ELVIS 3 Team Assists with Mission to Measure Sea Level Rise Related to Climate Change

Camarillo, CA and Rockledge, FL (November 25, 2020) – Saalex has followed up the historic Crew Dragon mission earlier this month with support for another successful commercial and scientific launch by NASA and SpaceX. On Saturday, November 21, a Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California carrying the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich oceanography satellite into orbit. Members of Saalex’s Expendable Launch Vehicle Integrated Support 3 (ELVIS 3) team supported the launch both on site and from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

This latest mission represents a collaboration between NASA, SpaceX, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the European Space Agency, along with other partners.

The Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg’s Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at 09:17 Pacific Standard Time — or 17:17 UTC. Saalex has teamed with a.i. solutions to support NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP) and Commercial Crew Program (CCP), which provide integrated launch preparation and execution services for the agency’s next generation of scientific and space exploration vehicles.

The Sentinel 6A Michael Freilich will be joined in orbit by the Sentinel 6B in 2025. Together, the two satellites will measure sea level fluctuations as they relate to climate change. The satellite was named for the former director of NASA’s Earth Science Division, Michael Freilich, who was instrumental in advancing space-based ocean measurements.

The launch was originally scheduled for November 10 but was delayed due to abnormal behavior of the Falcon 9 rocket’s Merlin-1D engines. The first stage of the Falcon 9 is powered by nine such engines. After extensive testing, it was decided that two of the engines would be replaced and the launch was rescheduled for November 21.

The Saalex ELVIS 3 team taking part in the mission included two Mission Integration Coordinators, Lorie Keller and Kris Nelson, who handle communications between the mission’s major stakeholders, as well as two Engineering Technical Integrators, Maro Nime and Jim Poppino, who support NASA’s chief engineers and travelled to California from Florida for the launch. This was the fifth launch in what has been a particularly busy year for the ELVIS 3 team.

Along with supporting high-profile missions that included two Crew Dragon launches in May and November, the July Mars Rover Perseverance launch, and the Solar Orbiter (SolO) launch in February, the team has contended with logistical complications brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. With some missions pushed to 2021 because of the pandemic, next year is shaping up to be even more challenging, said ELVIS 3 Launch Site Support Engineer, Robert Fischer.

“This has been a particularly busy year and we are going to be pretty darn busy for the next couple of years,” Fischer said. “Because of COVID, we have had to support the missions with bare minimum in-person personnel but have made up for that by making adjustments and working remotely when possible.”

Saalex Solutions President and CEO Travis Mack commended the ELVIS 3 team for their outstanding work under tough circumstances.

“It’s been a difficult year across all industries, but Saalex continues to rise to the challenge in support of the important work that NASA, NOAA, and SpaceX are doing to explore the possibilities of commercial space flight while helping protect our planet for future generations,” Mack said.

SpaceX Mission Carries Crew of Four to International Space Station

Camarillo, CA and Rockledge, FL (November 24, 2020) – Saalex Solutions supported the first fully operational mission for SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, helping to open a new chapter in the history of commercial space flight. The mission lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida Sunday, November 15 carrying four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). As with the Crew Dragon Demo 2 launch in May, Saalex’s Expendable Launch Vehicle Integrated Support 3 (ELVIS 3) team provided engineering, programmatic, and technical support for the mission.

The Crew Dragon’s capsule, Resilience, docked with the ISS on Monday, November 16 after a 27-hour trek to the space station. Saalex President and CEO, Travis Mack, congratulated the ELVIS 3 team for their continued success in support of the Launch Services Program (LSP) and Commercial Crew Program (CCP) mission.

“Once again, I want to thank our Saalex ELVIS 3 team,” Mr. Mack said. “They are leading the way in these difficult times by showing what we can achieve as a company. Commercial space flight will continue to play an intrinsic role in the future of the space program, and I’m proud that Saalex has been there at the beginning to help open the door to this new frontier.”

This launch marks the Crew Dragon’s first fully operational mission and the first time the spacecraft has carried a complete crew of four. The four astronauts include NASA’s Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker and Soichi Noguchi of Japan’s JAXA space agency, who joined NASA astronaut Kate Rubins and Russia’s Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov onboard the ISS. In May, the Crew Dragon became the first commercially built and operated U.S. spacecraft to take humans into orbit. That mission was considered a test and carried only two astronauts.

