Mediaboss Marketing

Starlab Spaces forthcoming space station is so big and heavy that only the formidable SpaceX Starship megarocket can launch it into orbit, but the one-time delivery option comes with distinct benefits.

Astronomers Could Soon Get Warnings When SpaceX Satellites Threaten Their View

Starlab Space, like several other commercial ventures, is racing to deliver a commercial space station to orbit in anticipation of the International Space Stations retirement in 2030. The company, a joint venture between Colorado-based Voyager Space and Europes Airbus, announced on Wednesday that it has secured a launch provider for the missionand its a company you may have heard of.

Its SpaceX, of course. The Elon Musk-led aerospace firm will use its Starship megarocket for the required lifting duties owing to the anticipated size and weight of the space station, eponymously named Starlab. SpaceXs history of success and reliability led our team to select Starship to orbit Starlab, Dylan Taylor, chairman and CEO of Voyager Space, said in a statement, adding that Starlab will be launched to orbit in a single flight by Starship.

Big rockets allow you to do big things. In this case, they make it possible to deliver a 26-foot-wide (eight-meter) space station built from stainless steel. Manfred Jaumann, vice president of low Earth orbit and suborbital programs at Airbus, disclosed these specifications at a German tech expo this past November, saying Starlab will be too large and heavy for any launch vehicles currently in service or being developed, save for Starship, as SpaceNews reports. Starlabs exact weight is not yet known. But Starship, also made from stainless steel (Im sensing a fetish here), has an anticipated lift capacity of 150 metric tons to low Earth orbit, a destination otherwise known as LEO.

Of course, Starship is not yet ready for prime time. The megarocket has performed two test flights to date, with a third planned in February. Pinpointing an exact timeframe for the rockets operational flight certification is difficult given its highly experimental nature. Powered by 33 Raptor engines, this two-stage rocket is the largest and most powerful ever constructed and is designed for full reusability.

Starlab, set to reach LEO in 2028, will be fully equipped on the ground for fuss-free operations, eliminating the need for space assembly, thus saving time and costs. As Voyager Space president Matt Kuta told Payload: It cannot be understated, the significance of the single launch to orbit, not two-three-four launches, to close the business plan.

Once operational, Starlab will continually house a crew of four astronauts conducting a range of experiments. Utilizing its orbital position, these experiments will take advantage of conditions like microgravity and exposure to the radioactive space environment. Starlab Space intends to use this station to cater to space agencies like NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), various researchers, and commercial companies.

Over the last year, the Starlab team has achieved key milestones such as Systems Requirements and Definition Reviews, along with Human in the Loop testing. The company is planning collaborations with ESA, Hilton Hotels, and The Ohio State University. Starlab Space has undergone significant changes recently; Lockheed Martin has been replaced by Northrop Grumman, which will provide its autonomous Cygnus spacecraft for cargo missions. In anticipation of its future space station needs, NASA has supported this initiative by investing $217.5 million in the consortium.

For more spaceflight in your life, follow us on X (formerly Twitter) and bookmark Gizmodos dedicated Spaceflight page.

See the article here:

SpaceX's Giant Starship Tapped to Launch Starlab's Giant Steel Space Station - Gizmodo

Tags:

A Falcon 9 liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California carrying 22 Starlink satellites. Image: SpaceX.

SpaceX launched its second Falcon 9 launch of the night with the Starlink 7-12 mission soaring skyward from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) on Sunday, Jan. 28, at 9:57 p.m. PST (12:57 a.m. EST, 0557 UTC).

It follows the Starlink 6-38 mission from NASAs Kennedy Space Center less than five hours earlier. The West Coast launch was adding another 22 Starlink satellites to a constellation with more than 5,300 satellites on orbit.

The Falcon 9 booster making this launch, tail number B1075, was on its ninth flight, all of which have launched from SLC-4E. It previously launched the Space Development Agency (SDA) 0A mission, the SARah 2 & 3 satellites and six prior Starlink missions.

