SpaceX

[Boac]

A very successful third test with what appears to be a flawless launch, stage separation and insertion into orbit. However, both bodies lost during recovery, but the ensuing data will be priceless. Well done SpaceX!

[Boac]

Watching the on-board video during the SS re-entry it was concerning to see large black chunks flying off! Tiles, I guess?

[Archer]

Could well have been tiles. The SS tumbled as it re-entered the atmosphere and the resulting forces on various bits of the craft could have dislodged many things.

[Boac]

The awaited report from SpaceX should be very interesting. One would hope that the apparent failure to sustain ignition on the B and the loss of attitude control on the SS should be relatively simple to cure.

[PHXPhlyer]

Whee! Zip down from the launch tower in SpaceX's new emergency-escape slide

https://www.space.com/spacex-astronaut- ... SmartBrief

SpaceX just tested a new astronaut ride — one that takes folks down to the ground rather than high above it.

I wonder if Elon will offer the paying public a chance to do the zipline when no launch activities are going on.

That ride is a deployable slide installed atop the tower at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40), a pad at Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. It's designed to get astronauts off the tower in a hurry in the event of an emergency before liftoff.

We just got to see the slide in action, thanks to a video SpaceX posted on X on Tuesday (March 19). The 24-second video provides an astronaut's-eye view of the slide experience, which — though serious business — wouldn't be out of place at an amusement park.

"Even though it’s meant to be used for emergencies, it looks like a lot of fun!" SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said via X on Tuesday, in a post responding to the slide video.

SpaceX tests its new emergency-escape astronaut slide at Pad 40 at Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This is a screenshot from a video SpaceX posted to X on March 19, 2024. (Image credit: SpaceX via X)
The recent slide test is part of SpaceX's effort to certify SLC-40 for astronaut launches. SpaceX has launched 13 crewed missions to date, all of them from Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, which is next door to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

To evacuate from Pad 39A's launch tower, astronauts jump into baskets that slide down wires to terra firma. The SLC-40 system is different, as the new video shows: It's an enclosed chute that deploys from the top of the tower when needed, riding already-emplaced cables to the ground.

SpaceX has launched many (uncrewed) missions from SLC-40 over the years. And another one will lift off on Thursday (March 21), if all goes according to plan.

A Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to launch a robotic Dragon cargo capsule toward the International Space Station from the pad on Thursday at 4:55 p.m. EDT (2055 GMT). You can watch the action here on Space.com when the time comes.

PP

[llondel]

I thought they'd had something similar for the Shuttle, given its lack of other obvious escape mechanisms - down the line, take cover in a shelter and hope to survive the pressure wave of the blast.

[PHXPhlyer]

SpaceX launches its 30th Dragon cargo mission to the ISS (video)
Dragon is scheduled to arrive at the space station on Saturday morning (March 23).

https://www.space.com/spacex-nasa-crs-3 ... SmartBrief

SpaceX launched its 30th cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA this afternoon (March 21), carrying 3 tons of supplies and scientific hardware to the orbiting lab.

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying an uncrewed Cargo Dragon spacecraft lifted off today at 4:55 p.m. EDT (2055 GMT) from Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

The mission, known as CRS-30, was the first cargo launch from SLC-40 since March 2020. Since then, the pad has been outfitted with a new launch tower, which allows for more efficient cargo loading and upgrades the facility to support crewed launches as well.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Dec. 6, 2020, carrying the uncrewed cargo Dragon spacecraft on its journey to the International Space Station for NASA and SpaceX’s 21st Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-21) mission. (Image credit: NASA/SpaceX)
Before the SLC-40 upgrades, "we loaded cargo while the vehicle was still horizontal using a mobile cleanroom before we would take the vehicle vertical for lunch, but thanks to this new state of the art crew tower, required for our human spaceflight missions, that late-load cargo operation got a massive upgrade, too," Sarah Walker, director of SpaceX Dragon mission management, said during a pre-launch press briefing on Tuesday (March 19).

