Monthly Dose of Space - August 2024
Welcome to our eleventh Monthly Dose of Space! In this monthly newsletter, we bring you major news from the past month we haven't covered in our weekly newsletters. August has been yet another busy month worldwide, so let's jump into it!
SpaceX
This month at Starbase began on August 1st when the fifth module of the second launch tower was lifted and secured to the tower on August 1st. August 2nd saw the sixth module beginning preparations to lift. The following day, August 3rd, the sixth module was lifted onto the second launch tower, work to secure it started shortly after the lift.
A day later, August 4th, the CC 8800-1 crane used for stacking the second launch tower was lowered, ahead of extending it for stacking the final modules of the tower.
The following day, August 5th, workers were spotted removing thermal protection tiles from Ship 31's nose, beginning the replacement of its tiles like Ship 30. Early the next morning, August 6th, Ship 30 was once again rolled out to Massey's for testing, as the vehicle had one of its engines swapped out.
August 7th had the B14.1 test tank rolled back out to the launch site, possibly ahead of more catch testing using the towers 'chopsticks'. These tests would have the test tank sit on the orbital launch mount while the 'chopsticks' move around it. B14.1 was lifted onto the orbital launch mount later the same day.
Ship 30 performed a spin prime test with an unknown number of engines late on August 7th, most likely to test the replaced engine. August 9th would have Ship 30 return to the production site from Massey's.
A few days later, August 13th, the seventh module of the second launch tower was rolled out to the launch site. Two days later, while module seven was waiting to be stacked, the eighth module also rolled out to the launch site. The morning of the 15th of August had module seven lifted and attached to the second launch tower.
The following day, August 16th, B14.1 and the launch towers 'chopsticks' performed several tests to test catching a booster. Some of these tests had only one arm move, or both, with one occurring above B14.1, likely where SpaceX expects the booster to shut down its engines.
August 17th had B14.1 removed from the orbital launch mount and rolled back to the production site. A few hours later, a test tank was seen rolling out from the production site to the Massey's test site. The same day also had module eight stacked onto the second launch tower.
A couple of days later, August 19th, the ninth, and final, module of the second launch tower rolled out to the launch site. Two days later, on August 21st, the ninth module was lifted onto the launch tower. After the lift, teams quickly got to work securing the module and connecting various systems ahead of further hardware installation.
After a few days, on the 27th when Ship 31 was spotted still undergoing work to replace its thousands of thermal protection tiles. Work on replacing these tiles is believed to be nearing completion. The same day crews were also spotted working inside of Ship 30's payload bay, it's unknown what they were working on inside.
On the 28th teams working on the second launch tower were seen installing a stop for the towers 'chopsticks' to prevent it from moving too far down once installed. The 28th also had workers removing some of the scaffolding needed to work on Ship 31 thermal protection tiles, indicating that work on the tiles will be finished soon.
A couple of days later on the 30th teams were once again seen moving into Ship 30's payload bay. Workers were also seen working underneath Starhopper, possibly ahead of moving it into SpaceX's new office building at Starbase.
News of the Month
August saw Falcon 9 being grounded and returning to flight, China's first mega-constellation reaching orbit, Starliner's crew staying onboard the International Space Station until 2025, and Intuitive Machines fourth moon mission gaining NASA payloads.
Three stories in this month's news are from recent Weekly Dose of Space issues due to how close these newsletters were written, we believe these stories are of sufficient importance to be included here too.
Rocket Lab made Mars satellites reach Florida!
The Rocket Lab made Mars-bound satellites for NASA's ESCAPADE mission were shipped to Florida on August 16th, and arrived on August 18th. The two satellites are currently at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility in Titusville, Florida, where they are undergoing inspection ahead of final assembly and fuelling.
ESCAPADE's Principal Investigator, Rob Lillis, from the University of California, Berkeley, Space Sciences Laboratory, said the following about the delivery of the satellite duo:
“The successful delivery of the spacecraft marks a significant milestone and the culmination of over three years of dedicated teamwork from individuals across the project,” – “Now, we’re thrilled to embark on this first step of our journey to Mars!”
Fuelling of the two ESCAPADE spacecraft is expected to occur sometime in September, ahead of integration on Blue Origin's launch vehicle.
