It occurs to me that the $400K for getting FAA AST approval could be
pretty close to free money for something a company must do anyway,
regardless of whether taking part in the actual launch challenges makes
sense for a company.
(Doesn't anyone want to talk about the actual tens-of-millions-in-prizes
smallsat launch competition on offer here? Very odd.)
Henry
On 4/21/2018 7:59 PM, Henry Vanderbilt wrote:
The actual parameters of this contest are interesting.
http://www.darpalaunchchallenge.org/2018%2004%2018%20Launch%20Challenge%20Guidelines.pdf
Launchers capable of 10kg to 1000kg to an unspecified range of orbits can take part. (But payload amount is one among several factors determining standing in the final round.)
Getting FAA to sign off on launches to be performed at an indeterminate site is the first round, $400K prizes for all who succeed, and some DARPA help with FAA implied.
Then the first launch challenge, next year: 30 days notice of the launch site, an austere pad with details TBD at a present or future FAA-licensed spaceport. Then 14 days notice of the payload & orbit. $2m each for all successful launches.
Then the second launch challenge, for those who succeed in the first: "Within weeks" move to site #2, where competitors that deliver their spacecraft to LEO will be ranked by payload mass, time, and accuracy to receive cash prizes of $10m for first, $9m for 2nd, and $8m for third place.
DARPA says their idea here is to promote highly operationally flexibile capabilities.
It jibes with an idea I've shared with (foisted on) various friends in the smallsat launch business: Come up with a road-mobile (or airmobile via drive-on heavy airlifters) launch operation that can on short notice carry everything needed to an austere site in some small number of standard over-the-road heavy trucks then launch.
I guess we'll find out if any listened (or came up with similar on their own)(or are a small enough development vector away from this to be swayed by DARPA's prixe amounts) in the next couple years.
Henry
On 4/18/2018 10:21 PM, Troy Prideaux wrote:
Should generate a bit of excitement and discussion J
*From:*arocket-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:arocket-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] *On Behalf Of *George William Herbert
*Sent:* Thursday, 19 April 2018 3:16 PM
*To:* arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
*Subject:* [AR] DARPA responsive launch challenge
http://www.darpalaunchchallenge.org/default.aspx#challenge
Timeline end of 2019, registration in 2018, prereg meeting in LA end of May.
-george
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