by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor
In a crucial step forward for China’s human and robotic spaceflight programs, a Long March 5B booster conducted its maiden flight on Tuesday carrying a prototype of the nation’s next-generation crewed spacecraft.
China’s most powerful rocket lifted off at 1000 GMT (6 p.m. local time) from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan Island. Chinese media have reported the launch from the nation’s southern spaceport was successful.
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by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor
NASA’s culture of excessive optimism and its tendency to underestimate technical challenges combine with funding instability to cause cost overruns and schedule delays, according to a new report from the NASA Office of Inspector General (OIG).
The document identified NASA’s management of major projects as one of the space agency’s top seven performance challenges. [Full Report]
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LOS ANGELES AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (SMC PR) –– The Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC), in partnership with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), awarded a sole source, five-year, $1.18 billion Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) modification of the Delta IV Heavy contract (FA8811-19-C-0002), saving $455 million.
This modification was awarded Sept. 27 to United Launch Alliance (ULA) for Launch Operations Support (LOPS), in support of five NRO Launch (NROL) missions: NROL-44, NROL-82, NROL-91, NROL-68 and NROL-70.
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The U.S. Air Force has awarded United Launch Alliance (ULA) a contract modification worth $156.7 million for a Delta IV Heavy launch of a reconnaissance satellite in 2024.
“This modification provides for launch vehicle production services for National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Launch Mission Three, the last of three planned NRO launch missions under this contract,” USAF said in announcing the contract.
The modification increases the cumulative value of the contract for the three launches from $310,784,574 to $467,537,345. The $156.7 million is about half of what the third launch will cost.
The launch could be the final one for ULA’s Delta IV family of rockets. The company is phasing out use of the booster as it develops the Vulcan booster.
“The Cylons were created by man. They evolved. They rebelled. There are many copies. And they have a plan.”
— Battlestar Galactic
by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor
Watching the re-imagined “Battlestar Galactic,” I was never quite sure exactly what the Cylons’ plan was beyond the whole exterminate all humans with nukes thing. In an apparent nod to this lack of clarity, the producers created a two-hour TV movie called, “Battlestar Galactic: The Plan,” to explain it all.
NASA has suffered from a similar lack of clarity over the past week. At a National Space Council meeting last Tuesday, Vice President Mike Pence announced it was the Trump Administration’s policy to land astronauts on the south pole of the moon by the presidential election year of 2024 — four years ahead of the current schedule.
On board video of the recent Delta IV Heavy launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., (Jan. 19, 2019) – A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying a critical payload for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) denoted NROL-71 lifted off from Space Launch Complex-6 on Jan. 19 at 11:10 a.m. PST. The mission is in support of our country’s national defense.
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. Jan. 5, 2019 (ULA PR) – The United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy carrying the NROL-71 mission launch date is under review. A new launch date and time will be provided pending the results of additional testing.
“We continue to remedy the technical issues that caused the last scrub of the Delta IV Heavy, and are working with our partners, the National Reconnaissance Office and the U.S. Air Force, to ensure that we fly when it is safe to do so,” said Gary Wentz, vice president of Government and Commercial programs, “we understand that this is a high-priority mission for the nation’s warfighters and we take our commitment to safety and mission assurance seriously.”
After multiple scrubs, here is the updated launch schedule:
This current launch schedule for this week. Check for updates at https://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/
December 18
Falcon 9
Payload: GPS 3-01 navigation satellite
Launch Window: 9:11-9:35 a.m. EST (1411-1435 GMT)
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
Webcast: www.spacex.com
SpaceX’s 21st and final launch of 2018.
New Shepard
Payloads: NASA microgravity experiments
Launch Time: 9:30 a.m. EST/8:30 a.m. CST (1430 GMT)
Launch Site: Van Horn, Texas
Webcast: www.blueorigin.com
Tenth New Shepard suborbital flight.
