A sampling of recent articles, videos, and images dealing with space transport (find previous roundups here):

** SpaceX SN10 became the first Starship prototype to make a successful vertical landing on March 2nd. Unfortunately, a propellant leak of some sort led to a destructive explosion several minutes after the landing. Here’s the SpaceX webcast, which ended before the explosion. Here is the SpaceX webcast video:

An earlier attempt to lift off in the mid-afternoon was aborted just as the engines fired. Elon Musk said on Twitter, “Launch abort on slightly conservative high thrust limit. Increasing thrust limit & recycling propellant for another flight attempt today.” About three hours later the vehicle lifted off. The ascent to 10 kilometers, the sequential shutdown of the engines as the rocket reached apogee, the flip to the horizontal “belly-flop” orientation, and the  aerodynamic control of the vehicle during the descent, all appeared to go quite well.

The technique of bringing all three engines back to life at the start of the flip from horizontal to vertical also appeared to work well.  This differed from the previous two landings where two engines were fired up for landing. However, for the SN9 flight, one of the two engines failed during startup and this led to the explosive landing. Elon Musk subsequently (see transcript below) said they would start up all three engines to insure that at least two would operate for the landing.  This worked for SN10. After the vehicle was vertical and stable,  two of the three engines were shut off and the vehicle descended in a controlled hover via one engine.

Note that the Starship hovering capability differs from the Falcon 9 booster. The F9 booster’s Merlin engine cannot throttle down sufficiently to hover. If the engine did not shut down at the instant the vehicle touches the landing pad, the booster would accelerate back up. The greater power, efficiency, and deep throttling capabilities of the Raptor engines allow for hovering the Starship. This will also be true for the Super Heavy booster. (That’s one reason SpaceX  believes they can bring a Super Heavy directly into a catch mechanism on the launch stand. Hovering allows for much greater precision and gentler handling during the landing.)

The SN10 vehicle leaned somewhat after the landing. In closeup videos of the vehicle as it was descending, three of the legs can be seen dangling after deployment rather than in a latched position as intended. The vehicle then rested on the metal skirt surrounding the engines on the side where it should have been supported by legs.

During the final vertical descent, one can also see flames along one side after the two engines stopped firing.  After the engines were shut off, there was a fire along one edge along the ground near the same section. Perhaps a methane valve was stuck open or propellant line burst. A robotic water cannon soon began spraying the flames but after a few minutes stopped for some reason and before long the the explosion occurred.

The loss of the vehicle was disappointing but ultimately will be of little significance. These early prototype flights are providing important data on previously untried systems and maneuvers, especially the Raptor engines, the belly-flop descent and the flip to vertical maneuver. Perhaps this vehicle would have flown once more if the landing had gone perfectly but regardless it eventually would have been dismantled and sent to the recycling bin. It was never intended for space.

Everyday Astronaut provides hi-res video of the flight and explosion:  Starship SN10 [4k, Clean Audio & Slow Mo Supercut]

Scott Manley’s analysis: SpaceX’s Starship SN10 Successfully Lands After Amazing Flight. Dismantles Itself Spectacularly

Some articles and commentary:

• Starship goes up. Starship goes down. But is the program moving forward? | Ars Technica
• SpaceX nails Starship landing, but rocket explodes minutes later – Spaceflight Now
• Rocket Lab reveals reusable, medium-lift Neutron rocket – NASASpaceFlight.com
• SpaceX launches and lands Starship prototype, which later explodes – SpaceNews

Find more news and videos on the Starship  program and other SpaceX activities below…

** Rocket Lab going public through a SPAC arrangement that will bring in sufficient capital to fund development of the medium-lift Neutron launch system. The SPAC deal gives a value of about $4.1B for Rocket Lab and will produce about $750M in cash.

