This is the second Rocket Report to be featured on this blog
The Rocket Report: An Ars newsletter
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Rocket Report: SpaceX sees rideshare demand, Russia’s odd launch deal with Iran
"One of the questions that we’re getting a lot is, 'How full are you guys?'"
Welcome to Edition 5.06 of the Rocket Report! The big news this week is Northrop Grumman's deal with both Firefly and SpaceX to make sure it can continue flying Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station. This is a bold move that draws upon the deep US commercial space industry in order to meet NASA's needs in space. It is great to see this kind of cooperation in the aerospace community.
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Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift
rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the
calendar.
SpaceX firing up rockets in Texas again. SpaceX ignited engines on both the first and second stages of its Starship launch system this week, signaling that it is getting closer to a test flight of the massive rocket later this year. On Monday evening at 5:20 pm local time in South Texas, engineers ignited a single Raptor engine on the Super Heavy booster that serves as the rocket's first stage. About three hours later, on a separate mount at its "Starbase" facility in Texas, SpaceX ignited two engines on the Starship upper stage of the rocket, Ars reports.
Getting closer to an orbital launch attempt ... These two static firings, which are intended to test the plumbing of the rocket's liquid oxygen and methane propellant systems, are significant. They are the first static fire tests of 2022 at the South Texas launch site. Moreover, these vehicles—dubbed Booster 7 and Ship 24 to reflect their prototype numbers—could be the ones that SpaceX uses for an orbital launch attempt. Finally, this is the first time SpaceX has test-fired its new version of the Raptor engine, Raptor 2, on a rocket. On Thursday, SpaceX performed a longer-duration firing of an engine on Booster 7.
Next three launches
August 12: Falcon 9 | Starlink 3-3 | Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif. | 21:40 UTC
August 16: Falcon 9 | Starlink 4-27 | Cape Canaveral, Fla. | TBD
August 24: Falcon 9 | Starlink 4-23 | Kennedy Space Center, Fla. | TBD
And the first methalox rocket to orbit will be? The race to build and launch the first orbital-class rocket powered by methane continued to heat up this week as LandSpace rolled the transporter-erector for its Zhuque-2 to a launchpad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China. (See satellite image). The rocket was not attached, but it's a sign that the company is getting closer to launching the medium-lift vehicle.
The methane race to space ... Methane has often been discussed as the rocket fuel of the future due to its handling and performance properties, but so far, no orbital rocket has used it. But that could soon change, with SpaceX's Starship rocket, United Launch Alliance's Vulcan, Relativity Space's Terran 1, and the aforementioned Zhuque-2 all expected to come online soon. So which will be first? If I'm handicapping the race, I'd say Terran 1 very likely launches this year, with Starship somewhat likely, Vulcan very likely delayed to 2023, and a big I-don't-know with regard to the Zhuque-2. We should find out soon.
Russia launches satellite for Iran—with a catch. A Russian Soyuz rocket launched the "Khayyam" spy satellite for Iran on Tuesday, and the spacecraft will eventually be used to observe the Middle East. But Iran will not take control of the satellite right away, The Washington Post reports. Instead, Russia wants to use the satellite to buttress its observations of military activities in Ukraine. Accordingly, Russia has told Tehran that it plans to use the satellite for several months, or longer.
Russia's new space buddies ... The spacecraft’s camera has a resolution of 1.2 meters, Western security officials said. That’s far short of the quality achieved by US spy satellites or high-end commercial satellite imagery providers, but a substantial improvement over Iran’s current capabilities. The cooperation with Russia comes after Iran’s own attempts to launch military reconnaissance satellites into orbit have largely been met with disappointment. (submitted by Ildatch)
A glut of new rockets is on the way. So far the year 2022 has seen the debut of five new orbital rockets: China's Long March 6A, Russia's Angara 1.2, Korea's Nuri, Europe's Vega C, and China's Lijian-1. But that is just the tip of the iceberg, reports Parabolic Arc. As many as 20 orbital rockets could make their debut during the next 12 to 18 months, which would be unprecedented in the history of launch.
Some will fly, some will die ... The new launch vehicles range from massive boosters such as SpaceX's Starship and NASA's Space Launch System, to small satellite launchers capable of orbiting payloads weighing 100 kg or less. Additionally, there are multiple rockets designed to replace boosters that have been the mainstays of the launch industries in Europe (Ariane 5), Japan (H2), and the United States (Atlas V). Of course, not all of these rockets will reach the launch pad, but it seems clear there will be no shortage of news for this newsletter to cover in the coming months and years.
SpaceX sees continued demand for rideshare. Jarrod McLachlan, director of rideshare sales at SpaceX, said the company launched more than 400 customer payloads through its series of Transporter missions and other rideshare opportunities with “several hundred more” payloads manifested for launch, Space News reports. "One of the questions that we’re getting a lot is, 'How full are you guys?'" he said. "All the Transporters are fully manifested in 2023, and we’re getting pretty full in 2024. We’ve really seen a strong market demand."
Three flights a year ... SpaceX has performed five Transporter missions to date, with another scheduled before the end of the year. The company expects to average about three Transporter missions a year, all to Sun-synchronous orbits, as well as occasional rideshare opportunities on Starlink and other launches. While the near-term manifest is full, McLachlan said there should be opportunities for customers looking for last-minute rides to find a slot. This is consistent with what I've heard from a couple of sources—that demand for rideshares on Falcon 9 is really high, which is perhaps not surprising given that it is currently the lowest price toll road to space. (submitted by Ken the Bin)
Northrop partners with Firefly, SpaceX for Cygnus launches. Northrop Grumman and Firefly Aerospace announced Monday they will work together to develop a new first stage for Northrop’s Antares launch vehicle as well as a future medium-lift rocket. The new version of the Antares, called the Antares 330, will feature a first stage using seven Miranda engines under development by Firefly, Space News reports. The stage will also use Firefly composites for its structure and tanks. It will be used as a long-term solution to launch the Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station.
A big bet on Firefly propulsion ... The partnership would solve Northrop’s current reliance on Ukrainian and Russian suppliers for the Antares' first stage. The new Antares rocket will not be ready until at least 2024, however, so Northrop is buying three SpaceX Falcon 9 launches for its Cygnus spacecraft to fill the gap until then. Cygnus supplies food, water, experiments and other cargo to the space station. Northrop and Firefly also said the partnership would lead to the development of a separate “entirely new” medium-lift launch vehicle, details of which the companies did not disclose. This is a big win for Firefly as it seeks to stand out in the increasingly crowded US launch market. (submitted by EllPeaTea and Ken the Bin)
NASA looking for new ride for TROPICS mission. Astra's decision to retire the Rocket 3.3 vehicle has left four small NASA satellites stranded. Although the first two TROPICS cubesats were lost after a June 12 launch failure on a Rocket 3.3 vehicle, four additional TROPICS cubesats were due to launch on two Rocket 3.3 vehicles. With this rocket no longer available, NASA is looking for alternative options to launch the remaining TROPICS cubesats, Space News reports.
Probably not Astra ... "We are still looking for a ride and, once the ride is found, we’ll launch it," said Sachidananda Babu, a program manager in NASA’s Earth science division, during a NASA town hall meeting at the Small Satellite Conference. Astra said it was working with NASA to launch the cubesats on its new, larger launch vehicle, but that rocket may be overpowered for the smallsats. (And it may not be ready until at least 2024). Agency sources said Astra’s announcement that the company was discontinuing the Rocket 3.3 took them by surprise. Switching vehicles poses cost and schedule challenges that NASA is still studying.
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