Traffic at the International Space Station

This has been a busy weekend on the International Space Station (ISS), where the amazing has become mundane. 

First, a Russian Soyuz spacecraft delivered three new crew members to the station - US astronaut Robert Shane and Russian cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov and Andrei Borisenko.  One could even argue a fourth crew member accompanied them - the relics of Saint Seraphim of Sarov.  

Second, Orbital ATK's Cygnus cargo ship also arrived at the ISS.  Orbital ATK knows these missions are not mundane having lost a rocket and Cygnus cargo ship two years ago.

Someday we may see such traffic heading to the Moon and Mars as well.  However, the Orbital ATK mishap, SpaceX rocket explosions, and recent ExoMars lander failure shows that the space industry is still facing enormous risks. Fortunately, all of the missions just named did not involve human passengers. That adds a whole new level of risk and related risk management. 

Image Credit:  The photo at the top from NASA shows the new six-member Expedition 49 crew gathers in the Zvezda service module. The three newest arrivals (front row from left) Andrey Borisenko, Sergey Ryzhikov and Shane Kimbrough talk to family members and mission officials back on Earth. In the back row from left are, Kate Rubins, Anatoly Ivanishin and Takuya Onishi. The bottom photo shows the Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo ship arriving at the ISS and is also from NASA.

A Whole New Trajectory for Weapons of War

I have heard of beating swords into ploughshares, but converting intercontinental missiles into space rockets?  That is a new one, but I like the idea.

Orbital ATK Vice President Barron Beneski has proposed using decommissioned intercontinental ballistic missiles (such as the Peacekeeper above) for new purposes.  It makes a lot of sense, particularly for a company that lacks its own rockets.  Orbital ATK was using old Soviet-era rockets until one exploded.  Now its Cygnus cargo ship resupplying the International Space Station is hooking a ride on competitor rockets. 

Of course, no good idea goes unopposed, and Virgin Galactic is trying to spike this idea because Orbital ATK may become a competitor. 

This is the other side of private sector space competition - everyone wants to have the best rocket and not really share the profits.  Left to itself, we will be back to the huge space companies with few new ideas.  I think the decommissioning idea is a good one - reuse old rockets for space purposes and allow the Air Force to unload some inventory that is expensive to maintain.  And these rockets can be sold to any party, not just Orbital ATK, to maintain a level playing field. 

International Space Station Traffic Jam

Things are getting busy up there in low Earth orbit.  The other week Orbital ATK sent up a Cygnus cargoship.  And then Russian resupply ship Progress 63 (animation shown above) was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on March 31st.  Progress 61 had to undock and depart to make way for Progress 63. 

And now SpaceX is preparing for another Dragon resupply run on April 8th with a crew of mice to see how their little bodies handle space.  The mice will later be dissected and sent back to Earth for further study.  Scott Kelly did a little better than that with his mission. 

It is nice to see this complex interchange becoming so routine with the private sector playing a growing role.  A good sign for future cooperation and space projects. 

Planned Disaster

International Space Station (ISS) replenishment work continued with yesterday's launch of the Orbital ATK Cygnus cargoship. Everything went as planned.

Now the question is whether a planned disaster will also go well.  In May, the ISS will release the Cygnus cargoship so it can be set afire in space. This controlled burn will help NASA understand and prepare for such potential disasters in the future.

It is all very interesting. SpaceX is trying to safely retrieve all of its equipment whereas Orbital ATK, which doesn't even have its own rockets, is intentionally destroying its only asset.

Update:  The Cygnus cargoship arrived safely at the ISS on March 26th.  Here is a video of the capture of the ship.

Good News Continues for SpaceX

Even if SpaceX is still struggling with the barge landing of the Falcon 9 rocket, the company continues to rack up good news in terms of future customers.  Here are just a few of the latest stories about government contracts with SpaceX:

-- On January 25h, the US Air Force certified the latest version of the Falcon 9 rocket, the Falcon 9 Upgrade, to launch national security satellites.  The new rocket can lift 30 percent more mass into orbit.

-- On January 14th, SpaceX, Orbital ATK, and Sierra Nevada won NASA contracts to resupply the International Space Station through 2024.  The Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-2) contracts, worth about $14 billion, are for cargo delivery services to the space station and not the transport of astronauts.

-- On January 13th, SpaceX and Orbital ATK were selected by the US Air Force for a $241 million contract for new rocket propulsion systems.  This will help the Air Force end its dependence on the RD-180 rocket from Russia.  

This is a nice string of events for SpaceX and its competitors (unless you are Russia).  The smaller private sector firms are starting to pull their weight in the space race. 

Orbital ATK Back in the Station Business

Orbital ATK is back after a rough year. The successful Sunday launch of the Cygnus capsule aboard an Atlas V rocket put the company back in rotation for International Space Station (ISS) resupply missions, even if it has yet to field its own rocket. This is also the maiden voyage of an Atlas V rocket in an ISS mission.

The Cygnus spacecraft will arrive at the space station tomorrow morning.  The payload includes items lost in recent mission failures (three in a little over a year). 

Update:  The Cygnus space capsule (pictured below) safely arrived at the ISS Wednesday morning.  According to NASA, Cygnus has a diverse payload:

Science payloads will support science and research investigations that will occur during the space station’s Expeditions 45 and 46, including experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science -- research that impacts life on Earth. Investigations will offer a new life science facility that will support studies on cell cultures, bacteria and other microorganisms, a microsatellite deployer and the first microsatellite that will be deployed from the space station, and experiments that will study the behavior of gases and liquids and clarify the thermo-physical properties of molten steel and evaluations of flame-resistant textiles

In its press release announcing the successful mission, Orbital ATK stated it hopes to begin using its own Antares rocket by next year:

Under the CRS contract with NASA, Orbital ATK will deliver approximately 62,000 pounds (28,000 kilograms) of cargo to the ISS over 10 missions through 2018. To date, the company has delivered more than seven tons of essential supplies to the ISS since the first mission conducted in early 2014, with three additional CRS missions scheduled for 2016. Another Cygnus mission will be launched on an Atlas V in March, after which Orbital ATK’s Antares rocket will launch at least two ISS resupply missions in the second and fourth quarters of 2016.