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SpaceX and Iridium Sign $492M Launch Contract
FleaPlus writes "Following up on the successful first launch of their Falcon 9 rocket, SpaceX has signed a $492M deal for launching several dozen satellites for the Iridium NEXT constellation, the biggest commercial launch deal ever (teleconference notes). This is a needed boost for the US launch industry, which has dwindled to a fraction of the international market due to problematic ITAR arms regulations and high costs. SpaceX's next launch is scheduled for later this summer, carrying the first full version of the Dragon reusable capsule, which will run tests in orbit and then splash down off the California coast."
the corepirate nazi illuminati is always hunting that patch of red on almost everyones' neck. if they cannot find yours (greed, fear ego etc...) then you can go starve. that's their platform now. they do pull A LOT of major strings.
never a better time for all of us to consult with/trust in our creators. the lights are coming up rapidly all over now. see you there?
greed, fear & ego (in any order) are unprecedented evile's primary weapons. those, along with deception & coercion, helps most of us remain (unwittingly?) dependent on its' life0cidal hired goons' agenda. most of our dwindling resources are being squandered on the 'wars', & continuation of the billionerrors stock markup FraUD/pyramid schemes. nobody ever mentions the real long term costs of those debacles in both life & any notion of prosperity for us, or our children. not to mention the abuse of the consciences of those of us who still have one, & the terminal damage to our atmosphere (see also: manufactured 'weather', hot etc...). see you on the other side of it? the lights are coming up all over now. the fairytail is winding down now. let your conscience be your guide. you can be more helpful than you might have imagined. we now have some choices. meanwhile; don't forget to get a little more oxygen on your brain, & look up in the sky from time to time, starting early in the day. there's lots going on up there.
"The current rate of extinction is around 10 to 100 times the usual background level, and has been elevated above the background level since the Pleistocene. The current extinction rate is more rapid than in any other extinction event in earth history, and 50% of species could be extinct by the end of this century. While the role of humans is unclear in the longer-term extinction pattern, it is clear that factors such as deforestation, habitat destruction, hunting, the introduction of non-native species, pollution and climate change have reduced biodiversity profoundly.' (wiki)
"I think the bottom line is, what kind of a world do you want to leave for your children," Andrew Smith, a professor in the Arizona State University School of Life Sciences, said in a telephone interview. "How impoverished we would be if we lost 25 percent of the world's mammals," said Smith, one of more than 100 co-authors of the report. "Within our lifetime hundreds of species could be lost as a result of our own actions, a frightening sign of what is happening to the ecosystems where they live," added Julia Marton-Lefevre, IUCN director general. "We must now set clear targets for the future to reverse this trend to ensure that our enduring legacy is not to wipe out many of our closest relatives."--
"The wealth of the universe is for me. Every thing is explicable and practical for me .... I am defeated all the time; yet to victory I am born." --emerson
no need to confuse 'religion' with being a spiritual being. our soul purpose here is to care for one another. failing that, we're simply passing through (excess baggage) being distracted/consumed by the guaranteed to fail illusionary trappings of man'kind'. & recently (about 10,000 years ago) it was determined that hoarding & excess by a few, resulted in negative consequences for all.
consult with/trust in your creators. providing more than enough of everything for everyone (without any distracting/spiritdead personal gain motives), whilst badtolling unprecedented evile, using an unlimited supply of newclear power, since/until forever. see you there?
"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." )one does not need to agree whois in charge to grasp the notion that there may be some assistance available to us(
boeing, boeing, gone.
We need private space industry to really start hummin' and making more deals like this. The only way we are going to make space travel actually doable and useful within our lifetimes (or maybe even our kid's lifetimes) is if the private industry really ramps things up.
Considering how far things have come in just the last decade (hell, even just the last five years) I have high hopes.
Living With a Nerd
and I hope all goes well. This is a significant step in the history of humankind as a space-faring species, a little corporate step sideways...
A transcript of an Australian doco on the US space business "The High Frontier"
http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2005/s1358430.htm
The contracts to help the DoD show real growth for some with connections. Some interesting numbers and private sector deals with the US DoD are listed.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
the thing im really excited about is if spacex can get to the point where reusing the first stage merely involves fishing it out of the atlantic after it parachutes down, putting it back on the launch pad, and fuelling it back up. these engines are designed more for reliability, and have proven that through testing through multiple duty cycles. unlike the space shuttle main engines, which require a teardown and rebuild after every flight. we could see the first ever prospect of real reusability, more a car than a dragster in terms of parts wear. especially considering the first stage can complete its mission even with a engine failure at any point during its flight.