• Rocket Lab going public via SPAC with Neutron rocket expansion – CNBC
• Rocket Lab CEO: SPAC deal a ‘supercharger’ for growth – CNBC
• Rocket Lab says SPAC deal will accelerate development of Neutron rocket – SpaceNews
• Rocket Lab to go public through SPAC merger and develop medium-lift rocket – SpaceNews
• Rocket Lab unveils bigger rocket and plans to go public via SPAC – The Verge
• Rocket Lab Reaches Deal to Merge With Vector SPAC – WSJ

The Neutron represents a change in strategy for Rocket Lab and founder Peter Beck, who had previously stated the company had no interest in developing a rocket larger than their operational Electron smallsat launcher. The Neutron will enable the company to put large batches of smallsats into orbit as SpaceX does with the Falcon 9 for Starlink and Rideshare missions. Rocket Lab Unveils Plans for New 8-Ton Class Reusable Rocket for Mega-Constellation Deployment | Rocket Lab

Some features of the Neutron project:

• First flight in 2024
• $200M est. for development
• Payload:
  • 8000 kg into low earth orbit,
  • 2000 kg to the Moon
  • 1500 kg to Mars or Venus
• Reusable first stage via powered landing at sea
• Propellants: LOX and Kerosene
• Two stages
• 40 meters tall
• 4.5 meter fairing diameter
• Initial launch site will be Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at Wallops Island, Virginia. (An Electron launch pad facility is nearly operational there.)
• A factory to manufacturing the rocket will be placed near the launch site.
• Engine development will be the biggest hurdle.
• Human spaceflight capable eventually

** Feb.28: Russia launches first Arktika weather satellite on Soyuz 2-1b rocket: Russia’s Soyuz-2-1b launches Arktika-M No.1 weather satellite – NASASpaceFlight.com

The Arktika (Арктика, meaning “Arctic“) satellites will carry out a variety of missions to compliment other satellite constellations with additional coverage of Russia’s most northern regions. The Arktika-M component of this program focuses on meteorology, with its satellites carrying multi-spectral imaging payloads to help gather data for forecasting. These spacecraft are also equipped with a communications payload to relay data from remote surface-based weather stations and emergency signals.

Each Arktika-M satellite has a mass of about 2,100 kilograms (4,600 lb) and is designed to operate for ten years. Constructed by NPO Lavochkin, the Arktika-M spacecraft are based on the company’s Navigator platform. The spacecraft are three-axis stabilized and carry a pair of deployable solar arrays to generate power.

Original plans called for a pair of Arktika-M spacecraft to be launched, however Russia now plans to deploy at least five over the next four years. A follow-on Arktika-MP series is expected to begin launching in 2026.

See also: Russia launches Arctic weather satellite – Spaceflight Now

** Feb 27: Indian PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) carries Brazil’s Amazônia-1 remote sensing satellite and 18 secondary smallsats into sun-synchronous orbit: India, Brazil launch Amazônia-1 on PSLV rocket – NASASpaceFlight.com

The Indian Space Research Organization has launched their first mission of 2021 with a flight of their Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) to deliver Brazil’s Amazônia-1 satellite, along with 18 co-passengers, into Sun-synchronous orbit.

Liftoff from First Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, India, occurred Sunday, 28 February at 10:24 IST at the launch site — which is 04:54 UTC, or Saturday, 27 February at 23:54 EST.

…

Amazônia-1 is the first Earth observation satellite designed, built, tested, and operated completely by Brazil and is the first of three such satellites planned by the National Institute of Space Research (INPE), a Brazil’s space research and exploration company. 

See also:

• Indian rocket launches Brazilian satellite to track Amazon deforestation – Spaceflight Now
• ISRO’s PSLV-C51 launch explained – Indian Express
• ISRO chief K Sivan confirms 14 missions, including Gaganyaan, ‘lined up’ in 2021 – Republic World

** Feb.25: Blue Origin says first New Glenn launch now targeted for late 2022. This is something of a surprise since first launch had generally been assumed would happen in late this year or early 2022. New Glenn’s Progress Towards Maiden Flight – Blue Origin

As major progress is being made on the New Glenn launch vehicle and its Cape Canaveral facilities, the schedule has been refined to match the demand of Blue Origin’s commercial customers. The current target for New Glenn’s maiden flight is Q4 2022. The Blue Origin team has been in contact with all of our customers to ensure this baseline meets their launch needs.

