Monthly Dose of Space - September 2024

Welcome to our twelfth 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. September has been an action-packed month worldwide, so let's jump into it!

News of the Month

September saw more reusable launch vehicles progressing toward launch, Earth gaining another moon, more crewed lunar landing progress, and Falcon 9 halting flights again.

Crew-9 arrives at the International Space Station

After a launch on September 28th, Crew Dragon 'Freedom' arrived at the International Space Station carrying NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. 'Freedom' docked to the space station's Harmony module forward port at 21:30 pm, Universal Coordinated Time.

With the docking, the Crew-9 mission aboard the International Space Station has begun. The Crew-9 crew is expected to perform science and station maintenance until February 2025.

The arrival of Crew-9 is also providing NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore with a ride home. Williams and Wilmore had flown to the space station aboard Boeing's Starliner. NASA ruled Starliner too risky to bring the crew back home after three months of troubleshooting problems while docked. Starliner would go on to return uncrewed on September 7th.

Earth gains another Moon?

As of September 29th Earth has gained another moon. This new moon is the small asteroid known as 2024 PT5, which is believed to be approximately ten meters in diameter.

2024 PT5 won't be visible to the naked eye due to its small size and it staying at a distance beyond the Moon. The asteroid is also about three-hundred thousand times smaller than Earth's Moon.

2024 PT5 is expected to stay with Earth until November 25th and won't complete a full orbit around our planet. If you have a telescope and want to try and spot 2024 PT5 you can track it here.

China progresses with reusable rockets

September has had China make great strides with development of two more reusable launch vehicles. This last month had LandSpace and Deep Blue Aerospace conducting high-altitude flight tests of test vehicles to assist in development of Zhuque-3 and Nebula-1.

LandSpace's test took place on September 10th and had the Zhuque-3 VTVL-1 test vehicle fly up to 10 kilometers. During the test, the vehicle shut down its only engine and then reignited it to come in for a soft landing. According to LandSpace, this hop test verified control during unpowered flight, the reusability of the company's engines, and the technology to light an engine during descent in flight.

Deep Blue Aerospace's test occurred almost two weeks later on September 22nd. The company's Nebula-1 test vehicle completed almost every major milestone during the test, except for a soft landing. Major test criteria were still completed, such as ascent with three engines, shut down for two of the engines, descent with one engine firing, and deployment of four landing legs ahead of landing.

These tests from both companies bring China's high-altitude rocket test total up to three, as a government effort between China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology performed the first back in late June. China views reusable rockets as being a key piece in a dynamic and competitive space industry. Reusable launch vehicles are also being developed to replace the already low-cost hypergolic Long March vehicles.

China reveals lunar surface spacesuit

At the third Spacesuit Technology Forum hosted by the China Astronaut Research and Training Center in Chongqing, the China Manned Space Agency revealed a lunar surface spacesuit on September 28th. This suit is the third-generation of China's domestically produced extravehicular spacesuits.

The new spacesuit will be worn by Chinese astronauts later this decade, as the country aims to put a crew on the lunar surface before 2030. These suits might potentially be worn aboard the Tiangong Space Station to conduct tests in the vacuum of space. Training with the suits on Earth is already believed to be underway to support development along with practicing use with crews in a simulated lunar environment.

Not many details were revealed about the suit beyond more flexible gloves, a panoramic glare-proof helmet visor, joints designed for low gravity, and an easy-to-use control panel for controlling suit systems. Movement demonstrations were also conducted with the suits and can be found here.

SpaceX suspends Falcon 9 launches

SpaceX announced on social media that Falcon 9's second-stage experienced an anomaly during its de-orbit burn after supporting the Crew-9 launch. This anomaly caused the second-stage to fall into the ocean outside of its targetted area. SpaceX's statement on the event is as follows:

"After today’s successful launch of Crew-9, Falcon 9’s second stage was disposed in the ocean as planned, but experienced an off-nominal deorbit burn. As a result, the second stage safely landed in the ocean, but outside of the targeted area. We will resume launching after we better understand root cause."

Additional details about the anomaly were not provided. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is also requiring an investigation.