"It's much easier to load a huge complement of time-critical NASA science into our Dragon spacecraft in the flight orientation," she added.

The Falcon 9's first stage booster came back to Earth as planned today, making a vertical touchdown at SpaceX's Landing Zone-1, at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, about eight minutes after launch. It was the sixth launch and landing for the booster, according to a SpaceX mission description.

The CRS-30's Cargo Dragon capsule separated from the rocket's upper stage just under 12 minutes after launch. The spacecraft will spend around two days en route to the ISS, with a rendezvous and docking scheduled for 7:30 a.m. EDT on Saturday (March 23). You can watch that orbital meetup live here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA, beginning at 5:30 a.m. EDT (0930 GMT) on Saturday.

Over 6,000 pounds (2,721 kilograms) of scientific supplies, maintenance equipment, two new coffee kits, fresh fruits and vegetables and other food for the station's inhabitants are stowed aboard Dragon on CRS-30. Included in that haul is a new spare pump stored in Dragon's trunk, which will be integrated into the space station's external thermal loop system.

The first stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket rests at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida shortly after launching a robotic Dragon spacecraft on the company's 30th contracted cargo mission to the International Space Station for NASA on March 21, 2024. (Image credit: NASA/SpaceX)
In addition to materials to support ongoing research aboard the orbital laboratory, a number of new science investigations are also aboard CRS-30 to enrich our understanding of the effects of microgravity on a range of biological and technological processes.

The Nano Particle Haloing Suspension experiment, for example, will study nanoparticles' reaction to electrical fields, and their use to help synthesize semiconductor material known as "quantum dots," which holds the potential to greatly increase the efficiency of solar panel technology.

The Multi-resolution Scanner (MRS) experiment will utilize the existing autonomous Astrobee robots aboard the ISS to test 3D mapping technology. "The team has big plans for future applications [of this technology] in spaceflight," said Heidi Parris, associate program scientist at NASA's ISS Program Research Office. "If it works well inside the ISS, this technology could be developed to use for scanning of exterior hull damage on the ISS or other space stations, as well as lunar and Martian surface scanning."

Parris highlighted a number of other investigations during Tuesday's press call as well, including the APEX-09 experiment to examine the genetic makeup of plants in microgravity.

CRS-30 "is also going to launch research into many, many other areas, including cellular microbiology, crystal growth, astrophysics, human research, material science and much more," Parris said.

CRS-30 will remain docked to the Harmony module's zenith (upward-facing) port for about a month before deorbiting and returning to Earth. Dragon is the only cargo vehicle currently able to withstand reentry forces through Earth's atmosphere, and it's therefore used to return a number of research materials and other spent items from the space station.

The other two currently operational cargo vehicles — Northrup Grumman's Cygnus spacecraft and Russia's Progress vessel — are designed to burn up upon reentry.

pp

[Boac]

B11 and SS29 both moved to the launch site yesterday. Quite a lot of road activity (closures) around the launch site, and May 20th seems to be the most active. Flight 4 seems to be not too far off.

[Boac]

Now stacked.

[Boac]

Looking like 1/6 for the launch.

[Boac]

Make that 5/6.

[PHXPhlyer]

Japanese billionaire cancels private flight around the moon on SpaceX's giant Starship

Billionaire Yusaku Maezawa called off the dearMoon mission due to delays with SpaceX's Starship megarocket.

https://www.space.com/japanese-billiona ... oon-flight

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa won't shoot for the moon on SpaceX's Starship after all.

Maezawa, who booked a private trip around the moon on SpaceX's Starship megarocket in 2018, has now scrapped the project — which he called dearMoon — after the rocket wasn't ready to fly him and eight hand-picked artists in 2023.

"I signed the contract in 2018 based on the assumption that dearMoon would launch by the end of 2023," Maezawa said in a statement on X (formerly Twitter). "It's a developmental project so it is what it is, but it is still uncertain as to when Starship can launch."

