A Falcon 9 rising off of SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral in January. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
SpaceX plans to send a Falcon 9 carrying another tranche of Starlink satellites to low-earth orbit (LEO) tomorrow from SLC-40 on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The launch window opens at 4:59 PM EST and extends until 8:57 PM the same day.
Weather
The 45th Weather Squadron issued their forecast of the Probability of Violation of weather criteria today. They rated the POV at less than five percent, meaning there is a greater than ninety-five percent of acceptable conditions.
Trajectory
Southeast, which is the normal flight path for Group 6 Starlink satellites.
Booster
SpaceX has not announced which booster will be used for this flight at the time of this writing. When that information becomes available, we will add it here.
Landing
Landing will occur on ASDS (Automated Spaceport Drone Ship) A Shortfall of Gravitas, which will be stationed offshore and downrange. After Falcon 9’s booster lands safely aboard the vessel, it will return to Port Canaveral and then to SpaceX’s Hangar X facility at Kennedy Space Center for inspection and presumably refurbishment and preparation for its next flight.
Launch Viewing: Online
SpaceX generally provides live launch coverage starting fifteen minutes prior to launch on their account on the X platform. Click here
Spaceflight Now will provide launch coverage one hour prior to liftoff on their YouTube channel. Click here
Kennedy Space Center’s Visitor’s Center has not offered a specific ticket package for this launch, but the first minute of the launch window is the last minute that the Center is open for the day. No viewing tickets or information has been posted, but check with the KSCVC site for up-to-date information. Admission and parking fees will of course apply if the Center is open for viewing.
Indirect views where the rocket becomes visible after it clears the pad and the trees in the distance are at Jetty Park in Port Canaveral, Playalinda Beach in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge or of course on any of the beaches in the Cape Canaveral / Cocoa Beach area.
Launch viewing at Playalinda may be possible as the Cape Canaveral National Seashore closes at 6 PM EST. If you go there, arriving two hours early is strongly advised, as the National Park Service and KSC Police will close the gates to new entrants once parking lots are full or as liftoff time approaches. Entry fees apply to Jetty Park and Playalinda, consult their websites for the cost and payment methods available.
SpaceX successfully launched the HTS 113BT telecommunications satellite to orbit from Cape Canaveral this afternoon at 3:11 PM EST for Indonesian company PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk. Around eight and one-half minutes later, Booster 1067 safely touched down on SpaceX’s Automated Spaceport Droneship “Just Read The Instructions,” (JRTI) which was located offshore in the Atlantic Ocean.
Odysseus passes over the near side of the Moon following lunar orbit insertion on 21FEB2024. The lander continues to be in excellent health in lunar orbit.
Note: this is a sample of my writing, and was originally published at Talk of Titusville.
Intuitive Machines has confirmed that the IM-1 Nova-C class lunar lander “Odysseus” touched down on the surface of the Moon today, sometime around 6:30 PM EST. The exact time of touchdown is not yet known, as the company has not yet downloaded and released data from the spacecraft.
The last lunar landing for an American spacecraft on the Moon was December 11th 1972. That was 51 years, 1 months and 26 days ago, which is 18,684 days. Today, Intuitive Machines and Odysseus ended that long gap.
Odysseus passes over the near side of the Moon following lunar orbit insertion on 21FEB2024. The lander continues to be in excellent health in lunar orbit.
Intuitive Machines has confirmed that the IM-1 Nova-C class lunar lander “Odysseus” touched down on the surface of the Moon today, sometime around 6:30 PM EST. The exact time of touchdown is not yet known, as the company has not yet downloaded and released data from the spacecraft.
The last lunar landing for an American spacecraft on the Moon was December 11th 1972. That was 51 years, 1 months and 26 days ago, which is 18,684 days. Today, Intuitive Machines and Odysseus ended that long gap.
Troubles On The Way Down
The landing was not without its issues, and some of those issues remain to be rectified at the time of this writing. First, there were LASER issues that forced a software patch and rerouting of signals for the autonomous landing system. Those were completed in the last two hours of lunar orbit, and according to live commentary from NASA-TV, the fix worked satisfactorily during the final descent to the surface.
Then after the expected landing time, a longer period of uncertainty than expected about Odysseus’s fate occurred because of what was an initial loss of radio communications between the lander and mission control in Houston.
Intuitive Machines infographic describing the landing sequence of Nova-C Odysseus Graphic courtesy Intuitive Machines
Uncertainty After Landing
Flight controllers reassessed the last data they received from Odysseus, and found an unexpected 8-degree roll from the spacecraft, leading many viewers to fear the worst. IM engineers and flight controllers continued working the problem, and at one point, Intuitive Machines CTO Tim Crain announced “”We’re not dead yet!”