For the ELVIS 3 contract, Saalex has teamed with a.i. solutions to support LSP and CCP, delivering integrated launch preparation and execution services for the agency’s next-gen scientific and exploration space vehicles.

“The Mission Integration Coordinators who represent Saalex Solutions in NASA’s Commercial Crew Program do an amazing job of supporting their high-profile customers,” said Robert Fischer, ELVIS 3 Launch Site Support Engineer and Program Manager, “and they do it in support of one of our country’s most prestigious endeavors — human spaceflight.”

Saalex’s participation in the program has earned the company kudos from NASA. ELVIS 3 team members Mena Waters, Susan Sawyer, and Donna Atkinson recently received the space agency’s Group Achievement Award for their efforts as part of the CCP Program Control & Integration team, supporting the May Demo-2 launch.

The team members were commended for their “outstanding teamwork and above and beyond support to the Commercial Crew Program in achieving the very first commercial human spaceflight to the International Space Station and returning the capability to transport humans to Low Earth Orbit to the United States.” The commendation went on to state that the team was “instrumental in the planning and execution of highly integrated Agency-wide and inter-Agency mission critical support.”

ELVIS 3 Team Supports Perseverance Rover in Search for Life on the Red Planet

Camarillo, CA and Rockledge, FL (July 30, 2020) – Saalex Solutions joins the search for extraterrestrial life in our solar system with today’s successful launch of the Mars 2020 spacecraft and its historic payload, the Perseverance Martian rover. Saalex’s Expendable Launch Vehicle Integrated Support 3 (ELVIS 3) team assisted the mission, providing engineering and technical integration as well as launch site and Perseverance rover preparation.

The Atlas V-541 rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 4:50 a.m. PDT / 7:50 a.m. EDT. One of the largest rockets used for interplanetary spaceflight, the Atlas V propels Mars 2020 on a nearly seven-month-long journey to the red planet. The spacecraft is expected to reach Mars on February 18, 2021 where it will deploy the Perseverance Rover. Once it reaches the planet’s surface, the rover will begin its study of Martian geology, search for organic compounds, and explore the possibility of generating oxygen from atmospheric carbon dioxide, all critical pieces to the puzzle of whether the planet once supported life and if it could again.

“It’s humbling to be playing an active role in a mission that could answer one of science’s most enduring questions, whether there is other life on other planets,” said Saalex President and CEO Travis Mack. “I continue to be proud of the amazing work our ELVIS 3 team is doing to support these historic endeavors. Both Mars 2020 and the Crew Dragon Demo-2 launch in May demonstrate how Saalex is leading the way to support NASA’s most important and groundbreaking work. We’re honored to be part of the elite team of private and public entities that help make these incredibly complex undertakings a success.”

Saalex’s ELVIS 3 team joined the Mars 2020 mission in 2016 as part of NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP) and the program’s contract with United Launch Alliance. In the lead-up to the launch, the ELVIS 3 team developed launch site support procession requirements and prepped the launch site for the arrival of Perseverance at the Kennedy Space Center.

“We’re providing engineering technical integration and mission integration coordination services as an integral part of the Mars 2020 Mission Integration Team and Atlas V launch vehicle team,” explained Kathleen Wilcox, ELVIS 3 Program Manager.

The ELVIS 3 team assisted the Mars 2020 spacecraft launch team by conducting simulations and dress rehearsals. Today, the Saalex team supported the LSP Launch Director, LSP Chief Engineer and engineering launch team on console from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The LSP team comprises 19 Saalex employees who take part in every LSP mission.

The Perseverance rover’s design is based on the earlier Curiosity rover, which is currently exploring the Martian surface. Perseverance is equipped with 23 cameras, two audio mics, and seven scientific instruments, many of which are specifically designed to detect faint traces of ancient life on the surface of Mars. The rover will also be testing new technologies that may be required for astronauts to someday explore Mars and return to Earth.

Nearly eight years and $2.5 billion in the making, the Mars 2020 mission represents several firsts for NASA, including being the first round-trip mission to the planet. Perseverance will be the heaviest vehicle to land on Mars, and for the first time the mission is looking for actual evidence of life rather than just the conditions needed to support it.

“This mission is very cool because it builds on other Mars Exploration Program missions the ELVIS 3 team has supported over the years, the most recent being Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) launched in November 2011,” Wilcox said. “The Mars 2020 spacecraft will also include a helicopter called Ingenuity as a technology demonstration as well as to be used to scout future driving routes. It’s a very exciting time to be a part of NASA’s Launch Services Program.”