It is unknown when SpaceX will begin flying Falcon 9 again, but it will likely be for a Starlink mission. This is also the third time Falcon 9 has suffered from an anomaly this year, having experienced a second-stage failure back in July and a first-stage landing failure in August.

ULA rolls out Vulcan ahead of second test flight

September 30th saw United Launch Alliance roll out the second Vulcan rocket to the launch pad ahead of its second certification mission for the United States Space Force. Launch of the second Vulcan is currently expected no earlier than 10:00 am, Universal Coordinated Time, on October 4th.

This launch was initially delayed a few months ago when the original payload, Sierra Space's Dream Chaser cargo spaceplane, would not be on track for a launch this year. Due to delays with Dream Chaser, United Launch Alliance is instead opting to fly an inert payload to complete the second and final certification mission of Vulcan, to allow it to launch sensitive U.S. military payloads.

For this mission the vehicle will fly in the VC2S configuration; that is a Vulcan first-stage booster, a Centaur V second-stage, two GEM 63XL solid rocket boosters, and the 15.5-meter long 5.4-meter diameter fairing. Had Dream Chaser been on schedule Vulcan would have flown in the VC4L configuration, with four GEM 63XL solid rocket boosters, and the 21.3-meter long 5.4-meter diameter fairing.

SpaceX

This month at Starbase began on September 2nd when workers were seen underneath Starhopper preparing to move it. On September 3rd, one of the self-propelled modular transporters rolled under Starhopper, and workers installed stands to enable Starhopper's move. Starhopper was also chained to the transporter.

Late on the 3rd, Starhopper was moved out of the launch site and into one of SpaceX's spare lots neighboring the launch site.

A few days later on the 5th of September, the 'chopsticks' of Orbital Launch Tower 1 were raised for testing. These tests are believed to have been simulating part of a booster catch, which is expected to occur on the next flight test of Starship-Super Heavy.

September 6th had Ship 31 roll out from the production site to the Massey's test site, possibly ahead of a static fire. Ship 31 is currently expected to fly on the sixth flight test. A few days later on September 8th Ship 31 was spotted being loaded with propellant at the Massey's test site, no engine testing is believed to have happened with nothing said by SpaceX.

Two days later a test tank, also at the Massey's test site, was spotted being loaded with propellant for testing, it's unknown what this test tank is for. Over at the launch site on September 13th teams were spotted installing various commodity pipes to the the second launch tower.

More testt of Ship 31 was also spotted on September 14th, but no engine testing is believed to have occurred.

Three days later on September 17th teams were spotted removing hardware from Starhopper, mainly the outer sheet metal layer. It's unknown what teams are doing to Starhopper or what the future of the old test vehicle is. The first launch towers 'chopsticks' were spotted performing movement tests on the 17th.

Ship 31 fired up its engines on the 18th for its six-engine static fire at the Massey's test site. Ship 31 is currently expected to fly on the sixth flight of Starship-Super Heavy.

Removal of hardware from Starhopper continued through the 18th with its mast being removed from it on the 19th, the mast was used to hold weather monitoring equipment.

Early in the morning of the 20th, Ship 31 rolled back from the Massey's test site to the production site. While Ship 31 was heading back to the production site, Booster 12 and its hot-staging ring left for the launch site. After sunrise, Booster 12 was lifted as high as the towers 'chopsticks' can travel before being placed onto the orbital launch mount.

Following the lift of Booster 12, Ship 30 was also rolled out to the launch site. While Ship 30 was waiting to be lifted in the early hours of the 21st, Booster 12's hot-staging ring was installed ontop of the booster. Ship 30 was then lifted atop of Booster 12 during the day.

On September 23rd Booster 12 and Ship 30 performed a partial propellant loading test on the launchpad. Liquid methane and liquid oxygen propellants were loaded into both vehicles, with SpaceX confirming it as a successful test a few hours later.

During the latter half of September SpaceX went fishing for parts of Booster 11. Booster 11 flew on Starship-Super Heavy's fourth flight test and landed in the Gulf of Mexico near Starbase. Following its landing at sea, the vehicle exploded for unknown reasons.

