SpaceX price hikes will make ISS cargo missions more costly
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NASA
NASA said it will pay $400 million more for cargo delivery to the International Space Station (ISS) starting in 2020, thanks in part to a 50 percent price increase from supplier SpaceX. On top of that, the ISS will receive six fewer tons of cargo, so on a cost-per-pound basis, prices will rise by 14 percent for the second phase of commercial resupply (CRS-2) missions between 2020 and 2024. The information comes from a new NASA audit, and reveals new details about the 2016 bidding for CRS-2 missions.
For the first ISS resupply phase, between 2012 and 2020, NASA estimates it will fly 31 missions, with SpaceX doing 20 and Orbital ATK 11. SpaceX’s launch price was considerably cheaper than its rival– $152.1 million per mission versus $262.6 million. Starting in 2020, however, NASA said SpaceX’s prices will rise by 50 percent, would be $228 million for each flight, by my calculations. Orbital ATK’s rate will drop by 15 percent to around $223 million, so SpaceX will effectively be losing its cost advantage.
One reason for that, the report said, is that SpaceX redesigned the Dragon 2 capsule to increase cargo volume by 30 percent, run longer missions and give NASA quicker access to scientific samples returning to Earth. It also seems that SpaceX may have been undercharging for its services. “They also indicated that their CRS-2 pricing reflected a better understanding of the costs involved after several years of experience with cargo resupply missions,” the report stated.
SpaceX isn’t the only reason ISS resupply costs are going up. NASA decided to use three contractors instead of two for CRS-2, with Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser set to fly missions by 2020. That will give NASA greater capacity to carry pressurized cargo, in turn reducing the number of needed flights. It will also give the agency more redundancy and reduce astronaut workloads.
Despite the higher costs for CRS-2, NASA had no regrets about using private companies for ISS resupply missions. “NASA officials reviewed past launch pricing and found the cost for a basic Atlas V configuration decreased by roughly $20 million per launch after the Falcon 9 became eligible in 2013 to compete for launch services contracts through the agency’s Launch Services Program,” the report stated.
For over four decades, a suspect in more than 50 extremely sadistic rapes and 12 murders eluded police in Northern California. On Tuesday, he was arrested after investigators tracked him down using online genealogical databases that contained genetic information from a relative, news organizations reported Thursday.
The identification of 72-year-old Joseph James DeAngelo as the East Area Rapist began with the recovery years ago of DNA from a crime scene. Over the years, investigators compared the DNA to profiles on one or more undisclosed genealogy databases. Eventually, investigators found one or more distant relatives of DeAngelo’s and traced their DNA to him. The Sacramento Bee, citing the Sacramento County District Attorney’s office, reported here that the crucial lead came from “various websites that cater to individuals wanting to know more about their family backgrounds by accepting DNA samples from them.”
The New York Times, meanwhile, said here that the match came from a commercial online genealogy database. The NYT continued:
“We found a person that was the right age and lived in this area—and that was Mr. DeAngelo,” said Steve Grippi, the assistant chief in the Sacramento district attorney’s office.
Investigators then obtained what Anne Marie Schubert, the Sacramento district attorney, called “abandoned” DNA samples from Mr. DeAngelo.
“You leave your DNA in a place that is a public domain,” she said.
The test result confirmed the match to more than 10 murders in California. Ms. Schubert’s office then obtained a second sample and came back with the same positive result, matching the full DNA profile.
A former police officer, DeAngelo was arrested outside his home Tuesday afternoon and booked into Sacramento County Jail on two charges of murder. Authorities say they expect to charge the suspect in 12 homicide cases in Sacramento, Orange, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties. The crimes took place during a rape and killing spree that ran from 1974 to 1986. DeAngelo is scheduled to be arraigned in Sacramento Superior Court on Friday.
In all, authorities have said they believe DeAngelo committed at least 51 rapes and 12 murders. The crimes gained international attention not only because of the number and their unsolved nature but also because of the depravity involved. The perpetrator frequently tormented his victims with sadistic rituals. He typically wore a mask and tied his victims’ hands. Early on, he raped single women and later raped married women with their husbands present and then killed them both, the NYT said. Over the years, the East Area Rapist has also been referred to by other monikers, including the Golden State Killer and the Original Night Stalker.
Schubert and Jones have so far declined to reveal details of precisely how their investigations led them to DeAngelo, but they have said that information will be revealed soon. Representatives at 23andMe and other gene testing services said they weren’t involved in identifying the DeAngelo, the NYT said.
A Falcon 9 rocket launches a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station in 2016.
A new analysis finds that NASA will pay significantly more for commercial cargo delivery to the International Space Station in the 2020s rather than enjoying cost savings from maturing systems. According to a report by the space agency’s inspector general, Paul Martin, NASA will likely pay $400 million more for its second round of delivery contracts from 2020 to 2024 even though the agency will be moving six fewer tons of cargo. On a cost per kilogram basis, this represents a 14-percent increase.
