Enlarge / The Falcon 9 rocket launched the NROL-85 mission on April 17.
SpaceX
Welcome to Rocket Report version 4.40! A lot has happened in spaceflight this week, but I’m probably most excited about Rocket Lab’s attempt to capture the first stage of its Electron rocket in mid-air. This launch (and capture?) will take place no earlier than Saturday, April 23 at 22:35 UTC (6:35 pm ET, 3:35 pm PDT).
As always, reader submissions are welcome, and if you don’t want to miss any issues, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small, medium and heavy rockets, as well as a quick look at the next three launches on the calendar.
Rocket Lab signs multi-launch agreement with HawkEye 360Virginia-based satellite company HawkEye 360 has awarded Rocket Lab three electron-launch contracts to put 15 satellites into low-Earth orbit by 2024. The first of these three missions is planned to be Rocket Lab’s first electronic mission to Virginia Island from Launch Complex 2 in Wallops. Rocket Lab said the first flight will launch no earlier than December 2022.
2022 yes or no … Rocket Lab will first deploy three HawkEye 360 satellites as part of a ride-sharing mission, followed by six satellites each in two dedicated electron launches. I’m a little skeptical about the 2022 launch date for the first mission because a good rule of thumb for launches is that if you’re in the first half of the year and a company says it’s planning to launch a fourth in a quarter of the same year, it’s likely to slip to the following year. Hope Rocket Lab proves me wrong. (submitted by Ken Bin)
Georgia officials seek private funding for spaceportCamden County is moving forward with plans for the spaceport despite last month’s referendum overwhelmingly rejecting the county’s purchase of the facility’s property, The Current reports. Earlier this month, three executives from Spearhead Capital Advisers presented their plan to the county commission — broadly speaking — to raise money for a public-private partnership in Camden. The facility will be located on a 400-acre marshland a few miles west of Cumberland Island.
NASA sunset? … Camden County has spent more than $11 million so far to obtain a launch permit from the site operator from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in December. Private investors will fund the infrastructure, and the county and private investors will recover the cost and ultimately profit from the fees for using the spaceport. The potential tenant startup company has not been named. Meanwhile, a state lawmaker has filed a bill to eliminate the county’s spaceport authority. In explaining the legislation, the state representative said the public vote on the spaceport should be respected. (submitted by zapman987)
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Space Force plans ‘responsive’ launch in 2023As part of the Fiscal Year 2022 Defense Budget, Congress has increased the Department of Defense by $50 million for better use of commercial launch services during conflict; this will help the government replace damaged satellites or rapidly deploy new satellites. This week, the U.S. Space Force said it plans to conduct a “responsive space” demonstration in 2023, and private launch companies will be challenged to deploy satellites on short notice, Space News reported.
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Who will deliver? … $50 million grant for Tactical Response Launch will be used not only to demonstrate the launch vehicle, but also to demonstrate the ability to rapidly integrate payloads. Companies such as Virgin Orbit have lobbied aggressively to fund the program, which would facilitate smaller launch service providers that don’t require traditional launch facilities, and claim they can respond within days or hours.
OneWeb strikes launch deal with IndiaOneWeb said in a brief press release that it signed a “historic contract” with Indian Space Agency ISRO to help deliver OneWeb’s first-generation broadband satellite constellation. However, the press release provides few details other than to say that the first launch will take place at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota later in 2022. OneWeb also said it was working with SpaceX to replace six Soyuz launches as a launch deal with Russia fell through after the Ukraine war.
It’s all GSLV to me …European space correspondent Peter B. de Selding says The deal will see two launches, at least one of which will be on India’s Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle (GSLV). It’s no surprise that OneWeb is partnering with India for space launches, as Indian conglomerate Bharti Global holds the largest stake in OneWeb. The real question is what rhythm India can achieve with the GSLV, which has had an unsuccessful launch since 2019 and struggled to overcome its cryogenic superior after a failure in 2021. (submitted by EllPeaTea and Ken the Bin)
SpaceX tops lift list for Q1 2022. BryceTech released its Q1 2022 report, examining rocket launches and satellite deployments. Unsurprisingly, the company found that SpaceX topped the list with 11 rocket launches and a total of 502 spacecraft. Of all these spacecraft, SpaceX launched into orbit with a total mass of 115.9 metric tons; Payload notes that the rest of the world adds up to less than half.