Not long afterwards, Crain gave some welcome news when he said, “We do have signal that we’re tracking.” That meant that Odysseus was on the lunar surface and that it was transmitting, a good sign that the landing was successful enough for the spacecraft to attempt to communicate with Earth. Crain added moments later “We have a signal from our high-gain antenna. It’s faint but it’s there.”
Then, after what must have seemed like an eternity to Intuitive Machines employees, Crain clarified by saying “We can confirm without a doubt that we are on the surface of the moon and that we are transmitting.”
Screen capture of NASA’s live stream showing Intuitive Machines employees celebrating the landing.
Finally, the announcement everyone was waiting for: “Houston, Odysseus has found his new home.”
At 8:25 PM EST, Intuitive Machines released the news everyone who had lingering doubts was waiting to hear:
“After troubleshooting communications, flight controllers have confirmed Odysseus is upright and starting to send data. Right now, we are working to downlink the first images from the lunar surface.”
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson commented after the landing that “Today, for the first time in half a century, America has returned to the Moon. On the eighth day of a quarter-million-mile voyage, Intuitive Machines aced the landing of a lifetime. What a feat for IM, SpaceX and NASA.
“What a triumph for humanity.
“Odysseus has taken the Moon.”
Indeed.
What’s Up Next?
IM and its team will no doubt be working diligently to assess Odysseus’s health and begin the slate of experiments planned for the mission.
After that, hopefully we will see photographs and video from Odysseus, including the Embry-Riddle EagleCam, which was ejected from the descending lander and providing the first-ever third-party view of an extraterrestrial spacecraft landing.
It’s more than fair to say that the work is just beginning and that NASA, the Artemis Project, all of the students and researchers involved and those of us interested parties in the general will all be learning a great deal over the next few days.
SpaceX successfully launched the HTS 113BT telecommunications satellite to orbit from Cape Canaveral this afternoon at 3:11 PM EST for Indonesian company PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk. Around eight and one-half minutes later, Booster 1067 safely touched down on SpaceX’s Automated Spaceport Droneship “Just Read The Instructions,” (JRTI) which was located offshore in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Moon, as seen from Kennedy Space Center, the launch site of Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 Nova-C lander “Odysseus.” Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
NASA and Intuitive Machines are planning to land the IM-1 Nova-C lunar lander “Odysseus” on the moon’s surface tomorrow, and so far, everything is going well for the mission.
IM has been remarkably transparent and informative throughout the duration of the mission so far, and have been issuing daily updates on the vehicle status and their activities as Odysseus travels cislunar space.
Mission Status on February 21: In Orbit Around The Moon
IM issued a late update with a new landing time late this afternoon:
Flight controllers analyzed the post-Lunar Orbit Insertion engine burn data and updated the anticipated flight maneuver timing, including an expected 1630 CST landing opportunity on Thursday. The landing opportunity will be Odysseus’ hardest challenge yet. The lander continues to be in excellent health, orbiting approximately 92 km above the lunar surface. (21FEB2024 1645 CST)
IM has issed on update at 09:20 AM CST (10:20 local time):
Odysseus completed its scheduled 408-second main engine lunar orbit insertion burn and is currently in a 92 km circular lunar orbit. Initial data indicates the 800 m/s burn was completed within 2 m/s accuracy.
After traveling over 1,000,000 km, Odysseus is now closer to the Moon than the end-to-end distance driving across Space City, Houston, TX.
Over the next day, while the lander remains in lunar orbit, flight controllers will analyze the complete flight data and transmit imagery of the Moon.
Yesterday, IM issued an update at 4:00 PM CST (5:00 PM local time):
Intuitive Machines flight controllers commanded the IM-1 mission’s second planned Trajectory Correction Maneuver (TCM) with enough precision to eliminate the need for the initially planned third TCM engine firing.
Today’s TCM fired at 1400 CST for 8 seconds, and it is the final maneuver before Odysseus’ largest challenge to date, Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI), scheduled for February 21, 2024. Odysseus continues to be in excellent health and is approximately 68,000 km from the Moon. Over the next several hours, flight controllers will continue to analyze the flight data ahead of LOI.
Once the spacecraft achieves lunar orbit, mission controllers can begin final preparations for the landing attempt. That landing is currently scheduled for no earlier than 5:49 PM EST.
Landing Zone
The landing site selected for this mission is Malapert A, a satellite crater to Malapert, a 69 km crater in the Moon’s south pole region. Named after Charles Malapert, a 17th-century Belgian astronomer, the area around the landing site is believed to be made of lunar highland material, similar to Apollo 16’s landing site in the Descartes Highlands.
