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SpaceX Wins $130 Million Air Force Launch Contract, Marking a First For Falcon Heavy (geekwire.com)
The U.S. Air Force has awarded a $130 million firm-fixed-price contract to SpaceX for the launch of its classified AFSPC-52 satellite on a Falcon Heavy rocket. From a report: It's the first national security contract won for SpaceX's heavy-lift rocket, which had its first test flight in February. AFSPC-52 is tue to lift off in 2020 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch will support the Air Force Space Command's "mission of delivering resilient and affordable space capabilities to our nation while maintaining assured access to space," Lt. Gen. John Thompson, Air Force program executive officer for space and commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center, said today in a news release. In an emailed statement, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said her company was "honored by the Air Force's selection of Falcon Heavy to launch the competitively awarded AFSPC-52 mission."
Drink a lot of water so you don't dehydrate busting all those knuckle babies to your hero.
MAGA with American built Rocket Engines!
This is a huge win for SpaceX. Everything Musk touches turns to gold. I hear he is going to be building a Hyperloop between NYC and DC soon, and offer rides for a $1 on his LA tunnel.
Elon bought himself another 3.7 days of operating capital!
But 110010001000 just told us (literally) yesterday that "Musk is a flim flam artist"! How dare you question him! /s
Note to haters: hate someone based on fact or opinion but never hate someone based on your own delusions.
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
Note that $130M is only enough to pay for one Falcon Heavy launch with the additional government book-keeping. Commercial satellite vendors pay less, because they don't require as much compliance and paperwork.
So, it's really nice that Falcon Heavy got a government contract. However, SpaceX is not even close to recovering the cost of the engineering it put into it, and the first test launch. And they may never recover it before this business shifts to their new rocket, fondly called "BFR".
Bruce Perens.
The kind of Socialism that anti-Socialist America loves best.
Are they going to let SpaceX make the payload adapter this time? The Northrop Grumman one on Zuma resulted in mission failure.
Bruce Perens.
It's OK for SpaceX to get government contracts, but not Google? Aren't you all worried SpaceX is going to do something "evil"?
Compared to say ULA, who were charging around 3 TIMES this for equivalent cargos?
Gee, no bias there 110010001000..
I think you will find the word is 'saving' rather than 'using' in this context.
SpaceX is good for commercial launches where they are willling to accept a little higher risk to launch off the shelf commercial satellites. For things relating to national security, and one off NASA stuff thats been underway for a decade like James Webb, can they be so confident that it will be as reliable as the ULA stuff. The idea of something like James Webb being lost is pretty scary after its taken so long. SpaceX not being there yet as far as having the same record as ULA, doesnt mean its a bad platform for lower risk launches.
Yes. Our beloved KKK, home of the great Daniel Carver, a white klan man with a plan.
Hyperloop is a massive mistake but a good engineering exercise, and good opportunities for Musk-ular hype and exposure, and sucking up venture capital.
This project makes an enormous vacuum tube, made with thin steel walls, no plans for shutting down sections in case of rupture.
Transport energy cost would probably be minimal compared to pumping out tons of air, hefty vacuum pumps likely has to run contentiously to overcome seal seepage. Heat transfer for A/C motor heat would be hard in vacuum. Jet turbine engines would have no air to burn, an oxidant has to be carried on-board, and exhaust would have to be pumped out. Electric propulsion could work on a track and make only the air resistance a factor. Maglev-ing the vehicle will not be cheap.
A single square inch has 14.7 lbs. of force on it, calculate the surface area and find the combined force. Find a suitable material for the tube and add a safety factor.
Making such a large tube impervious to sabotage above ground should very hard. Will a single bullet shatter a pre-stressed steel tube? Should the tube brake, a massive slug of air will propel a vehicle inside super fast and hopefully the exit is pointing upward and parachutes on the vehicle to soften the blow as it return to earth. A leak to the vehicle would kill the occupants. Space technology is not cheap, wear and tear will happen and maintenance at this level would not be fast nor cheap.
Temperature coefficient of expansion of the tube would involve multiple wiping seals for expansion joints, and massive maintenance efforts.
If people get stuck inside how would you get them out? Ho long time to pump down the tube to 1 millitorr ? Four months? Energy cost for pumps?
The views from the windows won't be much to speak of.
EU and Japan bullet trains runs daily at 300 - 350km/h, with 40 year old proven technology. No level crossings, grade separated right of way with large turning radii. EU bullet train (TGV) can run 575km/h but are run slower for safety. These trains are quiet and comfortable.
Two hrs from LA to San Francisco would not be bad at 300km/h.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TGV
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_High-Speed_Rail
Maglev is more expensive, and problematic to build than TGV and not much faster, usually much less.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maglev
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinkansen
No TGV accidents?
I will take hyperloop over TGV or any twin rail system.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Unlike twin rail systems, you have absolutely no baseline to determine the safety or reliability of a Hyperloop system.
Marketing BS doesn't count.
whaaa whaaa I used to be able to lie whenever I liked and no one cared, I miss the good old days.
In Capitalist Russia RD-181 rocket engines are exported to you.
In USA RD-180 and RD-181 rocket engines lift U.S. Air Force secret heavy payload up for you.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
The safety figures for the TGV system are exceptional; there have been no fatalities in high-speed operation since service started in 1981. Today TGV trains accumulate of the order of 50 billion passenger-kilometres per year on lignes à grande vitesse (high-speed lines) alone. 1.2 billion passengers have travelled on the TGV.
They even have iodine powered rockets that are 10X cheaper.
https://www.rt.com/news/430535-russia-rocket-engine-iodine/
Gay libtards ruined America.
At depth where hyperloop operates, seepage is not a problem. The only seepage will be through airlocks at stations,