Glory Satellite Lost To Taurus XL Failure

FullBandwidth writes "The protective nose cone of an Orbital Sciences Corporation Taurus XL rocket carrying NASA's Glory environmental research satellite apparently failed to separate after launch Friday, preventing the spacecraft from achieving orbit in a $424 million failure. It was the second nose cone failure in a row for a Taurus XL rocket following the 2009 loss of another environmental satellite."

Comments

Two environmental satellites lost in a row?

[lxs]

I bet Big Oil is behind this.

Re:Time for a launch loop

[AikonMGB]

Nope.

Don't get me wrong, I would love easy access to space, but there are enormous up-front costs to constructing a mega launch service, like a launch loop or an elevator, not to mention significant technical risks, very few of which are in the process of being retired.

Rockets are a tried, tested, and true method of getting to space. They have put up many times the value of spacecraft as they have lost, not to mention a growing number of human payloads. They are also getting cheaper, with public ventures like SpaceX. I think it's going to be a good long while before you see someone investing heavily in alternative launch methods.

Aikon-

Re:Fix to overcome problem next time...

[ciderbrew]

(Absolutely no idea why NASA didn't hire me, what with all my lack of qualifications and everything. I have loads of useful ideas ;)

Don't put yourself down Senator.

Re:Time for a launch loop

[dave420]

Very close? The longest carbon nanotube ever observed was only 18.5 cm long. I think LEO is a bit higher than that.

Re:$4 for every US Household

[DigiShaman]

You mean the same 1% of media elites and politicians that demand the rest of us do with less while at the same time living their hypocritical lifestyle? I agree.

Three Amateur Radio sats also lost

[Muad'Dave]

Also lost in this launch were three Amateur Radio Satellites.