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SpaceX's Falcon 9 returned to flight early Saturday, just 15 days after an upper-stage anomaly. The rocket lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center at 1:45 a.m. Eastern and deployed 23 Starlink satellites. The launch took place after SpaceX said late Thursday it received public safety approvals from the FAA to resume launches. The investigation into the anomaly traced the failure to a crack in a sensor line that allowed liquid oxygen to leak, cooling other engine components that included igition fluid needed for the engine's second burn. The fluid flowed too slowly, resulting in a hard start that damaged the engine but left the stage intact. NASA agreed with SpaceX on the investigation, clearing the way for launches in August of a Cygnus cargo vehicle and Crew Dragon spacecraft. [SpaceNews]
Space followed up that launch with two more Falcon 9 launches early Sunday. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 1:09 a.m. Eastern, deploying 23 Starlink satellites. It was followed at 5:22 a.m. Eastern by a Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California that carried 21 Starlink satellites, 13 of which had direct-to-cell payloads. Both launches were successful, SpaceX said. [Space.com]
An Atlas 5 is set to launch its final national security payload early Tuesday. Preparations are underway for the launch of the USSF-51 mission on an Atlas 5 from Cape Canaveral, with liftoff scheduled for 6:45 a.m. Eastern Tuesday. The rocket is carrying a classified payload to geostationary orbit. USSF-51 also represents the first ULA launch under the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 2 contract, awarded by the Space Force to ULA and SpaceX in 2020. USSF-51 was slated to fly on Vulcan as part of the Phase 2 contract but the mission was reassigned to the proven Atlas 5. [SpaceNews]
A Senate appropriations bill closely follows NASA's request for fiscal year 2025 but pushes back on some proposed mission cancellations and cuts. Senate appropriators released Friday the bill and report for the commerce, justice, and science (CJS) spending package approved by the appropriations committee on Thursday. The bill offers $25.434 billion for NASA, $50 million above the agency's request. However, the report is critical of NASA plans to cancel the OSAM-1 satellite servicing mission and GDC heliophysics mission, while also setting higher funding levels than requested for the Chandra and Hubble space telescopes. The report does not mention the VIPER lunar rover that NASA announced earlier this month it will cancel, but Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.) said at the markup Thursday she was "very disappointed" in NASA's decision. [SpaceNews]
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| Other News
SpaceX will move Dragon splashdowns back to the West Coast next year. The company said Friday that Dragon splashdowns, which have been off the coast of Florida since the introduction of the Crew Dragon and its cargo variant, will shift some time next year to locations off the California coast. SpaceX said that is part of efforts to mitigate the debris from the Dragon's trunk section that has been surviving reentry. The new plan calls for keeping the trunk attached until after the deorbit burn to allow it to reenter uprange from the capsule, rather than remain in orbit for weeks and months before making an uncontrolled reentry. [SpaceNews]
NASA and Boeing tested thrusters on the Starliner spacecraft docked to the International Space Station on Saturday. Controllers fired 27 reaction control system thrusters individually on the spacecraft to confirm their performance after weeks of inactivity. Engineers will analyze data from the test over the next several days ahead of a readiness review towards the end of the week that could allow the spacecraft to return to Earth after its extended stay at the station. [Boeing]
A Taiwanese company is seeking permission to conduct a rocket launch from Japan. TiSpace is hoping to win approval from the Japanese government to conduct a launch of a suborbital rocket from Hokkaido by early next year. The request is a test of Japanese policies that seek to grow the country's commercial space sector while also encouraging foreign companies to set up operations in the country. [Reuters]
The Space Force is willing to go to great lengths to retain some of its guardians. The service is offering bonuses of up to $180,000 for guardians to reenlist in certain career fields, up from $100,000 in the recent past. The career fields include several cyber-related ones as well as analysts and space systems operators. The size of the bonus also depends on how long guardians have been on active duty. The Space Force says that while more than 90% of guardians stay beyond their first enlistment, high demand in the private sector in some fields requires the higher bonuses. [Air & Space Forces Magazine]
| |  | The Week Ahead
Monday-Thursday: Tuesday: - Cape Canaveral, Fla.: Scheduled launch of an Atlas 5 on the USSF-51 classified mission at 6:45 a.m. Eastern.
- Mahia Peninsula, N.Z.: Scheduled launch of an Electron rocket carrying a Synspective radar imaging satellite at 12:15 p.m. Eastern.
Tuesday-Thursday: - Las Vegas: The AIAA ASCEND conference features a wide range of sessions on commercial and government space activities.
Wednesday: Wednesday-Thursday: Thursday: Friday: - Kennedy Space Center, Fla.: Scheduled launch of a Falcon 9 carrying Starlink satellites at 12:19 a.m. Eastern.
Saturday: - Cape Canaveral, Fla.: Scheduled launch of a Falcon 9 carrying a Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo spacecraft on the NG-21 mission to the ISS at 11:28 a.m. Eastern.
Saturday-Thursday, Aug. 8: | | | |
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