF) PMRF 41
• September – AEHF-3 – Atlas V 531 – Canaveral SLC-41
• September 30 October 15 – Dragon CRS3, CUNYSAT 1, Hermes 2, LMRSat, TechCube 1, All-Star-THEIA, FIREBIRD 1, FIREBIRD 2, Ho‘oponopono 2 – Falcon 9 v1.1 – Canaveral SLC-40
• 2nd half – Thaicom 6 – Falcon 9 v1.1 – Canaveral SLC-40 (or 2014)
• November 18 – MAVEN – Atlas V 401 – Canaveral
• 2nd half Late November-Late December – GPS IIF-6 – Atlas V 401 – Canaveral SLC-41
• December 8 – Cygnus CRS2 – Antares-120 – MARS LP-0A
• TBD – NRO L-35 – Atlas V 531 – Vandenberg SLC-3E
• piggybacked on Falcon 9 v1.1/SSPS : Kestrel Eye 1

2014

• January 1 – TDRS-L – Atlas V 401 – Canaveral SLC-41
• January 13 – Dragon CRS4 – Falcon 9 v1.1 – Canaveral SLC-40
• January – SET-1 – TBD – TBD
• January – DMSP-5D3 F19
• – Atlas V 401 – Vandenberg SLC-3E (Oct. 1, 2013 – Sept. 30, 2014)
• 1st quarter – AsiaSat 6 (Thaicom 7) – Falcon 9 v1.1 – Canaveral SLC-40 (or Proton)
• April 5 – Cygnus CRS3 – Antares-130 – MARS LP-0A
• April 6 – Dragon CRS5 – Falcon 9 v1.1 – Canaveral SLC-40
• May – GPS IIIA-1 – Delta-IV-M+(4,2) – Canaveral SLC-37B
• 2nd quarter – Demo Flight – Falcon Heavy – Vandenberg SLC-4E

For details on some of the NASA launches, see the NASA Launch Schedule or here. Additional launch schedules can be seen at Space.com.

Updated 1 January 2013

2012 Launches
2011 Launches

Stratolaunch Systems Teams With Orbital Sciences

Stratolaunch Carrying A Falcon Rocket from SpaceX Image Credit: Stratolaunch Previously, NSSPhoenix reported in December 2011 on the new Stratolaunch design for air launched orbital satellite services. Stratolaunch is the brainchild of billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Allen enlisted Scaled Composites from Mojave, California to build the twin boom mothership, pictured above. The 222,000-kilogram airplane with a 117-meter wingspan would be capable of flying 2,400 kilometers before deploying a rocket capable of delivering 2,300 kilograms to geosynchronous orbit. Space Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) agreed to study the feasibility of turning their Falcon 9 rocket into an air-launched system. Dynetics Corp. of Huntsville, Alabama was chosen to build the mating and integration system. Allen, the author of the SpaceShipOne project that won the Ansari X-Prize for two consecutive sub-orbital flights of 100 kilometers within two weeks in 2004, said that he expected to spend “at least an order of magnitude more” on Stratolaunch than he spent on SpaceShipOne. In late November, SpaceX and Stratolaunch parted ways, agreeing that the effort to retool the SpaceX assembly line into one capable of building a four or five engine Falcon with the associated structural and engineering changes, was too great a change to the SpaceX business model in return for the financial possibilities. Subsequently, Stratolaunch approached Orbital Sciences, a company with a long history of air launched orbital missions dating back to 1990. Orbital has agreed to study providing the launch vehicle for Stratolaunch. Currently, Orbital’s Pegasus system can put 450 kilograms of satellite into low-Earth orbit. But there has been only a single launch in the past four years, and the only remaining manifest is for a 2013 launch of NASA’s Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph space telescope. Orbital is currently working on their Commercial Resupply Service (CRS) Antares rocket, which relies on a liquid fueled first stage powered by Ukrainian built rocket engines, to fulfill a contract with NASA to resupply the International Space Station (ISS). Stratolaunch has been engaged with Orbital for several months and have contracted with Orbital to evaluate configurations of Orbital systems capable of satisfying Stratolaunch requirements.

One Year Mission on the Space Station Set for 2015

American Astronaut Scott Kelly Image Credit: NASA

Russian Cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko Image Credit: NASA

NASA announced on Monday 26 November 2012, that American astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko have been selected by NASA, the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), and their international partners to conduct a 12 month mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in 2015. The mission aboard the orbiting laboratory is designed to further our understanding of how the human body reacts and adapts to microgravity and other aspects of living in space. Work over the past several years have shown marked improvement in the ability for astronauts on a normal 5-6 month mission aboard the ISS to adapt to microgravity. The year long mission seeks to validate these findings. Long duration missions to the Moon, Lagrange points, asteroids and Mars will require countermeasures to reduce risks associated with future exploration. Kelly and Kornienko are veterans of space travel. Kelly served as a pilot on space shuttle mission STS-103 in 1999, commander on STS-118 in 2007, flight engineer on the International Space Station Expedition 25 in 2010 and commander of Expedition 26 in 2011. Kelly has logged more than 180 days in space. Kornienko was selected as an Energia test cosmonaut candidate in 1998 and trained as an International Space Station Expedition 8 backup crew member. He served as a flight engineer on the station’s Expedition 23/24 crews in 2010 and has logged more than 176 days in space. The two astronauts will launch aboard a Soyuz spacecraft in the Spring of 2015 and return to land in Kazakhstan in the Spring of 2016.

Atlantis Moves to Kennedy Space Center Display

Space Shuttle Atlantis stands in Exploration Park Image Credit: NASA / Kim Shiflett The Space Shuttle Atlantis has been moved to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. The museum where the shuttle will be housed is scheduled to open in July 2013. Atlantis completed 33 successful missions. Key events in the history of Atlantis include: Maiden Voyage in October 1985 Launch of the Magellan spacecraft to map Venus in 1989 Launch of the Galileo probe to Jupiter in 1989 Supply and Docking with the Russian Space Station Mir in 1995 Fireworks mark the arrival of space shuttle Atlantis at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex Image Credit: NASA