The Core Stage on the move after being offloaded today at Kennedy Space Center Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
After berthing in the Turn Basin by the Press Center yesterday, the Core Stage of Artemis II was offloaded today and moved into the VAB. The process began around 9 a.m. EDT and took nearly three hours until the 212-foot rocket traveled the relatively short distance—perhaps 1/2 kilometer—to the VAB.
After the Solid Rocket Boosters are assembled in the VAB, the Core Stage will then be mounted between the two. The ten segments for those SRBs are already at Kennedy Space Center, in storage in the Rotation, Processing, and Surge Facility, located just north of the VAB at Kennedy Space Center.
Daniel Jimenez, Operations Project Engineer (OPE) within the Vehicle Integration and Launch branch of the Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) Program said yesterday that the SRBs are “Essentially primed and ready to go. What’s left for the VAB is obviously get all the facility ready.”
Jiminez also mentioned that Mobile Launch Platform that will be used for Artemis II is currently out at Pad LC-39B, where it is being set up for the launch of Artemis II. “More importantly, we get the ground systems ready,” he said, “So, we’re finishing up all of the testing of the systems that we have for Artemis II. It’s a crewed mission. So there are some systems that have to be updated for the Mobile Launcher Platform. That’s out at the pad.”
Later this summer, the testing will be completed, the VAB prepared and configured and then in the fall, the assembly of Artemis II will begin in earnest.
KSC workers watching the Core Stage for Artemis II entering the VABThe Core Stage turning to enter the VABThe Core StageFour Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25 engines power Aremis II’s Core StageThe Core Stage entering the VAB.Closeup of two of the RS-25 engines.Have you ever moved a sofa or washer into your house and it would juuuuuuust fit through the door? This reminds a little of that..
After berthing in the Turn Basin by the Press Center yesterday, the Core Stage of Artemis II was offloaded today and moved into the VAB. The process began around 9 a.m. EDT and took nearly three hours until the 212-foot rocket traveled the relatively short distance—perhaps 1/2 kilometer—to the VAB.
Pegasus Barge in the Turn Basin at Kennedy Space Center, July 23, 2024 Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
With the arrival of its Core Stage, much of Artemis II’s major components are starting to come together, and not long in the future, NASA engineers and technicians will start to assemble to rocket that will return humans to cislunar space — a place not visited by mankind since 1972.
According to NASA, Aremis II will be “The first crewed mission on NASA’s path to establishing a long-term presence at the Moon for science and exploration. The 10-day flight will test NASA’s foundational human deep space exploration capabilities, the SLS rocket, Orion spacecraft, for the first time with astronauts.”
Major components of Artemis II. Graphic: NASA
Four astronauts will venture around the Moon on Artemis II. Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor J. Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen are selected for the mission and have been training for it while Artemis II’s fabrication was completed.
NASA’s Artemis II crew members (left to right) CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, and NASA astronauts Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Reid Wiseman pose for a photograph in the well deck of the USS San Diego during Underway Recovery Test 11 (URT-11), as NASA’s Exploration Ground System’s Landing and Recovery team and partners from the Department of Defense aboard the ship practice recovery procedures using the Crew Module Test Article off the coast of San Diego, California on Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024. URT-11 is the eleventh in a series of Artemis recovery tests, and the first time NASA and its partners put their Artemis II recovery procedures to the test with the astronauts. Photo: NASA
While Artemis II will not feature a landing on the lunar surface, it will serve to not only further prove out Space Launch System, it will also be a chance to confirm all of the spacecraft’s systems operate as designed with crew aboard in the actual environment of deep space. The mission is currently slated to launch no earlier than September of 2025.
The Solid Rocket Boosters For Artemis II Are Also Onsite at KSC
The solid rocket boosters that will be used for Artemis II are in storage near the VAB. “We have all these other segments already vertical on the storage facility that you see outside the facility here,” said Daniel Jimenez, Operations Project Engineer (OPE) within the Vehicle Integration and Launch branch of the Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) Program.
“All of those segments are there. This is the first step to getting the booster [built.]” The facility Jiminez is referring to is the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility, located just north of the VAB at Kennedy Space Center.
There are five segments to each solid rocket booster, and ten total for Artemis II. Receiving them into Kennedy Space Center’s facilities and preparing them for the assembly workflow is no small task. “You see that rail car right there outside of the building?” Jiminez asked this reporter. “Each of the segments comes in one of those rail cars. We bring it in, take the cover off. They will come with handling rings on them.”
Jiminez then showed me a huge pair of raised eyelets. “And you can see the ears there. That’s what we use to pick them up. We take the two cranes both at the same time, pick them up, break it over, [and] rotate it vertically. It goes onto a pallet, and then it goes in one of those buildings that you see outside.”
Solid Rocket Booster segments for Artemis II in storage awaiting assembly in the VAB at Kennedy Space Center. Photo: Richard Gallagher, Florida Media Now
“So there’s two surge buildings where we actually store the ordinance installed walking motors,” Jiminez added. “And then what stays here is the aft assemblies.”