This updated maiden flight target follows the recent Space Force decision to not select New Glenn for the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 2 Launch Services Procurement (LSP). 

New Glenn is proceeding to fulfill its current commercial contracts, pursue a large and growing commercial market, and enter into new civil space launch contracts. We hope to launch NSSL payloads in the future, and remain committed to serving the U.S. national defense mission. 

Recent milestones include completion of a New Glenn first stage mockup simulator, completion of a structural test facility, and hardware milestones for tanks, stage modules, and composite fairings.

In addition to program progress, more than 600 jobs have been created in the region. Blue Origin has invested more than $2.5 billion in facilities and infrastructure at all sites, including $1 billion invested in the rebuild of historic LC-36, which is nearing completion.

Blue also posted three videos about the status of the New Glenn facilities in development on Cape Canaveral:

See also:

• Blue Origin’s massive New Glenn rocket is delayed for years. What went wrong? | Ars Technica
• What is wrong at Blue Origin? – Behind the Black
• Bezos’ Blue Origin delays first launch of New Glenn rocket to Q4 2022 – CNBC
• Blue Origin delays first launch of New Glenn to late 2022 – SpaceNews

** Blue Origin displays full-scale mock-up of lunar lander descent element, which is in development by the Blue-led National Team. aiming to win the NASA Artemis lunar program contract for the lunar landing system: Blue Origin shows off a test version of its cargo lunar lander – GeekWire

The company intends to have a cargo-only version of the descent element lander ready to take on a demonstration mission to the moon one year in advance of the first crewed landing for NASA’s Artemis program.

“That provides an enormous amount of risk reduction,” Blue Origin chief scientist Steve Sqyures — a veteran of NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover missions — explained in the video. “We get to practice. … We can pre-position material, and it can be whatever you want it to be. We can begin to build up Artemis Base Camp.”

Sqyures said the cargo lander will have a crane system to offload a rover and other payloads. NASA’s Langley Research Center has already provided a crane for the pathfinder tests, and Sqyures said Honeybee Robotics is developing a payload-lowering davit system.

Here is a brief video update: Lunar Descent Element Demo Mission – Blue Origin

At our Huntsville, Alabama factory, we built a full-scale pathfinder of our Descent Element lander in preparation for our demonstration mission. This mission will happen a year before landing crew on the Moon. By proving out our technology and pre-positioning equipment, it will start America’s sustainable return to the Moon. To learn more about the Blue Origin-led HLS National Team, visit: www.blueorigin.com/blue-moon/national-team

** Jeff Bezos expected to spend more time with Blue Origin after stepping down as CEO of Amazon. In addition to the lunar lander development mentioned above, Blue needs to begin crewed suborbital New Shepard rocket flights and, as mentioned above, get the New Glenn heavy lifter into operation.

• Foust Forward | Will Jeff Bezos kick-start Blue Origin? Does he need to? – SpaceNews
• Jeff Bezos’s next act: Getting Blue Origin, his space company, off the ground – The Washington Post
• Blue Origin could definitely use more Jeff Bezos in the next decade – MIT Technology Review
• Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin role hints at how Amazon role may change – GeekWire.com
• Jeff Bezos on why Blue Origin is his most important work – FastCompany.com

Continue reading Space transport roundup – March.7.2021 →

A sampling of recent articles, videos, and images dealing with space transport (find previous roundups here):

SpaceX intended to fly the Starship SN9 prototype last Thursday and again on Friday but the vehicle remained grounded due to a failure to obtain a FAA license. The exact reason for the refusal has not been revealed to the public but it apparently involves issues regarding non-compliance with the license for the flight of SN8.

For Tuesday Feb.2, an air traffic clearance bulletin has been issued and it appears likely that the FAA will grant SpaceX a launch license according to Christian Davenport on Twitter:

Now hearing the FAA could approve the SpaceX modification to its license for SN9 as early as today, possibly “within the next couple of hours.” Could see Starship fly as soon as tomorrow.