If you can't see SpaceX's Starship in person, you can score a model of your own. Standing at 13.77 inches (35 cm), this is a 1:375 ratio of SpaceX's Starship as a desktop model. The materials here are alloy steel and it weighs just 225g.

SpaceX's Starship and Super Heavy booster make up the world's tallest and most powerful rocket ever to fly. The company launched its first uncrewed Starship test flight in April 2023, but failed to reach space. A second test in November 2023 flew higher but also failed. Starship reached space for the first time on March 14 of this year in a test that reached orbital velocity, but its Starship and Super Heavy booster did not survive to their intended splashdown points.

SpaceX is preparing to launch its fourth Starship test flight on June 5 as part of its development of a crewed Starship to land NASA Artemis astronauts on the moon by 2026.

Maezawa said the uncertainty over when Starship would be ready to fly his dearMoon mission led him to cancel the flight.

"I can't plan my future in this situation, and I feel terrible making the crew members wait longer, hence the difficult decision to cancel at this point in time," Maezawa wrote on X. "I apologize to those who were excited for this project to happen."

PP

[PHXPhlyer]

SpaceX gets green light for fourth Starship test flight

https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/04/science/ ... index.html

SpaceX has received a launch license authorizing the fourth test flight of its massive moon rocket.

Starship, the most powerful launch vehicle ever built, is expected to take off Thursday, during a 120-minute launch window that opens at 8 a.m. ET. A livestream of the flight test will be available on SpaceX’s website about 30 minutes before liftoff.

The Starship vehicle, which includes the upper Starship spacecraft and a rocket booster known as the Super Heavy, will launch from the company’s private Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which licenses commercial rocket launches, gave SpaceX their approval for the flight test Tuesday and said the company “met all safety and other licensing requirements for this test flight.”

SpaceX proposed three scenarios involving Starship’s entry into the atmosphere that would not require an investigation if the vehicle is lost, according to the agency. Those potential mishaps include a failure of a thermal shield, some loss of control of the vehicle in midflight, and the failure of an engine during a landing burn.

“If a different anomaly occurs with the Starship vehicle an investigation may be warranted as well as if an anomaly occurs with the Super Heavy booster rocket,” the agency said in a statement.

“In addition, the FAA approved the mission profile that included a controlled and uncontrolled entry of the Starship vehicle. If SpaceX chooses to execute an uncontrolled entry, it must communicate that decision to the FAA prior to launch,” according to the statement. “As such, the loss of the Starship vehicle would be considered a planned event and an investigation will not be required.”

Each of Starship’s test flights have different objectives that build on lessons learned and milestones achieved during the previous flights.

This time, SpaceX is focused on “demonstrating the ability to return and reuse Starship and Super Heavy. The primary objectives will be executing a landing burn and soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico with the Super Heavy booster, and achieving a controlled entry of Starship,” according to a release shared by the company.

If successful, Starship is expected to splash down in the Indian Ocean.

SpaceX made multiple software and hardware upgrades on Starship to incorporate lessons learned from the third flight.

“The fourth flight of Starship will aim to bring us closer to the rapidly reusable future on the horizon,” according to SpaceX. “We’re continuing to rapidly develop Starship, putting flight hardware in a flight environment to learn as quickly as possible as we build a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond.”

Three wild test flights
The first two attempts to get Starship to orbital speeds in 2023 ended in explosions, with the spacecraft and booster erupting into flames before reaching their intended landing sites.

SpaceX is known to embrace fiery mishaps in the early stages of spacecraft development, saying these failures help the company rapidly implement design changes that lead to better results.

SpaceX has said its approach to rocket development is geared toward speed. The company makes use of an engineering method called “rapid spiral development.” This process essentially boils down to a desire to build prototypes quickly and willingly blow them up to learn how to construct a better one — faster than if the company solely relied on ground tests and simulations.

