Software on SpaceX / Blue Origin projects

Software on SpaceX / Blue Origin projects

[Alejandro R. Mosteo]

So SpaceX just achieved its first successful landing of the Falcon 
rocket, and not long ago Blue Origin did something similarly remarkable. 
Whenever I see these feats of engineering I feel the tingle of my 
real-time software itch and wonder what they use for these projects.

Any idea if there's any Ada in there, or what they use in general?

Cheers,
Alex.

Re: Software on SpaceX / Blue Origin projects

[Paul Rubin]

"Alejandro R. Mosteo" <alejandro@mosteo.com> writes:
> Any idea if there's any Ada in there, or what they use in general?

They use C++ :(

Re: Software on SpaceX / Blue Origin projects

[Anh Vo]

On Friday, April 8, 2016 at 2:18:32 PM UTC-7, Paul Rubin wrote:
> "Alejandro R. Mosteo" <alejandro@mosteo.com> writes:
> > Any idea if there's any Ada in there, or what they use in general?
> 
> They use C++ :(

It is only 25% successful rate (one out of four) is not very successful.

Anh Vo

Re: Software on SpaceX / Blue Origin projects

[Georg Bauhaus]

On 09/04/16 05:10, Anh Vo wrote:
> On Friday, April 8, 2016 at 2:18:32 PM UTC-7, Paul Rubin wrote:
>> "Alejandro R. Mosteo" <alejandro@mosteo.com> writes:
>>> Any idea if there's any Ada in there, or what they use in general?
>>
>> They use C++ :(
>
> It is only 25% successful rate (one out of four) is not very successful.

Normal engineering cannot pretend to design everything correctly
right from the beginning. So, expect some debugging runs. ;-)

Re: Software on SpaceX / Blue Origin projects

[Anh Vo]

On Friday, April 8, 2016 at 11:36:54 PM UTC-7, Georg Bauhaus wrote:
> On 09/04/16 05:10, Anh Vo wrote:
> > On Friday, April 8, 2016 at 2:18:32 PM UTC-7, Paul Rubin wrote:
> >> "Alejandro R. Mosteo" <alejandro@mosteo.com> writes:
> >>> Any idea if there's any Ada in there, or what they use in general?
> >>
> >> They use C++ :(
> >
> > It is only 25% successful rate (one out of four) is not very successful.
> 
> Normal engineering cannot pretend to design everything correctly
> right from the beginning. So, expect some debugging runs. ;-)

Design it landed horizontally, using rocket of course, may increase success rate since it is not vulnerable to winds and waves.

Re: Software on SpaceX / Blue Origin projects

[Niklas Holsti]

On 16-04-09 17:35 , Anh Vo wrote:
> On Friday, April 8, 2016 at 11:36:54 PM UTC-7, Georg Bauhaus wrote:
>> On 09/04/16 05:10, Anh Vo wrote:
>>> On Friday, April 8, 2016 at 2:18:32 PM UTC-7, Paul Rubin wrote:
>>>> "Alejandro R. Mosteo" <alejandro@mosteo.com> writes:
>>>>> Any idea if there's any Ada in there, or what they use in general?
>>>>
>>>> They use C++ :(
>>>
>>> It is only 25% successful rate (one out of four) is not very successful.
>>
>> Normal engineering cannot pretend to design everything correctly
>> right from the beginning. So, expect some debugging runs. ;-)
>
> Design it landed horizontally, using rocket of course, may increase
> success rate since it is not vulnerable to winds and waves.

As I understand it, only one Falcon-9 landing attempt failed because of 
stormy conditions, and that attempt was in fact cancelled (it was 
deliberately "landed" on the sea instead of on the drone ship). The 
other failures had other reasons, I believe, and I've not seen SW 
problems mentioned as reasons.

(I'm very happy that SpaceX succeeded here. Not only do they deserve it, 
after such persistence, but I think it is a very important step that 
will force all launcher suppliers to aim towards reusable launchers, 
leading to huge launch-cost reductions.)

-- 
Niklas Holsti
Tidorum Ltd
niklas holsti tidorum fi
       .      @       .

Re: Software on SpaceX / Blue Origin projects

[Niocláisín Cóilín de Ghlostéir]

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Paul Niklas Holsti skrev 2016-04-09:
"On 16-04-09 17:35 , Anh Vo wrote:
> On Friday, April 8, 2016 at 11:36:54 PM UTC-7, Georg Bauhaus wrote:
> > On 09/04/16 05:10, Anh Vo wrote:
> > > On Friday, April 8, 2016 at 2:18:32 PM UTC-7, Paul Rubin wrote:
> > > > "Alejandro R. Mosteo" <alejandro@mosteo.com> writes:
> > > > > Any idea if there's any Ada in there, or what they use in general?
> > > > 
> > > > They use C++ :(
> > > 
> > > It is only 25% successful rate (one out of four) is not very successful.
> > 
> > Normal engineering cannot pretend to design everything correctly
> > right from the beginning. So, expect some debugging runs. ;-)
> 
> Design it landed horizontally, using rocket of course, may increase
> success rate since it is not vulnerable to winds and waves.

As I understand it, only one Falcon-9 landing attempt failed because of stormy
conditions, and that attempt was in fact cancelled (it was deliberately "landed"
on the sea instead of on the drone ship). The other failures had other reasons,
I believe, and I've not seen SW problems mentioned as reasons.

(I'm very happy that SpaceX succeeded here. Not only do they deserve it, after
such persistence, but I think it is a very important step that will force all
launcher suppliers to aim towards reusable launchers, leading to huge
launch-cost reductions.)"



The European Space Agency uses SpaceX.

