Yep.
Posted on 10/12/2012 8:33:38 PM PDT by Vince Ferrer
More issues surrounding the October 7 launch of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launch emerged on Friday, when satellite operator Orbcomm announced that it's satellite fell off the rocket and burned up.
According to Reuters, Orbcomm piggybacked it's OG2 experimental communications satellite on Falcon 9. A problem during liftoff caused the satellite to fall out of orbit and burn up in the atmosphere, the New Jersey-based company stated.
The satellite operator plans to launch a 17-member communications satellite network aboard two Falcon 9 rockets in 2013 and 2014, Reuters reported. Orbcomm will launch eight satellites in 2013 and the remaining nine satellites in 2014.
The prototype satellite aboard Sunday's launch was declared a total loss, Reuters reported. The loss forced Orbcomm to claim an insurance policy worth close to $10 million, "which would largely offset the expected cost of the OG2 prototype and associated launch services and launch insurance," the company said in a statement.
Reuters reported that the company planned for the prototype to reach 466 miles of altitude above the Earth. However, the satellite fell short after one of the rocket's nine Merlin engines shut down earlier than expected.
Despite the setback, Falcon 9 was able to successfully complete its primary mission of sending a Dragon cargo capsule to the International Space Station, Reuters reported. SpaceX is under a $1.6 billion NASA contract to send 12 flights to the space station.
SpaceX spokeswoman Katherine Nelson told Reuters that NASA prohibited the company from "restarting the rocket's second stage- needed to deliver Orbcomm's satellite to its proper orbit-if there was not at least a 99 percent chance that the rocket had enough fuel to complete the burn."
The Dragon capsule reached the International Space Station on Wednesday after traveling 250 miles above Earth. Although Falcon 9 had enough fuel to restart its engine, it only had a 95 percent chance of reigniting with its level of liquid oxygen.
Nelson told Reuters, "Orbcomm understood from the beginning that the orbit-raising maneuver was tentative. They accepted that there was a high risk of their satellite remaining at the Dragon insertion orbit. SpaceX would not have agreed to fly their satellite otherwise, since this was not part of the core mission and there was a known, material risk of no altitude raise."
In a statement, Orbcomm declared, "Had Orbcomm been the primary payload on this mission...we believe the OG2 prototype would have reached the desire orbit."
The loss, however, was not a complete failure the company stated. According to Orbcomm, it achieved several important objectives in its test flight.
The Dragon capsule reached the International Space Station on Wednesday after traveling 250 miles above Earth. Although Falcon 9 had enough fuel to restart its engine, it only had a 95 percent chance of reigniting with its level of liquid oxygen.
Nelson told Reuters, "Orbcomm understood from the beginning that the orbit-raising maneuver was tentative. They accepted that there was a high risk of their satellite remaining at the Dragon insertion orbit. SpaceX would not have agreed to fly their satellite otherwise, since this was not part of the core mission and there was a known, material risk of no altitude raise."
um....
learning experience??
Mulligan.
LOL. Is that layman's terms for failure to make orbit due to an engine failure?
I think its a layman term for "I don't know what I am writing about because I am an idiot."
I don't know the reason why they did not have enough oxygen and if the engine failure on the first stage contributed to it, partly because I have to read reports written by people who don't know anything about spaceflight. The primary mission succeeded, and the Dragon capsule is now docked at the ISS. I am still trying to figure out what happened with the satellite.
I it hate when my satellite falls off and burns.
Astrophysicists don’t end up as reporters?
I was waiting for “lefty loosey, righty tighty”. Author is an idiot.
Well, he's no rocket scientist, we can tell that much.
There’s a good “Far Side” cartoon somewhere in all this! :)
That's the excuse I sometimes give women.
The satellite fell of the rocket that made it to orbit?
Sounds like the satellite folks failed to use enough duct tape.
...satellite operator Orbcomm announced that it's [sic] satellite fell off the rocket and burned up... Despite the setback, Falcon 9 was able to successfully complete its primary mission of sending a Dragon cargo capsule to the International Space Station... NASA prohibited the company from "restarting the rocket's second stage -- needed to deliver Orbcomm's satellite to its proper orbit -- if there was not at least a 99 percent chance that the rocket had enough fuel to complete the burn."For a complete overview of NASA's probability engineering, see Richard Feynmann's account of his experience with the Challenger commission.
Yep.
The loss forced Orbcomm to claim an insurance policy worth close to $10 million, "which would largely offset the expected cost of the OG2 prototype and associated launch services and launch insurance," the company said in a statement.
What a fortunate coincidence.
How do you handle the complaints about insufficient thrust in stage one? Better than Biden, I hope.
That's a good starting point. I was actually assigned the Challenger hearing once in a class.
Personal observations on the reliability of the Shuttle
The realiability estimates have been known by NASA management to be public relations more than science since Apollo. Apollo program managers basically had reliability requirements imposed on them by politicians. There was a complete disconnet between NASA and congress that you can't claim 1/1000 safety until you test 1000 parts. There would never be the budget to test 1000 of any of the major components of Apollo, individually or as an entire system, and so reliability figures became more estimates and projections to keep the money coming in than based in an engineering reality that other engineers in other industries lived in.
Thanks VF!
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