The ESCAPADE, Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers, mission is currently planned to launch to Mars in early October onboard Blue Origin's New Glenn launch vehicle.
Intuitive Machines fourth lunar mission to carry NASA payloads
Intuitive Machines announced on August 29th that it had been awarded a contract worth 116.9 million United States Dollars by NASA to carry science and technology payloads to the lunar surface. These payloads are expected to fly on the company's IM-4 mission which is currently slated for 2027, and will land at the lunar south pole.
The payloads are currently expected to be as follows:
- PROSPECT - Package for Resource Observation and In-Situ Prospecting for Exploration, Characterization, and Testing is a suite of instruments that will extract samples from beneath the lunar surface to identify possible volatiles trapped at extremely cold temperatures.
- LRA - Laser Retroreflector Array is a collection of eight retroreflectors that enable precision lasers to measure the distance between the orbiting or landing spacecraft to the reflector on the lander.
- SEAL - Surface Exosphere Alterations by Landers is expected to investigate the chemical response of lunar regolith to the thermal, physical, and chemical disturbances generated during a landing and evaluate contaminants injected into the regolith by the lander.
- MAG - Fluxgate Magnetometer is expected to characterize certain magnetic fields to improve the understanding of energy and particle pathways at the lunar surface.
- L-CIRiS - Lunar Compact Infrared Imaging System is planned to deploy a radiometer to explore the Moon’s surface composition, map its surface temperature distribution, and demonstrate the instrument’s feasibility for future lunar resource utilization activities.
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center will manage MAG, SEAL, and LRA; the European Space Agency will manage PROSPECT; and the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder will manage L-CIRiS.
Speaking about the contract award, Steve Altemus, Chief Executive Officer of Intuitive Machines, said the following:
“Over the last several years, we’ve witnessed NASA’s successful Artemis I mission and the campaign’s progress toward sustainably returning humans to the surface of the Moon, highlighting the importance of autonomous missions that advance humanity’s understanding of the Moon and the commercial services required to support the industry,” – “Intuitive Machines looks forward to working closely with the NASA team to deliver mission success once again.”
Falcon 9 returns to flight in 71 hours
SpaceX suffered from its first booster landing in years on August 28th. Almost three days later, Falcon 9 would return to flight from Space Launch Complex 40. This is believed to have been the fastest return to flight of a privately operated orbital launch vehicle, with the total time grounded between flights at approximately 71 hours and 47 minutes.
Falcon 9 was grounded after an anomaly occurred with booster B1062 during landing. During the landing, booster B1062 appeared to come down toward the drone ship too fast, causing at least one of its legs to fail. The failed leg resulted in the booster tipping over and being lost. The unplanned loss of the vehicle triggered a mishap investigation by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration allowed Falcon 9 to return to flight on August 30th while the mishap investigation is still ongoing. SpaceX then launched two Falcon 9's an hour and five minutes apart after being given regulatory approval.
SpaceX's team expects the solution to the anomaly to be a simple fix, as booster B1062 had performed twenty-three flights, and twenty-two landings, before being lost while also being a few years old. The problem is also currently believed to be affecting recovery hardware, a fix to this problem is already believed to be in place on newer Falcon 9 boosters.
China's first mega-constellation sets sail
China's first of three mega-constellations headed into orbit on August 6th. This first launch was for the Shanghai-backed Qianfan (千帆) constellation, with eighteen satellites being launched.
Up to five more launches for the Qianfan constellation may possibly occur this year, to complete plans to have 108 satellites on orbit before the year's end.
However following satellite deployment, the Long March 6A's second-stage suffered from an anomaly during passivization and broke up into hundreds of pieces of debris. U.S. Space Command initially tracked 300 pieces of debris, with LeoLabs later tracking between 700 and 900 debris pieces.
It's unknown what caused the breakup of the second-stage, but a similar event was observed in November of last year. The Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology has reportedly resolved this problem before, but it has reappeared for a currently unknown reason. The Long March 6A team is likely keen to resolve this issue, as keeping low Earth orbit clear of debris would save China's three mega-constellation projects a significant amount of capital, as satellites wouldn't need to be replaced as often.
