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This year was an amazing year in spaceflight. To even say that is an understatement. We saw diversity in spaceflight that shook up the industry. From rovers, moon, and explosions, we seem to have had it all this year! This year also saw a boost in small sat launchers entering the market including Astra, Firefly, and ABL Space Systems.
This is a LONG article, so use these links to jump to a particular point in the article:
James Webb - A Long Time Coming
Author: Chad (@LP_MediaGroup)
What does a long line and a space telescope have in common? The longest wait of your life. A Christmas day launch on December 25th, 2021, finally ended the agonizing 18–20-year development-to-launch cycle.
With the telescope finally reaching its final home at the L2 Lagrange Point, this beast unfolds its 400+ mechanized points (or failure points if your pessimistic about it). This process took a grueling two weeks to complete. Imagine the all the clenched teeth in the room shattering! Did this unfolding go without an issue? According to NASA, no there was an issue with one of the mirror panels. This did not stop the 10-billion-dollar observatory from delivering solid data. One of the highlights was the deep field view image the telescope captured. The galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, was captured using the area of just a small grain of sand. Holy sand!
China Space Station - Yes There Is Another Space Station!
Author: Thomas (@FutureAstroSite)
A big part of 2022 in spaceflight was the insanely quick completion of Chinese Space Station Tiangong which began construction in 2021. It is a medium size space station similar to the Russian Mir space station that was used before the ISS. China also had its first crew rotation with the Shenzhou spacecraft flying to Tiangong.
Firefly
After a failure in 2021, Firefly Aerospace successfully reached orbit for the first time with their Alpha rocket in September. Read about it in Future Astronaut's article about it:
https://starshipsls.wixsite.com/futureastronaut/post/firefly-to-attempt-orbit-with-to-the-black
Mars Missions
Author: Lane Breckenridge (@DLaneBreckenri1)
Insight
The InSight mission has concluded after the solar-powered lander ran out of energy following more than four years on the Red Planet. On Dec. 11, 2022, InSight snapped one of its last pictures, a “selfie” of its seismometer as deployed on Martian surface. After Dec. 15, 2022, InSight fell silent, and NASA has been unable to communicate with the lander. Even though the mission has been declared over, NASA will continue to listen for a signal from the lander, just in case. The last time InSight communicated with Earth was Dec. 15. The lander data has yielded details about Mars’ interior layers, the surprisingly strong remnants beneath the surface of its extinct magma and magnetic dynamo and lots of quake activity. Like the seismometers that astronauts deployed on the lunar surface to study the interior of the moon, InSight was deployed to study the deep interior of Mars. Over its mission, InSight’s highly sensitive seismometer, detected 1,319 marsquakes, including quakes caused by meteoroid impacts, the largest of which was late last year. Last Christmas Eve (2021), the InSight lander recorded a magnitude 4 marsquake. Scientists learned only later the cause of that quake on Feb. 11, 2022, by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), when it spotted a spotted a fresh crater. These observations correlated with the seismic epicenter, conclusively demonstrating that a meteoroid impact caused the large Dec. 24 marsquake. This meteoroid strike estimated to be one of the biggest seen on Mars since NASA began exploring the cosmos. The meteoroid excavated boulder-size chunks of ice buried closer to the Martian equator than ever found before. A discovery with implications for when astronauts venture to the Red Planet. Subsurface ice will be a vital resource for astronauts, who could use it for a variety of needs, including drinking water, agriculture, and rocket propellant. Buried ice has never been spotted this close to the Martian equator, which, as the warmest part of Mars, is an appealing location for astronauts. The meteoroid is estimated to have spanned 16 to 39 feet (5 to 12 meters) – small enough that it would have burned up in Earth’s atmosphere, but not in Mars’ thin atmosphere. The impact, in a region called Amazonis Planitia, blasted a crater roughly 492 feet (150 meters) across and 70 feet (21 meters) deep. Some of the ejecta thrown by the impact flew as far as 23 miles (37 kilometers) away. On May 4, InSight detected the largest quake ever observed on another planet: an estimated magnitude 5 temblor. Such impacts help scientists determine the age of the planet’s surface, and data from InSight provided scientists a way to study the planet’s crust, mantle, and core. “We’ve thought of InSight as our friend and colleague on Mars for the past four years, so it’s hard to say goodbye,” said Bruce Banerdt of JPL, the mission’s principal investigator, “but it has earned its richly deserved retirement."
