Rocket Report: ICBM test aborted after “anomaly”; FAA wraps Starship safety review

Welcome to Edition 6.18 of the Rocket Report! In this newsletter we have a double dose of news from China, where there are two separate efforts to duplicate SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket. On the American side of the pond we also have two stories about United Launch Alliance and its effort to get Vulcan flying, and the cost of the rocket's delays.

As always, we welcome reader submissions, and if you don't want to miss an issue, 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-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

Chinese company tests vertical landing. A Chinese commercial rocket company has successfully launched and safely landed a test article on its path to developing a reusable launch vehicle, Space News reports. Beijing-based Interstellar Glory Space Technology Ltd., also known as iSpace, launched the Hyperbola-2Y single-stage hopper on Thursday. The methane-liquid oxygen reusable test vehicle rose to a height of 178 meters during its 51-second flight.

Hopping like a grasshopper ... After this ascent, the hopper performed a powered descent and soft landing, supported by four landing legs. The 3.35-meter-diameter, 17-meter-long test stage is powered by a variable thrust Focus-1 engine. The vertical takeoff, vertical landing test marks progress toward a reusable medium-lift rocket that could debut in 2025. It is also the latest marker in Chinese efforts to emulate the success of SpaceX and its Falcon 9 rocket. (More on that below). It's worth noting that SpaceX performed similar tests with its "Grasshopper" vehicle about a decade ago. Blue Origin is the only other company to land rockets that have flown to space. (submitted by Ken the Bin and EllPeaTea)

Isar will make its debut launch from Norway. During the opening ceremony for the Andøya Spaceport in Norway, Isar Aerospace said the debut launch of its Spectrum rocket would take place from there. When the spaceport on an island north of the Norwegian mainland is completed, it will have several launch pads. Isar Aerospace will have exclusive access to the first launch site, which was built to Isar's specifications, including a launch pad, payload integration facilities, and a mission control center.

Now building Spectrum ... "Together with Andøya Spaceport, our team has created an excellent piece of engineering, the first orbital launch site in continental Europe which will bring this access to space to Norway, and back to Europe," said Daniel Metzler, CEO and co-founder of Isar. "For Isar Aerospace, this step equals entering the final stages of our path to first flight." The company says it is currently in the production phase of all parts of the rocket, including the flight engines. Recently, the Aquila engine completed a 260-second hot fire test. The rocket stages will then have to undergo acceptance testing, a series of tests that will verify that the systems meet all necessary requirements for flight. (submitted by Ken the Bin)

Phantom Space signs satellite deal. A company called Tropical Weather Analytics says it has agreed to a "strategic partnership" with Phantom Space to design, manufacture, launch, and operate its Hurricane Hunter Satellite Constellation. Weather Analytics says its 12U CubeSats will "provide unprecedented 3D spatial resolution and revisit rate (five times per day) on a global scale." As a meteorologist, I can certainly say that such coverage of developing and active hurricanes would be a boon to forecasting.

But will this happen? ... "Our team is committed to leveraging our extensive experience to develop and launch a reliable and advanced satellite constellation," said Jim Cantrell, CEO of Phantom Space. "This partnership exemplifies our mission to provide innovative solutions that address pressing global challenges." The news release makes other interesting statements, including Phantom's vision of mass manufacturing and launching hundreds of rockets. I guess we'll find out. (submitted by Ken the Bin)

Minuteman III test terminated due to anomaly. The flight of a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile was terminated over the Pacific Ocean early on Wednesday morning due to an "anomaly," the Air Force said. The launch originated from Vandenberg Space Force Base, and the unarmed missile's flight ended safely.

All test data is good data ... "An anomaly is any unexpected event during the test," the Air Force said in a statement. "Since anomalies may arise from many factors relating to the operational platform itself, or the test equipment, careful analysis is needed to identify the cause." Several organizations will investigate the failure, which should help ensure the reliability of the Minuteman fleet.

Spaceplane startup continues testing. A Germany-based startup, POLARIS Spaceplanes, has completed the first flight of a demonstrator vehicle. The flight lasted for 2.5 minutes and covered a total distance of approximately 9 km, European Spaceflight reports. The MIRA vehicle is a 4.3-meter demonstrator with a fiber-reinforced shell and is powered by four kerosene-fed jet engines and one of the company’s in-house designed AS1 aerospike rocket engines.