About 8.25 minutes after launch, B1075 landed on the droneship, Of Course I Still Love You. This was the 81st landing on this droneship and the 268th overall Falcon 9 booster landing.

Here are the most current stats:

Link:

Second Falcon 9 of the night carries Starlink satellites from West Coast Spaceflight Now - Spaceflight Now

Tags:

ORLANDO, Fla. Starlab Space, the joint venture developing the Starlab commercial space station, has selected SpaceXs Starship to launch the station on a single flight.

Starlab Space, a joint venture of Voyager Space and Airbus Space and Defence, announced Jan. 31 it reached an agreement with SpaceX to launch the Starlab station on Starship. The companies did not disclose terms of the agreement or a projected launch date, although a spokesperson for Starlab Space said the company was confident that Starlab would be launched before the decommissioning of the International Space Station, currently scheduled for 2030.

SpaceXs history of success and reliability led our team to select Starship to orbit Starlab, Dylan Taylor, chairman and chief executive of Voyager Space, said in a statement. SpaceX is the unmatched leader for high-cadence launches and we are proud Starlab will be launched to orbit in a single flight by Starship.

Voyager and Airbus announced Jan. 9 that they had finalized the Starlab Space joint venture that the companies announced the previous August. Voyager had been working with Airbus since last January on the design of Starlab after ending an earlier partnership with Lockheed Martin.

The companies designed Starlab to be launched on a single flight. The station features a large habitation and laboratory module with a smaller service module attached to it for power and propulsion.

The size of Starlab made it unlikely that it could launch on anything other than Starship. In a presentation at the Space Tech Expo Europe conference in Bremen, Germany, last November, Manfred Jaumann, vice president of low Earth orbit and suborbital programs at Airbus, said the module has a diameter of more than eight meters. That is larger than what can be accommodated on vehicles in service or under development other than Starship.

Starlab, like Starship, will be made of stainless steel, which Jaumann said was possible because of the existence of large launch vehicles that can place up to 100 tons into low Earth orbit. The module will also be manufactured in a shipyard and completely integrated on the ground before launch, eliminating the need for on-orbit assembly. That cuts the manufacturing time in half to three years, he said, and launch costs by more than 80%.

Working with SpaceX, though, means dealing with a potential competitor. SpaceX was one of the companies that received an unfunded NASA Space Act Agreement in June through the agencys Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities-2 initiative. SpaceXs agreement, NASA said, involved studying the use of Starship as a commercial space station, but neither NASA nor SpaceX provided more details.

Starlabs single-launch solution continues to demonstrate not only what is possible, but how the future of commercial space is happening now, Tom Ochinero, senior vice president of commercial business at SpaceX, said in a statement. The SpaceX team is excited for Starship to launch Starlab to support humanitys continued presence in low-Earth orbit on our way to making life multiplanetary.

Go here to see the original:

Starlab commercial space station to launch on Starship - SpaceNews

Tags:

SpaceX is looking to exchange 477 acres of land near a national wildlife refuge for 43 acres of state park land near the companys facility in South Texas.

By Gaige Davila, Texas Public RadioJanuary 31, 202410:00 amEnergy & Environment, Texas Newsroom, Texas Public Radio

Original post:

Texas parks department agrees to delay SpaceX land exchange deal after public says process was rushed - Texas Standard

Tags:

SpaceX launches a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft onboard. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now

SpaceX completed its second mission bound for the International Space Station this month. But unlike all previous missions targeting the orbiting outpost, this flight didnt feature a Dragon spacecraft.

At 12:07 p.m. EST (1707 UTC) SpaceX launched a Cygnus spacecraft on behalf of Northrop Grumman as part of NGs 20th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract mission for NASA using its Falcon 9 rocket.

The rocket launched from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) against a clear blue sky as a backdrop.

The Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission, tail number B1077, made its 10th flight. It previously launched the Dragon Endurance for the Crew-5 flight, the SpaceX CRS-28 mission as well as four Starlink flights.

