Pic of the Week: Forth Starship Test is a Success

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The Starship rocket lifting off its launch pad in Texas earlier today. (SpaceX)

This week’s image shows the launch of the forth test of SpaceX’s Starship, which went further than any of the tests to date. In it’s summary of the flight, SpaceX noted:

Flight 4 ended with Starship igniting its three center Raptor engines and executing the first flip maneuver and landing burn since our suborbital campaign, followed by a soft splashdown of the ship in the Indian Ocean one hour and six minutes after launch.

You can see the full flight in this video.

As with yesterday’s successful launch of Boeing’s Starliner, today’s successful flight gave NASA greater assurance that the commercial sector is picking up the pace to assist the U.S. with both the International Space Station and Artemis program to the Moon (and eventually Mars).

Note: I like The Economist’s headline on the mission: “Elon Musk’s Starship Makes a Test Flight Without Exploding.”

Space Quote: More Musk Mayhem on the Ukrainian Front

Posted on by onespaceman2000

“Musk has taken on the role of apologist for indicted war criminal Vladimir Putin. “There is no way in hell that Putin is going to lose,” Musk said during an audio event on X. Musk called on social media followers to lobby the Senate not to pass an aid package for Ukraine. Further, Musk is actively working to thwart US foreign policy. Musk is certainly entitled to voice his opinions. However, he is not authorized to conduct foreign policy with FCC issued licenses. This is especially true when his use of those licenses supports the military of a foreign power that is actively engaged in an illegal war and has engaged in countless war crimes including routinely targeting hospitals, schools, and apartment buildings. Musk’s company is licensed to serve the public interest, convenience, and necessity. Musk cannot use FCC licenses to militarily aid Russia, a state that is subject to U.S. sanctions. Musk’s repeated abuse of the Starlink system has placed these licenses in jeopardy.”

-Portion of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America’s (UCCA) filing with the Federal Communications Commission on April 24, 2024. The UCCA represents four fraternal organizations – the Ukrainian National Association, the Ukrainian Workingmen’s Association, the Providence Association of Ukrainian Catholics, and the Ukrainian National Aid Association.

Boeing Needs Just One More Day

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Starliner autonomous uncrewed flight test to the ISS in May 2022. (NASA)

Today was supposed to be the day that Boeing launched a crewed capsule to the International Space Station (ISS), but things did not go according to plan (again). Two hours before the planned launch a valve issue on the Atlas V rocket’s second stage put everything on hold. A launch as early as tomorrow is still possible if the matter can be resolved.

The two astronauts aboard the Starliner capsule, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, will need to come back another day to lead this historic mission. The Starliner will be the second commercial vehicle contracted by NASA to bring and return astronauts from the station. SpaceX has been performing this task since its first successful crewed test flight in 2020.

Boeing needs this win after so many bad stories over the years, and not just the stories associated with the Starliner mission. Serious aircraft woes has put a spotlight on the company. A successful launch will not erase the past, but it would be much needed positive press.

Update: Okay, Boeing will need at least until May 17 to inspect the problem valve and prepare for a new launch. Not a great start, but at least the are still expecting a May launch.

Space Quote: Space Jobs are in Demand, and Demanding

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“You’re doing this cool thing…You’re also going to be like really worked to death.”

-Comment by Griffin Rahn, who is earning his aerospace master’s degree at Georgia Tech, in a Fortune article titled “NASA is Struggling to Compete with Bezos, Musk and Their 6-figure Salaries for Starting Aerospace Engineers at Blue Origin and SpaceX.” The title of the article is self-explanatory. See any earlier posting for more on NASA’s troubles maintaining a work-life balance.

Two Japanese Commercial Missions, Only One Reaching Space

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket successfully deploying a fourth synthetic aperture radar satellite to Synspective’s Earth-observation constellation. (Rocket Lab)

Earlier this week, Japanese cargo was launched towards space by two commercial companies. Unfortunately, only of the rockets made it into space.

On March 13, US company Rocket Lab launched a payload for Japan’s Synspective, an Earth-imaging company, from its launch site in New Zealand. The launch was successful and the StriX-3 satellite was placed into Earth orbit.

The second launch on the same day by Japan’s Space One, which would have been the first commercial launch by a Japanese firm, ended quickly when the rocket burst into flames just a few seconds after liftoff. The rocket was carrying a mock-up of a government spy satellite.

Space One President Masakazu Toyoda stated, “We will find out the cause as soon as possible and clarify our measures to prevent a recurrence.”

Getting it right may take time, as we are seeing with SpaceX’s Starship. Japan wants to maintain strong launch capabilities in both the public and private sectors, and this is just part of the process to make that happen.

Image (Credit): Photos showing the launch and midair explosion of Space One’s Kairos rocket. (KYODO)