For now the military flies on Falcons … The anomaly itself isn’t a showstopper for certification, said Garrant. But the cumulative delays and uncertainties are a concern, he said, “as we aim to maintain assured access to space with two certified providers.” Two missions—USSF-106 and USSF-87—are currently waiting in the wings, with payloads ready but no confirmed launch dates. ULA had been targeting a November launch for USSF-106. But with only six weeks left in the year, a 2024 launch window is increasingly unlikely, said Garrant. ULA chief Tory Bruno had been promising to complete two national security launches this year. (submitted by Ken the Bin and EllPeaTea)
NASA begins stacking Artemis II booster. NASA said ground teams inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida lifted the aft assembly of the rocket’s left booster onto the mobile launch platform, marking the beginning of operations to ‘stack’ the second Space Launch System rocket. Using an overhead crane, teams hoisted the left aft booster assembly—already filled with pre-packed solid propellant—from the VAB transfer aisle, over a catwalk dozens of stories high and then down onto mounting posts on the mobile launcher, Ars reports.
Say goodbye to September … The Artemis II mission is slated to send NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a 10-day flight around the far side of the Moon. A NASA spokesperson told Ars it should take around four months to fully stack the SLS rocket for Artemis II. Officially, Artemis II is projected to launch in September of next year, but there’s little chance of meeting that schedule due to an issue with Orion’s heat shield. It’s possible that, within the next month or two, NASA could announce a new target launch date for Artemis II at the end of 2025 or, more likely, in 2026.
Shotwell predicts rapid increase in Starship launches. As SpaceX made its final preparations for the sixth launch of its Starship rocket last week, the company’s chief operating officer and president spoke at a financial conference on Friday about various topics, including the future of the massive rocket and the Starlink satellite system. The Starship launch system is about to reach a tipping point, Gwynne Shotwell said, as it moves from an experimental rocket toward operational missions, Ars reports.