On Tuesday, as the company occasionally does when facing what it deems to be unfair treatment, SpaceX posted a lengthy update decrying the decision. According to the firm, the FAA had assured it that Starship would get the green light this month. It claims the rocket has been ready to fly since early August, an assertion CEO Elon Musk reiterated last week.

“Unfortunately, we continue to be stuck in a reality where it takes longer to do the government paperwork to license a rocket launch than it does to design and build the actual hardware,” the firm said. “This should never happen and directly threatens America’s position as the leader in space.”

With the ability to be used multiple times on the cheap, Starship is expected to be a game-changer for U.S. spaceflight. SpaceX wants to launch the rocket up to 120 times per year from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Musk last week claimed the vehicle will reach Mars within two years.

SpaceX is also developing a Starship human landing system (HLS), a lunar lander variant of the spacecraft, for NASA’s Artemis III mission, which would return Americans to the moon for the first time in more than half a century. Starship will require a few more test flights before the mission, which is scheduled for late 2026.

That’s not much time, but SpaceX plans to get there using its philosophy of iterative design. Basically, the company puts flight hardware through real-world testing as often as possible to learn quickly and improve the chances of success on the next flight. The strategy helped it commercialize the now-ubiquitous Falcon rocket.

“The more we fly safely, the faster we learn; the faster we learn, the sooner we realize full and rapid rocket reuse,” SpaceX said.

Each Starship test flight has flown farther and accomplished more than the last. The fourth, in June, marked the first time both Starship and the Super Heavy booster made it back to Earth in one piece after the first two attempts ended in explosions.

Keeping with the trend, Flight 5 will feature the most ambitious goal yet. SpaceX will attempt to catch Super Heavy midair using two large “chopstick” arms, returning it safely to the Starbase launch pad in Boca Chica, Texas. 

The maneuver could pose risk to Starbase’s launch tower, but SpaceX says it has been preparing for years. The delay could create a ripple effect that hampers future Starship test flights. Safely returning the booster is a critical piece of the system’s reusability.

“It’s understandable that such a unique operation would require additional time to analyze from a licensing perspective,” the firm said. “Unfortunately, instead of focusing resources on critical safety analysis and collaborating on rational safeguards to protect both the public and the environment, the licensing process has been repeatedly derailed by issues ranging from the frivolous to the patently absurd.”

What’s the Holdup?

SpaceX said the FAA communicated that a launch license would be awarded this month, but the process has been delayed due to “four open environmental issues” it deems unnecessary.

Starship’s maiden voyage in April 2023 was a brief but bombastic one. The FAA grounded the rocket as it investigated the launch and explosion, which shook buildings, shattered windows, and sent ash and debris flying miles away.

The impact was more severe than SpaceX anticipated due to the lack of a flame deflector—a common fixture at launch sites that uses water to absorb energy and heat—beneath Starbase. According to Musk, the system was absent because it “wasn’t ready in time” and the company thought the pad could withstand the launch.

The FAA’s handling of Starship’s initial launch license prompted a lawsuit from five environmental groups, which the agency reportedly has sought to dismiss. With the flame deflector installed, subsequent Starship flights have not destroyed the launch pad.

However, the FAA has approved two 60-day consultations that could extend the timeline for a fifth mission.

According to SpaceX, the only proposed change to the mission’s hot-stage jettison—during which the top of the Super Heavy booster is expelled—is a new splashdown location, which it says would not raise the risk of harm to marine life. Still, the FAA signed off on a consultation with the National Marine Fisheries Service to evaluate the new site.

“SpaceX’s current license authorizing the Starship Flight 4 launch also allows for multiple flights of the same vehicle configuration and mission profile,” the agency told FLYING. “SpaceX chose to modify both for its proposed Starship Flight 5 launch which triggered a more in-depth review.”

SpaceX, though, fears the review could be longer.

“The mechanics of these types of consultations outline that any new questions raised during that time can reset the 60-day counter, over and over again,” it said.

A separate consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), requested by the FAA due to Flight 5’s larger sonic boom radius, could add to the delays. A sonic boom occurs as Starship slows from supersonic speeds on its way back to Earth.

“SpaceX submitted new information in mid-August detailing how the environmental impact of Flight 5 will cover a larger area than previously reviewed,” the FAA said. “This requires the FAA to consult with other agencies.”

According to SpaceX, both agencies have studied Starship booster landings and concluded there is no significant environmental impact from sonic booms. The firm also claims studies back the idea that sonic booms have no detrimental effect on wildlife—but the jury is still out on that one.

According to an evaluation by the California Coastal Commission of SpaceX’s request to increase Falcon 9 launches at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, experts don’t fully understand the effects of noise on animals. The commission rejected the request in part because sonic booms generated by Falcon 9—a less powerful rocket than Starship—force too many closures and evacuations of local parks.

“At Starbase, we implement an extensive list of mitigations developed with federal and state agencies, many of which require year-round monitoring and frequent updates to regulators and consultation with independent biological experts,” SpaceX said.

Among other things, the company says it works with a local nonprofit to transport injured sea turtles for treatment and monitors bird local populations, using drones to search for nests before and after launch and. It also “adopted” Boca Chica Beach through a Texas state program and sponsors quarterly cleanups it says have removed hundreds of pounds of trash.

A CNBC report last month, which SpaceX swiftly rebuked, alleged that the company violated the Clean Water Act. The Environmental Protection Agency, though, told FLYING it did indeed violate that law.

Days before Starship’s third test flight in March, the EPA issued an order directing the company to eliminate “unpermitted discharges,” citing a liquid oxygen spill from the flame deflector’s water deluge system that seeped into the surrounding wetlands. SpaceX was forced to apply for a new permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), which it did in July, but still ate a fine of nearly $150,000 to resolve the violation.

