SpaceX Starship Fire, Artemis 1 Orion Returns, HAKUTO-R Moon Lander, Falcon 9 SWOT, Arianne 5 launch
Hey, Hey Marcus House with you here. This past week has been, well, pretty much ridiculous to try and squeeze down. I’m not even really sure where to start. Loads of updates at Star base Texas, new insights found from the flight a few days ago at Star base Florida. But outside... man. This was a crazy week. Orion returned back home, the HAKUTO-R Mission 1 now on its way to land on the moon. That mission includes another spectacular return to landing site.
What is better than that? Well, another two more of them of course. We had Ariane 5 boosting satellites to orbit. And so much more, you name it. This week, we’ve got it and even more. Enough of this intro, let's get stuck into it. Alright, so time to dive straight into everything Starship down at Boca Chica, Texas. First stop, Suborbital pad B! For the last few weeks, we’ve spoken about the structural integrity improvements of Ship 24 and the near ridiculous amount of scaffolding being built around it. Well, would you look at that! It is all gone now.
All of the external work that was required has been wrapped up. At the skirt on the leeward side of the Ship, we can see that it’s not just the Booster having hardware changes to do with engine chill procedures. Look at these two pipes running down from here where the engine chill gasses come out towards the pad. If I had to guess here, I’d say Spacex is now diverting those gasses away to avoid a similar explosion to that seen on Booster 7 months ago. The other week we also talked about SpaceX adding weld Doublers in certain areas of the skirt under the heat shield tiles. Well, a similar one has now also been installed right here!
That explains why the scaffolding was fully surrounding the ship. On Thursday morning the road closed nice and early, and not too long after that we saw SpaceX purging those newly installed engine chill lines. Less than half an hour later there was frost already appearing on the liquid oxygen tank followed shortly by engine chill truly starting. Ship 24’s flaps got in on the action too a bit, followed by the classic siren! A few short minutes later,
woah! Take a look at that top down perspective of the static fire! [play clip]. That there was a single engine too, so this should hopefully fully verify Ship 24 for the orbital test flight!
Of course, seeing all of the exciting testing going on at pad and having been prepared the night before, the brand new booster 9 rolled out to the launch complex for the first time arriving just hours after that static fire. A set of cryogenic tests awaits this beast before it rolls back for engines to be installed, and to get out of the way of Booster 7 as that returns as well. It is quite amazing how much different this vehicle looks compared to booster 7. There are no more hydraulic power units for Raptor gimballing, and a far cleaner connection port for the stabilization pins.
The Starlink dish has now been moved to one of the COPV stacks which provide the startup gasses for the Raptors during boostback and landing burns. Over to the orbital side of the launch site and just look at the progress on the berm extension. Recent images here show that the new extension will continue for the full length which is what we expected. And the first part is looking near finished and ready to deflect all of the exhaust gasses and, well concrete as well, at an even steeper angle. That isn’t the only thing going up ready to deflect gasses and flames. SpaceX have fully wrapped up the cladding on the first three levels of the launch tower. Now the question is, will this cladding continue further up? Or will SpaceX switch to something else?
All of the renders we have seen so far seem to indicate the tower will be fully cladded, but time will tell I guess! There is obviously a huge push on protection systems right now. Where else can we see shielding being added? Well, right here on all of the legs of the orbital launch mount. We’ve been watching that creep up higher and higher as well. In fact, the shielding on most of the legs is nearing the actual table itself. With all of this new protection it should assist nicely in upcoming static fires of the booster, as well as that elusive orbital flight test.
Now over at the build site you may recall a few weeks ago I talked about the new test tank being assembled. A tank which I think is most likely related to the modifications of Ship 24’s skirt. At the time we didn’t know the official designation of this test tank, however, this week that has been revealed to be Ship 26.1. The naming scheme is fascinating as it’s a test tank made from a Ship 28’s aft Skirt, and due to the name, it may also indicate that it could have implications on Ship 26 work.
Anyway, this week on Tuesday, there was the test tank heading up to the Masseys site to start its testing campaign. In my mind the success of this test tank is absolutely crucial as it should then verify the changes, we’ve watched being made to Ship 24. Possibly also future ships such as Ship 25. Now this is just a little speculative, but I suspect if it holds up well, SpaceX will be fine to get
Ship 24 ready for the orbital flight. If not, well perhaps there is even more work to be done.
It is worth noting I think that this is also the largest test tank that the Masseys site has received yet. Just visually compare this tank Ship 26.1 to the B7.1 test tank. It’s much bigger, right! And given that SpaceX has been working towards the area being the core site for cryogenic proof testing, it is super unfortunate that we don’t have any live camera feeds down here. Those tests to destruction were really awesome to watch live!