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First Commercial Mission to Carry Humans into Orbit Returns Crewed Launches to U.S.

Camarillo, CA and Rockledge, FL (June 3, 2020) — Saalex Corp. played a key role supporting the historic launch of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Demo-2, helping to usher in a new era of commercial space flight. Saalex’s Expendable Launch Vehicle Integrated Support 3 (ELVIS 3) team provided programmatic, engineering and technical support leading up to and during the launch on May 30 at 3:22 p.m. EDT from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. The Crew Dragon is the first commercially built and operated U.S. spacecraft to take humans into orbit.

The Crew Dragon Demo-2 module Endeavor carried NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley to the International Space Station, successfully docking with the station’s Harmony module on Sunday, May 31. The mission not only represents a watershed moment for commercial space flight, it is the first crewed orbital launch from the U.S. since the final Space Shuttle mission in 2011.

Originally slated for May 27, the launch had to be delayed due to weather concerns related to Tropical Storm Bertha. More than 150,000 gathered on Florida’s Space Coast Saturday to watch the lift off, including U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.

In the run-up to the launch, NASA touted the mission’s significance: “NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP) will return human spaceflight launches to U.S. soil, providing safe, reliable, and cost-effective access to low-Earth orbit and the space station on systems that meet safety and performance requirements.”

Following the launch, Saalex President and CEO Travis Mack thanked the ELVIS 3 team for their hard work and dedication in support of the CCP mission. “First and foremost, I have to express my sincere gratitude to our Saalex ELVIS 3 team,” Mr. Mack said. “They have been and continue to be extremely important to our growth within NASA-supported missions and they are an extremely important part of Saalex as a whole. As we continue to grow our brand with NASA, we are establishing our credentials as a viable industry player for upcoming NASA support. It’s a select group of organizations that have the honor of supporting NASA and we are fortunate enough as a company to be part of that.”

“I’m extremely proud and honored to be supporting an event that is historic both from a national perspective and from what it will represent to larger history of our exploration of space,” Mr. Mack continued. “This moment will never happen again. There will never be another first commercial space launch to put astronauts into orbit. I feel an extreme sense of honor and pride be here at this moment and that we get to play some role in it. It’s almost overwhelming.”

Saalex’s ELVIS 3 team provided critical program and technical integration services to CCP in support of certification of flight readiness. In prepping for the launch, the ELVIS 3 team also supported the CCP Chief Engineer and the engineering launch team. Saalex personnel provided critical engineering technical integration support to the CCP Chief Engineer and the launch team on console the day of the launch from KSC.

“We’re honored to support NASA’s Commercial Crew Program,” said Saalex ELVIS 3 Program Manager Kathleen Wilcox. “The work they’re doing to get our nation back to launching American astronauts from American soil on American rockets is nothing short of incredible. Our ELVIS 3 CCP team continues to amaze me!”

“I think it is a tremendous accomplishment for SpaceX, the space program, NASA and the country,” said Saalex Corp. Director of Program Operations, Robert Bezduch. “I am just happy that Saalex was part of this effort.”

The successful Crew Dragon launch validates several new technologies for human spaceflight, illustrated by the autonomous return of the Falcon 9’s first-stage booster, which landed on the drone barge Of Course I Still Love You in the Atlantic Ocean shortly after launch. Bezduch said the excitement generated by the launch and these new technologies harkens back to a time before space missions seemed routine.

“I remember when I was a kid, when something like this happened everything would stop,” Bezduch said. “We were all in awe. At school, we would have the TV on in classrooms to watch the launch. We’ve gotten away from that.”

“This kind of mission shows what we are capable of as a country,” Bezduch continued. “Having Saalex be a part of ELVIS 3 at this time in the history of the space program is a tremendous honor and opportunity. Any time an organization is involved in a historic event such as this, it can catapult them into the future to do this on an even larger scale. It’s an amazing field to be in and Saalex is ready for the next challenge, whether supporting another contract or as a prime contractor.”

Saalex is currently teaming with a.i. solutions on the ELVIS 3 contract, providing integrated services in preparation and launch of NASA’s next generation of scientific and exploration spacecraft for the agency’s Launch Services Program (LSP) and Commercial Crew Program (CCP). The ELVIS 3 team supports launches at KSC in Florida, Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and other NASA launch sites.

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