The three mega-constellation projects underway in China are the aforementioned Shanghai-backed Qianfan (千帆) constellation, the government-backed GuoWang (郭望) constellation, and the LandSpace-Hongqing Technology joint venture called Honghu-3.
Starliner crew to return in 2025
NASA has decided, on August 24th, that the two astronauts onboard Starliner for its Crew Flight Test will return on the Crew-9 SpaceX Crew Dragon in February of 2025. Astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore launch to the International Space Station aboard Starliner back on June 5th.
The two astronauts were originally slated to spend just over eight days aboard the International Space Station and have now been up there for over two months. Returning with Crew-9 would increase their total time aboard the station to eight months.
Starliner will return to Earth uncrewed after a planned undocking no earlier than September 6th. After Starliner departs, and while Crew-8 is still at the station, the Crew-8 Crew Dragon spacecraft will be the lifeboat for Sunita and Butch. Crew-9 will launch to the space station in late September with only two astronauts onboard, while bringing spacesuits for Sunita and Butch. Those two astronauts heading up on Crew-9 will be NASA's Nick Hague and Roscosmos' Aleksandr Gorbunov.
Speaking at a press conference about the decision, Steve Stich, Manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said the following about the spacecraft:
“Starliner is a very capable spacecraft and, ultimately, this comes down to needing a higher level of certainty to perform a crewed return,” – “The NASA and Boeing teams have completed a tremendous amount of testing and analysis, and this flight test is providing critical information on Starliner’s performance in space. Our efforts will help prepare for the uncrewed return and will greatly benefit future corrective actions for the spacecraft.”
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson also spoke at the press conference saying:
“Spaceflight is risky, even at its safest and most routine. A test flight, by nature, is neither safe, nor routine. The decision to keep Butch and Suni aboard the International Space Station and bring Boeing’s Starliner home uncrewed is the result of our commitment to safety: our core value and our North Star,” – “I’m grateful to both the NASA and Boeing teams for all their incredible and detailed work.”
Both Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are in orbit for the third time.
Jason Kim to become CEO of Firefly
Firefly announced on August 29th that Jason Kim would become the Chief Executive Officer of the company, effective October 1st 2024.
Jason Kim has previously served as the Chief Executive Officer of Millennium Space Systems as well as in leadership roles at Raytheon Intelligence & Space, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, and the U.S. Air Force.
In the company's press release, Jason Kim said the following:
“I have long admired Firefly’s relentless drive and innovative spirit, particularly during our collaboration on the VICTUS NOX mission for the U.S. Space Force,” – “I am honored to join this unstoppable team and look forward to building on Firefly’s success and leading the company into a new era of category-defining achievements in the industry.”
In the same press release, Firefly Aerospace's Chairman of the Board, Kirk Konert, said the following about the company's new Chief Executive Officer:
“Jason Kim’s deep industry expertise, coupled with his proven ability to lead high-performing teams and execute on strategic growth initiatives, makes him the ideal leader for Firefly Aerospace,” – “We are confident that under his leadership, Firefly will continue to achieve major milestones across our launch, lunar, and on-orbit programs.”
ABL reveals Flight 2 lost in fire
ABL Space Systems shared an update on its investigation into the loss of its Flight 2 RS1 vehicle on August 26th. Initially, the company stated that the vehicle was lost during a static fire.
ABL believes that all eleven engines on RS1's first-stage ignited successfully for 0.5 seconds before shutting down due to a low-pressure reading in one of the engines. After shutdown, a fire is believed to have started, which was then sustained by fuel leaks from two engines. ABL states that offloading of the rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen propellants began at T+4:20 and T+9:20 respectively.
At T+11:30 ABL believes that water used in the launchpad's fire suppression system ran out, leading to the loss of propellant offloading followed by first-stage telemetry. By T+23:24 RS1's structural thermal limits are believed to have been exceeded, causing the vehicle to collapse on the launchpad.
ABL's current leading theory is that differences between propellant feed systems between Flight 1 and 2 led to a high-energy startup, causing combustion instability in two out of the eleven engines. The anomaly investigation is still ongoing currently, as such ABL may discover additional causes for the failure.
A few days after the press release about Flight 2, ABL Space Systems Chief Executive Officer, Harry O'Hanley, announced on LinkedIn that the company was laying off an unspecified number of employees.