In response, the company denied it ever discharged pollutants or operated the deluge system without TCEQ permission. According to SpaceX, the device uses “literal drinking water” and has been deemed safe by the FAA, TCEQ, and USFWS.

SpaceX further claimed that the EPA issued its order without knowledge of its TCEQ license or “a basic understanding of the facts” of the system’s operation. It added that the fines are “entirely tied to disagreements over paperwork” and stem from a simple misunderstanding.

“We chose to settle so that we can focus our energy on completing the missions and commitments that we have made to the U.S. government, commercial customers, and ourselves,” SpaceX said. “Paying fines is extremely disappointing when we fundamentally disagree with the allegations, and we are supported by the fact that EPA has agreed that nothing about the operation of our flame deflector will need to change. Only the name of the permit has changed.”

The proposed settlement is open for public comment until October 21.

Singled Out?

The implication by SpaceX is that it is being unfairly targeted for its successes.

The company is prolific within the commercial spaceflight industry—experts estimate it accounted for 87 percent of all spacecraft mass space operators sent into orbit in 2023. At the same time, it handles more NASA missions than any of the agency’s private contractors.

That dominance occasionally draws ire from competitors such as Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, or, as SpaceX puts it, “bad-faith hysterics from online detractors or special interest groups.”

“Despite a small, but vocal, minority of detractors trying to game the regulatory system to obstruct and delay the development of Starship, SpaceX remains committed to the mission at hand,” the company said.

NASA has made it known that it intends to become one of many customers within a commercial space ecosystem, rather than a service provider, by the end of the decade. As SpaceX continues to snap up NASA contracts—including an agreement to deorbit the International Space Station, ushering in that new era—rivals and critics may fear that its supremacy will only grow.

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The mission to return the spacecraft to Earth concludes a flight test to the International Space Station (ISS) that was unexpectedly extended to three months after Starliner experienced helium leaks and thruster malfunctions on June 6. 

The two astronauts aboard the Starliner—Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams—have since been staying on the ISS alongside the Expedition 71 crew. After weeks of in-space and ground testing, technical interchange meetings, and agency reviews, NASA announced in August that Wilmore and Williams would be returning via the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft next February.

• READ MORE: A Brief History of Astronauts Stuck in Space

A news release from NASA on Friday stated that its Commercial Crew Program requires a spacecraft to fly a crewed test flight to prove the system is ready for regular flights to and from the orbiting laboratory. The goal of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the ISS and low Earth orbit.

Following Starliner’s return, the agency will review all mission-related data.

Ken Bowersox, the associate administrator for the space operations mission directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., said in the release that he was proud of his team’s work during the flight test and Starliner’s safe return.

“I am extremely proud of the work our collective team put into this entire flight test, and we are pleased to see Starliner’s safe return,” Bowersox said. “Even though it was necessary to return the spacecraft uncrewed, NASA and Boeing learned an incredible amount about Starliner in the most extreme environment possible. NASA looks forward to our continued work with the Boeing team to proceed toward certification of Starliner for crew rotation missions to the space station.”

The flight on June 5 was the first time astronauts launched aboard the Starliner. It was the third orbital flight of the spacecraft, and its second return from the orbiting laboratory. The spacecraft will now ship to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for inspection and processing.

“We are excited to have Starliner home safely,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, in the release. “This was an important test flight for NASA in setting us up for future missions on the Starliner system. There was a lot of valuable learning that will enable our long-term success. I want to commend the entire team for their hard work and dedication over the past three months.”

Bringing Starliner Home

As scheduled, Starliner departed from the ISS at 6:04 p.m. EDT Friday evening. 

The spacecraft’s 59-second deorbit burn went off without a hitch just over five hours later at 11:17 p.m. EDT. Despite initial concerns around the mutch-scrutinized aft-facing thrusters, telemetry visualization on NASA’s broadcast showed they appeared to fire as needed.

The service module separated and performed its disposal burn, and Starliner was then set to reenter the atmosphere and touch down around midnight. 

Live video taken from the ISS and two NASA chase planes showed the craft streaking through the atmosphere for a little under an hour before the ship touched down at White Sands Space Harbor at 12:01 a.m. EDT. Landing and recovery teams followed NASA’s previously published mission timeline plans, and the spacecraft was then on its way to Kennedy Space Center.

Following the mission, NASA hosted a live post-landing press conference to answer questions from journalists. Officials answering questions were Joel Mantalbano, deputy associate administrator for the space operations mission directorate at NASA Headquarters; Steve Stich, Commercial Crew Program manager at NASA Kennedy; and Dana Wiegel, International Space Station manager at NASA Johnson.

Stich said during the conference that Starliner executed a nominal breakout sequence.

“[It’s] the first time we’ve used that to back away from the station,” Stich said. “We backed out to about five meters and then did a series of about 12 burns using the service module 4 jets. After that sequence of maneuvers, we ended up opening at about 22 kilometers per rev away from the space station. All those thrusters did really well through that SEP [Solar Electric Propulsion] sequence, no problems at all. [There were] no fail-offs or any problems at all.”

He further stated that all eight of the Starliner’s forward thrusters and the two aft thrusters worked well during a hot fire.

“We had great performance from the GNC system, the guidance navigation control [and] the Vesta system,” Stich said. “Last fight on OFT2, we had a little bit of trouble with what we call a ‘calibration maneuver’ to really make sure that the attitude is good for this space integrated GPS INS system, and that went really well. We had a deorbit burn that executed on time at 11:17 p.m. central. It was about 130 meters per second, a 58 second burn. It was a really good burn and the service module thrusters performed well for that burn [and] the OMAX performed well.”

During the deorbit burn, Stich stated that the team noticed temperatures being a little higher in the top and starboard “dog houses.” He said that one of the thrusters—S2A2—didn’t fail off but had a little higher temperature than expected.