Oblique image showing the IM-1 landing area, acquired from an altitude of 78 kilometers with a slew angle of 64° on 2023-04-02. North is to the right, 57 kilometers wide at the center, LROC NAC M1435077792LR Photo: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
NASA said that “the Lunar Node-1 experiment, or LN-1, is a radio beacon designed to support precise geolocation and navigation observations for landers, surface infrastructure, and astronauts, digitally confirming their positions on the Moon relative to other craft, ground stations, or rovers on the move. These radio beacons also can be used in space to help with orbital maneuvers and with guiding landers to a successful touchdown on the lunar surface.”
Odysseus will then have seven days to complete experiments on the lunar surface before the lunar night sets on the south pole of the Moon, rendering the spacecraft inoperable.
Utility of Lunar Node-1
“Imagine getting verification from a lighthouse on the shore you’re approaching, rather than waiting on word from the home port you left days earlier,” said Evan Anzalone, principal investigator of LN-1 and a navigation systems engineer at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “What we seek to deliver is a lunar network of lighthouses, offering sustainable, localized navigation assets that enable lunar craft and ground crews to quickly and accurately confirm their position instead of relying on Earth.”
Landing Coverage
Live landing coverage will air on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website. Coverage will include live streaming and blog updates beginning around an hour before the anticipated landing attempt.
Upon successful landing, Intuitive Machines and NASA will host a news conference to discuss the mission and science opportunities ahead as the company begins lunar surface operations.
SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts off February 20, 2024 carrying the HTS 113BT satellite Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
SpaceX successfully launched the HTS 113BT telecommunications satellite to orbit from Cape Canaveral this afternoon at 3:11 PM EST for Indonesian company PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk. Around eight and one-half minutes later, Booster 1067 safely touched down on SpaceX’s Automated Spaceport Droneship “Just Read The Instructions,” (JRTI) which was located offshore in the Atlantic Ocean.
Falcon 9 in flight on February 20, 2024. Photo: Ed Cordero / Florida Media Now
JRTI is set to return to Port Canaveral several days from now, and the booster will be returned to SpaceX’s Hangar X facility at Kennedy Space Center for inspection, refurbishment and preparation for a potential 18th flight.
HTS 113BT At A Glance
HTS 113BT will replace the lost Palapa N1 (Nusantara 2) satellite. It was launched in April 2020, aboard a Long March-3B/G2 (Chang Zheng-3B/G2) rocket. The launch took place at 11:46 UTC from the LC2 pad at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, but a reported third stage failure prevented the mission from being completed, and Palapa N1 re-entered Earth’s atmosphere and disintegrated shortly afterwards.
Once commissioned, according to Thales, the company that built HTS 113BT, the satellite will “provide more than 32 Gbps capacity over Indonesia. The satellite [weighed] about 4 metric tons at launch and will be delivered early 2024 for a 15-year expected lifetime.”
Successful 17th Mission for B1067
Today’s launch was the 17th flight for SpaceX Falcon 9 Booster 1067, which entered service in 2021 when it launched the ISS Commercial Resupply mission CRS-22.
Booster 1067
Flight Number
Mission
Date
1
CRS-22
June 21, 2021
2
NASA Crew-3
November 11, 2021
3
Türksat 5B
December 19, 2021
4
NASA Crew-4
April 27, 2022
5
CRS-25
July 14, 2022
6
Starlink 4-34
September 19, 2022
7
Hotbird 13G
November 3, 2022
8
O3b mPOWER 1 & 2
December 16, 2022
9
Starlink 5-2
January 26, 2023
10
Starlink 5-5
March 24, 2023
11
Starlink 5-9
May 14, 2023
12
Satria-1
June 18, 2023
13
Starlink 6-10
August 17, 2023
14
Starlink 6-22
October 13, 2023
15
Starlink 6-29
November 22, 2023
16
Starlink 6-35
January 7, 2024
17
HTS 113BT
February 20, 2024
Next Launch
Next up from the Eastern Range (CCSFS and KSC) is Starlink 6-39, SpaceX’s next batch of satellites for its orbital-based Internet service. The launch window extends from 4:59 PM – 9:30 PM EST and will be from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Falcon 9 lifting off from SLC-40 in 2022, as seen from the Banana River Bridge on FL 528 W in Cape Canaveral. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
SpaceX is planning to launch a Falcon 9 carrying the Indonesian satellite Telkomsat HTS 113BT tomorrow afternoon from Pad SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The first stage booster will then land offshore on Just Read The Instructions, one of the company’s Automated Spaceport Drone Ships. The launch window opens at 3:11 PM EST and extends to 5:44 PM.