One of the main reasons for this increase, the report says, is a 50-percent increase in prices from SpaceX, which has thus far flown the bulk of missions for NASA’s commercial cargo program with its Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket.
This is somewhat surprising because, during the first round of supply missions, which began in 2012, SpaceX had substantially lower costs than NASA’s other partner, Orbital ATK. SpaceX and Orbital ATK are expected to fly 31 supply missions between 2012 and 2020, the first phase of the supply contract. Of those, the new report states, SpaceX is scheduled to complete 20 flights at an average cost of $152.1 million per mission. Orbital ATK is scheduled to complete 11 missions at an average cost of $262.6 million per mission.
Higher prices
But that cost differential will largely evaporate in the second round of cargo supply contracts. For flights from 2020 to 2024, SpaceX will increase its price while Orbital ATK cuts its own by 15 percent. The new report provides unprecedented public detail about the second phase of commercial resupply contracts, known as CRS-2, which NASA awarded in a competitively bid process in 2016. SpaceX and Orbital ATK again won contracts (for a minimum of six flights), along with a new provider, Sierra Nevada Corp. and its Dream Chaser vehicle. Bids by Boeing and Lockheed Martin were not accepted.
A comparison of the three spacecraft that were awarded the CRS-2 contract.
NASA Inspector General
Three factors drove the higher costs for the CRS-2 contracts—$71,800 per kg versus $63,200 during the first round—the inspector general found. These were: higher prices from SpaceX, NASA’s decision to have three companies participate in the program instead of two, and the integration costs of berthing and docking the three different spacecraft to the International Space Station.
For these extra costs, NASA will be getting more capability, including greater capacity for pressurized cargo. This should reduce the overall number of flights and accordingly reduce the time required by astronauts to capture, load, and unload cargo resupply spacecraft. The space agency will also have three providers instead of two, which will offer increased flexibility in case one of the three providers has an accident or other problem that delays its ability to fly.
SpaceX rationale
SpaceX officials declined to address the rationale for the company’s price increase—50 percent per kg according to the report. However, the inspector general cited a number of reasons for this, including an upgrade to the company’s second generation of Dragon spacecraft that increased the cargo volume by 30 percent, longer duration missions, and quicker access to the Dragon 2 spacecraft after it returns science samples to Earth.
Perhaps most tellingly, the inspector general’s report notes the following about SpaceX’s reasoning: “They also indicated that their CRS-2 pricing reflected a better understanding of the costs involved after several years of experience with cargo resupply missions.” This suggests the company either under-bid on the first round of supply contracts or failed to achieve some of the cost savings it had hoped to achieve.
Even so, the report is not all bad news for SpaceX. In comparing prices, the inspector general said that SpaceX should receive credit for the capacity to return cargo to Earth, a capability that Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft does not have. The company, along with NASA, were also credited with lowering costs in the overall launch market by pushing through development of the Falcon 9 rocket.
“Officials believe competition has contributed to lower prices for NASA launches,” the report states. “NASA officials reviewed past launch pricing and found the cost for a basic Atlas V configuration decreased by roughly $20 million per launch after the Falcon 9 became eligible in 2013 to compete for launch services contracts through the Agency’s Launch Services Program.”
Kim, Moon Pledge End To Korean War And Denuclearization Of Peninsula
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, top, approaches to shake hands with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone, South Korea, on Friday.
AP
Kim (left) takes the hand of Moon to cross the military demarcation line to the northern side after meeting for the Inter-Korean Summit on Friday in Panmunjom, South Korea.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, right, are greeted by children at the border.
AP
Kim and Moon walk to the official welcome hall after crossing the military demarcation line.
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Kim and Moon walk away after posing for photos in front of Bukhansan Peace House in Panmunjom, South Korea.
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Updated at 5:05 a.m. ET
Following a historic meeting between North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, the leaders appeared side-by-side to make an extraordinary announcement: the two sides — technically in a state of war for more than six decades — would work toward a permanent peace treaty and the elimination of nuclear weapons from the peninsula.
“I am very proud to say that I pay tribute to the bold and courageous decision taken by Chairman Kim,” Moon said, saying the two sides had agreed to a peace treaty and the “complete denuclearization” of the Korean peninsula.
“We have long hoped for this moment to arrive,” Kim, standing next to Moon, said.
“We are not people who should be confronting each other,” the North Korean leader said. “We should be living in unity.”
While the agreement contains lofty language, it will be up to diplomats, bureaucrats and militaries on both sides to work through specific steps to reach the goals set forth by the agreement. And, it will require detailed negotiation between both Koreas and the United States, which could take months if not years to conclude.
