Rocket Report: Meet the Blue Origin Space Rangers; methane rocket fails in debut

No one has yet stepped forth to win the great methane rocket race.

Welcome to Edition 5.21 of the Rocket Report. This the final edition of the Rocket Report for 2022. I will be taking about 10 days off for the holiday season this year, so the next newsletter will not be published until January 5. The good news? Ars and I have big things planned for coverage of space in 2023, so stay tuned for announcements about that. In the meantime, I hope everyone has an enjoyable holiday season!

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.

Almost time to get charged up for Electron. After more than two years of delays, NASA and Rocket Lab are finally ready to conduct the first Electron launch from Wallops Island in Virginia on Friday, Space News reports. The latest delays were caused by a poor weather forecast for Thursday, and then a need to close out final documentation. The launch is now targeted for no earlier than Sunday, December 18. The mission will place into orbit three satellites for HawkEye 360, which operates a constellation of spacecraft that perform radio-frequency surveillance.

What does the F in FTS stand for, anyway? ... The main delay was caused by a new autonomous flight termination system required for Electron launches from Wallops. David Pierce, director of NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, said the final safety certification of what’s called the NASA Autonomous Flight Termination Unit was originally scheduled in time to support a mid-2020 first launch from Launch Complex-2. But during final checks of the software, engineers discovered numerous errors in the code. Eventually, Rocket Lab wants to launch the Neutron rocket from Virginia. (submitted by Ken the Bin)

Who is ready for Blue Origin Space Rangers? Variety reports that a production company co-founded by Michael Strahan, who flew to space on New Shepard in December 2021, is working with Blue Origin to develop an animated space adventure series for kids. It will be called "Blue Origin Space Rangers." Stop laughing. I'm being serious over here.

Coming soon to Amazon Prime? ... The show will include appearances of an animated Jeff Bezos as well as Strahan, a former NFL star. That might make it worth tuning in to, at least once. According to the producers, the show will "create multiple touchpoints for kids and families to explore, learn and deliver a one-of-a-kind space experience." I'll try to be positive and say it's great to try to get kids interested in STEM. But I certainly hope this is not a distraction to all of the other work on Blue Origin's plate.

After another delay, ABL slips to January. At the beginning of this month, ABL Space Systems provided a clear and detailed update on its multiple attempts to launch the RS1 rocket from Kodiak, Alaska. (This kind of transparency is much appreciated.) Then, on December 8, the company tried again, only to observe "unexpected electrical interference in our avionics system" shortly before the launch attempt.

Time needed for fixes ... "The issue has only presented during live propellant ops, not dry vehicle testing or in the lab. This indicates a thermoelectrical or thermomechanical root cause," the company stated on Twitter. "The team is implementing fixes and working towards a launch attempt during our next launch window opening on January 9." Best of luck to ABL as it continues to press toward the debut of RS1.

New solid rocket launches from sea platform. China launched its new Jielong-3 rocket from a mobile sea platform in the Yellow Sea on December 9, successfully sending 14 satellites into orbit, Space News reports. The four-stage rocket is advertised as being able to carry up to 1,500 kg into a 500-kilometer Sun-synchronous orbit. It was developed by China Rocket Co. Ltd.

A close relative of another rocket ... Jielong-3 has close similarities in terms of lift capacity; length and diameter (2.65 meters); payload fairing (3.35 meters); and mass at liftoff with the Zhongke-1A rocket developed and recently launched by a group under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. China Rocket is a commercial spinoff from the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, a manufacturing arm under the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. (submitted by Ken the Bin)

Korean company preparing for suborbital launch. South Korean rocket startup Innospace plans to launch its suborbital technology demonstration rocket, HANBIT-TLV, in December, Spacewatch Asia Pacific reports. The company has a preliminary launch window of December 14 to 21 from the Alcântara Space Center in Northern Brazil, but it is still consulting with the Brazilian Air Force to set a date.

Proving out paraffin ... The 16-meter-tall rocket is a testbed for a microlauncher named Hanbit-Nano, which will be capable of carrying up to 50 kg to a 500 km Sun-synchronous orbit. The primary objective of the launch is to validate the company’s hybrid rocket engine that uses liquid oxygen and paraffin-based propellants. (submitted by Ken the Bin)

SpaceX may attempt back-to-back Falcon 9 launches. Space Launch Delta 45, which manages the Eastern Range, confirmed Thursday that it is preparing to support two Falcon 9 launches on Friday afternoon from Florida. The first of these launches, mPOWER-A, has a launch window that opens at 4:21 pm ET (21:21 UTC). The second one, Starlink 4-37, has a window that opens at 4:39 pm ET (21:39 UTC).

Don't blink or you'll miss it ... If you're doing the math correctly, those two launches are separated by just 18 minutes. That would not be just a record for SpaceX, but likely a record for any rocket in history. It appears that the all-time record for a rapid succession of launches by the same rocket was set in 1969, by the Soyuz-U booster, in 25 minutes. (Update: Well, it's not happening. On Thursday night SpaceX tweeted that it was going to focus on the mPOWER mission on Friday).

Historic Zhuque-2 launch ends in failure. On Wednesday, a privately owned Chinese company attempted to launch the first rocket powered by methane fuel into orbit. However, the launch of the Zhuque-2 rocket ended in failure after a problem with the vehicle's upper stage. An expected burn of the stage’s vernier thrusters, intended to carry the stage and payloads into orbit after a burn by the main engine, did not occur as planned, Space News reports.

