Hello, my dear space lovers! Before we get started today, I wanted to thank my amazing patrons, subscribers, and followers: the amount of support and feedback this project is getting is way beyond what I expected. Looking forward to what the future has prepared for it!
This has been a week full of interesting news in the space sector, so let's get started with the updates of the week! 5,4,3,2,1…liftoff!
It was just a scratch!
The highlight of the week for me has been the test that SpaceX performed with its SN9 prototype. The test went perfectly fine…except for the final touch down: an engine failure led to a crash and burn grand finale.
We know that this kind of explosion and rocket destruction is entirely normal during the vehicle development phase and we should expect more of these in the close future until they figure out so many unknowns that exist in this new way of launching and reusing heavy-lift rockets. 10 prototype crashes? 1? 50? We don’t know for sure. The good thing is that with every test they learn, fix, and improve the prototype so that they get closer to the final version. Their next prototype, SN10, is already ready to get started with the cryo and fire tests very soon.
Well…maybe a bit more than a scratch (Source: Teslarati.com)
SpaceX’s wasn’t the only rocket that exploded this week: Chinese startup iSpace also failed on their second attempt to reach orbit. Sad. Good luck with the next try!
These “failures” are not stopping the progress we are witnessing in the industry: China’s OneSpace launched its OS-X6 suborbital solid rocket and a "TJSW-6" communication technology test satellite was also launched this week. SpaceX on the other hand also launched another Falcon 9 with 60 Starlink satellites on board and is getting ready for another launch later today. I’d call that an active launch industry!
Commercial space travel
Progress is not only about launching satellites into space and exploring other celestial bodies but also about making space more accessible to all humans. We are seeing progress on this front with two very relevant announcements in the last few days. After Axiom announced their first commercial trip to the International Space Station, with three multi-millionaire civilians paying for the party, SpaceX announced the Inspiration4 mission: a 4 person mission around the planet that will be paid by a millionaire but this time will include a health worker, a random civilian and an entrepreneur…this means that basically anyone (sadly, only from the US - for now) can be on board that SpaceX Dragon capsule and go to space after being trained. Amazing, amazing, amazing.
This is how I see this working: first, a couple of billionaires start commercial companies that launch rockets for the government and the private sector, then they become human-rated, a bunch of multi-millionaires pay for trips to space, and with that money, these companies develop commercial plans to train and launch civilians to space, step by step lowering the prices and making access to space more and more democratized for all. See the relevance of this weeks’ announcements? What do you think about the commercialization of the space industry? Do you see it as an opportunity to move faster or as an issue to avoid? Please, leave a comment below.
Picture of the week
This week I want to share with you a beautiful picture of The Sunflower Galaxy - Messier 63.
Located no more and no less than 29 million light-years away from us, Messier 63 contains approximately 400 billion stars. Gorgeous, isn’t it?
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Upcoming launches & events
Very well packed week ahead!
Feb 9th - The Emirates Mars Mission will arrive at Mars. It will fire its thrusters to slow down enough for Mars’ gravity to capture it.
Feb 12th - SpaceX Falcon 9 • Starlink V1.0-L19
Feb 15th - SpaceX Falcon 9 • Starlink V1.0-L17
Feb. 15th - Soyuz • Progress 77P
Space jobs
Do you want to play an active role in space exploration? Here are some open positions in the aerospace industry:
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I absolutely agree with you, space is getting closer and closer to everyone! We are... becoming spacepolitans!! 🤩🚀💫