This will be SpaceX’s 16th flight this year.
Payload
Owned by Indonesian companies PT Telkom (Persero) Tbk (Telkom), HTS 113BT is a high-throughput telecommunications satellite that will provide communications services in C-band/Ku-Band from its orbital position at 113° East once it reaches its final orbital destination and successfully completes it commissioning activities.
According to Thales, the company that built HTS 113BT, the satellite will “provide more than 32 Gbps capacity over Indonesia. The satellite will weigh about 4 metric tons at launch and will be delivered early 2024 for a 15-year expected lifetime.”
Endi Fitri Herlianto, CEO of Telkomsat, said in a 2021 Thales press release announcing the contract to build the satellite that “HTS 113BT will strengthening connectivity infrastructure across Indonesia archipelago to support digital business by providing better quality of service for Indonesia society.”
Weather
After weekend of three days of near-steady rains that brought as much as four inches of precipitation to the Space Coast area, the 45th Weather Squadron has forecast only a 5% chance of a Probability of Violation of launch weather criteria for tomorrow. That means that they expect a 95% chance of acceptable conditions.
L-1 forecast released by the 45th Weather Squadron at 9:30 AM EST on 19 FEB 24.
Should technical issues force a delay, the weather on Wednesday is expected to be a near repeat of Tuesday’s favorable forecast.
Trajectory
Falcon 9 is planned to head nearly due east after liftoff. Just Read The Instructions, SpaceX’s landing point for this mission, will be located ~300 miles offshore.
Booster
Booster B1067 will be flying its 17th mission. It last launched 01/07/2024 and has completed 16 successful missions since its first launch in 2021
Booster 1067
Flight Number
Mission
Date
1
CRS-22
June 21, 2021
2
NASA Crew-3
November 11, 2021
3
Türksat 5B
December 19, 2021
4
NASA Crew-4
April 27, 2022
5
CRS-25
July 14, 2022
6
Starlink 4-34
September 19, 2022
7
Hotbird 13G
November 3, 2022
8
O3b mPOWER 1 & 2
December 16, 2022
9
Starlink 5-2
January 26, 2023
10
Starlink 5-5
March 24, 2023
11
Starlink 5-9
May 14, 2023
12
Satria-1
June 18, 2023
13
Starlink 6-10
August 17, 2023
14
Starlink 6-22
October 13, 2023
15
Starlink 6-29
November 22, 2023
16
Starlink 6-35
January 7, 2024
Booster B1067
Coverage
Typically, SpaceX begins live coverage of its launches fifteen minutes before the planned liftoff on the X platform at https://twitter.com/SpaceX
Spaceflight Now typically begins its live coverage of launches from the Space Coast one hour before liftoff on its Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@SpaceflightNowVideo
Launch Viewing
Tomorrow’s launch is from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral, which means that the best direct views of liftoff are at either the Banana River Bridge on FL-528 W near Port Canaveral, or the southern parks on US-1 / S. Washington Avenue in Titusville.
Kennedy Space Center’s Visitor’s Center has not offered a specific ticket package for this launch, but first part of the launch window is within its hours of operation. That means that watching the launch may be possible from the Apollo Saturn V Center. Check with the KSCVC site for up-to-date information. Admission and parking fees will of course apply.
Indirect views where the rocket becomes visible after it clears the pad and the trees in the distance are at Jetty Park in Port Canaveral, Playalinda Beach in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge or of course on any of the beaches in the Cape Canaveral / Cocoa Beach area. For launch viewing at Playalinda, arriving two hours early is strongly advised, as the National Park Service and KSC Police will close the gates to new entrants once parking lots are full or as liftoff time approaches. Entry fees apply to Jetty Park and Playalinda, consult their websites for the cost and payment methods available.
The incomplete Starship Launch Tower pad 39A at KSC stands to the right SpaceX’s Falcon 9 / Falcon Heavy launch tower. Photo: Mark Stone/FMN
In a recent Department of the Air Force announcement, the Air Force said an Environmental Impact Study isunder way for potential new launch facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station or Kennedy Space Center.
The proposed facility would be aimed at providing an Eastern Range launch pad for SpaceX’s Starship, the largest, most powerful rocket ever built. By comparison, Starship has over 16 million pounds of thrust, compared to NASA’s new Space Launch System, which has half of that.
What Is An Environmental Impact Study?
In the United States at the federal level, an EIS is a report mandated by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), to assess the potential impact of actions “significantly affecting the quality of the human environment.” This requirement under NEPA does not prohibit harm to the environment, but rather requires advanced identification and disclosure of harm.
The first Draft of the Cape Canaveral EIS is scheduled to be released in December of this year.