Ongoing Trends in Commercial Satellites … 88% of the 624 spacecraft launched in the first quarter of 2022 are owned and operated by commercial companies. (Of course, most of them are SpaceX’s Starlink satellites). This trend continues the trend identified by BryceTech in the third and fourth quarters of 2021. In both quarters, 82% and 78% of all spacecraft launched were owned and operated by commercial companies. This will almost certainly continue as more OneWeb and Project Kuiper satellites are launched. (submitted by Ken Bin)
Falcon 9 performs over Hawaii. On the morning of Sunday, April 17, local time, a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, carrying the National Reconnaissance Office’s classified NROL-85 payload. Due to the secrecy of the launch, the SpaceX webcast ended shortly after liftoff. But observers in Hawaii got a spectacular view of the second stage just hours after launch.
The second stage makes a bucket “nrol” … The Subaru telescope on Mauna Kea recorded what appeared to be a flying vortex before dawn Saturday, Live Science reported. Wow, the video is spectacular. This is apparently the second stage of the Falcon 9’s re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, spinning and expelling excess propellant from its fuel tanks. This phenomenon has been observed before, but this is one of the best views I’ve seen. (submitted by Ken Bin)
SLS rocket returns to VAB for repairs. On Saturday night, NASA said it will launch a large Space Launch System (SLS) rocket from its launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) in the coming days. According to Ars, this marks a significant setback for a program that has attempted to complete a “wet rehearsal” test since April 1, during which the rocket is refueled and completed within 10 seconds of launch. Each of the three refueling attempts failed due to one or more technical problems with the rocket, its mobile tower, or the ground system supplying propellant and gases. In its most recent attempt on Thursday, April 14, NASA successfully loaded 49 percent of its core-grade liquid oxygen tanks and 5 percent of its liquid hydrogen tanks.
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Summer slips into fall releases? … NASA and its contractors will address issues that arose during refueling tests over the next few weeks. For example, Air Liquide, a supplier of gaseous nitrogen systems, will upgrade its capacity. NASA will also replace a faulty check valve on the rocket’s upper stage and repair a leak on the mobile launch tower’s “tail service mast umbilical,” a 10-meter-tall structure that provides propellant and power lines for the rocket on the launch pad In a news conference Monday, NASA officials declined to set a timetable for how long the rocket will stay in the VAB, saying it would take at least “a few weeks.” A launch before August now seems unlikely.
Sorry Mom, Blue Origin can’t use “Jacklyn”. In December 2020, Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos visited Pensacola, Florida, to name a large rocket recovery ship “Jacklin” after his mother. “After each flight, the first stage of New Glenn returns home to Jaclyn,” Bezos wrote on his Instagram account. “The name couldn’t be more fitting — Mom always gave us the best place and the best heart to go home.” A year and a half later, Blue Origin appears to be reconsidering the possibility.
It might be too expensive to go home … The 600-foot former cargo ship has been docked at the Port of Pensacola since 2018 and is being refitted so that it can serve as a landing platform for the first phase of New Glenn. A Blue Origin spokesperson told the publication that no final decision has been made. The spokesman said the company was looking for “different options” for the rescue vessel that would give the best chance of mission success while being safe and cost-effective. It seems unlikely that Blue Origin will resume the ground landing; it appears that Blue Origin is looking for a more economical option than the larger “Jacklin” for recovery operations. (submitted by Ken Bin)
NASA completes the upper “Test Article”. The space agency said Tuesday that it has completed the manufacture of a hydrogen tank barrel that will be tested as a welding confidence article for the Space Launch System’s new superior. This more powerful “Exploration Upper Stage” will be used for launches later this decade starting with the Artemis IV mission. This upper stage will have the ability to simultaneously deliver the Orion spacecraft and cargo into lunar orbit.
Do not worry …Boeing has the primary contract to develop the upper tier, and since NASA awarded it under “cost-plus” terms, it could be a lucrative contract. While Artemis III — the first manned landing — is nominally scheduled for 2025, it will almost certainly be pushed back to 2026, 2027 or even later due to various development issues. That means Boeing may extend the development contract for the exploration upper stage, which uses…
