Spaceflight Now reports that Europe’s last Ariane 5 rocket “is now scheduled to lift off July 4 after being grounded for more than two weeks due to a problem with the pyrotechnic systems required to jettison the launcher’s strap-on solid rocket boosters.” Europe’s workhorse rocket “is being retired after 27 years of service.” The Ariane 5 was originally “scheduled to fly on June 16, but officials from Arianespace, the rocket’s commercial operator, announced on the eve of launch that they were delaying the mission to replace pyrotechnic transmission lines on the vehicle.” The suspect systems “identified fire explosive charges that jettison one of the two solid rocket boosters two minutes into flight, then to activate the ‘distancing’ system, which uses small thrusters on the boosters to ensure the spent casings safely fly clear of the Ariane 5’s core stage as it continues its climb to orbit.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
Tag: launch
SpaceX to Launch Euclid Dark Energy Probe
SPACE reported that Euclid, a dark matter and dark energy hunter, is “scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on July 1 at 11:11 a.m. EDT (1511 GMT).” Euclid aims to “map the extent and influence of the dark universe to a sharper degree than ever before, with numerous implications: how the universe grew in its early days, how galaxies come together, and why the expansion of the universe is accelerating.” Euclid Project Scientist René Laureijs said, “Dark energy and dark matter reveal themselves by the fairly subtle changes they make to the appearance of objects in the visible universe; otherwise we don’t know about them.”
Full Story (SPACE)
Terran, Safran to Partner on Satellite Propulsion
Space News reports that satellite manufacturer Terran Orbital “has signed an agreement with French aerospace giant Safran to explore U.S.-based production of satellite propulsion systems, the companies announced June 23.” Under the agreement, Safran Electronics & Defense and Terran Orbital “will investigate opportunities and prerequisites for the production of electric propulsion systems for satellites based on Safran’s PPSX00 plasma thruster.” The PPSX00 “is a hall effect plasma thruster, recently introduced by Safran for the low Earth orbit satellite market.” Safran said, “Plasma propulsion has become the go-to solution for satellite positioning, orbital transfer and stationkeeping, because it offers significant weight savings over conventional chemical propulsion.”
Full Story (Space News)
ULA’s Delta 4 Heavy Launches NRO Satellite
Space News reports that United Launch Alliance “launched a classified National Reconnaissance Office spy satellite on a Delta 4 Heavy rocket June 22 at 5:18 a.m. Eastern from Space Launch Complex-37 (SLC-37) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida.” It was ULA’s second attempt “of this launch that had been previously scheduled for June 21 but was delayed, the company said, ‘due to an issue with a ground systems pneumatic valve.’” About four minutes into flight, “the outer boosters of the three-core Delta 4 Heavy separated.” The second stage “separated about two minutes later.” This mission was “ULA’s first launch of 2023.” The company in May 2019 “received a U.S. Air Force contract to launch NROL-68.” The Delta 4 Heavy configuration “first launched in December 2004.” Each of the Delta 4 Heavy’s common booster cores “is powered by Aerojet [Rocketdyne’s] RS-68A main engines.” The Delta cryogenic second stage “is powered by an RL10C-2-1 engine.”
Full Story (Space News)
SpaceX Launches Starlink Satellites, Scrubs Second Mission Planned for Sunday
Florida Today reports that SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 on Sunday morning from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The Falcon 9 rocket carried 22 Starlink satellites into orbit. The company now has over 4,500 Starlink satellites orbiting Earth. The second of two planned launches was scrubbed due to weather. After the scrub of Sunday’s second launch, NASA and SpaceX teams “re-targeted 11:47 a.m. EDT Monday, June 5, for the next mission carrying cargo to the International Space Station.”
Full Story (Florida Today)
Video
Starlink Mission
On Sunday, June 4, at 8:20 a.m. ET, a SpaceX Falcon 9 launched 22 second-generation Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
(SpaceX; YouTube)
North Korea Spy Satellite Launch Fails
The AP reports, “North Korea’s attempt to put its first spy satellite into space failed Wednesday in a setback to leader Kim Jong Un’s push to boost his military capabilities as tensions with the United States and South Korea rise.” The AP adds, “After an unusually quick admission of failure, North Korea vowed to conduct a second launch after it learns what went wrong.” The AP goes on to report that the South Korean military “said it was salvaging an object presumed to be part of the crashed North Korean rocket in waters 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of the southwestern island of Eocheongdo. Later, the Defense Ministry released photos of a white, metal cylinder it described as a suspected rocket part.”
Full Story (Associated Press)
NASA, Boeing Still Working Towards July Starliner Launch
Space News reported that NASA and The Boeing Company say they are “still working towards a July launch of the CST-100 Starliner on a crewed test flight despite ‘emerging issues’ and concerns raised by a safety panel.” The two organizations say they have completed a “checkpoint review” for preparations for the Crew Flight Test missions, which is scheduled for no earlier than July 21. Two NASA astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, “will fly on CFT to the International Space Station on the short test flight, the first crewed flight of the spacecraft.”
Full Story (Space News)
AIAA Statement on the Axiom Mission (AX-2) Launch
May 21, 2023 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Executive Director Dan Dumbacher made the following statement:
“On behalf of the 30,000 professional and student members of AIAA, we congratulate the entire Axiom team on its successful AX-2 launch onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. We applaud this private mission to the International Space Station (ISS), showing how NASA and private industry are working together to extend the human neighborhood into low Earth orbit in meaningful ways.
In addition to expanding commercial research opportunities in the ISS orbiting laboratory, the AX-2 mission adds more names to the growing list of astronauts due to commercial space activity. We are seeing a new breed of explorer emerge in low Earth orbit – from a retired NASA astronaut returning to space like Commander Peggy Whitson, to adventurer and Pilot John Shoffner, to two crewmembers from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We are encouraged to see the space economy growing, as these explorers and innovators work to improve life on Earth and accelerate our off-world future. We look forward to following their progress.
We recognize the countless aerospace industry professionals involved in making this mission a success. We salute Axiom, NASA, and SpaceX, and their entire team, for helping shape the future of aerospace.”
Media Contact: Rebecca B. Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell
About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, and follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
SpaceX Launches 22 Next-Generation Starlink Satellites
UPI reports that SpaceX successfully “launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying nearly two dozen satellites for its Starlink Internet mission into space early Friday.” The rocket’s payload included 22 second-generation mini Starlink satellites and was “launched at 2:31 a.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 40 at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.” The launch comes “after the mission suffered two previous delays, according to Spaceflight Now, with its first launch scheduled in April and it second for Thursday.”
Full Story (UPI)
Video
Starlink Mission
Friday, May 19 at 12:41 a.m. ET, a SpaceX Falcon 9 launched 22 second-generation Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
(SpaceX; YouTube)
SpaceX Launches Starlink Mission, Recovers Booster Successfully for 191st Time
UPI reports that on Sunday morning, SpaceX “successfully deployed another batch of Starlink satellites into space and successfully landed its first-stage booster.” The Falcon 9 rocket “lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station just after midnight.” The first-stage booster then “returned to Earth and landed on the drone ship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean about eight minutes after takeoff.” It marked SpaceX’s 191st successful “landing of the first stage, including Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy missions.”
Full Story (UPI)
Video
Starlink Mission
A SpaceX Falcon 9 launches 56 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit Sunday, May 14 at 1:03 a.m. ET, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
(SpaceX; YouTube)