Perseverance
The Perseverance rover deposited a titanium tube containing a rock sample on the Martian surface on Dec. 21. Over the next two months, the rover will deposit a total of 10 tubes building humanity’s first sample depot on another planet. The depot marks a historic early step in the Mars Sample Return campaign. Perseverance has been taking duplicate samples from rock targets the mission selects. The rover currently has the other 17 samples (including one atmospheric sample) taken so far in its belly. Subsequent NASA missions would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. Based on the architecture of the Mars Sample Return campaign, the rover might deliver samples to a future robotic lander. The lander would, in turn, use a robotic arm to place the samples in a containment capsule aboard a small rocket that would blast off to Mars orbit, where another spacecraft would capture the container and return it safely to Earth. Alternatively, a pair of Sample Recovery Helicopters might be called upon to complete the Mars Sample Return campaign. The helicopters would be engineered using the knowledge gained from the Ingenuity demonstration helicopter currently operating on Mars. The first sample to drop was a chalk-size core of igneous rock, which was collected on Jan. 31 from the Jezero Crater. Perseverance’s complex Sampling and Caching System took almost an hour to retrieve the metal tube from inside the rover’s belly, view it one last time, and drop the sample onto a carefully selected patch of Martian surface. A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will study the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for astronauts exploring the Red Planet.
Ingenuity
The Ingenuity helicopter weathered its first winter on Mars and continued its operations demonstration phase after thawing out with 19 successful flights in 2022, with a flight pending at the time of writing this article. Its imagery is being used to support the Perseverance rover’s exploration of Jezero Crater. The science team is finding pictures from an aerial perspective beneficial helping assess what geologic features and locations are worthy of exploration, and rover planners are using the same to map out safe routes to get there. One of this year’s flights was record-breaking: On Apr. 8, 2022, Ingenuity covered a distance of 2,310 feet (704 meters or just under ½ mile) at a speed of 12 mph (5.5 meters per second) at a height of 33 feet (10 meters). “For our record-breaking flight, Ingenuity’s downward-looking navigation camera provided us with a breathtaking sense of what it would feel like gliding 33 feet above the surface of Mars at 12 miles per hour,” said Ingenuity team lead Teddy Tzanetos of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Ingenuity’s flights are autonomous. The engineers at JPL plan the flights and send commands to the Perseverance Mars rover, which then relays those commands to the helicopter. During a flight, onboard sensors provide real-time data to Ingenuity’s navigation processor and main flight computer, which guide the helicopter in flight. This enables Ingenuity to react to the landscape while carrying out its flight. For the future, Ingenuity is exploring how aerial scouting and other functions could benefit future exploration of Mars and beyond. The data from these flights is also being used to help decide whether to use small helicopters as full standalone science craft carrying instrument payloads. For all “Future Astronauts”, Mars helicopters will likely become a mode of local model of transportation as astronauts explore and settle the Red Planet.
Other Mars Spacecraft
On Aug. 5, 2022, NASA’s JPL Curiosity Mars rover marked its 10th year on the Red Planet and continues its science mission. In one of its significant accomplishments, the rover completed the first successful drill into a “sulfate-bearing unit” in a region of Mount Sharp enriched with salty minerals. Scientists hypothesize that billions of years ago, streams, and ponds left behind the minerals as the water dried up. Assuming the hypothesis is correct, these minerals offer tantalizing clues as to how and why the Martian climate changed from being more Earth-like to the frozen desert it is today. On Aug. 27, 2022, an active region on the Sun produced a series of solar flares, which are intense bursts of radiation, destined for Mars. The flare activity was accompanied by a coronal mass ejection (CME) and this CME impacted Mars a few days later. And, NASA’s MAVEN orbiter was ready. MAVEN observed its brightest solar energetic particle (SEP) event. By utilizing space weather models of CME propagation, we determined when the structure would arrive and impact Mars, the MAVEN team was able to anticipate some exciting disturbances in Mars’ atmosphere from the impacts of the interplanetary CME and the associated SEPs. Particles unleashed by the solar storm bombarded Mars’ atmosphere, causing bright auroras at ultraviolet wavelengths. MAVEN’s Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) instrument observed two types: diffuse aurora and proton aurora. During the past Martian winter, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter peers through cloud cover using its Mars Climate Sounder instrument to observe snowfall on Mars. Martian snow comes in two varieties: water ice and carbon dioxide, or dry ice. Because Martian air is so thin and the temperatures so cold, water-ice snow sublimates, or becomes a gas, before it even touches the ground. Dry-ice snow actually does reach the ground. Snow occurs only at the coldest extremes of Mars: at the poles, under cloud cover, and at night. However, Cameras on orbiting spacecraft can’t see through those clouds, and as a result, no images of falling snow have ever been captured. Similarly, NASA’s Odyssey orbiter has observed frost forming and sublimating away in the morning Sun. Water and carbon dioxide can each form frost on Mars, and both types of frost appear far more widely across the planet than snow does. Perhaps the most fabulous discovery comes at the end of winter, when all the frost and ice begins to “thaw” and sublimate into the atmosphere. As it does so, this ice takes on bizarre and beautiful shapes. This “thawing” also causes geysers to erupt on Mars: ice allows sunlight to heat up gas underneath it, and that gas eventually bursts out, sending fans of dust onto the surface. Scientists have begun to study these fans as a way to learn more about which way Martian winds are blowing. CNSA’s Zhurong rover has peered deep under the surface of Mars, finding evidence of two major floods that probably shaped the Utopia Planitia, a vast plains in Mar’s northern hemisphere, the robot has been exploring since it landed in May 2021. Some scientists have theorized that water or ice was once a feature of the landscape. Observations from space have identified sedimentary deposits that suggest the region was once an ancient ocean or submerged by huge floods, and geological features, such as pitted cones, resemble structures formed by water or ice. In May, researchers analyzed infrared images of the landing site taken by CNSA’s Mars orbiter, Tianwen-1, and found hydrated minerals that could have formed when groundwater rose through the rock or ice melted. The Emirates Mars Mission Hope Probe is tasked to provide the first ever complete picture of the Martian atmosphere. This includes observing Martian dust storms and magnetic auroras.
