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New thread for the BFR booster and the BFS spaceship now renamed - Super Heavy and Starship Thread 1.... (Interplanetary Transport System) Updated CGI pending. FAA application for test flights pending. FCC application for test flights... Description of tests (duration: 24 months)

TWIRL 111: SpaceX dominates the flight schedule with Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches by Paul Hill We have three launches coming up next week, there are two Falcon 9 launches planned and one Falcon Heavy launch. Each of the launches will be viewable by visiting SpaceX’s website. You can find out the details of each of these missions below. Also, be sure to check the recap section for launches you may have missed this week. Now let's crack on with This Week in Rocket Launches #111. Tuesday, April 25 The first launch we have next week is a Falcon 9 from SpaceX. This will be a run-of-the-mill Starlink satellite launch to help boost the broadband satellite constellation. There’s a little bit of confusion about the number of satellites being sent up on this mission, but it could be 46 satellites. Similar to other Starlink satellites, these will be coated with anti-reflective coatings to lessen disruption to astronomers. The mission will launch between 1:02 p.m. and 2:48 p.m. UTC from Vandenberg AFB in California. It will be viewable on SpaceX’s website. Wednesday, April 26 The day after the Falcon 9 launch, SpaceX will send up a Falcon Heavy carrying the ViaSat 3 Americas, Arcturus, and G-Space 1 communications satellites to orbit. The Falcon Heavy is a derivative of the Falcon 9 but has two side boosters which should make it a bit more interesting to watch. Apparently, all of the boosters and the centre core in this mission will be expended. Once in orbit, ViaSat 3 will provide broadband services. The launch will take place at 11:29 p.m. UTC and the launch window will stay open for an hour. It will take off from Florida this time. To view the launch, just head over to SpaceX’s website. Friday, April 28 Lastly, we have another SpaceX Falcon 9 launch from Space Launch Complex 40 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The mission will take off at 9:12 p.m. UTC carrying two O3b mPOWER broadband satellites into a Medium Earth Orbit for SES. This mission too will be streamed by SpaceX. Recap The first launch we got last week was the Long March 4B caring the FengYun-3G satellite from the Juiquan Satellite Launch Centre in China. The satellite is will provide services for weather forecasting, disaster prevention and mitigation, climate change response, and ecological conservation. Next up we saw the launch of a Falcon 9 carrying 21 Starlink satellites into a low Earth orbit. The third launch was the big launch of the week that you’ve probably already seen, SpaceX’s launch of Starship atop the Super Heavy booster. If you’ve not watched the launch yet, keep your eyes peeled for the great shot of the thrusters underneath the rocket while it’s flying. The final launch was a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from India. It was carrying the TeLEOS-2 and Lumelite-4 satellites. That’s all we have for you this week, be sure to check in next time!

Starship performs stunning launch before exploding at an altitude of 30 Km by Paul Hill After a several-year wait, SpaceX finally launched its interplanetary rocket Starship atop the Super Heavy booster. The rocket is a massive 5,000 tonnes and for a few seconds after 30 of the 33 raptor engines ignited, the rocket did not move. Eventually, it began its slow ascension. The rocket managed to reach an altitude of 39 Km before SpaceX attempted a flip and the detaching of the Super Heavy booster. This is where things went awry. As the rocket performed the flips, it lost about 9 Km in altitude before going up in a fiery blaze, thus ending the mission. SpaceX has many failures like this but it usually does a good job of taking note of what happened and rectifying the issue – after all, it’s private money on the line and not an endless stream of tax revenue. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk congratulated his team on the “exciting test launch of Starship” and said there will be another test launch in just another couple of months. Congrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship! Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months. pic.twitter.com/gswdFut1dK — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 20, 2023 If you don’t normally follow this type of news, SpaceX wants to build a rocket that can ferry people back and forth to the Moon and Mars. In a trailer video from several years ago, Starship was also demonstrated as a fancy airplane that could transport people around the Earth in a much quicker time than any jet. It’s unclear if Earth-to-Earth transportation is still on the table in 2023, however.