We also have a big update on Ship 26. Late in the week the Nosecone assembly was lifted on top of its tank section, completing the main structure! It sure does look weird, doesn’t it! Without thefins, recovery hardware or Starlink PEZ dispenser door. As far as we know, this is still the one planned to do some propellant transfer tests in orbit between the header tanks and main tanks.
Now, I just wanted to raise a little attention to the comments from NASA deputy administrator Pam Melroy. Even if the orbital flight test hasn’t occurred as soon as SpaceX may have liked, it seems that tech development of the cryogenic fluid management and life support systems are actually going pretty well. In fact, SpaceX is now $1.4B dollars into their Human Landing System contract as they rapidly push forward with multiple factories, launch sites, and vehicle programs. It is a good reminder I think that what we can visually see going on via the many amazing photographers and live stream cameras, is only the tip of a very big iceberg. SpaceX themselves look like they could be valued at a whopping 140 billion dollars based on this tender offer here.
If true, that would put them in a great spot if they need to raise additional capital. Although I should mention that it was only 4 weeks ago that Musk needed to correct Bloomberg on this exact issue, so I don’t know exactly how accurate that is. Given the previous 100 billion valuation by Morgan Stanley though, which focussed on Starlink satellite internet, I wouldn’t be surprised if
recent valuations pushing past that have even been driven by the more generalized Starshield.
That is essentially Starlink technology being used to support national security efforts. Alright, let’s head over to Roberts Road in Florida thanks to the awesome Greg Scott once again taking to the skies! Let’s first take a peek at SpaceX’ LZ-1 and LZ-2, where we can see two Falcon 9 cores, one from the OneWeb mission and another from the HAKUTO-R mission. There were also
some other really great views such as this one peeking out from Hanger X! Alright, I know what you really want me to talk about though. There is a lot to see here today.
Let’s start with the Starfactory. The other week I talked about there being two different levels on this end of the factory. But, it looks like this side wall will make it look as if it’s just one taller segment. That’s instead going to make it look very similar to the original renders after all. Over at the Ship Quick Disconnect arm we can see something a little unexpected. What do you think this is? Yep, that’s right! It sure does look like two main pieces for a third set of tower
arms or Chopsticks as SpaceX lovingly call them.
Now that caught me off guard, as SpaceX haven’t even assembled the second set at Launch Complex 39A. Saying that, I think they might actually be installed really soon. We can see that teams have already installed one of the Ship lifting points on them, and the other is being actively worked on. If we look at this photo here at Launch Complex 39A the red pre-assembly structure is being constructed and the main cable chain was lifted up onto the tower. This is very similar of course to what we saw at Starbase in Texas.
Now sadly we are still not seeing construction of the actual High Bay, although more pieces for it seem to have turned up. I guess they are still awaiting approvals or something like that. If you love all of these insights from the flights over the Cape, do consider helping Greg out on Patreon here. That is all great work mate! And one other thing I wanted to share with you as we head into the incredible return of Orion in the Artemis 1 mission conclusion, is this right here.
If you haven’t seen this video by Corey, AKA C_Bass3d, put this on your list to check out. He has been working on this for over 5 months. An Apollo 11 landing animation played with the original audio between mission control, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong. And actually some of the more interesting conversation you may not have even realized was available to hear, was between both Aldrin and Armstrong themselves during the landing.
This is an absolute work of art by Corey and the full link to the video on Youtube is in the description below. And look, artist channels like Corey’s can be incredibly underrated. Every single video put out is breathtaking so do support him with that subscribe button. That is just so important to their success with the platform. It isn’t just me here that benefits from that stuff. Of course I also appreciate that as we round out the year at almost 450,000 subscribers. You guys are amazing.
Alright. Orion is back and there is a lot to share here. I’ll jump into that in a moment but really quick, a word from today's sponsor Scopey, the creators of Star Trek Fleet Command. Yep, I’m a huge fan of the franchise, and one of my guilty pleasures is playing Star Trek games when they pop up. Star Trek Fleet Command is a free to play open world strategy game that I’ve been enjoying the past month or so. It’s a massive multiplayer online experience with all those favorite characters in the Star Trek universe.
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It is recommended to pick that up first because doing that will earn you Amazon Coins which you can use to save on other apps and games like MARVEL Strike Force if that is your thing. They will even save you up to 20% on in-app Star Trek Fleet Command purchases. Give it a try for free from the link in the description below. Thank you Scopely.So, almost four weeks ago we watched in awe as NASA’s SLS launch vehicleand Orion capsule finally set off on its much anticipated first test flight.
