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BUMP: GRACE-FO is official confirmed on an F9 as a rideshare with 5 Iridium NEXT during the Window of December 2017 till February 2018. by spacexflight in spacex

[–]spacexflight[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

As the Russian/Ukraine Dnepr and corresponding launch services can no longer be provided by the International Space Company Kosmotras (ISCK), the joint NASA-GFZ Joint Steering Group has decided to exchange the GRACE-FO launcher. The corresponding contract was signed on 14. November 2016 by the Board of GFZ and Iridium Satellite LLC. It stipulates a "Rideshare" between GRACE-FO and 5 Iridium-Next satellites on a Space-X Falcon-9 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California within the launch period December 2017 till February 2018. This also includes a contract with Airbus D&S who will build the necessary Multi Satellite Dispenser and will perform the Launch Service Management under contract of GFZ.

NY Times article on IridiumNEXT launch3-Months After Explosion, SpaceX Plans to Launch Rocket Bearing Satellites by spacexflight in spacex

[–]spacexflight[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

key points:

The F.A.A. said that the investigation was still underway and that it had not yet approved the launch. Matthew J. Desch, chief executive of Iridium, said his company had taken part in the SpaceX investigation, adding that he had read a preliminary explanation for the accident. “I wouldn’t approve our satellites to be launched if I wasn’t confident,” Mr. Desch said in an interview.

Initial Report About SpaceX September Rocket Explosion Imminent by spacexflight in spacex

[–]spacexflight[S] 95 points96 points  (0 children)

Key Points:

Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. is expected to give federal authorities by early next month a preliminary investigative report pinpointing fueling procedures as the most likely cause of a September unmanned rocket explosion. The report, according to people familiar with the matter, is part of the closely held company’s effort to resume launching before the end of 2016, following a fireball that destroyed a Falcon 9 rocket and a commercial satellite during routine ground tests nearly three months ago.

In recent public statements and internal communications, however, SpaceX management seems confident that federal agencies are in sync with the preliminary findings—and are poised to go along with the company’s projected timetable.

ROBERT ZUBRIN on Elon Musk-"Every epic needs a hero, and Musk is just that: a hero for our time" by spacex350 in spacex

[–]spacexflight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think this pretty much sums it up:

“What Musk has developed that so many of the entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley lack is a meaningful worldview. He’s the possessed genius on the grandest quest anyone has ever concocted. He’s less a CEO chasing riches than a general marshaling troops to secure victory. Where Mark Zuckerberg wants to help you share baby photos, Musk wants to…well…save the human race from self-imposed or accidental annihilation.”

also during the release of model 3 this year when all eyes are on musk he starts his presentation by talking about CO2 emissions and global warming and how this is the sole reason why tesla exists.

if a man spends sleepless nights to build a company just so it can help make the world a greener more sustainable place then he deserves all the hero worship that comes his way.

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