After the explosive first and second Starship test flights, the company immediately sought to frame these mishaps as successes.

The nearly hour-long third test flight, conducted in March, achieved several milestones before breaking apart after reentry, rather than splashing down in the Indian Ocean.

Much is riding on Starship’s eventual success. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly characterized the rocket as central to the company’s founding mission: putting humans on Mars for the first time.

Crucially, the Starship spacecraft is also the vehicle NASA has selected to land astronauts launched from the United States on the moon for the first time in more than five decades as part of its Artemis program. The space agency is in a race with China, vying to become first to develop a permanent lunar outpost and set the precedent for deep-space settlements.

PP

[Boac]

Next one in a month, says Elon, and he wants to reach Uranus with the Starship. I'll leave others to respond......

The launch performance of SpaceX is staggering. They have just completed 300 Falcon flights and now a 'monthly' Starship!!

[PHXPhlyer]

SpaceX to build vehicle that will drag the International Space Station out of orbit

https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/26/science/ ... index.html

NASA will pay SpaceX up to nearly $1 billion to develop a vehicle capable of steering the International Space Station out of orbit to its final resting place when the federal agency and its partners retire the orbiting laboratory in the coming years.

The SpaceX-made vehicle could launch later this decade. It would latch onto the International Space Station — a nearly 1 million-pound structure roughly the size of a football field — and guide the craft as it plunges out of Earth’s orbit. The deorbit vehicle and the space station are expected to burn up as they slam back into the thick planetary atmosphere while still traveling more than 17,000 miles per hour (27,359 kilometers per hour).

SpaceX will receive a contract worth up to $843 million for the task, NASA said Wednesday.

The federal agency operates the International Space Station alongside Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, which controls a key wing of the station and propulsion modules. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency also play roles in its operations.

NASA noted in a Wednesday news release that “the safe deorbit of the International Space Station is the responsibility of all five space agencies.”

The federal agency, however, did not say if its international partners would shoulder some of the cost of SpaceX’s contract for building the deorbit vehicle. Spokespeople for NASA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.


SpaceX also did not respond to a list of emailed questions regarding the contract. The company typically doesn’t respond to inquiries from news organizations.

In prior documents, NASA said that it hoped the deorbit vehicle could be launched by December 2028. But the space agency stipulated that it would only require that the vehicle be ready by 2029.

Exactly when the space station will cease operations is not clear.

In the news release, NASA noted that it is committed to continuing space station operations through 2030. But Roscosmos has only guaranteed its participation through “at least 2028.”

NASA has stressed that the space station provides a crucial platform for its astronauts to conduct science experiments and carry out research for future missions deeper into the cosmos, but the laboratory is rapidly aging.

The station, which is in orbit about 250 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth’s surface, has hosted rotating crews of astronauts continuously since 2000.

“Selecting a U.S. Deorbit Vehicle for the International Space Station will help NASA and its international partners ensure a safe and responsible transition in low Earth orbit at the end of station operations,” Ken Bowersox, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, said in a statement. “The orbital laboratory remains a blueprint for science, exploration, and partnerships in space for the benefit of all.”

NASA has long said that it plans to hand over operations in low-Earth orbit — the area of space closest to Earth where the space station currently operates — to the private sector. Commercial companies will be free to build their own orbiting laboratories, space hotels or other ventures.

Meanwhile, NASA plans to turn its focus to exploring deeper into the solar system. The agency’s Artemis program, for example, seeks to return astronauts to the moon’s surface by 2026 and eventually establish a permanent lunar outpost.

In a separate announcement, NASA also said Wednesday afternoon that it was ending a contract to develop new Extravehicular Activity, or EVA, spacesuits — which astronauts wear when they conduct spacewalks outside the station.

The iconic puffy white suits that astronauts currently wear on spacewalks were designed more than 40 years ago. Earlier this week, NASA was forced to wave off plans to remove a faulty electronics box outside the space station because a spacesuit worn by astronaut Tracy Dyson sprung a leak shortly before the spacewalk began.