Falcon Heavy Returns!
Author : Thomas
After a three-year hiatus, SpaceX launched a Falcon Heavy in October. Learn about it here: https://starshipsls.wixsite.com/futureastronaut/post/three-years-ago-three-boosters-ago
The Elephant in the Room - Artemis I
Author (guest): David Willis (@ThePrimalDino)
At 1:47 AM Eastern Standard time on November 16th, 2022, over a decade of hard work came to fruition. Four RS-25 engines light up on NASA’s launch Pad 39B waiting just moments for the twin 5 segment Solid Rocket boosters to follow suit. The Space Launch System was alive, breathing its first breaths of fire on the launch pad. The Solid Rocket Boosters then ignited,lofting the 5.8-million-pound vehicle off the pad and towards the sky with a tremendous roar, thelikes of which have never been seen or felt before on this planet. A total of 8.8 million pounds of combine thrust pushed the vehicle uphill. Faster and faster, gaining speed the whole while. NASA’s first new rocket in over a decade was heading to space. But it wasn’t always so certain that NASA would ever get to this point. In fact, just over 10 years ago, it was doubtful a NASA vehicle would ever leave the launch pad again... Flashback to the late 2010s. NASA is struggling. Their flagship human spaceflight program, Constellation, is faltering badly. Suffering from the ever-increasing demands of the spacecraft they were trying to develop, in addition to the billions and billions of dollars over budget that the program continued to grow each and every year, NASA was fighting an uphill battle with the most ambitious program they had seen since the Apollo era. And all the while trying to juggle the space shuttle and ISS programs as well. Unfortunately, this balancing act, which was never really balanced at all, would come crashing down. The ever-increasing size of the Orion Spacecraft forced ever more insane design changes to the Ares 1, and the ever-increasing size of the Ares V led to ever more insane changes to the budget of the Constellation Program. This did not last. in the year 2010 the Obama administration did not request any funding for the constellation program. Effectively canceling it outright, and instead sourcing out crew and cargo missions to commercial providers. This right here could have possibly been the definitive end of NASA’s Human Spaceflight program. Following the same steps as Apollo, but with none of the drive or budget tosupport it, NASA could no longer have their own home-grown system, and instead, sourcedeverything out to commercial providers. But this was not to be the case,because NASA had onevery powerful ally in their corner. The United States congress.The united states congress, and specifically some very influential senators andrepresentatives did not like the idea of NASA stepping out of the human spaceflight gamecompletely and would not fund the Obama administration’s plan for a completely commercialfuture for NASA. So, they struck a deal. The Obama Administration would get their Commercial Providers, but only if congress got to keep the Orion Spacecraft, and importantly, got their veryown rocket for NASA to develop. This deal was appealing to all parties involved and was ratified into law as the NASA Authorization act of 2010. With this new course set, NASA got straight to work developing their brand-new Space Launch System rocket. What exactly this rocket was supposed to be wasn’t really defined in the authorization act, but it had to do one really important thing. It needed to send the Orion Spacecraft to the Moon. For this task NASA solicited and looked at several different designs for what this new Space Launch System would potentially be, and eventually they settled on a design that was quite similar to a project that had been in the works since 2006 called Jupiter-DIRECT. Jupiter DIRECT was a plan that proposed taking as much existing shuttle components and infrastructure as possible and optimizing it for an assortment of different missions. NASA’s SLS would be most similar to a stretched version of the Jupiter Rocket and would be optimizedfor sending payloads to the Moon. With a design settled NASA spent the next several years building out hardware andtesting different systems on both Orion and SLS. Orion even went to orbit for the very first time towards the end of the year 2014, on top of a Delta IV H Heavy rocket for the Exploration Flight Test One. Additionally, since SLS was using rocket components directly off of the space shuttle, many pieces of its hardware were ready for flight at or before the year 2017, such as the RS-25and RL10 engines, as well as the Solid rocket boosters, Interim cryogenic propulsion stage, and Orion stage adapter. In fact, most hardware was indeed ready for flight by the year 2017, except for one very crucial part. The one part of the rocket that had little to no heritage at all with anything built before or since. The single largest rocket stage NASA has ever attempted todevelop, the SLS core stage. There are many reasons why the SLS core stage took so long to finally get going, issues with friction stir welders, delays due to damaged hardware for test articles, even a tornado at one point ripped through NASA’s Michoud