Kryten

It should probably be pointed out that there isn't really an near-equatorial launch site for small missions. The smallest thing from Kourou is Vega; it's a 'small launcher' by conventional reckoning, but it's in the 1.5-2 ton to orbit class and something like €65-70 million. Also, US government missions including NASA ones cannot legally use foreign launchers. That's why Pegasus still exists, nothing else works for small science missions with equatorial or otherwise specialised orbits. It's not exactly a big market niche, but it's there.

It's 4 degrees north, which is close enough for government work. There's also a Bazilian launch base at 2 degrees south, Alcantara.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/kennedy/2016/10/06/ksc-prepares-to-ride-out-matthew/

Bringing this thread back from the dead because Stratolaunch have finally announced what their new rocket is. Specifically it's Pegasus. Not the Pegasus II vehicle they had been developing with OrbATK, just normal Pegasus rockets as are currently flown from Orbital's L-1011. But how, I hear you asking, can they justify using their giant carrier aircraft for Pegasus when OrATK have one that works just fine? By launching three at once. But how, I also hear you ask, can they fly three Pegasi (?) at once when Pegasus now flies about once a year at best? Well... you won't get an answer for that from this release. The whole thing seems even less viable that their last two attempts to fit a launcher to this thing. It feels desperate.

http://spacenews.com/spacexs-shotwell-on-falcon-9-inquiry-discounts-for-reused-rockets-and-silicon-valleys-test-and-fail-ethos/ Big interview with Shotwell, with an update on the failure investigation. They're now sure that one of the COPV helium bottles 'let go', causing the failure, but they're not sure why. They don't think the cause was an issue with the COPV specifically.

It had close to a full fuel load at abort, it probably wasn't designed to land in that state. Easiest way to burn off the fuel is to continue as normal.

Stream for the test is up;

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2016/10/its-propulsion-evolution-raptor-engine/ Big, very informative article on raptor and it's development. Confirms the raptor on the test stand now is a scaled version (1MN) without a nozzle extension.

You might as well wonder what will happen if it turns out martians did it. We're not living in a Clancy novel.

Not on operational flights, but if launched vertically they could and did. First object to reach space by the modern FAI definition (100km) was V-2 MW 18014 on June 22nd 1944.

On October 1st 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Act came into effect, folding the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and elements of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) and the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) into a unified civilian space agency known as NASA.

There is a USAF contract for development of a raptor second stage for FH, but it's not very big, and it remains doubtful that it will actually fly. Basically it's money the USAF had left over in their 'next-gen launcher' budget after paying for AR-1.

There's very little in a real sat you can buy off-the-shelf, they're not just computers in boxes. Good luck getting travelling-wave tube transponders on newegg.

On September 29th 1962, Alouette 1 was launched, on a Thor-Agena from Vandenberg Air Force Base pad SLC-2E. Alouette 1 was the first Canadian satellite, and the first satellite owned or operated by a country other than the US or USSR. Also on September 29th 1962, KH-4 #12 was launched. That's not really significant in itself, but KH-4 #12 was also launched from VAFB, also used a Thor-Agena, and even launched from the other half of the same complex, SLC-2W.

Aye, and how do you think the Indians got there in the first place? This is exactly what I mean by 'settlement' being better than 'colonisation' in this context, the word colonisation brings up all these connotations that don't apply, and causes analogies with no relevance to the situation. The initial settlement of the Americas by the people we now call the natives is a better analogy, though there are still obvious issues.

Currently there is also a peroxide effort being done by SAST in China. They already have the CZ-6 with a peroxide/kerosene third stage and peroxide roll thrusters on the first two stages, and are working on a peroxide/kerosene upper stage for larger vehicles, AUS.

But that reason only applies if there are people there to sell to. If there aren't people there to sell to, and right now there isn't, there's no incentive to go in the first place. Chicken and egg problem. This doesn't directly apply to US gold rushes due to relative ease and affordability of transport to developed areas of the US. Even with the full ITS system running, the capacity for shipment from Mars to Earth is minimal in mineral shipment terms, and the chance of the minerals being cost-competitive with the transport factored in is just about nil.

So the reason for people to go to Mars, is to sell materials to the people that live on Mars. But without people to sell to on Mars, there's no reason to go...

Aye, therein lies the rub. He's assuming aircraft levels of reliability to keep the chances of that down, but it's pretty doubtful he can achieve that in the timeframe he wants. Especially if he goes straight from F9 and FH to this thing, with all the new tech and procedures that that implies.

Settlement is probably a much better word for this kind of thing than colonisation.

7K L1 was the designation for that model of Soyuz, not the individual craft. The September 27th launch was the first flight with L1 #4 (1-3 being behind test vehicles).

In the presser after the conference, Musk confirmed that the craft can act as it's own LES in launches from earth. No abort ability for Mars launches.

Some people are. CASIC reckon they can do a Kuaizhou-1 or 1A launch a day after being given the order.