Soyuz
Payload: CSO 1 – French reconnaissance satellite
Launch Time: 11:37:14 a.m. EST (1637:14 GMT)
Launch Site: Sinnamary, French Guiana
Webcast: www.esa.int
Delta 4-Heavy
Payload: NROL-71 reconnaissance satellite
Launch Time: 8:57 p.m. EST; 5:57 p.m. PST (0157 GMT on Dec. 19)
Launch Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
Webcast: https://www.ulalaunch.com/
December 19
GSLV Mk.2
Payload: GSAT 7A communications satellite
Launch Time: Approx. 5:30 a.m. EST (1030 GMT)
Launch Site: Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India
Webcast: https://www.isro.gov.in/
December 20
Proton
Payload: Blagovest No. 13L communications satellite
Launch Time: Approx. 7:15 p.m. EST (0015 GMT on Dec. 21)
Launch Site: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
December 26/27
Soyuz
Payloads: Kanopus-V 5 & 6 Earth observation satellites
Launch Time: 9:07 p.m. EST (0207 GMT on Dec. 27)
Launch Site: Vostochny Cosmodrome, Russia
UPDATE: Launch scrubbed, reset for Saturday at 8:06 p.m. PST.
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., Dec. 5, 2018 (ULA PR) — A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) will lift-off from Space Launch Complex-6 on Dec. 7 at 8:19 p.m. PT. Designated NROL-71, the mission is in support of our country’s national defense missions.
iv_heavy
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (ULA PR) — Everything is progressing toward the ULA Delta IV Heavy launch carrying the NROL-71 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office.
The mission is set to lift off on a Delta IV Heavy rocket on Friday, Dec. 7 from Space Launch Complex-6 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The launch time is 8:19 p.m. PT.
Launch Broadcast & Webcast
Live broadcast coverage of launch will begin at 7:59 p.m. PT on Dec. 7.
Webcast available at www.ulalaunch.com and www.youtube.com/unitedlaunchalliance
The following is a list of launches for the remainder of November based on Spaceflightnow.com’s Launch Schedule. The list includes two launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and one launch apiece from Xichang in China, Kourou in French Guiana, and Satish Dhawan in India.
Please check Spaceflightnow’s launch page regularly because launches tend to slip on a regular basis.
Editor’s Note: The SpaceX Falcon 9 launch scheduled for Monday has been postponed five or six days so engineers can conduct additional checks of the booster. The first stage is being flown for the third time.
November 19
Launch Vehicle: Long March 3B — SUCCESS
Payload: 2 Beidou navigation satellites
Launch Time: TBA
Launch Site: Xichang, China
November 20/21
Launch Vehicle: Vega
Payload: Mohammed VI-B Earth observation satellite
Launch Time: 8:42 p.m. EST on 20th (0142 GMT on 21st)
Launch Site: Kourou, French Guiana
Webcast: http://www.esa.int
November 26
Launch Vehicle: PSLV
Payload: HySIS hyperspectral imaging satellite
Launch Time: TBA
Launch Site: Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India
Webcast: https://www.isro.gov.in/
November 29
Launch Vehicle: Delta 4-Heavy
Payload: NROL-71 reconnaissance satellite
Launch Time: TBA
Launch Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
Webcast: https://www.ulalaunch.com/
TBD
Launch Vehicle: Falcon 9
Payload: Spaceflight, Inc. SSO-A rideshare mission
Launch Time: TBD
Launch Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
Webcast: http://www.spacex.com
This flight will deploy more than 70 spacecraft from approximately 35 different organizations.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (NASA PR) — At 3:33 a.m. EDT on Aug. 11, while most of the U.S. is asleep, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida will be abuzz with excitement. At that moment, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, the agency’s historic mission to touch the Sun, will have its first opportunity to lift off.
Launching from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, Parker Solar Probe will make its journey all the way to the Sun’s atmosphere, or corona — closer to the Sun than any spacecraft in history.