assembly facility causing immense damage and delays to the program, but throughout it all NASA and the SLS team persevered and at the beginning of2020 NASA rolled out of Michoud, for the first time since the age of Apollo, a brand new Rocket stage. The SLS core stage had officially been completed. But while SLS was finished, it was still well over 2 years away from actually launching, this was because in order to validate rocket for flight, it would need to take a quick detour to NASA’s Stennis space center in Mississippi for a test campaign and static fire. This “quick” detour turned out to be more than a year long endeavor. As many may know, in the year 2020a pandemic struck the world at large. A new virus had been making the rounds that was significantly more dangerous than others that had come before it. This was the Covid-19virus, and even the mighty SLS rocket was stopped in its tracks. What was initially supposed to be a 6-month long test turned out to be well over a year in length due to the covid 19 virus as well as several hurricanes and weather accidents. In fact, SLS had to attempt to static fire two separate times due to the first attempt being cut short. However, SLS persevered and eventually fired up its engines for 8 solid minutes and, when finished, finally headed towards the Kennedy Space Center where it was stacked up, rolled out for testing, and could finally attempt to launch. Attempt being the key word as the first two tries, it was unable to make it to liftoff. However, that third try, that was unbelievably successful. This now brings us to today. SLS has finally launched and according to NASA Artemis I has been a nearly perfect success story. Most rockets have at least a few issues on their inaugural flights. SLS has had zero. From RS-25 ignition all the way up to ICPS separation not a single thing went wrong during the first ever flight of the SLS rocket. In fact, SLS was able to get the Orion spacecraft all the way to the moon as intended. The Orion spacecraft went up towards the Moon, entered into a distant retrograde orbit, swung back by the moon, and splashed down completing its mission, which, just as with SLS, has been incredibly successful. For the past 10 years NASA has been working tirelessly to construct the most powerful rocket they’ve ever worked on. Through tragedy and triumph, they have persevered and never once gave up on their goal of returning to the Moon. Admittedly it looked rough during the late part of the Constellation program, and the early part of the SLS program, but now with this first mission (almost) under their belt, it is safe to say that NASA is back in the front seat of human exploration, ready to pioneer the next era of human spaceflight. And SLS and Orion will be the vehicle that takes us into that bold new era.
SpaceX’s Starship program in 2022 – a month by month summary
Author: Funitel (@Funitel1) (Funitel has an amazing wiki detailing everything Starship! Check it out at www.starship-spacex.fandom.com
January
At Starbase, the year began with extensive testing of the Chopsticks, at times even with water bags simulating the weight. Also, the booster and ship disconnect, as well as the Raptor disconnect on the orbital launch mount underwent testing. Meanwhile, construction work for the new “wide bay”, sometimes also called “mega bay”, progressed swiftly. The test tank GSE 4 was tested to failure and work on Booster 7 and Ship 24 continued. A cargo door pathfinder was spotted. At the McGregor test site, a Raptor 2 engine was sighted for the first time. Tests with the new generation engine, which already routinely operated at 300 bar chamber pressure, started this month.
The first Falcon-9 launch of the new year was a Starlink launch from Kennedy Space Centre LC-39A on January 6th. This was followed by the Transporter-3 rideshare mission with 105 SmallSat payloads, another Starlink mission and the COSMOSkyMed satellite launch. This final launch of the month was the first time a converted Falcon Heavy side booster was used.
February
In February, Ship 20 was lifted onto Booster 4 for the second time – though a premiere for the Chopsticks! The orbital launch site saw major upgrade works: Five small methane tanks were installed, a wall enclosing the methane side got built and the whole system was tested in cryogenic proof tests with Ship 20. First methane deliveries to the orbital tank farm followed. Additionally, Booster 4 underwent cryogenic proof testing on the orbital launch mount. At the Cape, work on the Hangar X extension progressed well and pieces for the new orbital launch and integration tower (OLIT) for the Starship pad at LC-39A were spotted. Work on the old hydrogen sphere started, converting it to a methane tank. Finally, land was cleared for a new Starship factory near Hangar X. It has been announced that the Polaris program, initiated by Jared Isaacmen, scheduled two flights on Crew Dragon, but also one on a crewed Starship.
On Falcon-9, three Starlink missions launched to low earth orbit, one from KSC, one from the Space Force Station and one from Vandenberg. On February 2nd, a classified payload from the National Reconnaissance Office launched to a Sun-synchronous orbit.