Launches of the Month
This month saw twenty-two launches worldwide, if you want to know what each launch was we have them all listed below!
August 1st - Long March 3B/E with WHG-02
Beginning this month was a Long March 3B/E lifting off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center carrying a new communications satellite to a geosynchronous transfer orbit. The satellite was the second ‘Internet high-orbit satellite’ (Weixing Hulianwang Gaogui, WHG) spacecraft.
August 2nd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-6
SpaceX launched its first twenty-three Starlink satellites for the month to low Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A, in Florida. The booster for this mission was B1078 on its twelfth flight, with it landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall of Gravitas' downrange.
August 2nd - Electron for 'Owl for One, One for Owl'
Rocket Lab launched its first Electron of the month from Launch Complex 1B, on the Māhia Peninsula, carrying a synthetic aperture radar satellite to a sun-synchronous orbit for Synspective.
August 4th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 11-1
A Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California, carrying twenty-three Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. The booster for this mission was B1082 making its sixth flight, and landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.
August 4th - Falcon 9 with Cygnus NG-21
Also on August 4th, a Falcon 9 launched from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, carrying Northrop Grumman's twentieth Cygnus resupply mission to the International Space Station. The booster for this mission was B1080 flying for the tenth time and landing back at Landing Zone 1.
August 6th - Long March 6A with Qianfan Polar Group 01
A Long March 6A lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center carrying the first 18 satellites for China's Qianfan constellation. These satellites are believed to have been deployed at an altitude of approximately 800 kilometers. Details about this constellation are available here.
August 10th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 8-3
Another Falcon 9 launched carrying twenty-one Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit, this time from Space Launch Complex 40. The booster for this mission was B1067 for its twenty-first time and landing on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions' downrange.
August 11th - Electron for 'A Sky Full of SARs'
Rocket Lab launched its Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1B, on the Māhia Peninsula, carrying a synthetic aperture radar Earth-imaging satellite to low Earth orbit for Capella Space.
August 12th - Falcon 9 with Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission
SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California, carrying the Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission satellites, shortened to ASBM 1 & 2, for Space Norway. These satellites were built by Northrop Grumman with cooperation and payloads from the Norwegian Ministry of Defence, the United States Air Force, and Inmarsat. The booster for this mission was B1061 making its 22nd flight and landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.
August 12th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-7
Another Falcon 9 launched later on the same day carrying twenty-three Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A, in Florida. The booster for this mission was B1073 flying for the 17th time and landing on the drone ship 'A Shortfall of Gravitas' downrange.
August 15th - Soyuz 2.1a with Progress MS-28
A Soyuz 2.1a lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome carrying the Progress MS-28 spacecraft to low Earth orbit. Progress MS-28 is carrying supplies for the crew currently onboard the International Space Station, and began chasing down the station once on orbit. Docking to the station's Zvezda module occurred on August 17th at 05:53 am Universal Coordinate Time.
August 15th - Falcon 9 with WorldView Legion 3 & 4
Yet another Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, carrying two of Maxar's WorldView Legion satellites to a low Earth orbit. These satellites are part of a group of six Earth observation spacecraft with a 30 cm resolution. The booster for this mission was B1076 on its 16th flight and landing back at Landing Zone 1.
August 16th - SSLV with EOS-08
The Indian Space Research Organisation launched an SSLV rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Center carrying the EOS-08 satellite into low Earth orbit. EOS-08 is a small 175.5-kilogram Earth observation satellite. Details about the launch and satellite are available here.
August 16th - Long March 4B with Yaogan-43 Group 01
A Long March 4B lifted off from Launch Complex 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center carrying what is believed to be nine satellites to low Earth orbit. The rocket is also believed to have flown with a new 4.2-meter diameter fairing too.
August 16th - Falcon 9 for Transporter 11
Falcon 9 lifted off once again this week heading to sun-synchronus orbit for the Transporter 11 mission out of Space Launch Complex 4E. Onboard the rocket were 116 payloads for both commercial and government customers. The booster for this mission was B1075 on its 12th flight at landing at Landing Zone 4, near the launch site.