Debate Starts To Heat Up
While both the future of commercial spaceflight and NASA’s plans for the moon and beyond demand such heavy lift capabilities, an expected debate has started to emerge from environmental groups as well as some local residents, who are gearing up to express opposition to the potential new facility proposed at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. At the same time, others support the possible move fully and are embracing the idea.
The new Starship has already flown twice from SpaceX’s Starbase development facility in South Texas, with both test flights ending in a “RUD”, or rapid unscheduled disassembly – catastrophic vehicle failure. (RUD is space lingo for “it blew up.”)
It is likely SpaceX will face the similar battles with environmentalists and some locals in Florida that they already face in Texas, even if the situations are somewhat different.
The Lay of the Land In Boca Chica
Space X’s Starship stands on the pad in Boca Chica, TX. prior to it’s second flight test. Photo: Richard Gallagher/FMN
A few years ago, SpaceX had begun construction of a Starship launch tower near Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A, but that work has apparently been stopped in favor of a Starship facility near Boca Chica, Texas, where Starship being developed and test flights conducted.
Since then, SpaceX has proceeded with extensive construction of what it calls Starbase, with two highly-publicized Starship launches during 2023.
In the interim some environmental groups loudly complained about the Texas facility, its proximity to federally protected wetlands as well as dust created by the first launch, and noise from both.
In a move to apparently remedy the standoff over, SpaceX offered a lopsided land swap to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). As reported by ABC 13 News from Houston, SpaceX offered to turn over 477 acres near the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge in exchange for only 43 acres from the Boca Chica State Park (near Starbase).
The Parks and Wildlife staff appeared ready to take the deal: “[We] view it as a way for the agency to increase public access and protect grasslands and wetlands … these conversations continue more than a decade of cooperative work with SpaceX to carry out our respective missions as neighbors,” the TPWD statement said. A vote was set for January 25, 2024.
But several days before the vote, the Parks and Wildlife staff sought public comment. Over 1,039 comments were against the land exchange compared to 263 for it. The TPWD also received a letter from influential Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino Jr against the project. The Parks and Wildlife then hastily postponed the vote until its March 28 meeting.
Texas Public Radio reported:
Save RGV (Save Rio Grand Valley) a nonprofit group advocating against the development of liquified natural gas plants and SpaceX in the Rio Grande Valley, worries how [a] land exchange could impact sensitive wildlife areas in the future.
“The proposed exchange will further environmental impacts, including more light, noise, run-off, pollution, and traffic,” Mary Angela Branch, Save RGV member, said in a public comment to the TPWD commission. “This exchange would set a bad precedent for trading away unique sensitive habitat and public land.”
“Another question posed by Save RGV is whether TPWD possibly blocked a land purchase by Cameron County, where both parcels of land are located. One commissioner has pushed back at the exchange deal, saying the county had plans to use the land for its own conservation project.”
In December, Jeff Foust at SpaceNews reported that Texas’s congressional representatives were getting involved:
Cruz argued that the environmental reviews resulted in “asinine delays” even as the United States competes with China and Russia in spaceflight. “I’m not advocating for a wholesale repeal of our environmental laws or NEPA. I’m just arguing for them not to be applied in a dumbass way that slows down commercial space.”
The second Starship launch was “after months of delay stemming from bureaucratic red tape from AST, Fish and Wildlife and other agencies injecting themselves into the process,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, at a Dec. 13 hearing by that committee’s space subcommittee. AST is the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation.
As both proposed launch pads are on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, no land exchanges will be needed for Florida. Until a recent deal with the State of Texas, Starbase existed on an approximately 55-acres of land, whereas CCSFS is1,325 acres, and that before the adjacent Kennedy Space Center is considered – that site has 6,000 acres of land for facilities and roads, and has 7.8 million square feet of building area, and 564 miles of roads, including 184 miles of paved and 380 miles of unpaved roads.
It should be noted that the Boca Chica Starbase is located within about 5 miles of populated Port Isabel. In contrast, the CCSFS Launch Complex 37 is about 15 miles from Titusville and 8 miles from Cape Canaveral. Both are well out of the designated Blast Debris Area that is recognized for launches: the Saturn V in the 1960’s and 1970’s and also the recent Artemis I launch of SLS had BDAs of 3.5-4.0 miles from the launch site.
The Debate Begins in Florida
With the third test flight of Starship expected for next month in Texas, attention is shifting to SpaceX’s plans for Florida’s launch facility, and the recent announcement from the DAF of an EIS for a launch pad at CCSFS. The Department of the Air Force, which controls the bulk of the Cape Canaveral peninsula via the US Space Force, has made it clear they are in need of Starship’s heavy lift capability.
At a recent Space Mobility Conference, Gary Henry, senior advisor for national security space solutions at SpaceX, said that Starship holds the potential to become a mobility platform for the U.S. military. “The cost element of this is going to be pretty compelling, and it’ll happen soon,” Henry said. The military also intends to use the massive Starship as an inflight refueling and logistics depot, supporting Space Force missions.
Additionally, NASA’s plans for the moon and beyond hinge on Starship as part of the Artemis program, with plans for a crewed moon landing within this decade.
Such ambitious plans would require a fairly rapid cadence in Starship launches. A NASA official said last year that the use of Starship for Artemis lunar landings will require “in the high teens” of launches both from Texas and Cape Canaveral.
Locals and environmental groups are already voicing their concerns on social media, encouraging residents to research the environmental and community issues and then attend one of the upcoming public comment forums in the area.
Local Concerns Expressed on Social Media
In a Facebook group called “Fight For Zero Brevard”, one resident posted:
“PLEASE go do your research concerning the massive change in attitude by all the people who live near Boca Chica and the huge impact Starship has had to their environment and wildlife….there was such pushback by Boca Chica residents during their time to write in public comments that a much more “rigorous” environmental study was called for pushing SpaceX’s time frame out and there has been a lawsuit filed by numerous groups concerning the environmental impact hence part of the reason for SpaceX’s shift to now focusing on Cape Canaveral.“
In another group, a poster said: “There is no question that a keener eye needs to be placed on the negative effects of launches and space programs in general. Thanks for alerting us to this. The space center is a cool thing to have in our backyards, but not at the expense of human and environmental health.“
Still, others expressed concerns about the increased noise pollution of launches, the safety of residents in the event of a mishap, and the environmental effect of the fallout of heavy metals.
Not all residents shared those concerns, touting the positive effects of the space program. A Facebook poster wrote:
“We are, after all, the Space Coast right? The space program and its associated tourism drives Brevard County’s economy. We have all of the necessary capabilities and infrastructure, so it’s a natural.“
Another said that,
“The economic future of the area depends on Starship coming to the Space Coast. Anyone who remembers the cratering house prices and boarded up businesses after Apollo and the Shuttle should be supporting SpaceX bringing Starship here.“
As of yet, none of the Space Coast’s federal representatives (Congressman Bill Posey, Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott) have weighed in on the potential of Starship flying out of Cape Canaveral or the ongoing Environmental Impact Study. Nor have any local officials, but to be fair, it has not been long since the EIS study was announced by the DAF, and their offices may also be evaluating the new documents.
Public Hearing Dates
March 5: 4-7 PM, Catherine Schweinsberg Rood Central Library, 308 Forrest Ave., Cocoa.
March 6: 4-7 PM, Titusville Civic Center, 4220 S. Hopkins Ave., Titusville.
March 7: 4-7 PM Radisson Resort at the Port, 8701 Astronaut Blvd., Cape Canaveral.
There is also an online meeting for those who cannot attend in person:
Talk of Titusville urges all interested parties to attend at least one of the meetings and to make their voice heard.
Draft Study Results Expected Late This Year
After making the study announcement and holding public hearings in March, the Environmental Impact Study will appear as a draft release of the report sometime in “winter” 2024. (As there is only one official winter month, that of December, it may be that the draft EIS is due that month.) That is not set in stone, however, so stay tuned for an announcement of specifically when that date may be.
This article was originally published on Florida Media Now, and is added here courtesy of FMN. Correspondents Jim Siegel, Charles Boyer, and Mark Stone contributed.
Starship’s second test flight lifts off in Texas in 2023. Photo: SpaceX
The Department of the Air Force (along with cooperating agencies the FAA, NASA, and the U.S. Coast Guard) is undertaking environmental impact studies for launch pads for SpaceX’s heavy-lift Starship rocket according to a a recent public release from them. They are also eliciting public comments, with four meetings scheduled for March 2024.
Contents
For your convenience, here is a list of sections to this lengthy article. Click an option to jump to the part you are interested in. To return to the top, click the Back button in your browser.
The DAF has placed a new website online for information regarding a new Environmental Impact Statement for Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at https://spaceforcestarshipeis.com/. On it, they say
“The need for the Action is to ensure DAF Assured Access to Space without compromising current launch capabilities and fulfill (in part) the U.S. Congress’s grant of authority to the Secretary of Defense, pursuant to 10 U.S.C. Section 2276(a), “Commercial space launch cooperation,” that the Secretary of Defense is permitted to take action to:”
“Maximize the use of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) space transportation infrastructure by the private sector in the U.S.
“Maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of the space transportation infrastructure of the DOD.
“Reduce the cost of services provided by the DOD related to space transportation infrastructure at launch support facilities and space recovery support facilities.
“Encourage commercial space activities by enabling investment by covered entities in the space transportation infrastructure of the DOD.
“Foster cooperation between the DOD and covered entities.”
Department of the Air Force, Retrieved February 16, 2024
Starship At a Glance
Currently under development near Brownville, Texas, Starship is the largest and most powerful rocket ever built. According to SpaceX, it will be fully reusable, and capable of lifting 150 tons of payload to orbit in a reusable configuration, and 250 tons when it is configured as a conventional expendable rocket.
Current Starship designs are 397 feet tall, and 29.5 feet in diameter, producing some 16.7 million pounds of thrust at liftoff.
By comparison, the Saturn V rockets used for the Apollo Program were 362 feet tall, and produced 7.6 million pounds of thrust. By any measure, Starship is a huge rocket with immense power, and its launches and returns will be heard across the Space Coast.
Similar to how SpaceX Falcon 9 completes in many of its launches today, the Starship booster would return to land at its launch site when its task for the mission has been completed. Unlike Falcon 9, which lands at a landing area close by, Starship would return to its pad, where it would be grappled by “chopsticks” as it completed its final approach.
Starship is planned to be a fully reusable vehicle, meaning that its second stage (often simply called “the ship” in SpaceX parlance) would reenter and return to land at its launch pad using the same chopsticks as the booster.
Starship is still somewhat early in its development, with two test launches so far, and a third on the plate for the next few weeks. Along with SLS, it is a vehicle integral to Project Artemis, this time in the role of being the Human Landing System. HLS is where astronauts will land, live and work on the lunar surface, with the forward plan being for extended stays.
Starship’s Propellants: Are They Toxic?
Unlike other rockets in the past that use highly toxic propellants, Starship relies on commonly found materials. The two propellants the power Starship’s Raptor engines are liquid oxygen and liquid methane. Methane is also known as “natural gas” and is used in many homes as stoves, heating systems and even some pool heaters here locally.
Methane combustion produces carbon dioxide and water as its byproducts. Starship utilizes a highly pure form of methane and oxygen, meaning that it does not have many other byproducts in its exhaust.
By comparison, rockets that use RP-1 as their fuel (Falcon 9, Saturn V, Atlas-V and many others) have carbon dioxide,water vapor, soot, sulfur containing compounds and small amounts of nitrogen oxide. All things considered, methane is a far cleaner fuel than RP-1.
Starship does not rely on solid rocket boosters (SLS, Atlas-V, Vulcan, Space Shuttle) SRBs typically emit aluminum oxide, soot, carbon dioxide, hydrogen chlorides, nitrogen oxides, hydrogen and other trace gases.
What About The Starship Tower at LC-39A?
The Starship tower under construction at LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center prior to Crew-7 launching from the adjacent Falcon 9 / Falcon Heavy launch mount. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
SpaceX began construction of a Starship launch mount adjacent to its Falcon 9 / Falcon Heavy launch pad at LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center a couple of years, but it appears that construction has been halted for the time being while the company perfects and finalizes their Starship design and along with it, the launch mount itself.
The proposed action by DAF for the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station does not address that launch mount or its future. There is a separate Environmental Impact Statement for that launch pad and Starship. That EIS is being conducted by the FAA as the lead agency, while for this one, the Department of the Air Force is the lead agency. Both EIS efforts have major stakeholders as part of the EIS team.
Three launch pads: on the left in the background, SpaceX is raising a launch tower for Starship. Center, Artemis-1 on its launch pad. Right, in the background, is where SpaceX launches its Falcon-class rockets, including astronauts into Earth orbit. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Proposed Launch Pads At CCSFS from Department of the Air Force
The US Space Force is part of the Department of the Air Force, much like the US Marines are to the US Navy, as such DAF is the lead agency where Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is involved. For Starship DAF has proposed the following:
SpaceX would modify and use SLC-37 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS)
SpaceX and CCSFS would build a new pad, SLC-50, between the current SLC-37 and SLC-40
No action, where no Starship constructions or launch occurred from CCSFS
Option 1: SLC-37
SLC-37 Photo: Google Earth
Located nearly due east from NASA Parkway, SLC-37 currently is used by United Launch Alliance for Delta IV Heavy launches. That program has all but ended, with only one launch of the venerable heavy lifter remaining. That launch is scheduled for the March time frame when the company will loft the NROL-70 payload from the pad. After that, there are no Delta IV Heavy launches remaining.
A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying the NROL-68 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) lifts off from Space Launch Complex-37 on June. 22, 2023 at 5:18 a.m. ET. Photo: United Launch Alliance
SLC-37 is one of the older launch complexes at the Eastern Range — Construction on it started in 1959 and was used by NASA to support the Saturn I program starting in 1963. It originally had two launch pads, 37A and 37B, though 37A was never used. Saturn I launched from it from 1964-65, and the site was modified for Saturn IB launches, the most notable of which was Apollo 5. After that, in 1972, LC-37 was mothballed until 2001 when ULA began using it for Delta launches.
The Saturn IB launch vehicle (SA204) for the Apollo 5 mission lifted off on January 22, 1968. The unmarned Apollo 5 mission verified the ascent and descent stage propulsion systems, including restart and throttle operations of the Lunar Module. Photo: NASA
Given that SLC-37 has hosted launches for around sixty years, it presumably would have the least environmental impact of the two options the Space Force listed. Undoubtedly, that would have to studied and verified before SpaceX could begin construction at the facility.
Option 2: SLC-50
Slightly north of SLC-37 is another potential location for a new pad, according to the Space Force release.
Approximation of the proposed alternative area for an SLC-50 Photo: Google Earth
This is currently an undeveloped area of the facility, and conversion and construction of a new launch pad would require environmental impact studies to be completed prior to any construction there.
Option 3: No Construction
This is what it sounds like, no Starship launch pad would be built at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Given that NASA has stated that no new LC-49 pad studies or activities are underway from the Kennedy Space Center side of the Eastern Range, that leaves either the LC-39A launch mount being completed for Starship or Starship not launching from the Eastern Range at all.
The latter option — no launch pad, no Starship — would be problematic for both SpaceX and for NASA, who is relying on Starship for the Artemis program and its lunar lander. It is possible that SpaceX and NASA could reach agreement to complete the Starship Launch Mount at LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center, but that comes with its own issues.
Project Flight Paths
Many people may be wondering just where Starship would fly. The simple answer appears to be that it would be able to take the typical range of trajectories as other rockets that have flown or are flying from the Eastern Range today.
Notably, however, “polar” (North-South orbits) trajectories such as the ones SpaceX’s Falcon 9 has taken from to time from SLC-40 were not mentioned and we presume not in the current plans for Starship.
It is also worth noting that like Falcon 9, Starship and its boosters will return to the Cape to land, be refurbished and reused. That will bring sonic booms, just like the old Space Shuttle landings and today’s Falcon 9 RTLS missions such as Crew-8 on March 3, 2024.
From the DAF-supplied information packet:
Starship would fly from 40º – 115º from its launch mount, which is a typical range of azimuths for Eastern Range Rockets
Why Not Stay In Texas?
SpaceX’s launch facility in Texas at Boca Chica has a limited acceptable set of trajectories available to it — Florida is to the East, Texas and the Gulf states are to the north, and Cuba and other land masses are to the south.
Two paths from Boca Chica would would avoid overflight of most far downrange landmasses, though they may also require performance reducing “dogleg” maneuvers to avoid other landmasses and achieve proper orbit. The red areas show previous Falcon 9 drop zones. Cape Canaveral can accommodate a much more diverse set of launch inclinations without overflying populated areas.
For test launches, Starship plans to thread a launch path over the Gulf of Mexico and then to orbit. From the Eastern Range, a much wider set of trajectories are available due to the Atlantic Ocean being mostly devoid of people or property over a much wider area.
All things considered, Starship operations from the Eastern Range and the Cape is a preferable destination for SpaceX and for NASA.
Potential Economic Impact For The Space Coast?
Starship launches from the Eastern Range could easily bring billions of dollars in economic activity to the Space Coast region: SpaceX launch support jobs at the Cape, along with the associated jobs that are created to support the families of those workers, and of course tourism.
As a major Starship launch port, the Space Coast would cement itself now and in the future as the starting point for space launches of all types. The area has seen boom and bust in its history, and having the most dominant commercial space company in the world using Cape Canaveral Space Force station as its main operational site would all but ensure a prosperous future for the area.
Local Public Hearings Scheduled
The public has been invited to have their say about the proposed alternatives:
Talk of Titusville strongly encourages interested members of the public to participate in these meetings. As the leading company for launch services in the world, much of the Space Coast’s economic future rests on this decision.
Next Steps
February 16, 2024
After making the announcement and holding public hearings in March, the EIS will then conduct studies and prepare a draft release of the EIS in Winter 2024. Being that there is only one winter month in December, that indicates that the draft EIS is due that month. That is not set in stone, however, so stay tuned for an announcement of specially when that date may be.
Challenges For A South Texas Spaceport.pdf
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