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Re: Meet “Cosmic Girl,” the plane that would launch rockets into space

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On 6/12/2015 2:15 AM, Sam Wormley wrote:
> On 12/4/15 9:40 PM, Sylvia Else wrote:
>> On 5/12/2015 12:27 PM, Sam Wormley wrote:
>>> Meet “Cosmic Girl,” the plane that would launch rockets into space
>>>> http://arstechnica.com/science/2015/12/meet-cosmic-girl-the-plane-that-would-launch-rockets-into-space/
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> For the first time, Virgin Galactic has revealed the aircraft it
>>>> intends to use to boost small satellites weighting up to 450kg into
>>>> orbit, perhaps before the end of 2017. Branson, the charismatic
>>>> founder of the company, said he hoped that by bringing down the cost
>>>> of satellite launches he could enable global satellite Internet and
>>>> bring connectivity to the more than 3 billion people without access
>>>> to the Web.
>>>
>>>> Ars was on hand during the reveal, which showcased the aircraft now
>>>> destined to carry the “LauncherOne” rocket to an altitude of 35,000
>>>> feet before releasing it at a 25-degree upward angle. The rocket's
>>>> Newton 3 engine will then blast its payload into any number of
>>>> possible orbits around the Earth. Virgin Galactic assessed a variety
>>>> of aircraft before settling on a 14-year-old 747 from its own fleet
>>>> nicknamed “Cosmic Girl.” That airplane continued to fly normal routes
>>>> until October 23, most frequently carrying passengers from London’s
>>>> Heathrow to JFK in New York City to San Francisco.
>>>>
>>>> LauncherOne is Virgin Galactic’s entry into the increasingly hot
>>>> small-satellite market. Already, the company has signed a major
>>>> contract with OneWeb to launch 39 communications satellites using the
>>>> LauncherOne platform. OneWeb is seeking to deliver broadband
>>>> satellite Internet. In October, Virgin Galactic also won a $4.7
>>>> million contract from NASA to launch more than a dozen cutting-edge
>>>> experimental satellites for the space agency. George Whitesides,
>>>> chief executive of Virgin Galactic, said Thursday the company will be
>>>> able to deliver 200kg satellites to a Sun-synchronous orbit for less
>>>> than $10 million, with larger satellites costing more.
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Dunno. Lifting a launcher to, 35,000 ft, and accelerating it to 1000km/h
>> doesn't really seem to go far when it comes to putting something into
>> orbit. As for for access to orbits, the launch point needs to be either
>> equatorial (for geosynchronous orbit insertion), and there are already
>> suitable launch sites, or pretty much anywhere for sun-synchronous or
>> polar orbit.
>>
>> Given the costs of operating a 747, I'd have to wonder whether this
>> really works out cheaper than launching a slightly bigger rocket from
>> the ground.
>>
>> Sylvia.
>
>
>    The key seem to be limiting payloads to 450kg -- pretty small. But
>    then so is Apple's iPhone.  I'm optimistic that we can do a lot of
>    science with the 450kg satellites, who's mass is mostly sensors
>    and communications, supplemented by 14nm and 10nm processors.
>

Clearly, the smaller the payload, the cheaper the launch, other things 
being equal. The question is whether an air launch is cheaper than a 
ground launch. I'd take some convincing.

Sylvia.

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Meet “Cosmic Girl,” the plane that would launch rockets into space Sam Wormley <swormley1@gmail.com> - 2015-12-04 19:27 -0600
  Re: Meet “Cosmic Girl,” the plane that would launch rockets into space Sylvia Else <sylvia@not.at.this.address> - 2015-12-05 14:40 +1100
    Re: Meet “Cosmic Girl,” the plane that would launch rockets into space Sam Wormley <swormley1@gmail.com> - 2015-12-05 09:15 -0600
      Re: Meet “Cosmic Girl,” the plane that would launch rockets into space Sylvia Else <sylvia@not.at.this.address> - 2015-12-06 09:40 +1100

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