March
Booster 4 and Ship 20 continued their testing program in March with cryo-proof tests and a third full stack. For the first time, the ship QD-arm on the launch tower was cryogenically active. Ship 24 got a payload dispenser for Starlink satellites installed. Several upgrades were identified on Booster 7, which rolled out to the launch site this month, particularly the vertical rearrangement of the COPVs (Composite overwrapped pressure vessels), which now form chines. Booster 8 started stacking and test tank B7.1 was spotted. As of the infrastructure at Starbase, foundation work for the new Starfactory, which will eventually replace the three tents, progressed a lot and the mega bay reached its final height. The claws of the Ship-QD arm have been uninstalled and Chopstick testing continued.
At the Cape, first parts for the new orbital launch mount were spotted and foundation work for the new launch tower started. Also, assembly of the tower segments began. Pile drilling for the foundation of the Starfactory at Robert’s Road picked up. Meanwhile, the Hangar X expansion was completed. At McGregor, first tests with water deluge on the tripod stand could be observed. As of the NASA Artemis program, documents on the Human Landing System showed that the depot Starship would be six rings longer than regular tanker Starship. Furthermore, it was revealed that training on the elevator has already been taken up.
In March, three Starlink missions launched on the Falcon-9 rocket. For the F9 B5 B1051.12 booster launching the Group 4-12 mission on March 19th, this marked the record twelfth flight and landing as well as the heaviest Falcon 9 payload to LEO, which was enabled by optimizations on the launch setup and flight profile.
April
While in March, the team at Starbase focussed on Ship 20 and Booster 4, they now turned their attention to Booster 7, which was lifted onto the orbital launch mount and got cryo-tested. After that, the crane lifted it onto the structural test stand, where the prototype conducted ambient pressure and cryo-tests. During the last test, the methane transfer tube collapsed, and the booster needed to return to the high bay for repair work. Meanwhile, work on B8, S24 and S25 continued, with B8 and S24 conducting stage separation tests. The ship disconnect was removed and replaced with a new design and the Chopsticks were upgraded; especially the stabilisation pins were worked on. At the launch mount, the water deluge system was tested for the first time. Over at the production site, bridge cranes were installed in the wide bay and the external elevator was removed. Construction work for the Starbase Starfactory started as well.
The assembly of new tower segments for LC-39A continued at a fast pace with the third and fourth segment being built. Concrete work on the tower base started and first columns have been raised for the new Starfactory. Ground was cleared for a new wide bay next to the factory. Subcoolers were installed at the future methane tank farm and foundations for the new orbital launch mount have been built.
SpaceX doubled the number of Falcon-9 launches compared to last month. One of the highlights was certainly the Crew-4 launch on April 27th, carrying four astronauts to the ISS on Crew Dragon Freedom. Not less exciting was the first fully private flight to the ISS with Axiom Space as customer on April 17th. Michael López-Alegría, Larry Connor, Mark Pathy and Eytan Stibbe launched on Crew Dragon Endeavor for a 17 days mission to the space station. Two Starlink launches, a Rideshare mission, a classified launch for the NRO complete the list of launches this month.
May
After repair work, Booster 7 returned to the launch site and was lifted onto the orbital launch mount. Several cryogenic proof tests followed, with the first booster QD retraction test under cryo conditions, before the vehicle was rolled back to the production site for engine installation. Ship 24 was rolled out to the pad at the end of the month and conducted some testing at the cryo station, during which it received minor damage. Meanwhile, Ship 20 rolled to the rocket garden, confirming that it wouldn’t be used for an orbital test flight (which at the time Elon Musk hoped for to take place in summer). A new improved dome design, called EDOME, was sighted at the production site. Work on the launch mount and the chopsticks continued and methane deliveries to the orbital tank farm resumed. At the suborbital launch site, pad A was prepared for testing and six thrust rams got installed.
In Florida, the fifth and sixth tower segments were completed, and all six launch mount legs were delivered to the pad, three of them were installed in May. A new octagonal clearing was spotted west of the future tower, the purpose of it remained unclear at the time. Exciting news came from Tim Dodd, the Everyday Astronaut, who toured through Starbase with Elon Musk. Key takeaways from this tour were:
Ship 24 and Booster 7 are slated for a first orbital test flight with Starlink satellites.
Both ships and boosters will have ullage thrusters.
There won’t be suborbital test flights anymore.
Forward flaps will need to be improved massively or even be removed.
Future boosters will have fewer grid fins.
The mega bay supports up to twelve workstations.
The booster currently has 250 tons of catch weight.
Starlink 2.0 will only fit in Starship.
Furthermore, NASA announced that a cryo propellant transfer test is slated for no later than fiscal year 2023.
In May, SpaceX launched four Starlink missions and one Rideshare mission which included three different payload dispensers.
June
The focus on B7 and S24 continued in June. Booster 7 got grid finser chines installed, rolled out the launch site and lifted onto the launch mount. Ship 24 was cryo-tested several times, likely including structural load testing with thrust rams. Afterwards, it was moved back to the high bay, where the new Starlink loader was tested on the ship. The test tank B7.1 saw completion of assembly, was moved to the launch site, and was cryo-tested on the structural test stand. Similarly, the EDOME test tank was completed and moved to the launch site. Structural work on the wide bay finally came to an end and the LR11000 crane was disassembled, while the construction of the Starfactory at Starbase continued.
