The Miami Herald reports that after “running through a successful test fire this month, SpaceX is set to fly its massive Starship and Super Heavy rocket, and is just waiting on the Federal Aviation Administration for the green light, according to one company official.” The company said the static fire test in which 31 of the rocket’s 33 engines performed as expected was the first and only necessary step towards an orbital test flight.
Full Story (Miami Herald)
Tag: Starship
New Rockets Set to Launch in 2023
NBC News reported that “a slate of new rockets look to make their debut” in 2023 and that “few rockets attract the kind of curiosity and awe that SpaceX’s behemoth Starship does.” Standing at a “towering 394 feet (with a 164-foot-tall spacecraft also known as Starship attached), the fully stacked launch vehicle is taller than NASA’s retired Saturn V rocket that was used during the Apollo moon program, as well as the agency’s new Space Launch System.” The next-generation rocket “is designed for missions to the moon and eventually Mars.” The huge booster “will play an important role in NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the moon and establish bases on the lunar surface.” If successful, the rocket “will not only pave the way for more regular flights to the moon but will also lower the cost of such journeys.” Laura Forczyk, executive director of Astralytical, an Atlanta space consulting firm, said, “Starship has the opportunity to really revolutionize the way that we do space transportation, so it’s a big deal.” Starship is expected “to launch on its first uncrewed orbital flight this year, though no specific date has been announced by SpaceX.” Last month, the company “said it had completed a ‘wet dress rehearsal,’ which involved fully fueling the rocket with 10 million pounds of propellant, as would be done prior to liftoff.”
Full Story (NBC News)
Investing in Space in 2023
In an analysis of the coming year in space investments on the CNBC website, Michael Sheetz writes that after ending “on a bit of a downer (‘A year to forget for space stocks’), I’m entering 2023 with what feels like contrarian optimism.” The space industry “is chock full of opportunities and milestones to look forward to over the next twelve months, as the market for 21st century space companies continues to evolve and mature.” Sheetz lists the top three space businesses he’s watching out for – Project Kuiper, Starship, and “SPACs” – as a group, citing the industry’s potential for investment breakout across the board.
Full Story (CNBC)
Starship Award Part of $4 Billion in NASA Flights
CNBC reports that right before Artemis I lifted off from Cape Canaveral, “NASA announced an additional Starship award under the lunar Artemis program. SpaceX is now on tap for about $4 billion worth of Starship flights for NASA – an uncrewed demonstration mission and the two crewed landings during Artemis 3 and 4 – and it’s clearly crunch time for the company.” SpaceX still has a ways to go, however, with the Federal Aviation Administration saying that the company still needs to provide the regulatory agency with more information on the “environmental mitigations that the regulator outlined in June.”
Full Story (CNBC)
Starship, SLS Could Supercharge Space Science
Scientific American reports that NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS)’s massive size “could ultimately be a boon for scientists seeking to send larger, more ambitious spacecraft and telescopes throughout the solar system – and even beyond.” The article also reports that SpaceX’s Starship is even more promising. Southwest Research Institute’s Alan Stern said, “Starship holds the promise of transforming the solar system in a way we can’t really appreciate. It completely changes the game.” Stern noted about the SLS and Starship, “These rockets can enable whole new classes of missions – to all the giant planets and the Kuiper belt objects, to the ocean world satellites and the dwarf planets of the solar system.”
Full Story (Scientific American)
Musk Criticizes FAA After Cancellation of SpaceX’s Starship Test Flight Thursday
The Washington Post reports that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk criticized the FAA after the agency canceled the launch of SpaceX’s Starship test flight Thursday. Musk wrote in a tweet, “Unlike its aircraft division, which is fine, the FAA space division has a fundamentally broken regulatory structure. … Their rules are meant for a handful of expendable launches per year from a few government facilities. Under those rules, humanity will never get to Mars.” On Thursday, the FAA said in a statement to the Post, “We will continue working with SpaceX to resolve outstanding safety issues before we approve the next test flight.”
Full Story (The Washington Post)
SpaceX Conducts First High-Altitude Test Flight of Starship SN8 Prototype, Which Explodes Upon Landing
Space News reports that on Wednesday, SpaceX conducted a test flight of its Starship SN8 prototype, which lifted off at 5:45 p.m. EST from Boca Chica, Texas, with the intention of achieving an altitude of 12.5 km. SpaceX “did not immediately provide information on the actual altitude that the vehicle reached.” One “of the three Raptor engines in the base of the vehicle shut down 1 minute and 40 seconds after liftoff, briefly igniting equipment in the engine bay. A second engine shut down 3 minutes and 15 seconds after liftoff.” The “last engine shut down 4 minutes and 40 seconds after liftoff, at which point the vehicle began to descend.” At “6 minutes and 32 seconds after liftoff, Starship reignited its engines and reoriented to the vertical to attempt a powered landing. However, the vehicle appeared to be going too fast and made a hard landing 10 seconds later, exploding.”
Full Story (Space News)