Welcome to Edition 5.31 of the Rocket Report! We're about to tip over into April, and all signs continue to point to the likelihood of a Starship orbital launch attempt this month. I've heard all sorts of dates, but most recently, SpaceX appears to be working internally toward April 10. That lines up with about when a launch license is expected from the Federal Aviation Administration.
It probably won't happen that soon, but we are pretty darn close, y'all.
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 and a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.
Isar Aerospace scores a big funding round. Before this week, the Munich-based company had raised about $165 million, a reasonable amount of cash for a launch startup building a small rocket. On Tuesday, Isar announced that it had doubled this total with a new $165 million Series C round, Ars reports. "The strong interest and commitment from our international investors signals their confidence in our vision and technological capabilities," said Isar's chief executive, Daniel Metzler.
Serious funding for a startup ... Isar says that its Spectrum rocket—which is capable of lifting about 1 metric ton to low-Earth orbit—is planned for a debut launch from Andøya, Norway, during the second half of 2023. That timeline is probably aspirational, but given the capital raise announced this week, Isar appears to have the funding needed to get its Spectrum vehicle into orbit. This funding, in my view, puts Isar clearly out in front of a dozen or so other small launch companies in Europe working to reach orbit. (submitted by Ken the Bin and EllPeaTea)
Virgin Orbit faces a dire situation. A potential deal to raise $200 million from an investor based in Texas, Matthew Brown, fell through last weekend, CNBC reports. This forced the company to extend an unpaid furlough for the majority of its employees this week as Virgin Orbit continues to seek other funding sources to stave off bankruptcy. On Thursday afternoon, during an all-hands meeting, the company told employees it was laying off 85 percent of its staff.
Savings for me, but not for thee ... Also this week, the company's board of directors approved a “golden parachute” severance plan for top executives, including chief executive Dan Hart, in case they are terminated following a change in control of the company. None of this looks good, and the golden parachute clause smells bad. At this point, perhaps the only potential lifeline is if Great Britain decides it needs a sovereign launch capability and executes a similar financial maneuver as it did with OneWeb a few years ago. Even this seems unlikely. (submitted by Ken the Bin)
Blue Origin details launch failure. A little more than six months after the failure of its New Shepard rocket, Blue Origin has published a summary of the findings made by its accident investigation team. Essentially, Ars reports, the rocket's main engine nozzle sustained temperatures that were higher than anticipated, leading to an explosion of the rocket. Blue Origin led the investigation with assistance from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.
Back to flight "soon" ... The mishap team noted "hot streaks" on the nozzle and determined that it was operating at higher temperatures than it was designed for. Although the summary does not explicitly say so, it appears that at some point in the flight campaign of this booster, design changes were made that allowed for these hotter temperatures to be present. The company says it intends to return to flight "soon" with an uncrewed flight to give the three dozen payloads that were flying on the NS-23 mission another shot at weightlessness. Previously, Blue Origin said that it plans to resume human flights on the suborbital space tourism spacecraft later in 2023. (submitted by buddy and Ken the Bin)
Rocket Lab recovers another booster. After launching two BlackSky satellites last Friday, an Electron first stage was recovered from the Pacific Ocean as Rocket Lab continues to study reuse options, Spaceflight Now reports. After attempting two mid-air recoveries, the company is considering ditching the use of a helicopter and simply refurbishing boosters that land in the ocean. Michael Daly, a Rocket Lab special projects engineer working on Electron reusability, said his team on the recovery boat will clean sensitive parts of the rocket to prevent corrosion.
Helicopters are hard ... Engineers and technicians on the recovery team will perform “operations like de-salting the engines, trying to remove all that bad salt water, and basically just trying to make the rocket survive that experience with the water. Once the booster is back at Rocket Lab’s Auckland factory, the company will disassemble and inspect the nine main engines and remove avionics for examination and re-testing. Rocket Lab has already hot-fired a Rutherford engine recovered from an Electron flight. (submitted by Ken the Bin and EllPeaTea)
Dawn Aerospace aims for April flight. The New Zealand-based company is developing a suborbital space plane, the Mk-II Aurora, capable of flying suborbital missions to 100 km. Now, the rocket-powered, remotely operated vehicle is ready for its debut flight after receiving regulatory approval from the New Zealand government, Payload reports.
Flying twice a day ... Dawn Aerospace has already completed 48 test flights using traditional jet engines, but now it is taking a step up to rocket engines. The space plane is intended to be fully reusable and able to fly twice a day. Applications include Earth monitoring, microgravity research, and disaster management. Dawn is also developing a Mk-III version of the space plane for orbital flights. (submitted by kobyov, ZaphodHarkonnen, and Ken the Bin)
ABL wins "strategic funding" award. The California-based small launch company announced that it was selected for the Air Force's Strategic Funding Increase program. The program is based on a 50-50 split between government and private funding. Overall, it is a $60 million program, so ABL is eligible to receive $30 million in government funding to support operationally responsive launch.
Working toward a second attempt ... The funding will be delivered as milestone payments as ABL executes on various aspects of the program. The company completed its first launch attempt in January when the rocket's first stage shut off prematurely. Dan Piemont, the founder and president of the company, said ABL will be firming up plans "soon" for a second launch attempt of its RS1 rocket. (submitted by Ken the Bin)
Meet GigaGalactic Rockets. There's yet another rocket startup out there, and it's called GigaGalactic Rockets. With a motto like "Nothing is Impossible, merely highly improbable," you know the company has big ambitions. And they do. The company says it was founded to "revolutionize space travel and make the galaxy accessible to everyone."