Stich said that Starliner performed great during entry, but one of the 12 thrusters—an upfiring thruster—did not perform at all during a hot fire before entry. He also said that the SIGI-3 navigation system failed off temporarily during landing. The SIGI-2 also had a couple of hiccups during entry that Stich said his team would be looking into.

What’s Next for NASA and Boeing?

Despite the change in mission plans over the last several months, Mantalbano said he would not describe this test flight as a mission failure.

“I would not call it a successful failure,” Mantalbano said. “We knew going in this was going to be a test mission. We learned a lot. The teams worked together, both the Boeing and the NASA team to understand the systems of the spacecraft and how they operated. The team worked together at White Sands to understand the analysis that was done. On the test mission, things don’t always go as you planned. And so we were prepared. The fact that this vehicle is home, we’re very happy to have the vehicle home. To me, [this was] a success. Clearly we [have] some work to do. The teams will understand that work and move forward.”

When asked if the next flight would be fully certified or another test flight, Stich said that it was too early to say.

“I think we wanna take the steps to go look at all the data,” Stich said. “Certainly our goal is to get to the rotation flight. Our goal all along has been to have one flight a year, one flight from Boeing Starliner, and another flight from SpaceX with Dragon. It’ll take a little time to determine the path forward. But today we saw the vehicle perform really well. We’ve got some things we know we’ve got to go work on, and we’ll go do that and fix those things, and then go fly when we’re ready.”

Stich said that one of the first things NASA will do when the Starliner is taken back to Kennedy Space Center will be analyzing the tracking data relay satellite to the ground from the recorded data onboard.

“With the test flight, we have a number of sensors across the systems that record data,” Stich said. “We’ll want to downlink all that high rate data and take a look at that data. And then it’s a series of analyzing all the data from the entry, the undocking and the deorbit across all the systems on the vehicle to just see if there’s anything that was off nominal. We’ll study the data at a little higher rate. So it will take a couple of weeks to get it back and a week or so to get the data off the spacecraft.

Several journalists present at NASA’s press conference asked why Boeing wasn’t in attendance to answer questions. Mantalbano answered that Boeing deferred to NASA because it represents the mission.

“I will tell you that Boeing has critical work that they do for NASA in the International Space Station Program, the Commercial Crew Program, and the Space Launch Systems Program,” Mantalbano said. “Their work is critical to our success, and we fully expect Boeing to continue all three of those programs.”

When asked again if the relationship between NASA and Boeing had been damaged, Mantalbano reaffirmed his previous statement.

“And I think from a human perspective, all of us feel happy about the successful landing, but then there’s a piece of us, all of us, that we wish it would have been the way we had planned it,” Stich said. “We had planned to have the mission land with Butch and Suni on board. I think there’s, depending on who you are on the team, different emotions associated with that. And I think it’s going to take a little time to work through that. For me, a little bit, and then for everybody else on the Boeing and NASA team.”

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The jets are owned by billionaire entrepreneur and Polaris Dawn commander Jared Isaacman, who purchased the five-day orbital mission and two other private astronaut flights from SpaceX in 2022. Among other feats, Polaris Dawn will ascend to orbital heights not reached since the Apollo 17 astronauts in 1972 and feature the first attempt at a commercial spacewalk.

“The idea is to develop and test new technology and operations in furtherance of SpaceX’s bold vision to enable humankind to journey among the stars,” Isaacman said during a mission overview briefing on Monday.

But with those feats comes a degree of risk. At their apex, the astronauts will travel through a portion of the hazardous Van Allen radiation belts. And because the Dragon spacecraft that will carry the crew has no airlock, all four astronauts will be exposed to the vacuum of space during the historic spacewalk.

Polaris Dawn is scheduled to launch no earlier than 3:38 a.m. EDT on Monday within a four-hour window from KSC’s Launch Complex 39-A. Earlier this week, the Dragon capsule was transported to the pad, where teams are mating it with a Falcon 9 booster that will make its fourth flight.

Joining Isaacman will be mission pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet, a longtime friend and coworker of the Shift4 Payments CEO. Poteet served as mission director for Inspiration4, a 2021 orbital mission—also purchased from SpaceX by Isaacman—that featured the first all-civilian crew.

Accompanying them will be the first SpaceX employees to actually fly to space—mission specialists Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon. Gillis, a SpaceX engineer and astronaut trainer, has prepared several NASA crews that have reached the final frontier and was Isaacman’s instructor for Inspiration4. Menon, the company’s lead space operations engineer, will also serve as Polaris Dawn’s medical officer.

This week, crewmembers will conduct a refresher on the mission’s nearly 40 planned experiments, dry dress rehearsal, and launch readiness review. They will spend a maximum of five days orbiting the Earth before splashing down at one of seven locations off the coast of Florida.

Great Heights

Polaris Dawn will waste no time achieving its objectives, beginning with a historic climb on day one.

Hitching a ride on Falcon 9, Dragon will reach space in about 10 minutes and within hours will begin to pass through the inner regions of the Van Allen Belts—a treacherous zone where the risk of damage from radiation is high.

“The Earth’s magnetosphere traps the high energy radiation particles and shields the Earth from the solar storms and the constantly streaming solar wind that can damage technology as well as people living on Earth,” according to NASA. “These trapped particles form two belts of radiation, known as the Van Allen Belts, that surround the Earth like enormous donuts.”

Dragon will ascend to an oval orbit with an apogee of 870 miles, more than three times higher than the International Space Station. It would be the highest orbital altitude reached by humans in half a century.

“Generally speaking, vehicles don’t like radiation, so that’s why we’re going to stay there for the shortest amount of time that’s necessary to gather the data we want,” said Isaacman.

In that time, however, the crew will perform plenty of experiments, leveraging the unique high-radiation environment to potentially learn from it. The Polaris program and SpaceX have partnered with more than 30 institutions around the world to perform the research, which will focus largely on human health.