Taking steps to orbit ... The 155-kilogram vehicle is a sub-scale prototype of AURORA, a multipurpose spaceplane and hypersonic transport system that will be capable of delivering 1,000 kilograms to low-Earth orbit with the aid of an expendable upper stage. POLARIS began testing MIRA on October 18 at the old Lemwerder airport near Bremen, with the vehicle’s first powered roll test and flight termination system test. A week later, the company was officially granted its vehicle operation license, which gave POLARIS the green light to perform an initial flight test. (submitted by EllPeaTea and Ken the Bin)

Dream Chaser getting closer to launch. Within a few weeks, the Dream Chaser spaceplane, named "Tenacity" and carrying the serial number DC-101, will be out the door on the way to a NASA facility in Ohio for a battery of tests to prove it can survive the rigors of spaceflight, Ars reports. “We’re almost done with everything," said Angie Wise, Sierra Space's chief safety officer. "We’re finishing all the closeout panels. We’re essentially getting it ready for shipping. We’ve checked out the landing gear. We’re going to put everything back in, stow it, and then move it onto the (transport) fixture and get it out of here.”

Launch date still uncertain ... The space plane, which lands on a runway, will carry cargo to the International Space Station for NASA. The first Dream Chaser missions will lift off on United Launch Alliance Vulcan rockets from Cape Canaveral, Florida, but Sierra Space says its spaceplane can fly on different launch vehicles. Sierra Space will put its spaceplane on the second flight of United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket, which is still awaiting its first test flight. A reasonable date for Dream Chaser's debut is mid-2024.

Chinese firm seeks to build a Falcon 9 clone. Chinese commercial launch firm Space Pioneer has announced a new round of funding for the development of the Tianlong-3 rocket, comparable to the SpaceX Falcon 9. Space Pioneer said the “C+” funding round was worth “several hundred million yuan" (100 million yuan = $13.7 million). This 12th round of funding will go toward completing the Tianlong-3 rocket, which is intended to be capable of lifting 17 tons to low-Earth orbit, Space News reports.

Tianlong means Sky Dragon ... The funds will also be used for the production of the smaller Tianlong-2, which had a successful inaugural flight in April this year. That launch made the company the first Chinese commercial firm to reach orbit with a liquid propellant rocket. The Tianlong-3 will be a two-stage kerosene-liquid oxygen rocket with a reusable first stage. Space Pioneer is targeting the first Tianlong-3 launch in the first half of 2024. Ambitiously, the firm aims to launch 30 times per year within three years of its debut launch. (submitted by Ken the Bin)

New rocket delays cost ULA in military contracts. The US Space Force this week awarded a massive round of launch contracts to two companies to carry its national security satellites and other payloads into orbit over the next several years. One of the main intrigues in the national security launch is whether the ongoing delays of the Vulcan rocket—which was originally due to launch in 2020—would impact the share of launches ULA received from the government.

When satellites are ready to fly, they need to fly ... And based on the latest data, this appears to have happened, Ars reports. Instead of receiving an anticipated 60 percent of launch orders from 2019 to 2023, ULA has only received 54 percent from the military. This amounts to three fewer launches, or a lost value of about $350 million. "It is imperative to rapidly deliver critical space capabilities to the Joint Warfighter as soon as they are ready to be launched—we cannot leave capability sitting on the ground," Col. Doug Pentecost, of Space Systems Command, said. (submitted by EllPeaTea)

FAA wraps up safety evaluation of Starship. The second test flight of SpaceX's Starship super heavy lift rocket is one step closer to liftoff from South Texas after the Federal Aviation Administration announced the conclusion of its safety review on Tuesday. The agency issued a brief statement noting that this assessment portion wrapped up on October 31. A safety review of the rocket and launch site is focused on issues that affect public health and the safety of property, Spaceflight Now reports.

But wait, there's still the environmental review ... The biggest outstanding piece of the puzzle before the second integrated flight test is the environmental review, done in partnership with the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The agency has up to 135 days to complete its review process, and the clock just started on October 19. However, the agency said it does not expect to take that much time. Ars has heard the current no-earlier-than launch date is November 13. (submitted by Ken the Bin and EllPeaTea)

Vulcan's first payload arrives in Florida. In a sure sign that the aforementioned Vulcan rocket is nearing launch readiness, its Moon lander payload has arrived at Cape Canaveral. The spacecraft was unloaded at Astrotech facilities where it will be integrated with the Vulcan booster for launch as early as December 24, 2023. The Peregrine lander, built by Astrobotic, will carry 21 payloads from governments, companies, universities, and NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program.

To land or not to land ... “It’s incredible to realize that we are just a short time away from our Peregrine spacecraft beginning its journey to the Moon,” says John Thornton, Astrobotic CEO. Once Peregrine separates from the rocket's upper stage, Astrobotic’s Mission Control Center will take control of the spacecraft. Astrobotic will then attempt a soft landing at the Gruithuisen Domes feature on the Moon and support lunar surface payload operations for payload customers for approximately 10 days. (submitted by Ken the Bin)

Next three launches

November 3: Long March 7A | Unknown payload | Wenchang Satellite Launch Center, China | 15:00 UTC

November 3: Falcon 9 | Starlink 6-26 | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida | 22:23 UTC

November 7: Falcon 9 | Transporter 9 | Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif. | 18:47 UTC