For more details about the FAA and the test flight , see:

• What’s really going on with Elon Musk, the FAA, and Starship? | Ars Technica
• Elon Musk’s SpaceX violated its FAA launch license, prompting investigation – The Verge
• Starship SN9 delayed until Friday as FAA deny permission to launch – NASASpaceFlight.com
• Watching Starship #9’s flight – Behind the Black

The SpaceX Starship webpage includes the following statement about the SN9 test:

** Starship SN10  prototype moved to the launch area. The largest crane at Boca Chica had been moved earlier in the week to the launch site and with the SN9 flight/landing canceled, SpaceX decided to move SN10 on Friday from the assembly area to the launch pad and lift it onto the second launch mount. There were no Raptor engines installed and Elon Musk later said they would do cryo pressure tests before installing them.

Find more about other SpaceX activities below.

** Virgin Galactic aims to fly SpaceShipTwo Unity during a window that opens on February 13th. Virgin Galactic Flight Test Program Update – Virgin Galactic

The flight window will open on February 13 with opportunities to fly throughout February, pending good weather conditions and technical readiness. The test flight will be crewed by two pilots and will carry research payloads as part of the NASA Flight Opportunities program.

Pre-flight preparations are already underway at Spaceport America, New Mexico, including rigorous steps to prepare the vehicles, pilots, teams and facilities, with safety procedures as a top priority. In addition, the Virgin Galactic Pilot Corps has completed two flights with its mothership, VMS Eve, for routine pilot proficiency training. This training included using the mothership to simulate the glide and approach-to-land phase of flight for SpaceShipTwo, showing the versatility of VMS Eve as more than just a mothership.

A key objective of the upcoming flight will be to test the remedial work that has been completed since the December 12, 2020 flight when the onboard computer halted ignition of the rocket motor. The team has since conducted the root cause analysis, completed the corrective work required, and carried out extensive ground testing. The next stage will be to assess and verify this work during a rocket-powered flight.

The flight will incorporate all of the original test objectives from the previous test flight, including evaluating elements of the customer cabin, testing the live stream capability from the spaceship to the ground, and assessing the upgraded horizontal stabilizers and flight controls during the boost phase of the flight.

See also

• Virgin Galactic to resume SpaceShipTwo test flights in mid-February – SpaceNews
• As Virgin Galactic gets swept up in GameStop mania, it gets back to flying | Ars Technica

** Feb.1: The iSpace Hyperbola-1 fails on its second launch attempt. Amateur footage of the launch from the inland Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center shows the vehicle in trouble shortly after liftoff. The 4-stage solid-fueled rocket, most likely derived from a Chinese missile, was carrying the Fangzhou-2 (Ark-2) satellite.

• Chinese Hyperbola-1 rocket fails during its second launch – NASASpaceFlight.com
• China’s iSpace suffers failure with second orbital launch attempt – SpaceNews

** Jan.29: Chinese Long March 4C carries three Yaogan 31 remote sensing satellites into low earth orbit. These satellites are generally believed to be military reconnaissance satellites that provide optical and radio-electronic surveillance of the US Navy and other maritime activities.

• Long March 4C has successful launch – Chinadaily.com.cn
• China launches new remote sensing satellites – Xinhua
• Long March 4C lofts three Yaogan Weixing-31 satellites – NASASpaceFlight.com

** Jan.20: Rocket Lab’s first Electron launch of 2021 puts OHB satellite into orbit. There was no attempt to recover the first stage booster on this launch.

• Rocket Lab launches communications satellite for OHB – Spaceflight Now
• Rocket Lab launches secretive communications satellite for OHB – SpaceNews

The payload for this mission has been shrouded in secrecy since Rocket Lab announced the planned launch Jan. 5. The name of the satellite itself was not disclosed by OHB until after liftoff, and a press kit for the mission did not include the satellite’s mass or orbital altitude, stating only that it was going into an orbit at an inclination of 90 degrees.