At the Cape, a new LR11350 crane was assembled, and the first three tower segments were stacked by it. All six launch mount legs were lifted and work for a new tank at the octagonal pad started. In June, the FAA finally released the long-awaited final PEA (Programmatic Environmental Assessment): The result was the so-called FONSI (finding of no significant impact), as it was expected by most. The FONSI included 75 measures to mitigate the impact of the SpaceX’s program to the environment. At the time, Elon Musk appeared to be rather optimistic as he hoped for a first flight countdown “next month”. He also announced that they “will have a second Starship stack ready to fly in August and then monthly thereafter”.
The Falcon-9 rocket launched five missions in June. Launching the Egyptian Nilesat-301 satellite on June 8th, the rocket achieved the furthest downrange landing. The following Starlink mission on June 17th marked SpaceX’s 100th reuse of a booster, the 50th consecutive landing, the first booster to fly thirteen times and the 50th SpaceX launch from LC-39A. And with the Globestar-2 launch on June 19th, the company set a new record for the shortest time between two Falcon-9 launches at 14 hours and minutes.
July
Although SpaceX didn’t launch a Starship in 2022, there were some spectacular tests. One of the most significant was a spin prime test of Booster 7 on July 11th. During a spin prime test, the turbopumps of the engines are spun up without ignition. The test resulted in a huge explosion and caused damage not only on the engines but also on the pad. The mishap was caused by evaporated cryogenic fuel that creates a risky mix in the partially oxygen atmosphere and resulted in SpaceX adjusting its testing procedures and in major upgrades to the orbital launch mount during the coming months. B7 was lifted off the pad and rolled back to the production site for repairs. Booster test tank 7.1 also saw extensive texting at the launch site and rolled back on July 29th. Ship 24 rolled out to the launch site early this month and was lifted onto pad B for several spin prime tests. As for the other prototypes, Booster 8 completed stacking, assembly of B9 commenced and parts of B10 were spotted, while B5 scrapping continued. At the orbital launch site, the pumps were worked on, and a new raptor work platform was built for the launch mount. Bridge crane parts for the Starfactory at the production site were delivered.
Tower construction at the Cape progressed at a fast pace with segments 4 and 5 being rolled out, segments 6 and 7 being completed and construction on the 8th and 9th segments started. Also, work on the new ship QD-arm started and beams for the new Starfactory were pre assembled. A new LR11000 started to being delivered for the mega bay construction. A hexagonal shaped structure, related to the launch mount, which started assembly last month was finished. NASA announced that SpaceX plans to expand the Robert’s Road facility to the north "in support of optimising production and launch of their reusable launch vehicle fleet". The expansion of 100 acres of land would consist of facilities for vehicle and payload processing, fabrication, storage, manufacturing, shipping and receiving.
FCC documents revealed new details of the orbital flight profile: The booster would either do a partial return and land in the Gulf of Mexico or do a full return with a catch attempt, while the ship will reach an altitude of about 250 kilometres before attempting a powered landing in the Pacific. Elon Musk was still optimistic that an orbital flight could happen “as soon as next month”. He also announced that Raptor 2 engines switched to electrical thrust vector control actuators.
In July, Falcon-9 launched five Starlink missions and the fifth of six cargo missions to the ISS awarded in 2015 under the CRS-2 contract.
August
After repair works, Booster 7 rolled out to the pad with the outer engines installed. Ahead of its lift onto the OLM, the Chopsticks experienced a hydraulic failure, so the SpaceX-owned LR11000 crane had to do the job. The booster conducted two single-engine spin prime tests, a static fire and a long duration static fire of about 20 seconds with the same engine, before rolling back to the launch site once more for the installation of inner engines. This new approach showed that SpaceX now tried to minimise risk – somewhat a change to earlier procedures, where they didn’t seem to care about losing a vehicle. It rolled out again on August 23rd, followed by ignitor tests, a spin prime test and a static fire with multiple engines, possibly one from each position (centre, inner and outer ring). Ship 24 also saw extensive testing: Two cryogenic tests, two spin prime and one static fire test were conducted. After some work on test tank B7.1, it rolled out to the pad one more time and was put on the structural test stand for further testing. An interesting observation was made with respect to the nose cone of Ship 26, where TPS tiles started to be uninstalled. At the orbital launch mount, new lines were added to divert the engine chill vents.
In Florida, the construction of the large new tank was taking shape. The LR11350 was reconfigured and later stacked the 7th segment of the launch tower. Several announcements were made in August. Jarrod McLachlan announced that they are working on rideshare configurations for Starship, Sky has selected Starship for launching its Superbird-9 communication satellite in 2024 and a T-Mobile partnership was announced. Elon Musk gave some insights on changes at the launch site: The launch mount is now responsible for starting all 33 engines via quick disconnects instead of COPVs. Also, they were working to “achieve robust engine containment in case of RUD to protect booster, other engines & launch ring”, likely referring to the new engine chill line.
