Space Stuff and Launch Info

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Shifted by one day due to an issue with ground equipment.
Live coverage started.
T-40 minutes, although the weather is still a coin toss.

Edit: Weather is too bad, next attempt tomorrow if the weather improves.

 

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Next launch attempt in 3 min: https://www.spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-10

Liftoff!

Spoiler

The booster lost one engine on ascent, but still completed its mission nominally. The landing over the ocean was a success, with a simulated (additional!) engine-out during landing.

The ship reached the planned almost-orbital trajectory and deployed some mass simulators. Now it's cruising over Africa. Waiting for the Raptor re-light to simulate a reentry burn.

Relight successful.

Reentry looked super spicy with one flap and the engine skirt getting damaged, but the ship overall maintained control. They do stress the vehicle more than necessary on purpose to find the limits of the heat shield.

Landing burn looked good, it splashed down in the Indian Ocean. After it hit the water it tipped over and exploded, but that's expected. A tower could have caught it in flight.

Some damage to the flaps and engine skirt, but otherwise a fully successful flight.

 

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Better Starship landing videos:


The red and white colors are from tests - metallic tiles and insulation material from spaces where tiles were removed released stuff that spread over the rest of the heat shield.

The next flight will be the last one of the v2 version. The flight profile will be the same, except for a possible booster catch. We can expect more heat shield and flap tests.

v3 is larger and needs major changes to the launch pad. SpaceX is preparing its second Texas launch pad for v3 already but a launch is not expected before late 2025.

 

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Static fire of Super Heavy for Starship's 11th flight
(probably at some point in October)

 

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Successful static fire of Tianlong-3
Their attempt last year was more dynamic.

I don't find a specific launch date but they are likely aiming at a launch this year.
It's extremely similar to Falcon 9. Designed with a reusable booster, burning kerosene and oxygen, with 9 engines on the booster and a vacuum-optimized version of that engine on the second stage. 3.8 m diameter vs. 3.7 m (compatible with road transport), 71 m height vs. 70 m, 590 tonnes vs 550 tonnes. The larger fairing option has 5.2 m diameter and is 14 meter long, while Falcon 9's fairing has 5.2 m diameter and 13 m length.

I don't find info if they want to return to launch site or land the booster on a barge in the ocean, or both depending on the mission. I hope we get some landing footage once they try to recover the boosters.

 

[Filip Larsen]

https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/09/northrop-grummans-new-spacecraft-is-a-real-chonker/

The first flight of Northrop's upgraded Cygnus spacecraft, called Cygnus XL, is on its way to the international research lab after launching Sunday evening from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. This mission, known as NG-23, is set to arrive at the ISS early Wednesday with 10,827 pounds (4,911 kilograms) of cargo to sustain the lab and its seven-person crew.

 

[berkeman]

LOL. I had to Google "chonker".

 

[Filip Larsen]

https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/...the-international-space-station-as-scheduled/

A problem with the main engine on Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL spacecraft will keep it from delivering 11,000 pounds of supplies and experiments to the International Space Station as scheduled on Wednesday.

Since the ISS resupply schedule is already a bit pressed for time due to pre-launch damage to the preceding Cygnus, it seems rather important that this Cygnus makes it to ISS.

 

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It might still reach the ISS with some delay. If not, upcoming missions will carry more consumables and fewer science experiments to compensate. The ISS has a pretty steady stream of them.

The first HTV-X is scheduled to launch in October, it's Japan's new resupply vehicle with 5800 kg of cargo capacity. If Cygnus (5000 kg) doesn't make it, this one will be the next to reach the ISS. There is also a Progress (2400 kg) planned for December, SpaceX might fly the next Dragon (3000 kg) earlier than planned, and Dream Chaser (4500 kg) might finally fly in late 2025.

 

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Cygnus arrived at the ISS

The next Starship arrived at the launch site for testing

 

[Jonathan Scott]

According to Spacenews:

NASA said late Sept. 17 that engineers analyzed data from Cygnus and found that the thruster worked as intended during those burns. The engine shut down prematurely on two non-sequential burns when a “conservative safeguard in the software settings” triggered a warning system and shut down the thruster.

My non-expert guess would be that some temperature parameter was exceeded as a result of the longer burn needed for the heavier XL version.

 

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Themis has arrived at its launch pad
Themis is Europe's (ESA+Arianespace) main reusable booster development project. This first vehicle (T1H) is built for shorter hops, similar to SpaceX's Grasshopper in 2012/2013. The successor (T1E) is expected make higher altitude flights (~kilometers, probably), and the successor of that (T3) will have three engines, enough to make flights similar to an orbital launch. Once that works, Arianespace might develop a full rocket with a reusable booster. It's not a fast program and it's 10 years late, but there is progress.

 

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SpaceX works towards upper stage landings.
The reentry trajectory has to go over Mexico, SpaceX chose a path that avoids major population centers to minimize risk. It's close to the US border and might be visible from the southwestern US.
That corridor needs a launch to ~32 degrees inclination, which either has to go further south (overflying Jamaica) or north (overflying Florida) than current missions.

SpaceX and the FAA estimate that between 7 and 400 flights will be delayed or make detours for the launch and landing. It depends on the launch time, the trajectory, and the duration of the restrictions.

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During the most recent New Shepard launch, Blue Origin had a free-flying camera capturing stage separation. Video here, and cleaned up image here:

 

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NASA announced its 2025 selection of new astronauts.
Most of them come from the US military, one is a geologist, one is an engineer. And one is an astronaut with spaceflight experience already. Huh?

Anna Menon started at NASA, working as a biomedical flight controller to support astronauts. She then became an engineer at SpaceX, developing crew operations for Dragon and guiding astronauts and their families. Isaacman then selected her to fly on Polaris Dawn, the mission with the first privately organized spacewalk. Now she returns to NASA. Previous spaceflight experience must have made her application truly outstanding.
This is the first time NASA trains a "new" astronaut who has already been to orbit. Maybe she can skip some of the training.

Her husband Anil Menon was selected as NASA astronaut in 2021. He hasn't been to space yet but he is assigned to Soyuz MS-29, planned for June 2026.