Once SpaceX teams recovered hardware from Booster 11 on the seabed, the remains were delivered to the Massey's test site. It's unknown what SpaceX plans to do with the recovered hardware. Several of the engines were spotted full of sand, having been resting on the seabed for the last three months.

Ending the month at Starbase, Ship 30 was destacked from Booster 12 on September 30th.

Launches of the Month

This month saw twenty-three launches worldwide, if you want to know what each launch was we have them all listed below!

September 3rd - Long March 4B with Yaogan-43 Group-02

September's launches started with a Long March 4B lifting off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center carrying a believed six satellites into low Earth orbit. These satellites were the second group of spacecraft launched for Yaogan-43, which is stated as being for testing low Earth orbit constellation technologies.

September 5th - Vega with Sentinel-2C

Arianespace launched its final Vega rocket from Ensemble de Lancement Vega at the Guiana Space Center, in French Guiana. Sentinel-2C was successfully delivered to sun-synchronous orbit, where it will begin providing high-resolution imagery for land surveying.

September 5th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 8-11

SpaceX launched twenty-one Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida. The booster for this mission was B1o77 flying for the fifteenth time, and landing downrange on the drone ship 'Just Read the Instructions'.

September 5th - Long March 6 with Group-03 of Geespace's constellation

A Long March 6 launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center carrying ten satellites into low Earth orbit. The ten satellites were for Geespace’s Geely Future Mobility Constellation.

September 6th - Falcon 9 with NROL-113

Another Falcon 9 launched from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California, for the NROL-113 mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, believed to be carrying a batch of Starshield satellites for military use. The booster for this mission was B1063, flying for the twentieth time and landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

September 10th - Falcon 9 with Polaris Dawn.

Polaris Dawn finally lifted off from Launch Complex 39A, in Florida, atop Falcon 9 at 09:23 am, Universal Coordinated Time, on September 10th heading to low Earth orbit. Crew Dragon C207 'Resilience' is carrying four astronauts for this mission, they are Commander Jared Isaacman, Pilot Scott Poteet, Mission Specialist Anna Menon, and Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis.

The booster for this mission, B1083, was flying for the fourth time and successfully landed on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions' downrange.

September 11th - Soyuz 2.1a with MS-26

A Soyuz 2.1a blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome heading into low Earth orbit to allow the Soyuz MS-26 mission to chase down the International Space Station. Onboard the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft are Roscosmos' Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner as well as NASA's Donald Pettit.

September 12th - Falcon 9 with BlueBird Block 1

A Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, carrying five satellites into low Earth orbit for AST SpaceMobile’s broadband constellation. The booster for this mission was B1078 flying for the thirteenth time and landing back at Landing Zone 1.

September 13th - Starlink Group 9-6

Another Falcon 9 carried a batch of twenty-one satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. The booster supporting this mission was B1071 flying for the eighteenth time and landing down range on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

September 14th - Qaem 100 with Chamran-1

A Qaem 100 rocket lifted off from the Shahroud Missile Test Site in Iran and headed for low Earth orbit. The rocket carried the Chamran-1 technology demonstration satellite, which is believed to weigh 60 kilograms.

September 17th - Angara 1.2 with Kosmos 2577 & 2578

An Angara 1.2 lifted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome carrying two unknown military satellites into sun-synchronous orbit for the Russian government.

September 17th - Falcon 9 with Galileo L13

A Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, carrying two Galileo satellites into medium Earth orbit for Europe. The booster for this mission was B1067 flying for the twenty-second time and landing downrange on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions' after the most daring re-entry of a Falcon 9 booster so far. Details about this mission and booster landing are available here.

September 19th - Long March 3B/E with BeiDou 59 & 60

A Long March 3B/E blasted off from Launch Complex 2 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center carrying two third-generation BeiDou navigation satellites. These satellites were deployed into a medium Earth orbit thanks to the use of a Yuanzheng-1 upper-stage, allowing the spacecraft to reserve onboard propellant for their ten-year operational lives.