For now the agreement mentions denuclearization, but doesn’t offer specific steps, which will lead to a lot of skepticism about how committed the North is, given its past abandonment of denuclearization agreements.
The announcement came on a day that began with a handshake that symbolized hope that two Koreas could create a lasting rapprochement.
Kim, flanked by bodyguards in matching black suits, stepped out of a building on the northern side of the village of Panmunjom, the site where the two sides ended the Korean War in 1953 with a simple truce, but no broader peace treaty. Notably absent in this shared security zone were the dozens of armed soldiers who typically stand guard near the military demarcation line.
Two previous summits, in 2000 and 2007, were unable to make progress on the most pressing issue — the North’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.
The nuclear question looms even larger this time around — in the past year, Pyongyang has not only demonstrated its ability to produce such weapons but also the potential to deliver them via long-range ballistic missiles that can reach as far as the continental United States.
The Blue House, South Korea’s presidential residence, said the two leaders had a “frank discussion” in a morning session, which included the subject of denuclearization.
A year of especially serious tensions leading up to Friday was followed by a sudden thaw and an offer by Kim in recent weeks to meet with President Trump. Mere months ago, the two leaders were trading insults and threatening to wage war. However, the White House appears to be taking Kim’s offer seriously and the two men could meet as soon as next month.
At Panmunjom, Kim and Moon smiled and exchanged greetings.
Moon, on the south side of the border, walked over to meet Kim so that their handshake could be photographed at the symbolic military demarcation line that divides the North from South.
In the meticulously choreographed ceremony, hands clasped and Moon invited Kim over an ankle-high concrete barrier that divides the two countries — the first time the North Korean leader — or any North Korean leader — had ever set foot in the South.
Then Kim gestured to Moon to take a step into the North, which the South Korean leader did. The presidential office later said that the unscripted moment came after Moon said he wanted to visit North Korea someday. Kim reacted quickly by offering to have him step right over to the northern side for a few moments, before they crossed back over to the South, hand-in-hand.
They walked side-by-side down a red carpet, observed a brightly-colored traditional Korean honor-guard ceremony, before proceeding into the three-story Peace House for their summit.
Entering the Peace House, Kim wrote in the guestbook: “New history starts from now, at the historic starting point of an era of peace.”
The pair posed for photos in front of a picture of North Korea’s Mount Geumgangsan, which has special significance for all Koreans dating to before the Middle Ages.
Kim Yong Chol, the head of North Korea’s national intelligence service, began clapping and others from both sides joined in.
“It feels embarrassing to be applauded just for shaking hands,” the North Korean leader said, but acknowledged, “The norms are changing.”
“Did that make for a good picture?” he asked as journalists and others laughed.
Once seated inside, Kim quipped that he brought Pyongyang’s famous naengmyun, cold noodles, “from far away,” then correcting himself to say it wasn’t so far away at all.
The two leaders and their wives were expected to attend a dinner banquet Friday evening which will feature the noodles brought from the North.
Even with the outward appearance of bonhomie, however, lingering suspicions were evident: After Moon stepped out of Peace House, two North Korean security guards swept into the lobby, sprayed the chair at the guestbook signing desk with sanitizer and wiped it down. They also cleaned the guestbook and pen with sanitizer — twice. Then the guards used electronic gear to scan the chair and signing desk.
The reason? South Korean security guard told reporters that the their North Korean counterparts were checking for explosives and recording devices.
Following separate lunches, the two leaders commemorated the summit by shoveling soil around a pine tree and then sprinkling it with South Korea’s Han River and the Daedong River in North Korea.
Moon and Kim then walked away from the cameras and microphones and sat at a bench to have a conversation without their aides. For much of that lengthy discussion, Kim could be seen listening intently to Moon, smiling and laughing at times.
NPR News Assistant Se Eun Gong contributed to this story, from Ilsan.
Amazon is raising the price of its annual Amazon Prime membership in the United States by a significant margin. The retail giant said today that the price will go up to $120 per year, up from $100. The price change goes into effect for new subscribers on May 11, while existing Prime subscribers will have to pay the 20 percent extra starting June 16 onwards.
An Amazon spokesperson confirmed to GameSpot sister site CNET that you cannot re-up at the lower rate if your renewal is comes up on or after June 16. This is just the second time Amazon has upped the Prime membership price; in 2014, it went from $80 to $100.
Amazon Prime has more than 100 million paid subscribers worldwide by Amazon’s latest count. According to Amazon’s finance boss Brian Olsavsky, Prime remains the "best deal in retail," even at its higher price point. Olsavsky added that Amazon is always working to make Prime a better, more attractive service.
Olsavsky went on to note that the price increase is related to increased shipping fees and offering other benefits. Even at $120 a year, that’s still better than the price of subscribing month-by-month, which would come out to around $155 per year.
