R.I.P. Scout26
SpaceX is targeting Tuesday, May 23 for Falcon 9’s launch of the ARABSAT BADR-8 mission to a geosynchronous transfer orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The 127-minute launch window opens at 11:25 p.m. ET (03:25 UTC on May 24). If needed, there is a backup opportunity available on Wednesday, May 24 with the same window.The first stage booster supporting this mission previously launched GPS III Space Vehicle 04, GPS III Space Vehicle 05, Inspiration4, Ax-1, Nilesat 301, OneWeb Launch 17, and seven Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Just Read the Instructions droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.A live webcast of this mission will begin about fifteen minutes prior to liftoff.
Progress MS-23 (84P)Soyuz 2.1aRussian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS)Launch StatusGo For LaunchWed • May 24th, 20238:56 AM EDT
20 minutes, still there.
Russia osha guy is about the same level as BMW turn signals installer.
After a nearly two-year pause in flights, starting after a deviation from controlled airspace during Sir Richard Branson’s flight in July 2021, the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity is being prepared to make its first powered flight since the eventful Unity 22 mission.The Unity 25 mission, like Unity 22, will have a full crew complement of six. Two pilots and four Virgin Galactic employees will be on board. The employees will test out the customer experience prior to the beginning of commercial operations.VSS Unity, slung underneath the VMS Eve White Knight Two mothership, is scheduled to take off from the Spaceport America complex near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico Thursday. After takeoff, VMS Eve will climb to an altitude of approximately 14,325 meters (47,000 feet) before releasing VSS Unity
The statement did not break out the investment between the launch vehicle itself and infrastructure. SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk, in an April 29 online discussion on Twitter, the social media network he also owns, estimated that the company would spend about $2 billion on Starship this year.“It’ll probably be a couple billion dollars this year, two billion dollars-ish, all in on Starship,” he said, adding that he did not expect to have to raise funding to finance that work. He also said in that conversation that he expected Starship to launch four to five more times this year and “would be surprised” if the company didn’t achieve orbit by the end of the year.
In all, the total cost of developing SLS and Orion, as well as a failed rocket predecessor called Ares, is somewhere around $50 billion.Veteran space watchers wonder if SLS will have a long life now that New Space is nimbly competing with older contractors. SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy costs well north of $100 million per launch. The SLS? About $4 billion per launch, some sources say. And according to veteran space reporter Eric Berger, it’s at least $2 billion per launch.
^^^^I wonder if that $5Bn number includes Raptor development. That engine is really impressive. Even if $5bn is only the Starship and Super Heavy vehicles it's impressive, if it includes 3 generations of Rapror, it's astonishing.
He specifically noted that since a 2014 “record of decision” by the FAA, allowing SpaceX to develop launch facilities at Boca Chica (originally for the Falcon family of launch vehicles), “SpaceX has invested more than $3 billion into developing the Boca Chica launch facility and Starship/Super Heavy launch system.”
The Tokyo-based company said its investigation into the failed landing of its HAKUTO-R M1 lander April 25 concluded that the onboard computer disregarded altitude information from a laser rangefinder on the lander as it passed over a crater rim, leading the lander to conclude it was on the surface when it was still five kilometers above it.
Falcon 9 is launching the Arabsat 7B mission. Liftoff is scheduled for 11:25 PM EDT (03:25 UTC) from SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The first stage is B1062, which will attempt a landing on Just Read The Instructions.
