On April 14, two businesses with Redmond presences launched two of their latest products into space.
SpaceX, which recently announced the opening of a new Redmond office, launched its Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida with its Dragon spacecraft on board. The latter was carrying about 4,300 pounds of supplies and payloads bound for the International Space Station (ISS).
In addition, Falcon 9 also carried the Arkyd 3, a satellite built by Planetary Resources, whose headquarters are in Redmond.
Chris Lewicki, president of Planetary Resources, said for them, one of the main goals for Arkyd 3 was for them to make sure the team working on the project was able to work well together.
Planetary Resources specifically focuses on exploring near-Earth asteroids and Lewicki said one of their missions is to see how the newest technologies and software can be utilized to explore space in a more cost efficient way. He said they also apply similar practices from other areas of technologies to their company’s work, such as having beta software and updates on computers and smartphones.
Lewicki said Arkyd 3 was an example of this as it was actually a beta test. He said the satellite was a basic model of what they are working on and did not have all the features they plan for it. The satellite is currently at the ISS but is still dormant. Lewicki said it is scheduled to be activated in July.
The satellite Planetary Resources is working toward is the Arkyd 6, which Lewicki said is planned to launch in December. The Arkyd 6 will have infrared sensors that will be able to detect various elements, minerals and other materials on asteroids. Lewicki said these sensors can also be used for Earth to learn more about our planet.
Planetary Resources connected with SpaceX through NanoRacks, a company that specializes in helping other companies and agencies get their payloads into space.
Lewicki said they bought their “ticket” for the Falcon 9 and the end of 2013, around the same time work on Arkyd 3 began.
SpaceX posted a blog on its website about last month’s launch.
According to the blog, this was the company’s sixth official mission to resupply the space station for NASA. The blog continues, chronicling the rocket’s journey into space:
“Approximately three minutes into flight, Falcon 9’s second stage and Dragon separated from the rocket’s first stage,” the blog states. “The second stage’s single Merlin Vacuum engine ignited for a seven-minute burn to deliver Dragon to its initial orbit.”
After separating from Falcon 9, Dragon began deploying its solar arrays, according to the blog. It was about a two-and-a-half-day journey for the spacecraft to arrive at the ISS.
In addition to delivering the payloads to the ISS, Falcon 9’s first stage “attempted a precision landing on (SpaceX’s) autonomous spaceport drone ship named ‘Just Read the Instructions’ as part of an ongoing attempt to land and recover a rocket after it completes its primary mission.” The blog states that the stage made it to the drone ship and landed, but excess lateral velocity caused it to tip over.
All of SpaceX’s work and manufacturing on rockets is in California. The new Redmond location will focus on satellites. As previously reported, the SpaceX founder and chief designer Elon Musk’s plan is to develop, manufacture and deploy satellite-based broadband on a global scale.
The report states that Musk chose Redmond for their satellite location to access the “deep pool of engineering talent in the region.”
In the report, Musk said they want to grow SpaceX Seattle (the name of the Redmond location) but plan to do so carefully, adding the right expertise when needed.
