SpaceX Falcon I Hold-Down Firing Scheduled

The first flight-ready Falcon I is on its pad at
Vandenberg. SpaceX is set to test fire the vehicle
next week.

Tom Cuddihy provided this link in another sci.space.policy
thread.

"http://www.lompocrecord.com/articles/2005/04/27/news/news08.txt"

"4/27/05 A small rocket will undergo a big test next week when it
will do everything but blast off from Vandenberg Air Force Base.

If all goes well, a five-hour countdown will end Tuesday, May 3,
with the Falcon rocket's first-stage engine firing - and then
shutting down after a few seconds, the first time in recent
memory that a flight-readiness firing has taken place at
Vandenberg."
....
"A five-hour countdown will kick off at 8 a.m. Tuesday with the
quick firing expected by 1 p.m., assuming no weather-related
or technical issues arise."
....
"In the past few years, SpaceX has set up shop on an abandoned
launch pad, Space Launch Complex-3 West, on south Vandenberg."
....
They've maintained an austere launch facility to keep costs
down, housing the rocket horizontally in a shelter reminiscent
of a catering tent some 100 yards from the launch stand."

"Even with a successful test Tuesday, a first launch must wait
until after the West Coast's final Titan 4 launch because -
in the event of a catastrophic failure - the military doesn't
want the Falcon's fledgling flight going over its nearby
launch pad."

"SpaceX expects to be ready to launch within five days of the
neighboring rocket's departure ... However, if Titan 4's launch
date slips, SpaceX says it may move the Falcon's maiden liftoff
to the Kwajalein Atoll in the central Pacific Ocean."

"SpaceX, along with chief competitor Orbital Sciences Corp.,
recently received an "indefinite delivery-indefinite quantity"
contract from the Air Force that could be worth up to
$100 million. Between now and 2010, the Air Force plans to
order rockets to ferry small satellites to space."

- Ed Kyle

I think that the test mentioned in the article is not the full duration
hold down firing they were planning to do, but the thrust termination
test that was required by range safety.

The falcon I will be the first rocket to launch from the continental US
without a traditional flight termination system (aka bomb). Instead it
will just have a thrust termination system.

I read somewhere that the range safety people wanted to do a test of
the thrust termination system prior to liftoff. I think that this is
the test.

Rudiger,
interesting theory, that makes sense. I wonder if SpaceX even still
plans on doing a full holddown test at all anyway.

It seems that they will have ample time to do so since the air force
wants the final Titan off the pad before they can launch.

The USAF seems to have no problems to have a fueled falcon near their
Titan, so maybe they will do the full duration hold down firing in
Vandenberg and then do the first actual launch from the marshall
islands.

Whatever they decide to do, I wish them luck. I will be inviting my
colleagues to dinner to celebrate if they have a successful launch :-)

R=FCdiger Klaehn wrote:
It seems that they will have ample time to do so since the air force
wants the final Titan off the pad before they can launch.

The USAF seems to have no problems to have a fueled falcon near their
Titan, so maybe they will do the full duration hold down firing in
Vandenberg and then do the first actual launch from the marshall
islands.


Here is a new SpaceX press release regarding a
new $100 million contract win from the Air Force
for an "indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity"
of launches over a five year period. According
to the release, the "system test firing" is set
to occur tomorrow, Tuesday May 3.

This looks to be one of the largest subsidies
provided to a launcher start-up since Orbital
Sciences first developed Pegasus.

It is starting to look like Falcon may be around
for awhile. Of course, it still must prove itself
in flight!

- Ed Kyle

"http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050502/lam104.html?.v=3D8"

Press Release Source: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation

SpaceX Awarded $100 Million Contract From U.S. Air Force for Falcon I
Monday May 2, 2:08 pm ET

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., May 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Space Exploration
Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) has been awarded a $100 million IDIQ
contract by the U.S. Air Force/Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC
Detachment 12) for Responsive Small Spacelift (RSS) launch services.
The purpose of this contract will be to provide low cost orbital launch
vehicles and responsive (launch 12 months from award of basic contract)
launch services, on a recurring basis, using a mature vehicle design
and a commercially derived booster to meet mission/payload
requirements.

"We are grateful to the Air Force for the endorsement implied by
awarding SpaceX a $100 million launch contract," said Elon Musk, CEO of
SpaceX. "With our Falcon I launch vehicle, we expect to provide the
Defense Department and other customers breakthrough improvements in
cost and reliability."

This is an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract requiring
flexibility in responding to unique technical requirements, vehicle
quantity, and schedule changes. Work will be complete by April 2010.