In a statement announcing the decision Wednesday, NASA said that its partner on the EVA contract, North Carolina-based Collins Aerospace, “recognized its development timeline would not support the space station’s schedule and NASA’s mission objectives.”

PP

[llondel]

Imagine that, being paid all that money to develop something that's just going to crash and burn. Plenty of people out there who've demonstrated that they can achieve such a result, including some operating at a high level.

[PHXPhlyer]

SpaceX’s prolific Falcon 9 rocket grounded after failed mission

https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/12/science/ ... index.html

SpaceX’s stalwart Falcon 9 rocket, which powers satellite launches as well as trips to orbit for astronauts, experienced a rare and troubling failure Thursday night as it attempted to haul a batch of internet satellites to orbit. The ordeal has prompted federal regulators to ground the rocket, which has become a cornerstone of the United States and global launch industries over the past decade.

The incident marks the first time a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket — which also plays a critical part in NASA’s human spaceflight program — has failed in nearly a decade.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which licenses commercial rocket launches, said Friday morning that it is requiring an investigation into the incident, though no “public injuries or public property damage have been reported.”

The FAA, which routinely launches such investigations in the name of public safety after rockets or spacecraft fail, noted that it will be involved in issuing corrective actions for SpaceX to take, as well as determining when the Falcon 9 might return to the launchpad.

If the Falcon 9 is out of commission for an extended period of time, it could mean rolling setbacks for NASA’s astronaut launch schedule, SpaceX’s orbital space tourism efforts, the company’s satellite internet service, and the global commercial satellite industry, which relies heavily on the Falcon 9.

Anomaly after liftoff
The Falcon 9 at issue took flight from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Thursday evening, around 10:30 p.m. local time.

The launch vehicle carried 20 satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink network, which already operates via more than 6,000 satellites that have been deployed via dozens of launches, according to astrophyiscist Jonathan McDowell.

Most of those flights have gone off without any obvious issues, but Thursday was different.

The first leg of the mission appeared to proceed smoothly, with the Falcon 9 using its first-stage booster — the bottommost part of the rocket with nine engines that provide the initial burst of power at liftoff — to propel itself toward space.

That booster then detached and landed safely back on a sea-faring platform so that SpaceX can refurbish and use it again.

But the second stage of the rocket, which is designed to fire up after the first stage falls away and power the satellites to their final destination in orbit, failed abruptly. The cause was not immediately clear.

“During tonight’s Falcon 9 launch of Starlink, the second stage engine did not complete its second burn. As a result, the Starlink satellites were deployed into a lower than intended orbit,” according to a statement from SpaceX.

Elon Musk, SpaceX’s CEO, added in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the the second stage did not just fail — it experienced what his company tends to call an “RUD” or “rapid unscheduled disassembly,” which typically refers to an explosion.

The billionaire added in a separate post on X that SpaceX would “investigate the issue and look for any other potential near-misses.”

“We are tracking to do more Falcon flights this year than Shuttle did in 30 years,” Musk said. (SpaceX has launched more than 60 Falcon 9 flights so far in 2024, while NASA’s space shuttle program flew 135 missions in its three-decade history.)

A crucial time for SpaceX
Thursday’s mishap raises questions about whether the Falcon 9 rocket will have to be taken out of service at a crucial time for SpaceX and the US space industry.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 plays a key role in NASA’s human spaceflight program — flying astronauts on routine trips to orbit.

Notably, SpaceX’s mishap comes after Boeing’s Starliner vehicle, which is set to join SpaceX in providing astronaut launches, experienced several issues during its ongoing debut crewed mission.

The Starliner has already extended its mission weeks longer than expected as engineers work to figure out what caused helium leaks and thruster problems on the first leg of the spacecraft’s trip.

