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The latest flight of SpaceX’s Starship/Super Heavy vehicle, which took place in Boca Chica, Texas, on Oct. 13, a day before the opening ceremony for IAC, demonstrated the ability of the Super Heavy booster to return to the launch site and be “caught” by mechanical arms attached to the launch tower. That was a major step towards the rapid reusability the company envisions for the vehicle, and which will be needed for some of its key near-term missions like NASA’s Human Landing System (HLS) program.
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“Just yesterday, SpaceX has a very successful fifth launch as they develop this very large rocket,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said during an Oct. 14 plenary session that features the heads of several space agencies. “This was another one of the steps in the iteration of developing that.”
He added at a press conference the next day that work on the HLS version of Starship was on schedule. “I think you saw as a result of Sunday’s test of SpaceX and its big rocket that they are moving along very well, and that will determine ultimately the timing for the landing of Artemis 3 on the moon,” he said. “As of Sunday’s test, it was right on the mark.”
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The success of the flight was also welcomed by companies that plan to use Starship for other missions, from launching large payloads like commercial space stations into low Earth orbit to commercial missions to the moon.
For others in industry and government, though, the latest Starship test flight prompted different reactions, particularly among European companies and agencies as the continent emerges from a “launcher crisis” with the successful inaugural launch of Ariane 6 in July and the return to flight of Vega C in early December.
“Congratulations to SpaceX, what an incredible feat of engineering! Mars, here we come,” Rocket Factory Augsburg stated in a social media post Oct 14. “At the same time, the coin has a second side: it shows and confirms that Europe has completely lost touch. Can it still catch up? No chance. At least not the way things are going at the moment.”
The company, whose first RFA ONE launch vehicle was lost in a static-fire test accident in August, called for governments in Europe to serve as anchor customers for new launch vehicles, increased investment and “a framework that allows and promotes unbureaucratic, fast and risk-taking development.”
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Starship, as well as SpaceX’s reuse of Falcon 9 boosters, have made it clear to many that reusability is essential for future launch vehicles. S. Somanath, chairman of the Indian space agency, noted in the Oct. 14 plenary that the Indian government recently approved development of the Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV) that will provide increased payload performance over existing rockets and with a reusable booster. He estimated NGLV will take six years to develop.
“I think all of you realize that reusability is mandatory for launchers,” he said."
Latest Starship flight prompts praise and worries at IAC https://lnkd.in/gXdaM9yT
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