Falcon Status

Both the first and second stage SpaceX engines have completed two full
mission duration firings and will complete acceptance testing in the
coming weeks at the company's 300-acre testing facility in McGregor,
Texas. Falcon I has been shipped to the SpaceX launch facility, SLC 3W
at Vandenberg Air Force Base and will undergo a system test firing on
Tuesday, May 3.

The maiden flight of Falcon I carrying TacSat-1 is scheduled to follow
the launch of the last Titan IV from SLC 4 at Vandenberg Air Force
Base. Assuming an on time departure of the classified Titan IV mission,
SpaceX expects a launch window in late summer. The second Falcon I
launch will be from the Kwajalein Atoll for DARPA, also in late summer.

About SpaceX

SpaceX is developing a family of launch vehicles intended to increase
the reliability and reduce the cost of access to space by a factor of
ten. Located in El Segundo, California, the company was founded by CEO
Elon Musk in June 2002. SpaceX is the third company founded by Mr.
Musk. Previously he co-founded PayPal, Inc., the world's leading
electronic payment system, which sold to online auction giant eBay(TM)
for $1.5 billion in 2002. More information about SpaceX can be found at
SpaceX.com.


Source: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation

To quibble, the nature of a government contract is not the same as a
subsidy. The two should not be confused.

Daniel Schmelzer wrote:
To quibble, the nature of a government contract is not the same as a
subsidy. The two should not be confused.

Technically true by most definitions of the
word "subsidy", but the way I see it any
money from the Government for space launch
services, even if paid for services rendered,
is a kind of subsidy (perhaps "support" is
a better word) because the Government both
prints the money and decides who does and
does not get the money - and because in
the launch services business there isn't
enough non-government business to support a
space launch services company. By
establishing this IDIQ (Indefinite Quantity,
Indefinite Delivery) contract with SpaceX,
the government has decided that SpaceX gets
a chance to stay in the space launch business.
No commercial customers have done that.

- Ed Kyle

The reason I'm being so pedantic is because this contract has a lot of
history.

The Air Force was going to sole source the contract to SpaceX last
summer (i.e., choosing winners and losers), right when SpaceX's
challenge of Kistler's sole source contract from NASA was being decided
at OMB. It was a ridiculous coincidence on its face, so the Air Force
withdrew its plans and decided to take bids on the contract. One year
later and SpaceX won the bid -- no big surprise. But its competitor
Orbital Sciences also put in a bid on the program and won too.

http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/...port/index.php

I've not heard of the Raptor launcher. Maybe you have?

The impact of this contract is, as you say, that SpaceX's market risk
for the Falcon I goes from very high to moderate-to-low. But SpaceX
won the contract because it had something of obvious good value to
offer the Air Force well clear of what passes for market prices in this
industry. In a strict sense, SpaceX is succeeding because of things it
is doing, not because it is getting unfair support (subsidies) from the
Air Force.

Ed Kyle wrote:
Technically true by most definitions of the
word "subsidy", but the way I see it any
money from the Government for space launch
services, even if paid for services rendered,
is a kind of subsidy (perhaps "support" is
a better word) because the Government both
prints the money and decides who does and
does not get the money - and because in
the launch services business there isn't
enough non-government business to support a
space launch services company.

The money that the government prints doesn't go into the federal
budget, and so has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not a
government contract can be considered a subsidy.

By
establishing this IDIQ (Indefinite Quantity,
Indefinite Delivery) contract with SpaceX,
the government has decided that SpaceX gets
a chance to stay in the space launch business.

Do you have any evidence whatsover for this assertion? An IDIQ
contract doesn't commit the government to spending any money at all; it
just means that if the government decides to spend money all of the
contracting paperwork and rigamarole has already been completed.

No commercial customers have done that.

To date, has SpaceX received more government money, or more commercial
money?

-jake

"Ed Kyle" wrote in message
oups.com...
Rüdiger Klaehn wrote:
It seems that they will have ample time to do so since the air force
wants the final Titan off the pad before they can launch.

The USAF seems to have no problems to have a fueled falcon near their
Titan, so maybe they will do the full duration hold down firing in
Vandenberg and then do the first actual launch from the marshall
islands.


Here is a new SpaceX press release regarding a
new $100 million contract win from the Air Force
for an "indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity"
of launches over a five year period. According
to the release, the "system test firing" is set
to occur tomorrow, Tuesday May 3.

This is some of the best news for Space X I have heard.
The Air Force paying for 10-20 launches is more then enough to get them
started.
Especially if some of this is just for launch data.