ESA spent circa the same amount of money on a SINGLE INSTRUMENT as Sweden 
spent on an ENTIRE SATELLITE with a similar instrument made by Omnisys.

ESA uses Serco. Politician Andy Slaughter said during a live interview on 
Channel-4 News two nights ago that Serco chose to pay a 68-million-pound 
fine to avoid criminal prosecution over underperformance. Cf. "Press 
release
Taxpayer compensated for overcharging as cross-government contracts review 
concludes
Serco will repay £68.5 million for charging errors as government welcomes 
progress on a corporate renewal plan.

From:
Cabinet Office, Ministry of Justice, Efficiency and Reform Group and Crown 
Commercial Service
Published
19 December 2013

[. . .]

The Justice Secretary Chris Grayling has confirmed a settlement with 
Serco to recompense the taxpayer £68.5 million [. . .]

[. . .]

[. . .] The company’s conduct under these contracts is now subject to a 
criminal investigation by the Serious Fraud Office.

On 28 August the Justice Secretary announced that Serco’s contract for 
escorting prisoners to courts (the “PECS” contract) had been referred to 
the City of London Police. This followed the discovery that members of 
Serco staff had been recording prisoners as having been delivered ready 
for court when in fact they were not. [. . .]"

Serco demanded ESA employees to sign false confirmations when ESA used to 
employ me.

ESA bribes countries so they refuse to investigate against ESA. So sans 
its georeturn policy, ESA manages to mismanage anyway.

Re: Software on SpaceX / Blue Origin projects

[Kevin Chadwick]

 
>
>(I'm very happy that SpaceX succeeded here. Not only do they deserve it, after
>such persistence, but I think it is a very important step that will force all
>launcher suppliers to aim towards reusable launchers, leading to huge
>launch-cost reductions.)"
>

I wouldn't trust anything that Elon is involved with. I believe SpaceX won
 atleast one contract against Blue Origin during an interim senators term
 who met with him when their application was awarded outstanding despite not
 meeting the level to qualify at all. The NASA director said he would hold
 SpaceX to deliver before releasing any further funds during Bidens term but
 he has been removed. Has any re-usability beyond what the space shuttle
 achieved actually been demonstrated?

Re: Software on SpaceX / Blue Origin projects

[Niocláisín Cóilín de Ghlostéir]

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On Wed, 11 Jun 2025, Kevin Chadwick wrote:
"[. . .]
[. . .] I believe [. . .] won
atleast one contract against [. . .] during an interim senators term
who met with him when their application was awarded outstanding despite not
meeting the level to qualify at all. [. . .]
[. . .]"

Cf. a statement which I wrote on LinkedIn on 26/05/2024:
"[. . .]

Let us remember that Nigel Head said “They fucked up.” Let us remember 
that a lecturer in Sweden criticises you because you waste a hell of a 
lot of taxes.

Let us not forget that ESA spent circa the same amount of money on a 
SINGLE INSTRUMENT as Sweden spent on an ENTIRE SATELLITE with a similar 
instrument made by Omnisys. Let us also remember the Omnisys lecture where 
Omnisys mocked you by alleging that UK; German; and French firms made 
tenders and ESA’s georeturn policy let the only tender which failed the 
mass budget (by 5 kg!) win. “Of course the” lucky country won, said this 
lecturer.

[. . .]"

P.S. A URL for the press release about Serco that I quoted is
HTTPS://WWW.Gov.UK/government/news/taxpayer-compensated-for-overcharging-as-cross-government-contracts-review-concludes

Re: Software on SpaceX / Blue Origin projects

[Niocláisín Cóilín de Ghlostéir]

On Wed, 11 Jun 2025, Kevin Chadwick wrote in comp.lang.ada -
">
> (I'm very happy that SpaceX succeeded here. Not only do they deserve it, after
> such persistence, but I think it is a very important step that will force all
> launcher suppliers to aim towards reusable launchers, leading to huge
> launch-cost reductions.)"
>

I wouldn't trust anything that Elon is involved with. I believe SpaceX won
atleast one contract against Blue Origin during an interim senators term
who met with him when their application was awarded outstanding despite not
meeting the level to qualify at all. The NASA director said he would hold
SpaceX to deliver before releasing any further funds during Bidens term but
he has been removed. Has any re-usability beyond what the space shuttle
achieved actually been demonstrated?"


This webpage reports one theory about a recent allegation about SpaceX's 
Starlink:
Max Hunder, "Ukraine says Starlink's global outage hit its military 
communications", July 25, 20258:44 AM GMT+1,
HTTPS://WWW.Reuters.com/business/media-telecom/ukraine-says-starlinks-global-outage-hit-its-military-communications-2025-07-25

A few minutes earlier than this webpage I heard a radio station report 
this theory and a rival theory. I looked at TV to find a (possible) report 
but I failed to find even a hint of a report shown by TV.

I looked at Starlink.com but I failed to find a confession.
Corinne Reichert, "Starlink Restored After Hours-Long Outage Took Down 
Elon Musk's Satellite Internet Service", July 24, 2025 4:55 p.m. PT,
HTTPS://WWW.CNet.com/news-live/starlink-restored-after-hours-long-outage-took-down-elon-musks-satellite-internet-service
reports that Starlink did confess on X. (X does not allow non-users to 
read.)

That CNet webpage reports this same theory as Reuters without a rival 
theory.

These outages do not happen to rival satellite Internet constellations.

That CNet webpage reports that Starlink also uses T-Mobile for "texting". 
Deutsche Telekom AG owns T-Mobile. T-Systems GEI GmbH (Deutsche Telekom) 
uses Ada.