Rocket Lab said in its announcement of the upcoming launch that the payloads “will be a single communication microsatellite that will enable specific frequencies to support future services from orbit.” OHB, which built the satellite, procured the launch last August. At the time it cited “an unmatched delivery time” by Rocket Lab, who agreed to launch the payload within six months.

…

The ultimate customer for the satellite may be GMS Zhaopin, a Chinese company planning a satellite constellation. It has been linked to a German company, KLEO Connect, that has announced plans for a constellation to provide internet of things services.

** A Virgin Orbit LaunchOne rocket successfully put 10 smallsats into orbit on the second demo mission. The first demo mission last May failed when the engine shut off shortly after igniting due to a breach in a liquid oxygen supply line. The company now plans to move into full commercial operations. Virgin Orbit Aces Second Launch Demo and Deploys NASA Payloads – Virgin Orbit

For today’s picture-perfect mission, Virgin Orbit’s carrier aircraft, a customized 747-400 dubbed Cosmic Girl, took off from Mojave Air and Space Port at approximately 10:50 A.M. and flew out to a launch site over the Pacific Ocean, about 50 miles south of the Channel Islands. After a smooth release from the aircraft, the two-stage rocket ignited and powered itself to orbit. At the conclusion of the flight, the LauncherOne rocket deployed 10 CubeSats into the team’s precise target orbit, marking a major step forward for Virgin Orbit in its quest to bust down the barriers preventing affordable and responsive access to space.

The payloads onboard LauncherOne today were selected by NASA LSP as part of the agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI). Nearly all of the CubeSat missions were designed, built and tested by universities across the U.S., including Brigham Young University (PICS), the University of Michigan (MiTEE), and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (CAPE-3).

This flight also marks a historical first: no other orbital class, air-launched, liquid-fueled rocket had successfully reached space before today.

…

With this successful demonstration in the books, Virgin Orbit will officially transition into commercial service for its next mission. Virgin Orbit has subsequent launches booked by customers ranging from the U.S. Space Force and the U.K.’s Royal Air Force to commercial customers like Swarm Technologies, Italy’s SITAEL, and Denmark’s GomSpace.

The company’s next few rockets are already well into integration at its Long Beach manufacturing facility.

A “Mission Recap” video:

LauncherOne has successfully reached orbit! Virgin Orbit’s unique air-launched system successfully delivered small satellites for 9 different missions precisely into their target 500km circular, 60.7 degrees inclination orbit on January 17, 2021. The flight was conducted from the Mojave Air and Space Port in Kern County, California — the first orbital launch ever to occur from there. This “Launch Demo 2” flight was conducted for NASA’s Venture Class Launch Services program. Unlike traditional ground-launched rocket, Virgin Orbit’s system uses a 747 jet as its flying launch pad and mobile mission control, allowing flexible and responsive launch from almost anywhere on the planet!

Some VO internal webcast videos posted at International Rocket Launches – YouTube:

See also

• LauncherOne reaches orbit on second attempt with NASA CubeSats – NASASpaceFlight.com
• Virgin’s satellite launcher reaches orbit for first time – Spaceflight Now
• Virgin Orbit reaches orbit on second LauncherOne mission – SpaceNews
• Virgin Orbit just earned the orbit part of its name | Ars Technica
• Virgin Orbit to Launch First Satellite for Dutch Ministry Of Defense | Virgin Orbit

** Jan.14: Blue Origin flew the fourth New Shepard vehicle for the first time on Thursday, January 14th at the company’s facility in West Texas.This vehicle includes additional design changes and will be used for the first flights with people on board. Mission NS-14 successfully demonstrates crew capsule upgrades – Blue Origin

Mission NS-14 featured a crew capsule outfitted with astronaut experience upgrades for upcoming flights with passengers onboard. Capsule upgrades included:

• • Speakers in the cabin with a microphone and a push-to-talk button at each seat so astronauts can continuously talk to Mission Control.
  • First flight of the crew alert system with a panel at each seat relaying important safety messages to passengers.
  • Cushioned wall linings and sound suppression devices to reduce ambient noise inside the capsule.
  • Environmental systems, including a cooling system and humidity controls to regulate temperature and prevent capsule windows from fogging during flight, as well as carbon dioxide scrubbing.
  • Six seats.

