WASHINGTON – NASA’s bid to launch a cluster of Cubasets drew SpaceX’s bid, offering a vehicle other than its current Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy.
NASA released a source selection statement on March 11 stating the structure of precipitation and time-resolved observations with the Storm Intensity’s Small Sets (Tropics) mission, competing to launch a group of six cubits in three orbital planes to study in 2022. NASA signed a deal on February 26 to launch the Astra, valued at 7. 95.795 million.
The agency said in a statement that it had received five proposals for the mission last August. In addition to Astra, bids were submitted by two other small launch vehicle companies, Rocket Lab and Virgin Orbit. The fourth came Moments, which provides space transport services for satellites launched on the Ridershare mission.
The fifth bid came from SpaceX, which includes the Smalset Rideshare program, a bundle of cubets and other small satellites on the Falcon 9 launch. However, the company does not appear to be providing launch services for Tropics competition from that program.
In its bidder’s assessment, NASA noted a weakness in SpaceX’s proposal because the company “did not make clear progress toward an environmental assessment resolution that resulted in a risk associated with obtaining an FAA launch license, which would affect the likelihood of delays.” Contract operation. “
The source selection statement also identified significant weaknesses in the “launch risk” for the mission, noting that the company did not update the consolidated master schedule in its initial proposal. “Consequently, the proposed launch approach carries a significant risk depending on the required launch date and the current condition of the proposed launch vehicle which increases the likelihood of contract failure.”
Criticism will not apply to both the SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and the Falcon heavy vehicles currently in service. Both vehicles have received licensed bribes from the Federal Aviation Administration, which updated the environmental assessment for launching in July 2020 from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and the Kennedy Space Center. SpaceX has won a series of contracts for large NASA launches using those vehicles.
An interesting possibility is that SpaceX offered its Starship vehicle under its development. That vehicle only has an FAA launch license for its current range of suborbital test flights. The FAA is also conducting an environmental assessment of Boka Chika of SpaceX in Texas. The agency recently published a “scoping summary report” outlining public comments received during the assessment’s spatial process, but did not issue a schedule for the release of a draft version of the environmental assessment.
Starships for the Tropics will appear to have grown enormously. When launched from a booster called Super Heavy, the Starship 100 will be able to put more than 100 metric tons into Earth orbit. SpaceX has previously suggested, however, that the starship alone could reach the upper stage orbit, but without significant payload. That may be enough for Tru RO picks, which have a combined mass of about 56 kilograms.
SpaceX did not respond to requests for comment on its proposal for Tropics.
In a source selection statement, NASA compared SpaceX’s proposal to Astra, whose Rocket 3 small launch vehicle has yet to reach orbit but which the company has declared orbital capable after two test launches. Citing development and series conflict issues, Astra was cited for vulnerabilities at its proposed launch site. The launch site was not disclosed in the statement, but in an agreement announcement last month, NASA said the launch would take place from the Quajlin Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.
While SpaceX also had a launch site risk, “with timely FAA launches licensing to support orbital test flights,” NASA concluded that “the risk in its launch approach was based on the required launch date and current condition of the proposed launch vehicle.” As a result, Astra was rated slightly higher than SpaceX in terms of technical and management capabilities. The proposed price of SpaceX was “somewhat higher” than Astra’s bid.
NASA also eliminated Virgin Orbit because its original bid did not fall into the “competitive category” that was established by the agency, and was the only bidder not asked to provide an improvement proposal. Ome. Moments was excluded from consideration because its proposed launch services interface requirements do not meet all the requirements of the document, which “puts the government at great risk of a failed contract operation.”
The competition came at Astra and Rocket Lab, which had a lot of power in the proposal, but also a “significantly higher” price than Astra. NASA concludes that “after reviewing the advantages associated with the rocket lab proposal and its significantly lower cost at risk with Astra’s evaluation, the technical advantages do not offset the significant difference in price” and Astra chooses to embark on the Tropics mission