The race remains on ... Built by Landspace, the launch attempt represents a leap by Chinese commercial launch providers despite the failure, marking the country’s first launch attempt of a privately developed liquid propellant launch vehicle. The Zhuque-2 is also a larger rocket than has been developed commercially in China, with an advertised carrying capacity of up to 4 metric tons to low-Earth orbit. The failure opens the door to Relativity Space's Terran 1, SpaceX's Starship, and United Launch Alliance's Vulcan to become the first methane rocket to orbit. Terran 1 is likely to be the next one to make its attempt. (submitted by EllPeaTea and Ken the Bin)

Falcon 9 delayed due to engine moisture. The launch of a scientific mission on a Falcon 9 rocket, the Surface Water and Ocean Topography payload, was delayed for two days due to an engine issue. "After SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket went vertical on the pad at Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, teams identified moisture in two Merlin engines on the rocket’s first stage booster," NASA said Wednesday night.

Just need a little more time ... After completing those inspections, SpaceX will take additional time on Thursday to review data ahead of the launch attempt, which is now scheduled for 6:46 am ET (11:46 UTC) on Friday, December 16. SpaceX is launching the scientific payload for NASA and the French space agency Centre National d’Études Spatiales. (submitted by Ken the Bin)

SpaceX offering shares at $77 apiece. According to Bloomberg, SpaceX is selling insider shares at a price that would value the company at $140 billion. This private sale is not intended to raise additional funds for SpaceX's development projects, but rather allows current and former staffers the chance to sell shares, providing liquidity for a stock that doesn’t trade publicly, The Wall Street Journal reports.

High-value property ... So far this year, the company has raised about $2 billion in separate stock offerings. During these fundraising rounds earlier in 2022, the company was valued at $125 billion, the Journal reported. The new valuation would make SpaceX the most valuable private company in the United States and the third most valuable US aerospace company after Boeing and Raytheon.

India may buy 10 Russian rocket engines. A Russian publication, RBC Daily, reports that Roscosmos may sell 10 of its RD-191 engines to India over a five-year period beginning in 2023. Manufactured by NPO Energomash, the RD-191 engine is a high-performing kerosene-LOX staged-combustion cycle engine. It currently powers the Angara family of rockets for Russia.

Looking for new customers ... The RD-191 engine is related to the RD-181 engine that Russia previously sold to US-based United Launch Alliance for its Atlas V rocket. Finding a new customer for these engines in India would help offset some of the revenue Russia lost when the US Congress banned United Launch Alliance from procuring the Russian engines for national security launches. It is not clear whether India seeks to purchase the engines for launch vehicles or to ultimately license the technology to manufacture similar engines domestically.

One of the final Ariane 5 rockets takes flight. An Ariane 5 rocket successfully launched on Tuesday from French Guiana, carrying the first of a modernized series of weather satellites to improve storm forecasts for Europe, Africa, and the Middle East and two Intelsat television broadcasting satellites to cover the United States. The combined payload, about 11 metric tons, was quite heavy for a rocket bound for geostationary transfer orbit, Spaceflight Now reports.

Two more to go ... The launch Tuesday will mark the third-to-last flight of Europe’s workhorse Ariane 5 launch vehicle, which made its debut in 1996. Two more Ariane 5s are left to fly in 2023 before the transition to the next-generation Ariane 6 rocket, which may make its debut in late 2023. This was the final launch on an Ariane 5 rocket for Intelsat, one of Arianespace’s most loyal customers. (submitted by Ken the Bin and EllPeaTea)

Falcon 9 flies a suborbital payload. A recent Falcon 9 launch carried two FIFA World Cup official match balls as part of a promotion for SpaceX's Starlink satellite network and the soccer event in Qatar. Packed inside the first stage of the rocket, the footballs reached an altitude of 123 km, Collect Space reports.

A new revenue stream? ... The match balls are the first known example of SpaceX using its Falcon 9's first stage to fly a commercial payload on a suborbital flight. No details were available on exactly where the balls were stowed during the flight, nor their condition—although it is likely they were deflated. It will be interesting to see if SpaceX attempts to fly any research payloads on future flights to monetize first-stage landings.

NASA successfully completes Artemis I. On Sunday, the Orion spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, bringing to a close the 25.5-day Artemis I mission. The end of this uncrewed spaceflight to the Moon came within days of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 17 Lunar Module taking off from the surface of the Moon—the final time humans walked on the Moon. It has been a long half-century since, but NASA once again has a bona fide deep-space exploration program, Ars reports.

The program is here to stay ... NASA's two other post-Apollo deep-space programs failed because they lacked political support, funding, or both. Artemis is different. It has both political support and funding. Remarkably, virtually every aspect of the space policy firmament—the White House, Congress, international allies, traditional aerospace, commercial space, and the space advocacy community—has fallen into alignment on the broad goals of Artemis. Now that the politics have aligned, we're starting to see the hardware come online. Exciting times indeed!

Next three launches

Dec. 16: Long March 11 | Unknown payload | Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China | 06:35 UTC

Dec. 16: Falcon 9 | Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission | Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif. | 11:46 UTC

Dec. 16: Falcon 9 | mPOWER-A | Cape Canaveral, Fla. | 21:21 UTC

Rocket Report: Meet the Blue Origin Space Rangers; methane rocket fails in debut

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Rocket Report: Meet the Blue Origin Space Rangers; methane rocket fails in debut

No one has yet stepped forth to win the great methane rocket race.

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