“We are born into 1G,” said Menon. “When you go into 0G, whether it’s for five days or a nine-month trip to Mars, things change. You have bone density loss, you have vision changes, you have severe motion sickness, and we don’t have answers for all of that.”

To search for them, the astronauts will don special contact lenses that measure the pressure inside of their eyes and will test ways to reduce the disorientation experienced when returning to Earth, for example.

Research will continue throughout the mission. On the fourth day, the crew will test out a specially designed communication system in Dragon’s trunk, which will use laser beams to communicate with SpaceX Starlink satellites as they zip through space. According to Gillis, the demonstration will be livestreamed and worth tuning into, though she did not get into specifics.

Polaris Dawn is also a charitable endeavor, aiming to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Menon, for example, will debut a children’s book she wrote, the proceeds for which will go to cancer research, during day two of the flight. The SpaceX engineer said the company has installed Starlink terminals at hospitals nationwide to support remote medicine capabilities.

And in a fundraising partnership with Doritos, Polaris Dawn’s cargo will include a container of chips. According to its website, the initiative has raised $500,000. But there won’t be any sticky fingers—the classic Doritos “dust” has been replaced by a special oil-based coating designed to retain flavor.

Isaacman on Monday said Polaris Dawn has already raised “millions” for St. Jude and that he plans to continue the partnership for the Polaris II and Polaris III missions. Inspiration4 raised more than a quarter of a billion for the charity.

Suit Up

Reaching the Van Allen Belts would be a huge feat. But that’s arguably the second-most important—and risky—mission objective.

On the third day of the flight, two of the astronauts will don specially designed SpaceX extravehicular activity (EVA) spacesuits and exit Dragon. They will remain attached to the spacecraft—at one point by just their feet—using mobility aids to maneuver around. The vehicle will be oriented to shield the crew from direct sunlight.

The entire process, from venting to repressurization, will take about two hours and will be livestreamed. Each astronaut will spend 15 to 20 minutes outside the capsule.

“It will look like we’re doing a little bit of a dance,” said Isaacman, “…[but] we’re going through a test matrix on the suit. And the idea is to learn as much as we possibly can about this suit and get it back to the engineers to inform future suit design evolutions.”

But there’s a catch: Dragon does not have an airlock, which means all four crewmembers will be exposed to the vacuum of space.

To remedy this, they will perform a process known as “pre-breathing” beginning just one hour after reaching orbit. The procedure will acclimate the astronauts to a low-pressure environment by gradually reducing the pressure inside the capsule. According to Menon, the idea is to “slowly pull nitrogen out of our body and reduce our risk of decompression sickness.”

On the day of the spacewalk, their spacesuits will be pressurized with 100 percent oxygen for a final pre-breathe. The entire process will take about 45 hours.

Per Isaacman, the spacewalk portion of Polaris Dawn took up the bulk of mission planning, in part due to the development of SpaceX’s EVA suits.

The suits are an evolution of the company’s current apparel, which is designed to be worn only inside Dragon. The upgraded digs feature added mobility and materials pulled from Falcon 9’s trunk and interstage. A 3D-printed helmet includes a heads-up display, which shows spacesuit pressure, temperature, and humidity, as well as a clock to track the astronauts’ time in the void. The suit’s temperature can even be controlled using a dial.

“You might think that we would be extremely cold out in the vacuum of space, and actually we’re more concerned about being too warm,” said Menon.

The suits have undergone an “incredibly expensive testing campaign” with the crew, which has spent about 100 hours wearing them. Because the hardware is “constantly evolving,” per Menon, it could not be tested in a pool. Instead, the astronauts used special harnesses to simulate weightlessness and wore heavy down suits—the kind you’d need at the top of Mount Everest—over their EVA suits.

“We’re really trying to create an environment that doesn’t have convection, looking at thermals, looking at what we’ll actually experience in these suits,” said Menon. “We’ve covered everything from lifecycle testing, pressure testing, [micrometeoroid and orbital debris] testing, extreme hot and cold testing, [and] an entire campaign on [electrostatic discharge] and flammability testing.”

That level of rigor extended to the Dragon capsule, which itself required a few key modifications for the mission. SpaceX added a nitrogen repressurization system, for example, and made upgrades to the spacecraft’s environmental sensors and life support system.

“This includes adding a lot more oxygen to the spacecraft so we can feed oxygen to four suits through umbilicals for the full duration of the spacewalk,” said Menon.

Outside Dragon’s hatch, engineers installed what SpaceX calls the Skywalker, a structure that will help the astronauts find their footing in zero gravity. Atop the Skywalker is a new camera that will capture footage of the spacewalk. Handholds and footholds were added to the capsule’s interior.

In addition, all of that hardware has been “baked out” in a thermal vacuum chamber, Menon said, to burn off chemicals that could produce toxic gas when the capsule is vented.

Thousands of Hours

The astronauts have already prepared extensively for the spacewalk. They recently walked through the entire prebreathe process and venting and repressurization sequence, for example, inside the vacuum chamber at Johnson Space Center.

But that was only the tip of the iceberg.

“I can tell you without a doubt this has been some of the most challenging training that I’ve ever experienced, and I could not imagine a more qualified crew than these three individuals,” said Poteet, a retired U.S. Air Force fighter pilot and member of the Thunderbirds.

The astronauts performed zero-gravity flights in the vacuum chamber, trained in a centrifuge to experience g-forces, and spent time in an altitude chamber to get familiar with symptoms of hypoxia—a condition caused by low oxygen levels in the body. The crew also used a pressure chamber to practice many of the experiments they will conduct in space back on Earth. Gillis and Menon underwent medical training at partner hospitals to be qualified to care for the team.

Each crewmember also spent about 2,000 hours in a simulator, poring over spacecraft and system manuals, communication methods, crew resource management, and contingency scenarios.

“To put this into perspective, I flew fighters for 20 years—I accomplished about 1,500 hours in the simulator training for combat,” said Poteet.