SpaceX picked up the pace of Starlink launches with Falcon-9. Two missions headed towards a Sun-synchronous orbit and three toward low earth orbit. The first launch of the month was South Korea’s first lunar mission with its pathfinder lunar orbiter Danuri launched to a ballistic lunar transfer orbit.
September
In September, teams at Starbase continued the incremental testing approach on Booster 7. They conducted three spin prime tests with seven engines, followed by a static fire with seven engines, before being transported back to the production site for further upgrades. Meanwhile, Ship 24 conducted a full six-engine static fire on September 8th. Its payload bay was sealed, before heading back to the production site as well. Booster 8 was completed and rolled out to the launch site, Booster 9, the first booster to use electric TVC actuators, continued to be stacked, Ship 25 was fully assembled and a Starlink dispenser was installed into Ship 27’s payload bay. The orbital launch mount saw further extensive upgrades: water pipes were added for a new fire suppression system which was first tested on September 29th, using water and liquid nitrogen. The wall of the wide bay was finally completed. SpaceX expanded their facilities in South Texas by moving ground equipment to Massey’s Gun Range, installing a new testing site. The EDOME test tank was tested to destruction at this new facility on September 30th. Booster test tank 7.1 also moved there after two cryo-tests earlier this month.
At SpaceX’s engine test site in McGregor, two Raptor engines were tested to failure. Also a blast shield was tested to destruction and a rapid relight test was conducted. In Florida, the launch tower completed stacking, work on the tank farms continued with new subcoolers being spotted, lines being added and a new GSE bunker being constructed. The hexagonal structure spotted in July got pipes installed, indicating that it would be used for the new deluge system at the launch mount. The Starfactory construction progressed nicely, while many columns for the new wide bay were staged at the site. Rails were installed at the Chopsticks and hydraulic accumulators were added. Elon Musk announced that the first booster at the Cape will probably be in “Probably Q2 next year, with vehicles initially transferred by boat from Port of Brownsville to the Cape”.
Falcon-9 launched four Starlink missions to LEO in September. The launch from LC-39A on September 11th was one of the most complex missions up to date: The second stage first executed two burns to deploy the Bluewalker-3 rideshare satellites, followed by executing two more burns to deploy the Starlinks to a 330 km altitude 53.2° inclination orbit, concluding with deorbit burn. Also, the booster B1058 became the first booster to be launched and recovered fourteen times.
October
One of the highlights this year at Starbase was the first full stack of Starship 7/24 on October 11th. However, teams destacked it again, possibly due to issues on the ship's quick disconnect which saw extensive work and testing throughout the month. On October 20th, Ship 24 was restocked on Booster 7 and several cryo-proof tests were conducted. Construction work on Ship 25 concluded and, after several payload door tests, it rolled out to the launch site and was lifted onto pad A. Work on Ships 26 – 28, and Boosters 9 – 10 continued. Upgrades at the orbital launch mount continued and pneumatic valves were added to the pre-press manifold. On October 5th, teams conducted a clamp retraction test.
At Cape Canaveral, parts for a third launch tower were spotted and assembly of the segments started. Hydraulic actuators were installed on the Chopsticks and piping was added to the ship QD arm. A new retention pond was built at LC-30A and the hexagonal deluge system got installed at the launch mount base. In McGregor, a potential lunar Starship thruster was fired and SpaceX continued to conduct several rapid relight tests of Raptor engines on the tripod stand. Jessica Anderson announced that they “are building here at HLC-39A the launch pad for Starship, the same Pad that will see the first Test flight of the Starship Lunar Lander for NASA's Artemis Program”. And Elon Musk confirmed that Booster 7 and Ship 24 are still planned to do the first orbital test, “unless it is damaged in testing”.
The Crew-5 launch on Crew Dragon Endurance was another highlight this month. NASA Astronauts Nicole Mann, John Cassada, JAXA Astronaut Koichi Wakata and the first Russian Cosmonaut to fly on a US commercial crew vehicle, Anna Kikina, launched on October 5th to the ISS. On the same day, SpaceX launched a Starlink mission to LEO, setting a new record for the shortest time between two Falcon-9 launches at 7 hours and 10 minutes. On October 8th, SpaceX launched two Galaxy satellites for Intelsat, with 7350 kg total mass, one of the heaviest launches to geostationary transfer orbit by the company. Apart from three more Starlink missions, SpaceX also launched the Hotbird 13F satellite to GTO for Eutelsat, which simultaneously launched a promotional payload for FIFA on the booster for the first time. With the 48th launch this month, Falcon-9 beat the record of most launches in a year for a vehicle type, previously held by Soyuz-U in 1979.
