SpaceX succeeded today in catching its biggest booster, Super Heavy, back at the launch site in Boca Chica, Texas. Standing 71 meters tall and 9 meters in diameter, the booster separated from the Starship second stage, flipped around and returned to the launch tower from which it had just departed in another impressive engineering achievement for the company. Meanwhile, Starship continued on its journey to what appears to have been a successful splashdown in the Indian Ocean.

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A space trifecta of sorts is coming up tomorrow morning, October 13. At the moment, within an hour-and-a-half NASA’s Crew-8 will depart the International Space Station, SpaceX will launch the Starship IFT-5 test flight and try to catch the Super Heavy booster back at the launch site, and Blue Origin will make a second try at launching a new human-rated New Shepard vehicle.  …

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Today the FAA approved SpaceX’s plan to launch the fifth Integrated Flight Test, IFT-5, of its Starship/Super Heavy rocket. In fact, the FAA approved multiple launches using the IFT-5 profile as well as changes SpaceX requested for IFT-6, although further modifications could entail additional review. SpaceX plans to launch IFT-5 from Boca Chica, Texas tomorrow, October 13, with a 30 minute launch window that opens at 7:00 am Central Time (8:00 am Eastern). For the first time, it will try to catch the Super Heavy booster as it returns to Earth.

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The FAA approved the return to flight of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket late this afternoon. Space X suspended all Falcon 9 launches after a second stage anomaly on September 28 following the otherwise successful launch of Crew-9 to the International Space Station. The FAA allowed SpaceX to launch ESA’s Hera mission on Monday, but other flights have had to wait until now.

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The U.S. Space Force said today the ultra-secretive X-37B spaceplane, in orbit since December, will test aerobraking maneuvers to change its orbit with a minimum amount of fuel. In the process, it will also shed the service module attached to the spacecraft and safely dispose of it in conformance with space debris mitigation standards.

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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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