Also today during ascent, the booster rotated at 2-3 degrees per second. This is done to give future passengers a 360-degree view of space during the flight.

This flight continued to prove the robustness and stability of the New Shepard system and the BE-3PM liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen engine.

Also onboard today were more than 50,000 postcards from Blue Origin’s nonprofit Club for the Future. The Club has now flown over 100,000 postcards to space and back from students around the world. More information here.

** Blue reportedly plans to fly the  first New Shepard mission with people on board in early spring: Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin aims to fly people on New Shepard by April – CNBC

Beyond the upgrades, CNBC has learned that NS-14 also marked one of the last remaining steps before Blue Origin flies its first crew to space.

The flight was the first of two “stable configuration” test flights, people familiar with Blue Origin’s plans told CNBC. Stable configuration means that the company plans to avoid making major changes between this flight and the next.

Additionally, those people said that Blue Origin aims to launch the second test flight within six weeks, or by late February, and the first crewed flight six weeks after that, or by early April.

Blue Origin’s next flight, NS-15, will also include a test of loading and unloading the crew, the people said.

The company did not verify this info but it clearly sounds quite plausible.

** Video tour of Blue Origin’s engine production facility in Huntsville, Alabama. During the webcast of the above New Shepard test, a video tour of the company’s engine facility in Huntsville was shown.

As featured on today’s #NewShepard webcast, Jacki takes us on a tour of our full-rate engine production facility in Huntsville, AL powering the next generation of American space flight with our #BE4 and #BE3U engines. pic.twitter.com/jKWl79po30

— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) January 14, 2021

** Blue releases video of long duration, full-thrust firing of BE-4 engine: Jeff Bezos released the video on Instagram:

“Perfect night! Sitting in the back of my pickup truck under the Moon and stars watching another long duration, full thrust hotfire test of @BlueOrigin’s BE-4 engine. #GradatimFerociter”

The BE-4 will power the first stages of Blue’s New Glenn rocket and ULA’s Vulcan.

More about the BE-4 status: Jeff Bezos kicks back with a BE-4 rocket engine test in Texas – GeekWire.

Scott Manley reviews all of the engines developed so far by Blue:

Blue Origin has been around longer than SpaceX, but they’re a lot more secretive about their technology and the things they’ve built. I wanted to make an overview of the 6 different rocket engines they’re designed and tested and the vehicles that have been propelled by them.

** Jan.19: Chinese Long March 3B rocket takes communications satellite into orbit from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the Sichuan province. The third of the Tiantong-1 series of S-Band mobile communications services satellite will move into a geostationary orbital slot.

• China opens 2021 with Tiantong-1 launch via Long March 3B – NASASpaceFlight.com
• China’s first launch of 2021 orbits communications satellite – Spaceflight Now

Continue reading Space transport roundup – Feb.1.2021 →

A sampling of recent articles, videos, and images dealing with space transport (find previous roundups here):

** Dec.9: First high altitude flight test of a SpaceX Starship prototype successfully demonstrated two key requirements for returning from orbit: (1) controlled stable flight while in a horizontal orientation during unpowered descent and (2) the flip to vertical maneuver after restarting the engines. The vehicle was powered by three Raptors, which fired for nearly five minutes before reaching the 12 km altitude. (Two of the engines shut down sequentially during the later phase of the ascent.) This provided a big gain in the amount of data on in-flight performance of the LOX/Methane engines compared to the short hops with earlier prototypes.

Unfortunately, during the SN8 vehicle’s relatively short vertical descent to the bullseye of the landing pad, a drop in pressure from the propellant tank in the tip of the nosecone reduced the thrust of the Raptor engine and the vehicle landed too hard and exploded. This operational problem can be prevented in a straight-forward manner in future flights. After 60+ successful Falcon 9 booster recoveries, the company knows how to land a rocket vertically.  However, SpaceX has had no experience with flying a rocket in a horizontal attitude and controlling it with side fins. It also had never swung a vehicle from horizontal to vertical. So this was a very successful test. While it might have flown again if it landed safely, SN8 was never intended to provide more than suborbital test data.

