The UK is in the Space Rocket Business

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Image (Credit): LauncherOne rocket after arriving in Cornwall, England. (UK Space Command)

Later this year, the United Kingdom (UK) is getting into the commercial space business with Virgin Orbit’s launch of the LauncherOne rocket. The 70-foot long rocket stuffed with a satellites will be loaded onto Virgin Orbit’s Boeing 747 (called the “Cosmic Girl”) for a mid-air launch. It will be the first satellite launch from the UK.

While the launch was planned for earlier this year, Virgin Orbit is still dealing with some bureaucratic delays. Nonetheless, the use of Space Cornwall is an achievement for the UK and Europe as they plan more space missions from the continent.

Late last year, the Guardian wrote about planned space missions from the UK. The article, “The Great British Race to Space,” highlights plans for rocket launches from England, Wales, and Scotland. For instance, B2Space in Wales has plans to launch rockets from a helium balloon floating 20 miles up. The balloon could save about 70 percent of fuel and other costs related to a typical satellite launch.

It seems reusable rockets are just one of many innovations for lowering the cost of satellite launches. Watch out, SpaceX.

Image (Credit): A test flight for the B2Space balloon. Picture: (B2Space)

Space Stories: Challenger Debris Located, Chinese Mars Engine, and Risky Trip to the Space Station

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Image (Credit): Space shuttle Challenger landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California on Nov. 6, 1985. (NASA)

Here are some recent stories of interest.

—NASA: “NASA Views Images, Confirms Discovery of Shuttle Challenger Artifact“

NASA leaders recently viewed footage of an underwater dive off the East coast of Florida, and they confirm it depicts an artifact from the space shuttle Challenger. The artifact was discovered by a TV documentary crew seeking the wreckage of a World War II-era aircraft. Divers noticed a large humanmade object covered partially by sand on the seafloor. The proximity to the Florida Space Coast, along with the item’s modern construction and presence of 8-inch square tiles, led the documentary team to contact NASA.

—Space.com: “China Just Test-fired the Engine for its Huge New Moon and Mars Rocket“

China has completed a first hot fire test of a fully-assembled powerful new engine that could power new launch vehicles and boost the country’s space capabilities. The full system test of the 500-ton-thrust, dual nozzle kerosene-liquid oxygen staged combustion cycle engine took place on Nov. 5, marking a milestone for the rocket engine. 

—Phys.org: “Cargo Ship Reaches Space Station Despite Jammed Solar Panel“

A Northrop Grumman capsule delivered several tons of supplies to the International Space Station on Wednesday despite a jammed solar panel. The shipment arrived two days after launching from Virginia. Only one of the cargo ship’s two round solar panels opened following liftoff. Flight controllers tried in vain to open the stuck panel, but managed to draw enough power for the flight with just one.

More Space Travel Offers from China and NASA

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Image (Credit): Artist’s impression of the Chinese Space Station. (China Manned Space Program)

The China Global Television Network recently reported that China is looking into offering space rides to commercial passengers by 2025, including suborbital flights, cargo flights, and trips to Chinese Space Station. For instance, suborbital flights are expected to be priced at 2 and 3 million yuan (or $287,200 to $430,800).

Given the growing U.S. space industry with its own range of space flight options, it was only a matter of time that China would enter this commercial space race. Russia has been in the game the longest, having sold seats to U.S. astronauts hoping to reach the International Space Station (ISS) following the demise of the space shuttle.

Not to be outdone, NASA has also announced plans to take commercial passengers to the ISS at $55 million per seat. According to Tech Times, NASA is seeking commercial partners for two such flights per year starting as early as 2023. We have already discussed the Axiom Mission 1 (or AX-1 mission) to the ISS earlier this year at about the same price, so this is not a new idea. I guess the Axiom Mission 1 went well enough for NASA to see this as a regular operation.

A variety of space travel options from a variety of countries and commercial suppliers shows that playing in space can be both fun and profitable. Just ask Captain Kirk.

That is fine, as long as the tourists do not get in the way of the real work that is being conducted. With the taxpayers still footing most of the space-faring bill, we do not want space travel to be seen as only a luxury for the wealthy (similar to electric vehicles in the U.S., up to now). Space and related space travel should be seen as something belonging to everyone.

The State of the Space Industry

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Credit: The Space Foundation

A recent report by the Space Foundation shared the following figures:

  • The global space economy hit $469 billion in 2021;
  • The space sector saw 9 percent revenue growth since 2020; and
  • 1,022 spacecraft placed in orbit during the first six months of 2022.

In a troubling time around the globe, those are some pretty positive numbers. Just in terms of launched spacecraft, we can also see the commercial sector is playing a large role:

The [second quarter] edition also looks at the record pace of successful launches from Jan. 1 to June 30, with 72 rockets inserting 1,022 identified spacecraft into space. That is more spacecraft attaining orbit in just six months than were launched in the first 52 years of the Space Age. Most of those new satellites came from the commercial sector, which launched 958 spacecraft in the first half of 2022.

It is clearly not just a government space game, though the report also notes that government spending increased since 2020 around the globe, such as the U.S. (18 percent), China (23 percent), and India (36 percent).

As you can also see from the graphic above, 90 nations are now operating in space. We cannot pretend that all of this is for space exploration. While much of it relates to defense and commercial spacecraft looking downward, it still leaves plenty of spacecraft to explore our awesome universe.

Blue Origin Booster Mishap

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Image (Credit): Blue Origin’s NS-23 capsule returning to Earth after the mishap. (Blue Origin)

Delays and accidents are clear risks in the space industry, as we learned with the Artemis mission and now Blue Origin’s latest rocket launch. On Monday, a crewless New Shepard rocket launch (NS-23) went wrong, with the booster failing shortly after takeoff. Fortunately, the emergency system worked fine, indicating a crew would have returned safely in the capsule. In this case, the capsule was carrying a variety of experiments.

This same mission was scrubbed back on August 31st and September 1st due to weather issues. With this latest incident, future missions are on hold until the booster problem can be investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration. This was the first failure in the 23 New Shepard rocket missions launched to date.

Image (Credit): Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital rocket system. (Blue Origin)