This is a needed boost for the US launch industry
With a boost of commercial launches, won't there also be a boost of space junk when these orbiting things are decommissionned 15 years from now? How does that increase collision risks, like the 2009 Iridium/Kosmos collision?
Maybe it's time for thinking about mandatory destruction of satellites at the end of their useful life, instead of trying to make money out of launching things only...
which will run tests in orbit and then splashdown off the California coast
No matter how much you want it to be such, SPLASHDOWN IS NOT A VERB.
Noun: splashdown
Verb: splash down
Very similar to the setup construct--
Noun: setup
Verb: set up
If you are submitting an article, please get stuff straight. If your summary is a simple copy-paste because you are trying to be first and get your name on the front page, STOP IT. And before you pretend to be some literary scholar and tell me that English is a living language, let me just state that Slashdot (as well as other news outlets) is not the place to make such a move to create words on a whim.
Maybe if we could get kdawson or soulskill to repeat (?) 7th grade English, they would know these mistakes and actually be editors...
Dont know if youre serious but this is worth seeing
Nice grammar nazi, NICE
Read creative title.
Iridium satellites (both current and next generation) are in LEO, not GEO. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium_satellite_constellation
Much as Windows are 4ttending a and enjoy all the development model 220 running NT
Hey mods! Mod parent up!
mod par'nt uhhhhhppp
Did Jesus go to outer space?
No.
We don't need to either. If earth was good enough for jesus it ought to be good enough for us.
And before you pretend to be some literary scholar and tell me that English is a living language,
While it is true that Slashdot is not the place for living languages, it is the place for abominations to nature. How are we ever going to get "splashdowned", if we don't support this noble work?
The FCC calls for all US-registered spacecraft to be disposed of at the end of its useful life. This means either decay into the atmosphere within a specific amount of time (25 years, I think) or placement into a "disposal" orbit. For geosynchronous spacecraft, that disposal orbit is one slightly higher, getting it out of the way of operational spacecraft.
Calling Iridium a "commercial launch" is a bit of a stretch. Iridium failed as a commercial venture and the company that runs it now appears to be a transparent pawn of the DoD.
You know you want to!!! ;)
I already answered this question in a previous thread, so I will repost it here:
Yeah, funny how it gets a lot easier to run the business when Motorola assumes the 5 billion of debt and sells it to you for $25 million. The success of Iridium Satellite LLC is subsidized by the ashes of the original company.
Proper management made the difference after the sale removed the debt, but even if the company had been properly managed from the beginning, it still would have folded. Even 300k subscribers is not going to pay off that 5 billion monster, not when they're only netting about 14 million a year (when they turn a profit, which they did not for 2010).
I wish them well milking what they can from their cheap windfall. But I laugh at the thought that they might build another multi-billion dollar constellation based off such a pitiful business plan. Yes, their subscribers are GROWING, but only because they can offer such insanely cheap rates without having to pay-off the painful debt.
As soon as they invest in their own new constellation, they will either have to conjure millions of new customers out of thin air, or they will have to raise prices (this will send customers running, so I'm going to go with option one). But since the DoD contracts are already pretty saturated (seriously, does the military need a contract for more than 20k users?), the customer growth would have to come from the commercial or consumer sector. Either way, they are doomed in this approach, and once again, investors are going to be forced to eat the losses and once-again subsidize a "successful" network.
Man is the animal that laughs.
And occasionally whores for Karma.
They are now United Launch Alliance, for their rockets.
They're priced too expensive for commercial customers. Nearly all of their launches are for the U.S. Government. Commercial launches generally use Russian or Ukranian rockets. From what I've read, there have been about 5 launches with Russian rockets to every 1 launch of an american rocket over the course of the last several decades.
The U.S. govt started the EELV program to upgrade the American rockets in about 1995. The American rockets had fallen behind the Russian in terms of launch success rates and reliability. The Delta IV and the Atlas V are results of this program. They appear to be much more reliable than the rockets they replaced. The Atlas V does though use the RD-180, a Russian made engine on the first stage, much to the dismay of some government officials.
Some in the U.S. complain that after the retirement of the Space Shuttle later this year, the U.S. will not have the capability to launch a manned spacecraft. But when launching using the Russian Soyuz, it's hard to beat their launch costs. I mean, U.S. consumers buy foreign made products all the time because they're cheaper. What's the deal with just buying cheaper, foreing launch services?
Spokesbossy for ominous cow herds everywhere.