August 20th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-5
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, carrying twenty-two Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. The booster for this mission was B1085, making its first flight and landing downrange on the drone ship 'A Shortfall of Gravitas'.
August 22nd - Long March 7A with ChinaSat-4A
The second Long March 7A launch of 2024 carried ChinaSat-4A to a geostationary transfer orbit from LC-201 at the Wenchang Space Launch Site. ChinaSat-4A will reportedly be used to provide data, radio, voice, and television transmission services.
August 28th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 8-6
SpaceX launched yet another batch of twenty-one Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40. The booster for this mission, B1062, was flying for the twenty-third time but was lost shortly after touching down on the drone ship 'A Shortfall of Gravitas' downrange.
August 29th - Ceres-1S for 'How Far I'll Go'
Galactic Energy's fourth Ceres-1 of 2024 launched from a sea launch platform in the Yellow Sea carrying six satellites to a sun-synchronus orbit. The six satellites were Yunyao-1 15 (云遥一号15), Yunyao-1 16 (云遥一号16), Yunyao-1 17 (云遥一号17), Jitianxing A-03 (吉天星A-03), Suxing-1 01 (苏星一号01), and Tianfu Gaofen-2 (天辅高分二号).
August 29th - New Shepard with NS-26
Blue Origin flew another sub-orbital space tourism mission from their launch site in West Texas. The passengers for this flight were Ephraim Rabin, Nicolina Elrick, Eugene Grin, Rob Ferl, Karsen Kitchen, and Eiman Jahangir.
August 31st - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 8-10
Another Falcon 9 carried twenty-one Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40. The booster for this mission was B1069 flying for the eighteenth time and landing downrange on the drone ship 'Just Read the Instructions'.
August 31st - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 9-5
Yet another batch of twenty-one Starlink satellites were sent into low Earth orbit atop of Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 4E. The booster for this mission was B1081 on its ninth flight, and landed on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.
Launches to look out for in September!
September looks to be another busy month of launches. Listed below are all of the launches expected or very likely to happen next month, launches on the 1st of September may have already occurred due to when this newsletter is published.
September 3rd - Long March 4B with a to-be-announced payload
A Long March 4B is believed to be targeting launch from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. The payload onboard the rocket is currently unknown.
September 4th - Vega with Sentinel-2C
The final Vega launch vehicle is expected to launch to sun-synchronous orbit carrying the Sentinel-2C Earth observation satellite, for use with land surveying services. Vega is planned to be replaced with Vega-C.
September 4th - Falcon 9 with Polaris Dawn
The Polaris Dawn mission is expected to launch from Launch Complex 39A, in Florida, on a Falcon 9 carrying it to low Earth orbit with four crew onboard. In addition to conducting medical research, the mission would test extravehicular spacesuits made by SpaceX and laser-based Starlink communications on Crew Dragon.
The crew for Polaris Dawn is Commander Jared Isaacman, Pilot Scott Poteet, Mission Specialist Anna Menon, and Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis.
September 4th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 8-11
SpaceX is expecting to launch another batch of Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 atop of Falcon 9.
September 5th - Long March 6 with a to-be-announced payload
A Long March 6 is believed to be targeting launch from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. The payloads are currently unknown.
September 11th - H2A with IGS-Radar 8
A H2A rocket is expected to launch from the Tanegashima Space Center carrying the IGS-Radar 8 reconnaissance satellite to a sun-synchronus orbit.
September 11th - Soyuz 2.1a with MS-26
A Soyuz rocket is expected to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome carrying three astronauts aboard the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft. The three astronauts are Roscosmos' Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner as well as NASA's Donald Pettit.
September 13th - Falcon 9 with Galileo FM26 & 28
SpaceX is expecting to launch two of Europe's Galileo satellites to medium Earth orbit atop of Falcon 9 from Florida.
September 16th - Vulcan for Certification Flight 2
United Launch Alliance is expecting to launch its second certification flight to demonstrate Vulcan's capabilities for its United States government customers. These certification flights are needed ahead of Vulcan carrying military spacecraft.
September 24th - Falcon 9 with Crew-9
SpaceX is expected to launch Crew-9 atop of Falcon 9 carrying Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov to the International Space Station. The booster supporting this mission will be B1085, flying for the second time.
