SpaceX confirmed today that the next test flight of its giant Starship booster will include the first attempt to catch the booster as it returns to Earth if all conditions are right. Reusability is the company’s watchword and it plans to recover Starship’s first stage just as it does with the much smaller Falcon 9. SpaceX is waiting for regulatory approval from the FAA and posted a statement today that they could launch as early as this coming Sunday. The FAA said last month it likely would take until the end of November to complete its review, however.

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Despite a grim weather forecast, ESA’s Hera planetary defense spacecraft lifted off on time this morning enroute to the double asteroid Didymos/Dimorphos. Hera will study the after-effects of NASA’s 2022 DART mission that deliberately impacted Dimorphos and changed its orbit — the first time humans affected the course of a planetary object, a useful capability if we ever need to divert an asteroid that threatens Earth.

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Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of October 6-12, 2024 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in recess until after the November elections except for pro forma sessions.

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The United Launch Alliance’s new Vulcan rocket lifted off this morning on its second flight. Two successful launches are required before DOD certifies a new rocket to put its most precious satellites into orbit. ULA and DOD will be analyzing the data from this “Cert-2” mission. Two DOD satellites are awaiting launch on Vulcan by the end of the year so the process should proceed expeditiously, although an anomaly of some sort occurred with one of the two solid rocket boosters that will have to be investigated.

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ESA is ready to launch its Hera planetary defense mission just as soon as SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is back in business. The launch window opens on Monday. SpaceX suspended Falcon 9 launches on Saturday to investigate an anomaly during the launch of Crew-9 after the second stage separated. ESA’s Hera and NASA’s Europa Clipper, both about to embark on planetary exploration missions with strict launch windows, are counting on SpaceX to resolve the problem and the FAA to issue launch licenses before the 2024 opportunities expire. ESA and NASA both are optimistic.

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NOAA’s Office of Space Commerce began beta testing its Tracking Coordination System for Space, or TraCSS, today to provide space situational awareness data to commercial satellite operators. At the moment it is Phase 1.0, a minimum viable product, but OSC expects the system to be operational in about 15 months with satellite owner/operators transitioning from DOD’s Space-Track system by the end of 2025.

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Here are links to all the articles published on SpacePolicyOnline.com from September 16-29, 2024 including our “What’s Happening in Space Policy” for this coming week. Click on each title to read the entire article.

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Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of September 29-October 5, 2024 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in recess until after the November 5 elections except for pro forma sessions.

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Two new crew members for the International Space Station lifted off this afternoon in SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Freedom beginning NASA’s Crew-9 mission. ISS crew rotation missions are relatively routine, but this one is a bit different. Not only is it the first crewed launch from SpaceX’s complex at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, but only two instead of four people are onboard. The other two original members of Crew-9 gave up their seats so they could be used by two astronauts already on the ISS who need a ride home.

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NASA’s Office of Inspector General gives NASA pretty good marks for how it is managing the risks of continued operation of the aging International Space Station, but is worried about the current lack of redundancy in crew and cargo transportation systems. Delays in Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule and Northrop Grumman’s need to build a new rocket to launch its Cygnus cargo spacecraft means that SpaceX has the only U.S. rocket capable of delivering people and supplies right now. The OIG also is concerned about several other issues including the air leak in a Russian module and transition planning for the post-ISS era.

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