September 20th - Long March 2D with six Jilin-1 satellites

Six Jilin-1 satellites, as part of the Kuanfu-02B group, were delivered to a sun-synchronus orbit by a Long March 2D flying from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. These satellites are believed to be remote-sensing spacecraft offering imaging resolutions between 0.5 and 4 meters to customers.

September 20th - Kuaizhou-1A with four Tianqi satellites

Another launch from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center occurred on the 20th with a Kuaizhou-1A lifting off to low Earth orbit. Onboard this launch was four Tianqi Internet-of-Things spacecraft as part of a thirty-eight satellite constellation, with thirty-two spacecraft already in orbit.

September 20th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 9-17

SpaceX launched another Falcon 9 carrying twenty Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. The booster for this mission was B1075 making its thirteenth flight and landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

September 20th - Electron for 'Kinéis Killed the RadIoT Star'

Rocket Lab's Electron rocket launched its second batch of Kinéis Internet of Things satellites from Launch Complex 1A on the Māhia Peninsula, in New Zealand, to low Earth orbit. Five satellites were onboard Electron for the 'Kinéis Killed the RadIoT Star' mission.

September 24th - Jielong-3 with 8 satellites

A Jielong-3 rocket lifted off from a sea launch platform off fo the coast of Haiyang, in eastern China, carrying 8 satellites to a sun-synchronus orbit. Details about the various technology demonstrations and research spacecraft are available here.

September 25th - Kinetica-1 with 5 satellites

CAS Space's Kinetica-1 blasted off from Launch Site 130 at the Jiuquan satellite launch Center heading for sun-synchronus orbit carrying five satellites for three customer's constellations. Details about these constellations are available here.

September 25th - Starlink Group 9-8

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 4E carrying 20 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. The booster for this mission was B1081 flying for the tenth time and landing on the drone ship 'Of Couse I Still Love You' downrange.

September 26th - H2A with IGS Radar 8

A H2A rocket lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center carrying the IGS Radar 8 reconnaissance satellites for the Japanese government. The IGS Radar 8 satellite is expected to serve Japan's military as well as natural disaster monitoring and relief efforts.

September 27th - Long March 2D with Shijian-19

A Long March 2D lifted off from Launch Site 4 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center carrying the Shijian-19 spacecraft to low Earth orbit. Shijian-19 is China's first returnable and reusable satellite and will demonstrate best operational practices ahead of flights of similar spacecraft.

September 28th - Falcon 9 with Crew-9

NASA's Crew-9 mission blasted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at 17:17 pm Universal Coordinated Time with Crew Dragon 'Freedom' atop of a Falcon 9 rocket. On board Crew Dragon 'Freedom' are two astronauts, NASA's Nick Hague and Roscosmos' Aleksandr Gorbunov. Further details about the mission are available here.

Launches to look out for in October!

October 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 October may have already occurred due to when this newsletter is published.

October 4th - Vulcan for Cert-2

United Launch Alliance is expecting to launch Vulcan's second certification flight from Space Launch Complex 41 carrying an inert payload to demonstrate capabilities for the United States Space Force. If successful the vehicle will be allowed to fly sensitive military payloads for the United States' government.

October 7th - Falcon 9 with Hera

SpaceX is expected to launch the European Space Agency's Hera asteroid exploration mission from Space Launch Complex 40. Hera plans to inspect the asteroid system Didymos that NASA's DART mission impacted in 2022.

October 10th - Falcon Heavy with Europa Clipper

Falcon Heavy is expected to fly a fully expendable mission carrying NASA's Europa Clipper mission from Launch Complex 39A. Europa Clipper will head to Jupiter's moon Europa to study it.

October 20th - H3 with DSN-3

A H3 rocket is expected to launch to a geostationary transfer orbit from the Tanegashima Space Center carrying the DSN-3 communications satellite for the Japanese military.

Late October - Vulcan with USSF-106

United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket may launch the USSF-106 mission for the United States Space Force in late October depending on the outcome of the vehicle's second certification flight.

Late October - Falcon 9 with CRS-31

Depending on the International Space Station's schedule, SpaceX's 31st resupply mission may launch atop of a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40 in late October.