This multi-exposure image nicely captures the liftoff and return of Starship SN8’s epic test flight:

Omg. Only image I had in my mind for SN8 & it worked perfectly!
Big thx to @Erdayastronaut, @SpacePadreIsle @considercosmos & @thejackbeyer for helping me make the trip to TX/a huge success🚀

⚙️/⬇️/🖼: https://t.co/VvOyEejkx0
2021 starship calendar: https://t.co/DTkCXERMvo pic.twitter.com/wMa9v0yYpq

— Trevor Mahlmann (@TrevorMahlmann) December 11, 2020

A view of SN8 from the landing pad:

Starship landing flip maneuver pic.twitter.com/QuD9HwZ9CX

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 10, 2020

An analysis by Scott Manley: SpaceX’s Biggest Starship Flight Is A Spectacular Success Even After Crash Landing

Articles and commentary about the test:

• From hops to hopes – Starship SN8 set to advance test program into the next phase – NASASpaceFlight.com
• On the Spectacular Flight of Starship SN8 and the Future of Starship Development – Main Engine Cut Off
• So, it turns out SpaceX is pretty good at rocketing | Ars Technica
• Fiery crash of SpaceX’s Starship rocket ignites dreams of future spaceflight – National Geographic
• Space advocacy organizations congratulate SpaceX – Space Development Network
• Starship contradictions – The Space Review
• Starship flies! – Behind the Black
• Starship: Old-fashioned American know-how – Behind the Black

Find more on SpaceX activities below

** Dec.16: Astra reaches space for first time but falls just short of orbit: The launch from the Alaskan spaceport sent the upper stage of the two-staged Rocket 3.2 to 390 kilometers in altitude and “just a half a kilometer per second short” of orbital velocity according to Astra CEO Chris Kemp. According to Eric Berger,

The company had not quite gotten the mixture of kerosene to oxidizer correct—something that is difficult to test on the ground—and wound up with an excess of liquid oxygen. Had the upper stage burnt kerosene for a few more seconds, the upper stage would have reached orbit. As it was, the booster peaked at an apogee of 390km above the Earth’s surface.

Kemp claimed this flight nevertheless exceeded the team’s expectations for the rocket, which did not have a payload on board.

A quick video recap of our 8.5-minute flight to space today! pic.twitter.com/gvElF4fbAZ

— Astra (@Astra) December 16, 2020

Kemp has said that it would take three launches before they achieved orbit. Last March, Rocket 3.0 was destroyed in a fire on the pad and, in September, Rocket 3.1 flew for 30 seconds before a guidance problem led to a shutdown of the engines and the loss of the vehicle. Rocket 3.3 is expected to fly early in 2021 and it will carry a payload for a customer.

The company’s goal is to offer very low cost access to orbit for small satellites. To achieve this they have sought a simple but robust rocket design that can be built at low cost. According to Astra,

Rapid test and iteration are the cornerstones of our development process. We’ve performed thousands of rocket engine tests at our headquarters in Alameda, a few hundred feet away from where those engines are designed and built. We can afford to experiment quickly and repeatedly because our rockets are far less expensive. The rockets are primarily constructed from lightweight aluminum, instead of costly composite and 3D printed materials.

Small crews for launch are also a part of the plan: Astra set up a rocket launch with five people and came within seconds of orbit | Ars Technica

Astra was founded to provide rapid, low-cost access to space for small satellites. The quick turnaround between its first and second flights suggests it may make good on this promise. It’s impressive, too, that the company needs just five people to set up its launch site. At Kodiak, Astra has a concrete pad and a tent. A week before launching the rocket, its launcher, propellant, and other equipment arrived in four shipping containers from California. A team of five set the launch system up, and employees back at Astra’s headquarters in Alameda, California, controlled the launch through cloud computing.

