3 ms·

Why do they not use this continency for saving the capsule & non-living cargo, as well? Surely the recommissioning costs would be less than full replacement of

by tunap 10y ago

Why do they not use this continency for saving the capsule & non-living cargo, as well? Surely the recommissioning costs would be less than full replacement of equipment+cargo & would give working knowledge for any future "live cargo" aborts.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
Anchor 10y ago
They could, when Dragon 2 is in use for supplying ISS. But Dragons do not carry the kinds of payloads lost in this case. The satellite is on top of the second stage and covered by fairings. There's no craft on top of second stage, so there is no launch escape system.
- Symmetry 10y ago
  Well, it'll save any supplies in the cabin. I believe anything in the trunk would still be lost.
  - Anchor 10y ago
    True, the trunk needs to be jettisoned from the craft before it lands with parachutes.
Retric 10y ago
Launch abort systems lowers the amount of cargo they can carry and only help in a small fraction of cases. Overall it's not worth it.
sandworm101 10y ago
There is no point of a launch abort system if the cargo saved would not survive being saved. You cannot just accelerate a satellite to 10g then drop it into the ocean by parachute. Humans in flight suits, strapped to chairs inside watertight capsules, are actually pretty tough in comparison.
kobeya 10y ago
For non-living cargo it is cheaper to buy insurance.
dogma1138 10y ago
IIRC the stress on the capsule is actually considerably greater during LPAS than during any normal launch (remember that the capsule has to outrun the rocket if anything goes wrong), not to mention a potentially hard landing. So overall unlike humans there is actually pretty low chance for the cargo to survive intact and satellites isn't something you can just fix a dent in, taking it apart doing a full analysis of every component checking for stress, microfractures, and pretty everything else under the sun would probably cost just as much if not more than building a new one. In this case insurance is pretty much the way to go, especially once you consider the added costs of actually building a LPAS or IFAS for satellites / in orbit release payloads and the fact that they have very little chance of surviving the abort without any damage.

by tunap 10y ago

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

Anchor 10y ago

They could, when Dragon 2 is in use for supplying ISS. But Dragons do not carry the kinds of payloads lost in this case. The satellite is on top of the second stage and covered by fairings. There's no craft on top of second stage, so there is no launch escape system.

Symmetry 10y ago
Well, it'll save any supplies in the cabin. I believe anything in the trunk would still be lost.
- Anchor 10y ago
  True, the trunk needs to be jettisoned from the craft before it lands with parachutes.

Retric 10y ago

Launch abort systems lowers the amount of cargo they can carry and only help in a small fraction of cases. Overall it's not worth it.

sandworm101 10y ago

There is no point of a launch abort system if the cargo saved would not survive being saved. You cannot just accelerate a satellite to 10g then drop it into the ocean by parachute. Humans in flight suits, strapped to chairs inside watertight capsules, are actually pretty tough in comparison.

kobeya 10y ago

For non-living cargo it is cheaper to buy insurance.

dogma1138 10y ago

IIRC the stress on the capsule is actually considerably greater during LPAS than during any normal launch (remember that the capsule has to outrun the rocket if anything goes wrong), not to mention a potentially hard landing. So overall unlike humans there is actually pretty low chance for the cargo to survive intact and satellites isn't something you can just fix a dent in, taking it apart doing a full analysis of every component checking for stress, microfractures, and pretty everything else under the sun would probably cost just as much if not more than building a new one. In this case insurance is pretty much the way to go, especially once you consider the added costs of actually building a LPAS or IFAS for satellites / in orbit release payloads and the fact that they have very little chance of surviving the abort without any damage.