Another key component of training was, as Poteet put it, “getting comfortable in uncomfortable scenarios.” Over the past few years, the crew has gone scuba diving and skydiving, flown fighter jets, and even summited Cotopaxi in Ecuador, a nearly 20,000-foot peak.

“When it’s a multiday journey to get to the summit, you’re dehydrated, you’re hungry, you’re grouchy…it sucks,” said Poteet. “And you learn a lot about yourself under this stressful environment, and you learn a lot about each other.”

‘The 737 for Human Spaceflight’

Though it was purchased by an outside stakeholder, Polaris Dawn has some major implications for SpaceX.

For one, it will be the company’s first mission with crew since Falcon 9 was grounded by the FAA in July. The rocket was quickly cleared for a return to action and has since completed several Starlink launches.

But the mission’s success—or lack thereof—could also inform the timeline of SpaceX’s Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built.

Polaris Dawn is the first of three missions purchased by Isaacman. Little is known about the second, Polaris II, which will also use Dragon and Falcon 9. But Polaris III is intended to be the debut human spaceflight mission for Starship, which so far has completed four orbital test flights.

“It could very well be the [Boeing] 737 for human spaceflight someday,” said Isaacman. “But it’ll certainly be the vehicle that will return humans to the moon and then on to Mars and beyond.”

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has grand ambitions for Starship, such as ferrying humans to Mars in order to create a colony. But they will hinge on the company remaining on schedule—and, hopefully, learning as much as possible about its EVA spacesuits during Polaris Dawn.

Within one week of Dragon’s splashdown, the firm plans to host a Polaris Dawn mission debrief and question-and-answer session on X Spaces.

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Last week, Blue Origin filed a public comment to the FAA requesting that the regulator limit the number of launches of SpaceX’s Starship—the largest and most powerful rocket ever built—out of Launch Complex-39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which currently hosts the company’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.

The FAA in May released a SpaceX proposal for high-frequency Starship operations at Kennedy, including the construction of infrastructure that would allow Musk’s firm to complete 44 launches per year.

The filing is the latest wrinkle in the multiyear feud between Musk and Bezos, who have exchanged taunts and legal actions as they battle for supremacy in the commercial spaceflight industry. Both SpaceX and Blue Origin have obtained contracts from U.S. government agencies such as NASA and the Pentagon and intend to make cosmic tourism a piece of their business.

“Sue Origin,” Musk bantered on social media platform X, which he acquired in 2022.

In a subsequent post, the SpaceX boss added, “An obviously disingenuous response. Not cool of them to try (for the third time) to impede SpaceX’s progress by lawfare.”

The public comment filed by Blue Origin has no legal bearing, but the FAA will consider it as it determines what restrictions to place on Starship at Kennedy.

SpaceX is seeking a commercial launch vehicle operator license for Starship operations at Launch Complex 39-A, which will require the preparation of an environmental impact statement (EIS). The EIS describes the potential effects of those operations on the surrounding environment and was required for SpaceX to begin the Starship orbital test flight program, for example. SpaceX will prepare the assessment itself under FAA supervision.

During Starship’s maiden voyage, which ended in a ball of flames a few minutes into the mission, the impact from the launch caused unexpected damage as far as 6 miles away from the Starbase launchpad in Boca Chica, Texas. The force of Starship broke windows, sent ashy debris into the sky, and brought an FAA investigation into SpaceX’s environmental mitigations, grounding the rocket for months. Five environmental groups sued the FAA over its handling of the mission.

Since then, SpaceX has made several improvements to Starbase to contain Starship’s debris field, and subsequent missions have resulted in little fanfare. However, it appears Blue Origin will use the incident as leverage in its plea to the FAA.

“At Starbase, Starship and Super Heavy test missions have been subject to environmental scrutiny due to their impact on the local environment and community,” the public comment reads, citing the aforementioned lawsuit against the regulator as evidence.

Blue Origin too launches operations out of Kennedy. The company leases Space Launch Complex-36 and occupies several hangars, as well as a manufacturing site, at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS), which it says are close to the area SpaceX wants to use.

“Blue Origin employs over 2,700 full-time employees in [Florida’s] Brevard County, including 449 employees at CCSFS that are directly impacted by local launch activities,” the filing reads. “Blue Origin has invested more than $1 billion in capital expenditures to develop [Launch Complex-36] as the first privately built heavy-lift launch complex in the world.”

The company said it worries about the safety of property and personnel during a Starship launch anomaly, such as an explosion, fire, debris, or loud noise. It also argued that Starship operations could impede Blue Origin’s access to shared infrastructure and “limited airspace and maritime resources.”

Starship and the Super Heavy booster hold about 5,200 metric tons of liquid methane for propulsion—the force of which, Blue Origin claims, would impede company and government activities at Kennedy due to the anticipated requirement of a safety margin around the site.

The firm urged the FAA to place a cap on the number of Starship launches, specify and limit launch times, and invest in infrastructure that would make Kennedy and CCSFS safer and more accessible for other launch providers.

It also suggested that SpaceX and the government be required to compensate Blue Origin or other companies whose commercial activities are impacted by Starship, as well as mandatory penalties for SpaceX should it violate the EIS or its license.

Given Bezos’ history with Musk, it’s difficult to say whether genuine concern, a desire to hamper the competition, or both prompted the comment.

Blue Origin is developing an alternative to Starship, New Glenn, but the rocket has faced delays and has yet to fly. New Glenn has collected a handful of customers, including Amazon’s Project Kuiper and NASA, which intends to launch it to Mars on its maiden voyage later this year.

NASA was at the center of the most publicized dispute between Blue Origin and SpaceX. After the space agency tapped SpaceX as the sole provider of a human landing system (HLS) for Artemis missions to the moon, Bezos in 2021 took NASA to court, arguing that it had promised two contracts.

The company would ultimately lose that battle. But the space agency in 2023 announced Blue Origin as the second Artemis HLS provider. Both companies are now working with NASA to develop a revamped plan for the Mars Sample Return Program, each receiving a $1.5 million contract.

The firms are also competing in the military sphere. In 2022, Blue Origin lost out on a pair of Pentagon contracts at the expense of SpaceX and United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin. But earlier this month, it secured its own agreement with the U.S. Space Force for 30 military launches, worth up to $5.6 billion.

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The agency says it plans to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) on the potential effects of awarding a commercial launch vehicle operator license for Starship operations at Kennedy’s Launch Complex-39A. To date, all Starship test flights have launched from SpaceX’s Starbase launchpad in Boca Chica, Texas, which serves as its primary research, development, and flight test facility for the gargantuan rocket.

SpaceX will need to obtain a vehicle operator license before launching Starship from Kennedy, an action that falls under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the FAA says. As such, it and NASA determined an EIS to be the appropriate level of scrutiny. 

SpaceX will prepare the assessment itself under FAA supervision, at NASA’s request. Obtaining the EIS would not guarantee the issuance of a vehicle operator license, but it is a required step under NEPA.

SpaceX’s proposal calls for the construction of launch, landing, and other infrastructure at Launch Complex-39A that would support as many as 44 launches per year using Starship and the company’s Super Heavy booster. The site hosts launches of its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.

The new infrastructure would allow Starship—which is designed to be reusable—to land back on the launchpad or a droneship, a sea-borne landing platform. The proposal also calls for expendable rocket and booster landings in the Atlantic Ocean.

The FAA will hold one virtual and three in-person public scoping meetings, inviting relevant agencies and organizations, local Native American tribes, and members of the public to submit comments on the potential environmental impacts of the proposal.

The submission period for public comments opened Friday with the publication in the Federal Register of an FAA notice of intent to prepare the EIS. Stakeholders can attend in-person scoping meetings on June 12 and 13, followed by a virtual meeting on June 17. More information is available on the FAA website.

Starship so far has flown three uncrewed orbital test flights, each more successful than the last. However, the first of those flights, which launched in April 2023, caused a litany of unintended environmental effects, shattering windows and sending plumes of ashy particulate as far as 6 miles away from Starbase.

The debris field created by the launch had a far wider radius than anticipated, due in part to SpaceX’s decision to forgo the installation of a water-cooled steel plate beneath the launchpad. A water deluge system was installed for Starship’s second test flight, which greatly improved containment of the debris field.

Following Starship’s first test flight, a coalition of environmental groups also sued the FAA over its handling of the launch. The groups accuse the agency of allowing SpaceX to take the reins on evaluating the rocket’s environmental impact.

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SpaceX on Saturday unveiled its first-generation extravehicular activity (EVA) spacesuit, which will be donned by astronauts aboard the Polaris Dawn mission, scheduled for no earlier than this summer. Polaris Dawn—a five-day, four-person orbital mission to research human health both in space and on Earth—is the first of three potential human spaceflights under the Polaris Program.

SpaceX and entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, who founded the program in February 2022, held a discussion accompanying the announcement on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, which SpaceX CEO Elon Musk acquired in October..

While the mission has no firm launch date, SpaceX on Saturday confirmed that Polaris Dawn would be the next crewed mission the company will fly.

What Is Polaris?

The Polaris Program is the brainchild of Isaacman, the billionaire CEO of integrated payments provider Shift4 who is also a pilot and astronaut, with more than 7,000 flight hours and multiple experimental and ex-military aircraft ratings. Isaacman in 2012 founded Draken International, a private air force that trains pilots for the U.S. Armed Forces.

Isaacman purchased flights from SpaceX in February 2022 to launch the program and is funding Polaris Dawn himself.

Named after the constellation of three stars more commonly known as the North Star, or Polaris, the program comprises three potential missions, one for each star. The effort aims to rapidly advance human spaceflight capabilities with an eye toward future missions to the moon, Mars, and beyond. Simultaneously, it will raise funds and advance research into issues facing humanity on Earth, such as cancer.

Polaris Dawn, the first of the three missions, was announced in 2022 and expected to fly later that year. It has since been delayed multiple times, most recently from February to mid-2024, due in part to SpaceX’s development of the specially designed EVA spacesuits.

Polaris Dawn and a second mission without a timeline, simply called Mission II, will be flown using SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule. Both vehicles are already in use by NASA and a handful of commercial customers, such as Axiom Space.

Falcon 9, a reusable two-stage rocket, is the world’s first orbital class reusable rocket and has been lauded for driving down launch costs in flying 330 times. Crew Dragon, which is capable of carrying up to seven passengers, in 2020 restored NASA’s ability to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS) with the first Commercial Crew rotation mission. It has flown a total of 46 missions, visiting the ISS on 42.

Polaris is expected to culminate in a third mission comprising the first crewed flight of SpaceX’s Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built. Like Falcon 9, the spacecraft is designed to be fully reusable and has so far attempted three orbital test flights, each more successful than the last.

Isaacman has been outspoken about Polaris’ aim to make human spaceflight accessible to all. The new SpaceX suits, for example, are designed to fit a range of body types and accommodate all spacewalkers.

At the same time, the billionaire aviator is focused on solving problems on Earth. Since its founding, Polaris has worked closely with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and helped fund research into childhood cancer.

Civilians in Space

Polaris Dawn is notable for its four-person crew, which includes the first SpaceX employees expected to actually reach space.

Mission specialist Sarah Gillis oversees the company’s astronaut training program, while mission specialist and medical officer Anna Menon manages crew operations. Gillis, trained to be a classical violinist, joined SpaceX in 2015, while Menon is a seven-year NASA veteran. But both have been part of past Crew Dragon flights. Menon in particular was influential in developing Dragon’s crew and emergency response capabilities.

Joining the SpaceX employees will be pilot Scott Poteet, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel with more than 3,200 flying hours in the F-16, A-4, T-38, T-37, T-3, and Alpha Jet.

Isaacman himself will serve as Polaris Dawn mission commander, a role he also filled for  SpaceX’s 2021 Inspiration4 mission: the first all-civilian mission to space. Poteet, who previously served in roles at Isaacson’s companies Shift4 and Draken, was mission director for that flight, which raised $250 million for St. Jude.

To prepare for Polaris Dawn, crewmembers lived inside the decompression chamber at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston for two days, summited the 16,800-foot peak of Illinizas Norte volcano in Ecuador, and experienced 9 Gs of force while training on three different kinds of fighter jets.

The mission will launch from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew will spend up to five days in orbit, performing about 40 experiments and testing of hardware and software. Like Inspiration4, it is a charitable effort, with the goal of raising additional funds for St. Jude.

“Fifty or 100 years from now, people are going to be jumping in their rockets, and you’re going to have families bouncing around on the moon with their kids at a lunar base,” said Isaacman in an article on the St. Jude website. “If we can accomplish all of that, we sure as heck better tackle childhood cancer along the way.”

Polaris Dawn aims to fly higher than any SpaceX Dragon mission to date, a height that hasn’t been reached since the end of the Apollo program half a century ago.

The crew will also attempt to reach the highest Earth orbit ever flown. Isaacman during the discussion on X said the mission will target an apogee of 1,400 kilometers, or about 870 miles, more than double the orbital height reached by Apollo 17. That orbit would place the crew just inside the Van Allen radiation belt, where it hopes to research effects of spaceflight and space radiation on human health.

“The benefit of being at this high altitude is that we can better understand the impacts of that environment…on both the human body…as well as on the spacecraft,” said Menon during the discussion on X.

Suit Up

The Dragon capsule will complete seven elliptical orbits until reaching its apogee before descending to a circular orbit at about 700 kilometers (435 miles). At that altitude, crewmembers will attempt the first commercial spacewalk. It would also be the first time four astronauts have been exposed to the vacuum of space at the same time, according to SpaceX.

The spacewalk will mark the first use of SpaceX’s EVA spacesuit in low-Earth orbit, a key milestone that is expected to inform future iterations of the design for long-duration missions.

It’s an evolution of SpaceX’s Intravehicular Activity (IVA) suit that has been modified to enable both intra and extravehicular use. In other words, personnel won’t need to change clothes when moving from the confines of the spacecraft to the harsh environment of space.

The EVA suit adds greater mobility, seals and pressure valves, a helmet camera, and textile-based thermal material, which regulates suit temperature and can be controlled using a dial. Boots were constructed from the same thermal material used to shield Falcon and Dragon from exposure.

“There was a lot of work on both the materials of the suit, developing a whole new layer that we needed to add for thermal management as well as looking at the thermal condition for the crewmembers themselves, and making sure that they were at a comfortable temperature inside the suit,” said Chris Drake, manager of SpaceX’s spacesuit team, on Saturday.

The 3D-printed helmet incorporates a new visor designed to reduce glare as well as a state-of-the-art, heads-up display (HUD). The HUD is active only during spacewalks and displays spacesuit pressure, temperature, and humidity, as well as a mission clock to track how long the astronauts are exposed to the vacuum of space.

Already, SpaceX is developing a second-generation EVA suit for missions to the moon and Mars. It estimates that millions of suits will be required to one day build a lunar base or Martian city.

“This is important because we are going to get to the moon and Mars one day, and we’re going to have to get out of our vehicles and out of the safety of the habitat to explore and build and repair things,” Isaacman said during the discussion on X.

The Dragon capsule has also required modifications to prepare for the landmark spacewalk. SpaceX on Saturday said a structure called “Skywalker” has been attached near the capsule’s hatch to act as a mobility aid. Handrails and foot rails have been installed inside the spacecraft, with a ladder interface added to the hatch opening.

SpaceX also installed a cabin pressurization system that allows the interior of the capsule to withstand the vacuum of space as air is sucked out during the spacewalk. A repressurization system will stabilize it once the astronauts return.

Why It Matters

In addition to achieving the first commercial spacewalk and the highest orbital altitude ever recorded, Polaris Dawn hopes to test Starlink laser-based communications in space for the first time. Data from the test could help develop space communications for future missions.

In addition, Polaris and SpaceX selected 38 scientific experiments from 23 partner institutions—including NASA, the U.S. Air Force Academy, and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University—intended to advance the understanding of human health in space and on Earth.

The crew will use ultrasound to study decompression sickness, for example, and will research spaceflight associated neuro-ocular syndrome: a disease unique to humans who fly in space that can have severe debilitating effects. Upon landing, astronauts will undergo tests to study anemia—an unavoidable effect of traveling to space—and other conditions that might impact humans on Earth.

The scientific aims of the Polaris Program differ from the commercial spaceflight ventures offered by companies such as Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, which could be classified more aptly as space tourism operations.

Tickets for those companies’ orbital and suborbital offerings, some of which involve research, can range from the hundreds of thousands of dollars to the millions. Isaacman and SpaceX’s Inspiration4, meanwhile, raised a quarter of a billion dollars for cancer research.

Isaacman has been particularly outspoken when it comes to accessibility in spaceflight. And by taking on much of the risk himself, the billionaire businessman has lessened the pressure on SpaceX. Isaacman’s funding of Polaris Dawn has allowed the company to focus on developing the spacesuits and other technology necessary to ensure the mission runs smoothly.

Polaris Dawn also represents a critical juncture for SpaceX’s Starship, the lynchpin of the company’s planned human spaceflight offerings. The largest rocket ever built is not quite ready to fly humans. But when it is, the third Polaris mission is expected to be its maiden voyage.

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The IM-1 mission, which is poised to be the first U.S. lunar landing in more than 50 years, is headed to the South Pole region of the moon as part of NASA’s commercial lunar payload services (CLPS) initiative and Artemis campaign. 

Less than two hours before its scheduled launch, however, a private rocket company announced it would be pushed back. “Standing down from tonight’s attempt due to off-nominal methane temperatures prior to stepping into methane load,” SpaceX said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The new launch window of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket liftoff is now rescheduled for 1:05 a.m. EST Thursday at Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the company said. According to SpaceX, teams will begin loading the lunar lander with cryogenic methane and oxygen on the launch pad ahead of stepping into propellant load for Falcon 9 approximately two and a half hours before liftoff.

The mission is set to prepare NASA for Artemis, a series of launches that will attempt to return U.S. astronauts to the moon as soon as 2025. On board Intuitive Machine’s Nova-C robotic lander, called “Odysseus,” are six NASA payloads that will conduct research to better understand the lunar environment. 

“The payloads will collect data on how the plume of engine gases interacts with the moon’s surface and kicks up lunar dust, investigate radio astronomy and space weather interactions with the lunar surface, test precision landing technologies, and measure the quantity of liquid propellant in Nova-C propellant tanks in the zero gravity of space,” NASA said. “The Nova-C lander will also carry a retroreflector array that will contribute to a network of location markers on the moon that will be used as a position marker for decades to come.”

• READ MORE: First U.S. Moonshot in Decades Will Fall Short—What It Means

The launch of IM-1 comes little more than a month after the failed attempt of Astrobotic’s Peregrine Mission One to become the first U.S. CLPS spacecraft to reach the moon’s surface. Hours after its launch on January 8, a propulsion anomaly derailed the mission. Ten days after launch, the Peregrine spacecraft burned up during a controlled reentry over the South Pacific. On board Peregrine were more than 20 payloads, including NASA instruments meant to study the lunar surface. 

• READ MORE: ‘Propulsion Anomaly’ Reported After Launch of First U.S. Commercial Lunar Lander

NASA will air live coverage of the IM-1 mission launch Thursday, beginning its broadcast at 12:20 a.m. EST. It may be viewed on a variety of platforms, including NASA+, NASA TV, and the agency’s website. SpaceX will also provide a live webcast of the mission beginning about 45 minutes before liftoff on X @SpaceX.

The Nova-C lander is expected to land on the moon February 22. 

The post SpaceX Pushes Launch of Odysseus Moon Lander to Thursday appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) on board SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft lifted off via a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 4:49 p.m. EST from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 

Falcon 9 launches Ax-3, Dragon’s 12th human spaceflight mission pic.twitter.com/VaswQz7npo

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 18, 2024

On board the spacecraft is the first all-European commercial astronaut crew, which is scheduled to spend about two weeks aboard ISS conducting microgravity research, educational outreach, and commercial activities, according to NASA.

“Together with our commercial partners, NASA is supporting a growing commercial space economy and the future of space technology,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement. “During their time aboard the International Space Station, the Ax-3 astronauts will carry out more than 30 scientific experiments that will help advance research in low-Earth orbit.”

• READ MORE: First U.S. Moonshot in Decades Will Fall Short—What It Means

In a quick check-in shortly after liftoff, “Ax-3 commander Michael López-Alegría confirmed the crew’s well-being and safety,” according to Axiom Space.

The Dragon spacecraft is expected to autonomously dock with the forward port of the ISS Harmony module on Saturday around 4:19 a.m. EST.

“Hatches between Dragon and the station are expected to open after 6 a.m., allowing the Axiom crew to enter the complex for a welcoming ceremony and start their stay aboard the orbiting laboratory,” NASA said.

NASA is providing live coverage of the docking event starting at 2:30 a.m. EST. It may be viewed here.

The Ax-3 astronauts are scheduled to leave the ISS on February 3 for their return to Earth and will splash down off the coast of Florida.

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The massive turboprop cargo aircraft was designed in the 1960s to accommodate oversized loads, such as body sections of the Saturn V rocket.

• READ MORE: Inside NASA’s Super Guppy

On Monday, the behemoth landed at Huntsville Regional Airport (KUTS). “This unique visitor is always a sight to see!” the airport said on X, formerly Twitter. 

Welcome (back) to HSV, Super Guppy! This unique visitor is always a sight to see! #FlyHSV #SuperGuppy pic.twitter.com/9SBAd76COs

— Huntsville International Airport (@FlyHSV) November 7, 2023

On board, according to NASA, was the heat shield that protected the Orion crew module during last year’s Artemis I test flight. The shield was then taken to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama.

• READ MORE: NASA Artemis II’s Orion Crew, Service Modules Joined

“Technicians at Marshall will use the center’s specialized milling tool to remove the heat shield’s outer layer of ablative material, a protective coating called Avcoat, as part of routine postflight analysis,” NASA said in a release.

Watch the Super Guppy Land

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The 10-day Artemis II mission is expected to begin no earlier than November 2024 and will fly NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen on the first crewed mission with the agency’s goal of establishing a long-term presence on the moon.

• READ MORE: NASA Unveils 4-Member Artemis II Crew

Prior to joining, the modules successfully completed hardware installation and testing in recent months, NASA said.

“Now that the crew and service modules are integrated, the team will power up the combined crew and service module for the first time,” NASA said. “After power-on tests are complete, Orion will begin altitude chamber testing, which will put the spacecraft through conditions as close as possible to the environment it will experience in the vacuum of deep space.”

The crew completed the first part of  mission training in August, requiring it to master familiarity with Orion’s interior. 

• READ MORE: Booster Delivery Marks NASA Artemis II Moon Mission Milestone

“The crew is making incredible progress getting ready for their flight as the first people to fly inside NASA’s newest spacecraft built for deep space,” Jacki Mahaffey, chief training officer for Artemis II at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, said in a statement. “Their training is preparing them to do everything from planned mission tasks and daily operations to how to recognize and deal with unexpected situations.”

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