Aviation Week reports that the number “of orbital launch attempts last year rose by 20% over 2022, with 223 flights attempted and 212 reaching orbit, according to statistics compiled by Jonathan McDowell, a Harvard-Smithsonian Center astrophysicist who maintains a database of worldwide astronautical activity.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Tag: Starship
SpaceX Test Fires Starship Booster Rocket
SPACE reported that SpaceX “closed out 2023 with a fiery double test of its next Starship megarocket booster and spacecraft…, sharing some stunning videos of both vehicles in the process.” The dual test of engines “on the giant Starship and Super Heavy rocket stages at SpaceX’s Starbase proving ground in Boca Chica, Texas on Friday comes as the company prepares for its third Starship launch test, which is expected in early 2024.” The test, which “lasted about 10 seconds, successfully fired all 33 Raptor engines on the Super Heavy booster, which serves as the first stage of the Starship rocket, the world’s largest and most powerful booster.” SpaceX “confirmed the successful test of the Super Heavy Booster 10, as well as a separate test of one Raptor engine on the Starship Ship 28 that will ride atop Super Heavy Booster 10 during the upcoming test flight.” That Starship test “was aimed at demonstrating the Raptor engine’s restart capabilities in space, the company said.”
Full Story (SPACE)
SpaceX’s Next Starship Flight Expected to Include Propellant Transfer Demonstration for NASA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CNBC reports, “SpaceX could attempt a key demonstration for NASA during the third test flight of its towering Starship rocket.” According to a NASA official, “the next Starship flight is expected to include ‘a propellant transfer demonstration,’ though an agency spokesperson noted Tuesday the plan is subject to change, as is often the case in the space industry.” NASA spokesperson Jimi Russell said in a statement, “NASA and SpaceX are reviewing options for the demonstration to take place during an integrated flight test of Starship and the Super Heavy rocket. However, no final decisions on timing have been made.”
Full Story (CNBC)
Starship’s Second Launch Spread Less Debris Than its First
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Bloomberg reports that SpaceX’s second test flight “of its massive deep-space Starship rocket spread significantly less debris around the surrounding area than the vehicle’s first flight in April, though the crowds who flocked to the launch site had their own impact on the nearby terrain.” The US Fish and Wildlife Service “conducted an assessment of the Boca Chica, Texas, area after Starship’s launch, which took place from SpaceX’s Starbase launch facility in South Texas on Nov. 18.” The flight “achieved significantly more milestones than the first launch, including keeping the area much cleaner.”
Full Story (Bloomberg)
AIAA Statement on SpaceX Starship Test Flight
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 18, 2023 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) issued the following statement from AIAA Executive Director Dan Dumbacher:
“Congratulations to the SpaceX team on today’s test flight of Starship from Starbase, Texas. It is exciting to witness a new launch vehicle achieving so many of its test objectives toward reaching orbit. The art and science of engineering requires testing and taking risks to understand the limits of systems and where designs should be improved. This test flight is a valuable learning experience, especially around the performance of its boosters. We look forward to seeing the team’s progress toward enhancing this new space launch capability and flying again.
With Starship, SpaceX is taking a step toward humans living and working off our planet. Flight tests, taking risks, and pushing new technologies that are still in development will lead to this future.
We are excited to see commercial space launch companies advancing technology in the cislunar ecosystem and pushing on to Mars. Expanding the boundaries leads to success.
AIAA recognizes the countless industry professionals who have helped design, build, and test Starship. We applaud AIAA Corporate Member SpaceX for taking this step forward in shaping the future of aerospace.”
AIAA 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, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
Future Space Missions Are Being Designed to Take Advantage of New Generation of Very Large Launch Vehicles
The Space Review reported on future space missions being designed “to take advantage of a new generation of very large launch vehicles” that will “offer greater mass and volume” at lower prices. SpaceX’s Starship and Blue Origin’s New Glenn have been considered as possible options for several NASA missions. NASA’s expensive Space Launch System has also been examined for future missions, although it will only be used for Artemis missions through the late 2020s. Panelists at the ASCEND space event “argued that science missions were needed to increase the SLS flight rate and make that vehicle more sustainable.”
Full Story (The Space Review)
SpaceX’s Starship Faces US Review on Path to Launch Resumption
Bloomberg reports that the US Fish and Wildlife Service “initiated a formal review of the upgrades SpaceX has made to its Starship launch system, one of the final regulatory steps before flights can resume following its explosive April debut.” The agency “said in an emailed statement Thursday that it initiated the review – a consultation under the Endangered Species Act – with the Federal Aviation Administration on Oct. 19.” The FWS now “has as long as 135 days to create an updated biological opinion about how Starship and its launches impact the local environment, however the agency does not ‘expect to take the full amount of time,’ a representative said in the statement.”
Full Story (Bloomberg)
Musk Says SpaceX Plans to Launch Starship Again in Six to Eight Weeks
SPACE reports that Elon Musk announced Tuesday on Twitter that the SpaceX is shooting for another liftoff of Starship six to eight weeks from now. That timeline “may be ambitious, however, given the amount of prep work required ahead of the second flight.” For example, the liftoff “damaged Starbase’s orbital launch mount, blasting out a big crater beneath it and sending chunks of concrete flying, along with a huge cloud of dust and other debris.” SpaceX has been “developing and testing a water-cooled steel plate that will sit beneath the mount and prevent a recurrence of this problem, Musk said recently.” The company could also face some regulatory hurdles in a “coalition of environmental groups [that] is currently suing the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the body that issued Starship’s launch license, saying the agency didn’t properly assess the potential damage that the giant vehicle could inflict on the South Texas ecosystem and the human communities around Starbase.”
Full Story (SPACE)
SpaceX Hoping Steel Plates Prevent Launchpad Explosion
Bloomberg reports that before SpaceX “can try again to send its massive Starship rocket into orbit, the company needs to repair and renovate its badly damaged launch site in southern Texas.” It is unknown if the design choices will be enough to prevent future damage to the launch site after the April 20 liftoff damaged the launchpad’s structure and sent “chunks of sand, concrete and steel thousands of feet into the sky and setting fire to a nearby park.”
Full Story (Bloomberg – subscription publication)
SpaceX Plans Starship Launch as Early as Monday
The Orlando Sentinel reports that SpaceX doesn’t plan a launch pad run-through for its Starship and Super Heavy rocket, which has a target date of April 17 for its suborbital test launch from Boca Chica, Texas, although the company has yet to receive FAA approval. Under the flight plan, the booster will launch east over the Gulf of Mexico, separate, and make a water, while “Starship will then progress on a suborbital path around more than 2/3 of the planet before also attempting a water landing near Hawaii.”
Full Story (Orlando Sentinel)