The company needs to prove in 2021 that it can build and operate rockets that not only get to orbit but do so reliably and frequently.

More at:

• Astra Rocket 3.2 reaches space after launch from Alaska – CNBC
• Astra succeeds in reaching space with Rocket 3.2 – NASASpaceFlight.com
• Astra narrowly misses reaching orbit on second launch – SpaceNews
• Rocket 3.2 Ready To Launch! | Astra
• Astra (@Astra) / Twitter

** Dec.15: Rocket Lab Electron rocket puts Synspective StriX-α synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite into a 500km circular orbit. This was the 17th Electron launch. There was no attempt to recover the first stage.

• Rocket Lab Successfully Launches 17th Electron Mission, Deploys SAR Satellite for Synspective | Rocket Lab
• Rocket Lab closes out year with launch of Synspective’s first radar satellite – Spaceflight Now
• The Owl’s Night Begins: Japan’s StriX-α satellite launches with Rocket Lab – NASASpaceFlight.com

** Dec. 12: Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo test flight aborted after avionics failure prevents engine ignition: Virgin Galactic Update on Test Flight Program – Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SPCE), a vertically integrated aerospace and space travel company, announced an update following its recent test flight on December 12, 2020. During the test flight, the rocket motor did not fire due to the ignition sequence not completing. Following this event, the pilots conducted a safe landing and return to Spaceport America, New Mexico as planned.

Virgin Galactic is now conducting post-flight analysis and can so far report that the onboard computer which monitors the propulsion system lost connection, triggering a fail-safe scenario that intentionally halted ignition of the rocket motor. This system, like others on the spaceship, is designed such that it defaults to a safe state whenever power or communication with sensors is lost. The pilots in the spaceship, as well as the engineers and pilots in mission control, are well prepared for any off-nominal results, as they plan and rehearse many potential scenarios during pre-flight simulation practice sessions, including a scenario where the rocket motor does not ignite after release from the mothership.

More at:

• Virgin Galactic pilots land safely after aborting suborbital flight – Spaceflight Now
• VSS Unity aborts after engine start, safely lands with crew back at Spaceport America – NASASpaceFlight.com
• Virgin Galactic aborts SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceflight – SpaceNews

Continue reading Space transport roundup – Dec.16.2020 →

A sampling of recent articles, videos, and images dealing with space transport (find previous roundups here):

** SpaceX set to launch Starship prototype SN8 to 15 km following successful static firing of its three Raptor engines on Nov. 24th. The company currently has a FAA permit for a flight during a 3 day window opening on Dec. 4th. (There are local restrictions on closing access to the beach on weekends so the window may effectively be 1 day long.) A wet dress rehearsal took place on Wed. Dec. 2nd. Elon Musk had indicated that there would be another static firing before the flight but it looks like they may skip this.

[ Update: The flight has been postponed till Monday Dec. 7th at the earliest. Also, the max altitude will be 12.5 km rather than 15 km.]

• It’s happening: Starship may fly to 15km as early as Friday | Ars Technica
• SpaceX plans for Starship test flight next week, which Elon Musk gives 1-in-3 odds of landing intact – CNBC
• Starship SN8 successfully completes final testing ahead of flight – NASASpaceFlight.com

Find more about this and other SpaceX activities below

** Arianespace launches Soyuz with reconnaissance satellite for UAE on Dec.1st from the spaceport in French Guiana: Flight VS24: Soyuz lifts off from the Spaceport in French Guiana – Arianespace

On Tuesday, December 1, at 10:33 p.m. (local time), Arianespace successfully launched the FalconEye optical observation satellite using a Soyuz rocket from the Guiana Space Center (CSG), Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. FalconEye is a very-high-performance optical Earth observation satellite developed in a consortium led by Airbus Defence and Space and Thales Alenia Space for the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces (UAEAF).

See also Soyuz rocket launches Emirati military satellite after lengthy delay – Spaceflight Now.

Continue reading Space transport roundup – Dec.3.2020 →