{"id":39790,"date":"2013-08-08T22:53:27","date_gmt":"2013-08-08T14:53:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/spacex-awarded-first-european-government-contract-via-sarah-missions\/"},"modified":"2013-08-08T22:53:27","modified_gmt":"2013-08-08T14:53:27","slug":"spacex-awarded-first-european-government-contract-via-sarah-missions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/spacex-awarded-first-european-government-contract-via-sarah-missions\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX awarded first European government contract via SARah missions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In a milestone launch contract award for SpaceX, the Californian company will use of its two Falcon 9 v1.1 rockets to loft Germany\u2019s second-generation radar reconnaissance satellite system into orbit in the latter half of this decade. The launch contract for the three-satellite SARah Constellation marks SpaceX\u2019s first deal with a European government.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Falcon 9 Launch Contract:<\/p>\n<p>The big win for SpaceX comes just a month after the German government signed a contract for the construction of the three military imaging satellites, in a deal worth just over one billion dollars.<\/p>\n<p>OHB System AG will build two passive-antenna synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites, while Astrium GmbH will build a larger, phased-array-antenna satellite, under contract for OHB.<\/p>\n<p>The three reconnaissance satellites \u2013 due to be fully operational by late 2019 \u2013 will provide services to German armed forces. The constellation will replace Germany\u2019s existing fleet of five SAR-Lupe reconnaissance satellites, which will begin to come off line in late 2017.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-30206\" title=\"SAR-LUPE\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Z34.jpg\" alt=\"SAR-LUPE\" width=\"347\" height=\"239\">The SAR-Lupe fleet were launched as Germany\u2019s first reconnaissance satellite system. The five identical satellites \u2013 each weighing in at 770kg \u2013 were developed by OHB-System AG. The constellation operates in three 500-kilometre orbits in planes roughly sixty degrees apart.<\/p>\n<p>The first satellite was launched from Plesetsk in Russia in 2006, with four more satellites launched at roughly six-month intervals, prior to the entire system reaching full operational readiness in the middle of 2008.<\/p>\n<p>Space Technology<path d=\"M7.59009 18.59L9.00009 20L17.0001 12L9.00009 4L7.59009 5.41L14.1701 12\" style=\"animation: initial !important; background: initial !important; border: 0px !important; box-shadow: none !important; color: inherit !important; cursor: inherit !important; direction: inherit !important; display: inline !important; fill: currentcolor !important; filter: initial !important; float: none !important; margin: 0px !important; opacity: initial !important; outline: 0px !important; overflow: initial !important; padding: 0px !important; stroke: initial !important; transform: initial !important; vertical-align: initial !important; visibility: inherit !important;\"><\/path>SpaceX launch tickets<path d=\"M7.59009 18.59L9.00009 20L17.0001 12L9.00009 4L7.59009 5.41L14.1701 12\" style=\"animation: initial !important; background: initial !important; border: 0px !important; box-shadow: none !important; color: inherit !important; cursor: inherit !important; direction: inherit !important; display: inline !important; fill: currentcolor !important; filter: initial !important; float: none !important; margin: 0px !important; opacity: initial !important; outline: 0px !important; overflow: initial !important; padding: 0px !important; stroke: initial !important; transform: initial !important; vertical-align: initial !important; visibility: inherit !important;\"><\/path>SpaceX<path d=\"M7.59009 18.59L9.00009 20L17.0001 12L9.00009 4L7.59009 5.41L14.1701 12\" style=\"animation: initial !important; background: initial !important; border: 0px !important; box-shadow: none !important; color: inherit !important; cursor: inherit !important; direction: inherit !important; display: inline !important; fill: currentcolor !important; filter: initial !important; float: none !important; margin: 0px !important; opacity: initial !important; outline: 0px !important; overflow: initial !important; padding: 0px !important; stroke: initial !important; transform: initial !important; vertical-align: initial !important; visibility: inherit !important;\"><\/path>\n<p>     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n<p>The new satellites, collectively known as SARah, are set to be constructed by 2016, before being delivered to orbit by two Falcon 9 rockets in 2018 and 2019.<\/p>\n<p>One F9 launch will loft the two passive-antenna SAR birds, with the other F9 launching with the larger phased-array-antenna satellite.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSpaceX looks forward to working with OHB and Astrium, and we appreciate their confidence in SpaceX to reliably deliver these satellites to orbit,\u201d said Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX President and COO. \u201cThese missions are very meaningful for SpaceX as the first contracted for a European government.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX have been busy advertising their capabilities to government and military customers since their early years.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-30207\" title=\"Delta IV-H\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/B22.jpg\" alt=\"Delta IV-H\" width=\"347\" height=\"239\">Their main target is back in the United States, after making no secret of their ambitions to win contracts currently undertaken by the United Launch Alliance via the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV)-class missions, which are launched by ULA\u2019s fleet of Delta and Atlas rockets.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX then claimed the \u201cstranglehold\u201d on the US Air Force market appeared to be loosening, following a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the USAF, the NRO (National Reconnaissance Office) and NASA that opened up the possibility for the likes of SpaceX to compete for the launch contracts.<\/p>\n<p>Last year saw a breakthrough for SpaceX, winning two EELV-class missions to ride on their Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets in 2014 and 2015 respectively. The launches, which fall under the United States Air Force Orbital\/Suborbital Program-3 (OSP-3), will mark SpaceX\u2019s debut for this class of mission.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"widget-title penci-border-arrow\">See Also<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>SpaceX Missions Section<\/li>\n<li>L2 SpaceX Section<\/li>\n<li>Click here to Join L2<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 v1.1 is set to debut next month \u2013 pending launch site and vehicle readiness \u2013 lofting a made-in-Canada small satellite called the \u201cCAScade, Smallsat and IOnospheric Polar Explorer\u201d (CASSIOPE) in orbit.<\/p>\n<p>This first v1.1 vehicle \u2013 which is also set to enable SpaceX\u2019s fully reusable rocket ambitions \u2013 is currently undergoing integration and processing operations at SpaceX\u2019s Vandenberg launch site in California.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-30204\" title=\"Falcon 9s on the factory floor\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Z53.jpg\" alt=\"Falcon 9s on the factory floor\" width=\"347\" height=\"238\">The debut of the F9 v1.1 will kick-start a very busy period of launches for SpaceX, with a sign of their upcoming manifest frenzy seen via a photo of several Falcon 9 stages undergoing manufacture at the company\u2019s factory in Hawthorne.<\/p>\n<p>The photo shows the first stages for flights 7, 8, 9 \u2013 along with second stages for flights 8 and 9 \u2013 on the factory floor, with one unidentified stage and octoweb enjoying a trip to the \u201cSpaceX Falcon 9 spray booth\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>With 2013 set to close out with the launch of the fourth Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) \u2013 known as CRS-3 (SpX-3) \u2013 SpaceX will then debut their big Falcon Heavy launch vehicle sometime in 2014.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX also recently announced the award of a reservation contract that lines them up as the launch service provider for three satellites that will make up the RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM).<\/p>\n<p>That agreement, with MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA), calls for the satellites to ride uphill on a Falcon 9 in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>(Images via SpaceX, DLR and ULA).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a milestone launch contract award for SpaceX, the Californian company will use of its two Falcon 9 v1.1 rockets to loft Germany\u2019s second-generation radar reconnaissance satellite system into orbit in the latter half of this decade. The launch contract for the three-satellite SARah Constellation marks SpaceX\u2019s first deal with a European government. Falcon 9 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30298,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[479,316],"class_list":["post-39790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-falcon-9","tag-spacex"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39790"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39790\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}