TWIRL 110: SpaceX will launch its Super Heavy rocket carrying Starship by Paul Hill We have a big week coming up with SpaceX preparing to launch its Super Heavy rocket in its first suborbital flight. It will be carrying Starship which is expected to do a lap of the planet before splashing down in the sea near Hawaii. The company is also planning a Falcon Heavy and a Falcon 9 launch. Sunday, April 16 The first launch this week will be a Long March 4C taking off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre at 1:36 a.m. UTC. It will be carrying the Fengyun 3G meteorological satellite to a polar orbit. Like other Chinese launches, there may not be live footage of this launch but there should be a recap video next week. Monday, April 17 With any luck, SpaceX will be able to launch its Super Heavy rocket in its first suborbital test flight on Monday. The launch window is between 12:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. UTC and it’ll take off from Orbital Launch Pad 1 at the Starbase in Texas. The Super Heavy rocket will be carrying a Starship prototype and the mission will see SpaceX attempt one full orbit of the planet. Afterwards, Starship will perform a re-entry and splashdown near Hawaii. You can check out SpaceX’s website at the designated time to watch the launch. Tuesday, April 18 Just a day later and SpaceX will be launching its Falcon Heavy rocket, this time carrying the ViaSat 3 Americas, Arcturus, and G-Space 1 communications satellites into orbit. The ViaSat satellite will provide broadband communications from a geostationary orbit. This flight is due for take-off from 11:29 p.m. UTC in Florida and should be available on the SpaceX website as well. Wednesday, April 19 Completing a hat trick, SpaceX will perform its third launch of the week. This time is a Falcon 9 carrying several Starlink internet-beaming satellites to orbit. To help keep the cost of launches down, SpaceX typically lands the first stage of the rocket so that it can be reused in the future. Additionally, Starlink satellites now go to space with anti-reflective coatings to minimize disruption to astronomers. This mission will take off at 1:33 p.m. UTC from Cape Canaveral. Saturday, April 22 Finally, on Saturday, India will launch its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) to launch the TeLEOS 2 SAR satellite for AgilSpace Singapore. This satellite will perform Earth observation tasks. It will take off at 9:00 a.m. from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. Recap The first launch this week was an Ariane 5 rocket carrying the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) mission. You can see footage of the launch below. The final launch was a Falcon 9 rocket performing the Transporter-7 mission, a rideshare that delivers 51 payloads into space for various entities. That’s all we have this week, be sure to check in next time.

TWIRL 71: CAPSTONE mission to try again for launch after delay by Paul Hill Rocket Lab is set to launch NASA’s CAPSTONE mission following a delay. We’ve also got a whole range of launches due in this busy week. One launch, still marked with No Earlier Than, is the launch of SpaceX’s Super Heavy rocket topped with Starship. As this mission has no confirmed launch window as of writing, there’s a good chance it won’t launch at all this week. Monday, June 27 The first launch of the week is Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket carrying NASA’s CAPSTONE CubeSat mission to the Moon. As we explained last week, this CubeSat will be testing the orbit for the planned Lunar Gateway space station. CAPSTONE is considered a support mission of the Artemis program which seeks to put people back on the Moon. The mission will take off at 9:50 a.m. UTC and will be streamed on the Rocket Lab website. The second and final launch taking place on Monday is a Long March CZ-4C rocket carrying the Kongjian Xinjishu Shiyan and Chuangxin 15 satellites into orbit. This mission is set to launch at 3:45 p.m. UTC from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and we will probably have to wait for recorded footage of this launch. Tuesday, June 28 The only launch we have on Tuesday is SpaceX’s Falcon 9 carrying the SES 22 communications satellite. This satellite is a C-band-only comms satellite built by Thales Alenia. The launch is due at 9:04 p.m. UTC and can be streamed on SpaceX’s website. Thursday, June 30 On Thursday, we have a bit of a bonanza of launches going on. The first is an Atlas V carrying an experimental early warning satellite for the U.S. Space Force. The mission will take off from Cape Canaveral at an unknown time. To learn more about the mission, check out the mission profile below: The second launch on Thursday is Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket which will air-launch from a Boeing 747 called Cosmic Girl. It will be carrying payloads for the U.S. Department of Defense as part of the DoD’s Space Test Program. The satellites are experimental in nature and will demonstrate various technologies. The launch is due between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. UTC and may be streamed through Virgin Orbit’s official channels. The final launch is India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) which will be carrying an Earth observation satellite and two others for Singapore. This mission is due to take off at 12:30 p.m. UTC. Friday, July 1 There are seven missions listed as No Earlier Than for Friday but because most of them probably won’t launch we’ll just highlight the most interesting – SpaceX’s Super Heavy rocket carrying a Starship prototype. The aim is to have the mission go around the Earth once before re-entry and splashdown near Hawaii. It will definitely be an amazing launch when it does take place given that the Super Heavy rocket is the most powerful rocket in the world – bigger even than Saturn V which got astronauts to the Moon. Recap The first launch we got last week was South Korea’s Nuri rocket performing a test flight. Next, we got an Ariane 5 launching the MEASAT-3d and GSAT-24. Finally, a Chinese Long March-2D carried the Yaogan-35 02 satellites to orbit. That’s all we have this time, be sure to check in next week!