Having followed Orion's journey over the month and seeing some pretty amazing imagery along the way, it was time to bring Orion home and close out what has been quite the space odyssey covering a crazy2.3 million kilometers or 1.4 million-miles. With so many of the hurdles finally conquered there was just one more trial by fire to go. This was the fastest crewed vehicle to ever enter into earth's atmosphere. Screaming in at just over 40,000 km per hour with searing temperatures near 3,000 degrees Celsius.
That in comparison is about twice as hot as the space shuttle reentry temperatures, or other capsules coming in from Low Earth Orbit. Here we were December 11th, fifty years to the day after the last Apollo moon mission touched down on the lunar surface. Back to the present, Orion separated from the European Service module before proceeding to smack into the earth's atmosphere.
Now the most interesting part of this process I think was NASA performing the first ever skip entry. Orion first screamed into the atmosphere reaching around 60 kilometers in altitude, and then popped back out heading upward into the thinner part of the atmosphere. Peaking at about 90 km in altitude, down it came again for the final entry. So the reason that they are now going with this method is because future crew can have the overall g forces divided over the course of this longer re-entry process. That is certainly going to make it a more comfortable ride. Another benefit to this is that it limits the duration of the extreme temperatures on the heat shield.
Spreading this violent thermal event over two entry phases is obviously useful and that also adds to overall crew safety. The question may be asked though, why didn’t they do this with the Apollo missions? Well it is because back then the computing technology needing to do this with confidence really didn’t exist. At a little over 7.5 kilometres in altitude the drogues deployed to shed enough velocity, before the 3 main chutes came out at around 1,500 meters.
And there we had it, the brilliant conclusion of Artemis 1! Orion splashing down in the Pacific Ocean at 12:40 p.m. Eastern Time. All I might add, within 3.9 kilometers of the intended target. Unfortunately afterwards there were a few items that were not recovered as NASA would have liked. The door to the forward bay on the capsule where the parachutes were stored and also the parachutes themselves sunk beneath the waves. I’m sure they would have liked to pick those up if they could.
The recovery forces led by the USS Portland, had about a 6 hour window of operations. One of the key tests actually was to measure the internal cabin temperature that the crew can expect. The systems were left on intentionally powered for 2 hours after splashdown to check this out. This thermal “soak-back” as it is called, is due to stored heat in the capsule structure itself. So with all of those test objectives complete and harness attached, Orion was eventually hauled onto the deck for transport away.
I have also of course been watching the HAKUTO-R mission very closely all week. Some very nice new insights from the tail end of the week but first a quick recap of the launch almost a week ago. This was just spectacular wasn't it being a return to landing site mission again. This was launch and landing number 5 for booster 1073 and after stage separation we got these sweet exhaust plumes interacting with each other during the boostback burn.
NASASpaceFlight actually captured a great perspective from the ground here. Just look at that. Afterward obviously the target for this mission was Landing Zone 1. Yep, again, there was enough propellant to make it all the way back to touch down in the darkness. We had not seen these scenes for months with Falcon 9 and now we had seen it twice in two weeks. Second engine cut off and there were the payloads in orbit awaiting the next phase of the mission.
There was another big burn scheduled at a little over 40 minutes to throw it into the transfer trajectory. That was all done off camera, and that was it, SpaceX were now ready for deployment. Luckily, they regained the coverage right after the release of the lander. There it was slowly drifting away 47 minutes into the mission. Then it was time to deploy NASAs Lunar Flashlight satellite.
Unfortunately , that one was deployed outside the camera's field of view, but as I talked about two weeks ago, this little unit is about the size of a briefcase, and will pass over the lunar South Pole around 15 kilometers above the surface. Its goal? To use lasers to search for water ice in permanently shadowed craters. So yes, if this entire mission goes well with the lander we should see Hakuto-R landing on the moon sometime in April. That by the way will be the very first lunar surface mission for a Japanese spacecraft.
Now I was kind of mistaken the other week when I talked about rovers. There is actually a small rover by the United Arab Emirates' space agency on this mission, and also a transformable lunar robot which I think is this little crazy looking two-wheeled rover from JAXA shared right here. I really hope that we get to see a lot more information on those. For some reason when I was reading up on it all the other week, it seemed to me that the rover milestones wouldn’t happen until the second mission. But yes I’m glad I was wrong about that because it adds extra excitement to this mission doesn’t it?