Should you be skeptical? ... Normally, I would encourage readers to be skeptical of grand claims made by new space travel companies. But not so with GGR. I like what the company's founder, Iam Shill, is selling with his revolutionary propulsion system that harnesses the vast power of improbability. If you have some time this weekend, on Saturday, April 1, you might want to peruse the company's website for more details. (submitted by brianrhurley)
Japan pauses launches of its H2-A rocket. Japan's new H3 rocket failed to reach orbit during its debut launch in early March due to a second-stage failure. Space News reports that the H3 upper stage uses an engine designated LE-5B-3, which is similar to the LE-5B engine flying on the existing H-2A rocket. That is putting launches of the H-2A on hold while the failure investigation continues.
No updates on the failure analysis ... That may delay the upcoming launch of two science missions sharing an H-2A. The X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission, an X-ray astronomy spacecraft, and the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, a lunar lander, were scheduled to launch together as soon as May. Even if the H-2A is cleared to return to flight in the near future, it remains uncertain how long the H3 rocket will be grounded, as Japanese officials have provided no updates on the investigation. (submitted by EllPeaTea)
Starliner launch delayed until July. NASA and Boeing announced Wednesday that the first crewed flight of the Starliner spacecraft will now take place no earlier than July 21. This moves the vehicle's flight, carrying NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore to the International Space Station, from the previously announced timeframe of April, Ars reports.
More time to work parachutes ... The manager of NASA's Commercial Crew program, Steve Stich, said the delay was attributable to the extra time needed to close out the pre-flight review process of Starliner's parachutes and also due to traffic from other vehicles visiting the space station in June and the first half of July. NASA and Boeing must also balance schedules with United Launch Alliance, which is boosting the mission to orbit with its Atlas V rocket. (submitted by Rudde and Ken the Bin)
Rocket Lab targets $50 million for Neutron. The launch company said it will aim to sell dedicated missions on its medium-lift launch vehicle, Neutron, for "near $50 million," CNBC reports. “We are positioning Neutron to compete directly with the Falcon 9,” Rocket Lab Chief Financial Officer Adam Spice said at a Bank of America event in London on Tuesday. Spice said Neutron remains on track for a 2024 debut launch.
Pushing hard for rapid reuse ... Rocket Lab said it has begun producing the first tank structures of Neutron, as well as constructing the launch pad for the rocket. The company plans to conduct the first hot fire test of an Archimedes engine, which will power Neutron, “by the end of the year,” Spice said. SpaceX advertises a Falcon 9 launch with a $67 million price tag, but the vehicle has more lift capacity than Neutron. As with the Falcon 9, Rocket Lab aims to re-fly the first stage of Neutron 10 to 20 times a year.
OneWeb completes constellation with Indian launch. The successful launch of 36 more OneWeb satellites aboard India’s most powerful rocket Saturday brought the total number of OneWeb spacecraft in orbit to 618, enough for the London-based company to start global broadband service later this year, Spaceflight Now reports. A Falcon 9 rocket will launch an additional mission of spare satellites in May.
Going through a lot ... The milestone mission capped a decade-long effort to develop, build, and launch the OneWeb network, overcoming bankruptcy and the fallout of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. “This is the most significant milestone in the history of OneWeb, as we reach the satellites needed for global coverage,” said Neil Masterson, OneWeb’s CEO. “Over several years, we have remained focused on our commitment to deliver a network that will provide connectivity for our customers and communities that need it most. (submitted by EllPeaTea)
Centaur upper stage has an anomaly. On Wednesday night, United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno said via Twitter that there was an issue with the Vulcan rocket's upper stage during qualification testing at Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama. "During Qual testing of Centaur V structural article at MSFC, the hardware experienced an anomaly. This is why we thoroughly & rigorously exercise every possible condition on the ground before flight. Investigation is underway. Vulcan will fly when complete."
No one was injured during the accident ... Bruno sought to downplay the significance of the failure to Vulcan's debut flight, which will take place no earlier than May 4. Bruno said the failure occurred at "extreme structural load testing of various worst possible conditions" and added in another tweet that this was "very unlikely" to have implications for the Centaur to be used for Vulcan's debut flight. Even so, ULA is not a company that regularly goes around blowing things up. No matter what, the company will need to spend some time understanding how and why this anomaly happened.
Dream Chaser's ripple effects for Vulcan. In a new report, Ars confirms that Sierra Space's Dream Chaser spacecraft will now launch no earlier than mid-December. The spacecraft was to be the payload for the Vulcan rocket's second certification mission for the Space Force, known as Cert. 2. United Launch Alliance is intent on flying two "certification" missions of Vulcan so it can complete paperwork for the US Space Force and begin launching lucrative missions for the military.
Rocket will be ready when? ... The nominal plan for these certification launches entails flying Astrobotic's lunar lander on the "Cert. 1" mission in May and Dream Chaser on "Cert. 2" in August. However, since Dream Chaser is delayed, it is possible that United Launch Alliance will fly a mass simulator for Vulcan's second mission. However, it is also possible that there will be additional delays in Vulcan's testing and launch preparations and that the vehicle will not be ready for a second flight before the end of this year. It's something to watch for the remainder of 2023, no doubt.
Next three launches
March 31: Falcon 9 | Transport & Tracking layer satellites | Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. | 14:29 UTC
April 2: Hyperbola-1 | Unspecified payload | Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China | 04:10 UTC
April 5: Kuaizhou 1A | Unspecified payload | Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China | 01:35 UTC