November
In November, crews at Starbase continued the testing program of Booster 7 after it was destacked from Ship 24 with a spin prime test with active FIREX system on November 10th, followed by a 14-engine static fire on November 14th and a long duration 11-engine static fire on November 29th. As it was announced by Elon Musk, this also included an autogenous pressurisation test, which is why the liquid oxygen tank was fully fuelled. Ship 24 received a lot of maintenance work with scaffolding being erected all around it. However, testing of Ship 25 began with three cryo-proof tests on pad A after which it returned to the production site for engine installation. While work on Booster 9 and Ship 26 continued, Booster 8 was moved back to the rocket garden without being tested, indicating that it would be skipped. At the launch site, the FIREX system was extensively tested and work on the cryo-pumps continued.
At SpaceX’s Robert’s Road facility in Florida, construction on the third launch tower continued with the fifth segment being built. Nearby, at LC-39A, the drawworks were installed on the base of the launch tower. In McGregor, a vacuum Raptor engine was fired for 4 minutes and 40 seconds and a shielded engine was spotted on the vertical test stand. SpaceX announced on November 4th, that they had produced the 200th Raptor 2 engine, reaching a significant milestone and indicating that engine production is well underway after some issues a year ago. Also in the news was the Artemis program: NASA awarded SpaceX a second contract option for Artemis moon landing. Option B award is valued at $1.15 bio.
On November 1st, Falcon Heavy launched for the fourth time after a long break of more than three years, carrying a payload for the US space force to geostationary orbit. While the core was deliberately expended, the two side boosters were successfully recovered, marking the 150th and 151st successful landing. This was followed by three Falcon-9 launches to GTO for Eutelsat (Hotbird 13G and Eutelsat 10B satellites) and Intelsat (Galaxy 31 and Galaxy 32 satellites). On November 26th, SpaceX launched the final of six additional cargo missions under the CRS-2 contract to the ISS.
December
In December, Booster 7 returned to the production site for final upgrades. Once it returns, it is expected to conduct a 33-engine static fire before a potential orbital launch attempt. Meanwhile, the next booster, B9, moved to the launch site and cryo-testing on it started. Ship 24 conducted another single-engine static fire after a longer break for maintenance work. The PEZ dispenser on Ship 25 has been welded shut and the stacking of Ship 26 was completed. At the orbital launch site, crews installed shielding to the launch mount and the ship and booster quick disconnects conducted a full speed retraction test, simulating a launch. Ship test tank 26.1 concluded testing at Massey’s gun range.
At the Cape, the cable chain for the launch tower was likely installed and the LR11350 crane underwent reconfigurations for installation of the chopsticks and QD-arm. At Robert’s Road, the 6th segment for the third launch tower was under construction. However, work on the new wide bay has yet to start. Ausaku Maezawa announced the crew of the DearMoon mission, the first planned crewed Starship launch. Most notably, the selection includes Tim Dodd.
On December 8th, Falcon-9 launched 40 satellites for OneWeb after they had to suspend launches on the Soyuz rockets due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This was the first commercial satellite launch from LC-39A since 2019. A ballistic lunar transfer launch followed, on board a lunar lander from Japanese ispace, carrying the Rashid rover built by MBRSC (from the UAE) and JAXA, and a CubeSat by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Apart from two Starlink missions, Falcon-9 also launched an American-European satellite for surface water measurement, a communication satellite for Luxembourgish-French SES and an Israeli earth observation satellite.
Launch statistics:
With 61 Falcon launches compared to 31 launches in 2021, SpaceX was able to significantly increase the number of missions and reach the goal stated by Elon Musk. 32 launches were for Starlink nearly twice as much as in 2021 (17). But also the commercial and government launches have increased with 27 compared to 17 the year before. SpaceX was able to land all boosters, except for three where they didn’t attempt to land them due to the mission requirements. Twelve landings were on ground pad, compared to just one in 2021.
2023 And Beyond
Authors: Thomas and Funitel
Starship
It is difficult to predict the trajectory of the Starship program in 2023. A primary goal will be to reach orbit as soon as possible. However, it is unclear how long this will take. Incremental upgrades on new prototypes will continue and it is likely that we will see more details about different variants. Meanwhile, infrastructure work at the Cape will continue and possibly, SpaceX will be able to start Starship production at the Robert’s Road facility. Launching from LC-39A would however require NASA’s consent as the pad is currently the only one from which SpaceX can launch crewed Dragon missions, thus being of strategic importance to the US. 52 commercial and governmental, as well as 7 Starlink missions are already planned for 2023. It is also likely that we are going to see an increase in Falcon Heavy launches with currently five being planned for the year.
Artemis
After the successful launch of Artemis I in 2022, we can expect a lot of progress on the Artemis program, even though we won't see another SLS launch until 2024. We may see a lot of companies landing on the Moon in 2023, including iSpace's lander and Intuitive Machines Peregrine 1, launching on the first flight of Vulcan.
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