A little over eight minutes after liftoff, B1077 touched down at Landing Zone 1 at CCSFS. Those watching the launch from Floridas Space Coast or other parts of Central Florida may have heard a sonic boom as the booster is reentering the atmosphere during the landing.

This will mark the 35th booster landing at LZ-1, the 44th land landing for SpaceX in Florida and the 269th Falcon 9 booster landing to date.

The launch of the NG-20 mission marked a number of milestones for all players involved. As previously mentioned, this was the first time a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched a Cygnus spacecraft for Northrop Grumman.

In a prelaunch briefing with reporters, Bill Gerstenmaier, SpaceXs vice president of Build and Flight Reliability, remarked on the first of three planned missions for NG.

Its a tremendous honor to be part of this team. Its a neat effort to see how all the spaceflight participants come together, Gerstenmaier said.

Because the Cygnus spacecraft needs to be accessible for cargo to be loaded somewhat last minute, Gerstenmaier said SpaceX made some modifications to the Falcon 9s payload fairings to make that possible.

He said these fairings include a five-foot by four-foot wide door, which he described as more than just a hatch.

Its actually an environmentally controlled area, so we dont bring any type of debris or contamination in, he explained. The front part of Cygnus is very sensitive, as it berths the station. There are some rings that seal it to the space station. We cannot contaminate those rings. We have to make sure the cargo is delivered safely through this door, into the fairing and then carefully placed inside Cygnus for launch.

He said the door is located near the bottom of the payload fairings. He said on Monday night, a truck backed up to the fairings with a platform that attached to the outside of the fairing that would allow workers to go up through the door.

We at SpaceX like to do innovative and creative things. So, you can give us the challenge and tell us you need us to cut a five-foot by four-foot hole on the fairing and we figure out a way to go do that, Gerstenmaier said. The fairing is still recoverable, just as they were before.

Cyrus Dhalla, the vice president and general manager of Tactical Space Systems at Northrop Grumman, said they didnt have to make any modification to the Cygnus spacecraft ahead of this mission. They did adjust their loading procedures to accommodate their new ride to space.

The reason Cygnus needs the Falcon 9 to send it on its way to the ISS is because of Russias invasion of Ukraine. The combination of the war and the winding down of the use of Russian-made engines forced the retirement of the Antares 230+ rocket.

NG is working on its next launch vehicle, the Antares 330 in partnership with Firefly Aerospace, but that wont be available until at least 2025.

This was also the first time since 2017 that a Cygnus spacecraft launched from the Cape. The CRS Flight 7 was the last of three such missions that called upon the launch services of United Launch Alliances Atlas 5 rocket.

Onboard the Cygnus is more than 8,200 pounds of science and supplies for those living and working aboard the ISS. Some of the marquee science and research supplies include a surgical robot from the Virtual Incision Corporation, a semiconductor manufacturing device from Redwire Space and a metal 3D printer from the European Space Agency, among many others.

Meghan Everett, the deputy program scientist for NASAs ISS Program, noted that there are more than 1,300 kg of mass flying up to the station that will support 46 investigations and facilities.

The different types of science that were supporting here include areas of human research, technology demonstrations, fundamental science, and Earth-based observations from a lot of our external hardware, Everett said.

About 15 minutes after launch, the Cygnus spacecraft separated from the Falcon 9s upper stage. Its set to arrive at the orbiting outpost at 4:20 a.m. EST on Thursday, Feb. 1. NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli will use the Canadarm2 to capture the spacecraft and install it on the Unity modules Earth-facing port.

The spacecraft will remain docked to the space station for about six months before its departs and burns up in the atmosphere. It will host one last science experiment, the Kentucky Re-entry Probe Experiment-2 (KREPE-2) on its way back, which will take measurements to demonstrate a thermal protection system for spacecraft and their components during re-entry, according to NASA.

Continue reading here:

SpaceX launches Northrop Grumman's Cygnus spacecraft on its way to the Space Station Spaceflight Now - Spaceflight Now

Tags: