Space Flight News

The past couple days have been exciting if you follow space flight developments. First, Boeing was finally get its Starliner capsule into space on its first manned test flight. CBS News reports (emphasis added; brackets added):

    A United Launch Alliance [a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Space and Boeing Defense, Space & Security] Atlas 5 rocket carrying astronauts for the first time in six decades finally blasted off Wednesday and safely boosted Boeing's long-delayed Starliner crew ferry ship into space for its first piloted flight, a trailblazing cruise to the International Space Station.

    The workhorse Atlas 5's Russian-built [good in the event of war] RD-180 first stage engine roared to life at 10:52 p.m. EDT, followed an instant later by ignition of two strap-on solid fuel boosters.

Why don't they just offshore production to China? 

    The article notes this mission "also marks the first piloted flight of the Starliner, Boeing's answer to SpaceX's Crew Dragon, an already operational, less expensive spacecraft that has carried 50 astronauts, cosmonauts and civilians into orbit in 13 flights, 12 of them to the space station, since an initial piloted test flight in May 2020." Moreover:

Despite a larger NASA contract, Boeing's Starliner is four years behind SpaceX getting astronauts to space. But Wilmore and Williams say the spacecraft is now safer and more capable thanks to numerous upgrades and fixes.

Safer than what? A Boeing 737 Max? In any event the Starliner craft has developed two helium leaks since reaching orbit. But at least Boeing has a strong DEI program and is working on improving its ESG score.

    On the other hand, at a company that values fast development cycles through destructive testing over milking taxpayers for years on end, "Elon Musk's Starship returns to Earth after completing landmark test flight for the first time." From the lede:

    Elon Musk's SpaceX has successfully launched the world's most powerful rocket, bringing the company one step closer to colonizing Mars.

    Cheers erupted as the 400-foot-tall ship crash-landed in the Indian Ocean just over an hour after lift-off from Boca Chica, Texas.

    'Splashdown confirmed!' SpaceX wrote in a post on X. 'Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on an exciting fourth flight test of Starship!'

    This marked the fourth flight test that took off at 8:50am ET as audience watched the craft reach orbit at an altitude of 130 miles before re-entering the atmosphere for the first time.

There were no plans to recover the craft from the Indian Ocean. The article continues:

    As the Starship reentered the atmosphere an hour after lift-off, pieces of the rocket's flap started shredding off and a hole appeared as a debris covered the camera, cracking the lens.

    The live view went in and out as the rocket started cooling, receiving applause each time it turned back on, indicating Starship was still receiving data as it decreased to 620 miles per hour - below the speed of sound.

    Starship traveled to Earth's orbit without requiring the assistance of its booster and will provide valuable data about the reusability of the vehicle and how well it will survive the extreme heat upon reentry.

    'The payload for these flight tests is data. Building upon what we achieved during Starship's third flight test, our primary goal today is to get through the extreme heat of reentry,' SpaceX posted on X. 

    The flight path will be similar to the third test, which took place in March and saw Starship fly for 49 minutes before it was eventually lost as it re-entered the atmosphere over the Indian Ocean.

    Since then SpaceX says it has made several software and hardware upgrades, and hopes to achieve a soft splashdown for the booster stage in the Gulf of Mexico, and a 'controlled entry' for the upper stage. 

    The  fourth test comes just two days after SpaceX received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration which determines - which determines if commercial rockets will receive a license to launch.