And while NASA and Boeing officials say they are confident that the Starliner will be able to bring its crew members home, Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager, noted Wednesday that SpaceX is a backup option.

“The beautiful thing about Commercial Crew Program is that we have two vehicles,” Stich said, referring to SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, which routinely launches on the Falcon 9, and the Starliner.

“We have a little bit more time to look at the data and then make a decision as to whether we need to do anything different,” Stich said, referring to the flexibility that SpaceX could grant the International Space Station schedule and the Starliner test flight.

Crucially, the Falcon 9 was also slated to launch the next cargo resupply mission to the ISS, providing fresh resources to the Starliner test crew and other astronauts aboard the space station. The two Starliner astronauts went to space without two suitcases they packed with clothes and toiletries because NASA needed to squeeze a bathroom pump on board their flight. It’s not yet clear whether NASA will be forced to delay that resupply mission.

Falcon 9, SpaceX’s most prolific launch vehicle, and the company’s Crew Dragon capsule also have some notable astronaut missions of their own on the horizon. That includes plans to fly tech billionaire Jared Isaacman and three crew mates to orbit on a mission called Polaris Dawn that is expected to include the first-ever spacewalk conducted by private astronauts.

“SpaceX has an incredible track record with Falcon 9,” Isaacman said Friday on X. “As for Polaris Dawn, we will fly whenever SpaceX is ready and with complete confidence in the rocket, spaceship and operations.”

In August, SpaceX is also expected to fly NASA astronauts to the International Space Station as part of a long-running contract with the space agency.

Starlink satellites’ fate
Musk said the Starlink satellites launched on Thursday were deployed, but they may be too near Earth to remain there for long.

Of the 20 Starlink satellites on board the Falcon 9 rocket, 13 had direct-to-cellular capabilities, according to SpaceX.

In one update, posted after 1:30 a.m. ET, SpaceX said it had made contact with five of the satellites and was attempting to raise their orbit. It’s not clear how many of the five might have had cellular capabilities.

“We’re updating satellite software to run the ion thrusters at their equivalent of warp 9,” Musk said. “Unlike a Star Trek episode, this will probably not work, but it’s worth a shot.”

SpaceX’s Starlink satellites are designed to disintegrate as the reenter the atmosphere, according to the company, so satellites that do fall out of orbit should not pose a risk to people on the ground.

However, recent incidents have shown space garbage can unexpectedly survive reentry.

It’s not clear what this mishap will mean for the future of SpaceX’s Falcon 9. Typically, rockets remain grounded for months after a failure as engineers work to determine the root cause and verify the vehicle’s safety.

NASA did not immediately provide comment to CNN Friday morning. SpaceX also did not respond but does not typically reply to news inquiries.

The last time a Falcon 9 rocket failed during flight was in June 2015, when the launch vehicle was powering a cargo mission to the International Space Station. The rocket was grounded for about six months after that mishap before resuming flight in December 2015.

Another issue occurred in September 2016, when a Falcon 9 rocket holding a satellite exploded on the launchpad before liftoff. The rocket did not fly for another four and a half months after that incident.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 has launched more than 350 missions in total, according to the company’s website.

PP

[Boac]

IF SpaceX have to 'rescue' the hapless riders of Starliner from the ISS, presumably there could be issues with life support and the necessary 'connections' in the Dragon, although of course the recovery could be autonomous?

[PHXPhlyer]

IF SpaceX have to 'rescue' the hapless riders of Starliner from the ISS, presumably there could be issues with life support and the necessary 'connections' in the Dragon, although of course the recovery could be autonomous?

If rescue via Dragon is necessary I'm sure that NASA and SpaceX could get compatible space suits together using NASA's suit measurements and since there are only two needing to be rescued they could send up two qualified Dragon drivers to bring them back.

PP

[llondel]

I would hope that for important fittings such as for life support, there's some degree of standardisation and what they've got should just plug in as required to the alternative capsule.