If you want to know more about the future with iSpace the video from two weeks ago covers that in a lot more detail. We then of course had another Falcon 9 launch with the Surface Water Ocean Topography or SWOT satellite. This mission was a collaborative effort between NASA and the French space agency. The Earth observation satellite was safely enclosed up top here with the mission
launching this time all the way across the country in California from Vandenberg Space Force Base.
Streaking skyward through Max-Q, another stage separation, then fairing jettison showing the little SWOT satellite continuing to orbit. But, what’s this? Yes. another booster returning all the way back to the landing site at LZ-4. Here was booster 1071 on its sixth flight screaming toward the surface. And yes this was now three in a row. Perhaps for some reason SpaceX were saving all of these return to landing site missions up one after the other. Very cool though, and another beautiful landing in the early hours of the morning.
Back to the second stage, there was payload deployment right there to the designated Polar Orbit. The satellite is going to eventually raise its orbit to its operational 890 km altitude. And yes, this SWOT satellite is a pathfinder mission employing a new technical method of scanning. It should provide two-dimensional image scans with a horizontal resolution in the order of 50 to 100 meters. SWOT will also provide the first ever detailed and comprehensive global survey of freshwater lakes, rivers, and reservoirs, all aiming to significantly improve offshore and ocean observations.
And that wasn’t all for falcon 9 because another one on Friday, this one lofting O3b mPOWER 1 and 2 into a Medium Earth orbit. Now this was an interesting one because telemetry from the booster was lost shortly after this burn here and for a moment I thought that we may have actually lost one but of course good old reliable Falcon 9 did manage to land off screen with confirmation of that coming shortly after. Separation occurred around two hours into the mission but sadly the fairing adapter was in the way so there wasn’t a great deal to see.
We had Arianespace as well early in the week with the mighty heavy lift Ariane 5. Only its third launch for 2022 actually. The payload on this beast? Well, there were three of them. One new generation weather satellite and two geostationary communications satellites sitting proudly this week on top ready to fly. On Tuesday afternoon from French Guiana, there was the ignition sequence start. The cryogenic main stage engine firing up, and boom check that out, the solid rocket side boosters roared to life, hurling it off the pad.
Those babies stand around 30 meters tall and are packed with 238 metric tons of propellant. They provide a massive 90% of the thrust as it leaps out of the atmosphere. The uphill climb looking effortless here due to the massive thrust to weight ratio smashing through MaxQ. At around 140 seconds into flight it was
time to shed the two powerhouse boosters. Their combined average thrust of 5,100 ken was over for this leg of the journey being left to plummet into the Atlantic Ocean.
About 1 minute later, the fairing jettisoned, and the main stage continued on. Over five and a half minutes later, separation with the HM7B engine taking the trio of satellites all the way to orbit. Galaxy 35 parted ways some 27 minutes into flight. 3 minutes later its sister satellite Galaxy 36 was released as well. And that left one more satellite to go but where was it? Oh yes, underneath this payload adaptor. All of this sadly as usual was shown via animation as we tend to expect from these Arianespace missions. And there underneath was the MotoSAT Third Generation Imager satellite.
With that last satellite finally released they were done and dusted leaving the payloads to make their way into their operating positions. So yes, what a week that was, and a few quick mentions as I close off here today. This was a fun one just as an example. But I just want to say thank you for watching and as always, you know the drill. If you love the content I make here with the team,
Patreon here is a terrific way to make sure we can stay independent of the algorithms, and create the most consistent content for you that we possibly can.
Picking up a little merch from time to time like our latest shirt design here is amazing as well. But you know, I realize not everyone can do that and I just want to thank you for taking your valuable time spending a little of your weekend here with me. I’m absolutely grateful every single week for that and we’ve got so much going on as we begin to close out 2022 here. It has been a big year. A year crammed with space activity just constantly going on. Like just the other day here was Lockheed Martin conducting a burst test of their expandable inflatable habitat. Just check this out.
That was one heck of a boom indeed and the strength exceeded the needed pressure by 6 times. 285 pounds per square inch. That is getting close to 20 bar. Sierra Space also joined the game sharing their sub-scale version of the company’s LIFE Habitat. That second Ultimate Burst Pressure Test’ all going well and exceeding NASA’s certification requirements.
On top of that, Relativity Space sharing some sweet shots of Terran 1 there. Patiently awaiting the static fire there at Launch Complex 16, the team all here standing in front as they approach these final phases of testing. They also shared this great testing of the Aeon R Gas Generator for the future Terran R rocket. This particular milestone had them firing it up at full power for the very first time. As far as I’m aware, what we are seeing here is the gas generator system in a