A Solid Rocket Booster aft assembly. Photo: Richard Gallagher, Florida Media Now
Those aft assemblies are the tail end of each solid booster. They include the nozzles used to direct thrust from the solid rocket as it burns. “We have the skirts, which holds a TVC system. You have the nozzle. We put that on. And then the last segment [of the solid rocket motor.] So the aft part of that segment, the last one goes on top of that one. And that makes the aft assembly for the left and the right hand [boosters.]”
If it sounds complex, it is. Those assemblies must be assembled with great precision, which is no easy task when you consider just how big and heavy each segment is and how precisely the assembly must be assembled.
Artemis II’s two Solid Rocket Booster Aft parts in storage awaiting final processing prior to going to the VAB later this year. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Jiminez pointed out that the solid rocket booster segments are, “Essentially primed and ready to go. What’s left for the VAB is obviously get all the facility ready.”
He added, “More importantly, we get the ground systems ready. So, we’re finishing up all of the testing of the systems that we have for Artemis II. It’s a crewed mission. So there are some systems that have to be updated for the Mobile Launcher Platform. That’s out at the pad.”
Currently, testing is ongoing and presumably nearing completing in the relatively near term for the Mobile Launcher Platform. Afterwards, it will be moved into the VAB, and once the MLP is ready, the first thing that will be assembled for Artemis II will be the Solid Rocket Boosters.
“As soon as we’re done with the testing there, towards the end of the summer, we’re gonna roll back the mobile launcher, get back into the VAB, configure everything in the position it needs to be so that it can take these bad boys in for stacking,” Jiminez said while gesturing towards one of the two SRB aft assemblies in the SPFS facility.
Assembly Ahead
The solid rocket boosters (top right) that will help launch Artemis 1 into space are assembled by NASA and Jacobs personnel at the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center. Ground operations workers (left, center) fit Space Launch Systems sections together. Photo: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Afterwards, the Solid Rocket Boosters can be fully assembled, and then Core Stage will be placed in between the two completed SRBs, then the rest of the rocket — including the Orion capsule — can be placed atop that. Once that is done, a long testing phase will begin. “It’s gonna be a really busy summer,” Jiminez said. “[Then a] really busy fall. It’s gonna be a busy year because once you put it all together, then you have to go test it.”
Testing, Verifying and Fixing Any Issues
“The testing campaign is another big endeavor. Now, we have all the ground systems hooked up to the rocket. We’re going to go into then launch control center. That’s where we are using all the software that we develop to be able to do the testing and the launch that we get in there, we get with all the teams, test all the systems, make sure that we’re good configuration, and from there on up to launch.”
Artemis I undergoing Wet Dress Rehearsal, a critical test and milestone in a launch campaign. Similar testing will be required for Artemis II, once it is assembled. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
That will like an incredibly busy time, with hundreds of people dedicated to readying the ground-side systems like the Mobile Launch Platform, the launch pad systems, and then assembling a huge rocket larger and more powerful than the venerable Saturn V that was used in Project Apollo.
Once completed, the engineers and technicians involved with the project must verify the newly assembled rocket’s systems, conduct launch rehearsals and fix any issues that they encounter along the way.
All of that before a final review to confirm that every “i” is dotted and every “t” is crossed prior to Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor J. Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen climbing aboard the Orion capsule for their mission to the moon.
All considered, it is a vast understatement to say that business has picked up at Kennedy Space Center, and that the journey that will take four NASA astronauts to the moon has already begun.
The moon, as seen from Kennedy Space Center. Photo: Charles Boyer, Talk of Titusville.
NOTE: Talk of Titusville would like to thank Daniel Jimenez for taking the time to explain not only his role in the Artemis II mission but also to explain what the current and next steps for the mission will be.
The Pegasus Barge carrying the Artemis-2 core stage arriving in Port Canaveral this afternoon. Photo: Richard Gallagher, Florida Media Now
Business is picking up for the Artemis teams at Kennedy Space Center — the core stage for Artemis 2 has arrived in Port Canaveral, after it traveled from its manufacturing site in Mississippi.
The barge is expected to berth overnight in the Port and then travel to Kennedy Space Center tomorrow, where the 212-foot-tall stage will be offloaded. After that, processing will begin in earnest for the assembly of the second Artemis rocket, which this time will carry four astronauts on board for a circumlunar mission.
As the main stage of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for Artemis 2, it was built by The Boeing Company in NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility. Measuring some 65 m (212 ft) tall and 8.4 m (27.6 ft) in diameter, the core stage will contain approximately 987 t (2,177,000 lb) of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen cryogenic propellants when it stands ready for launch.
Artemis 1. The core stage for Artemis 2 is nearly identical and is the orange center stage of the rocket. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
The core stage is powered by four Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25 engines, which generate approximately 7.44 MN (1,670,000 lbf) of thrust — about 25% of the Space Launch System’s thrust at liftoff. Its duty cycle is approximately 500 seconds, and it will propel the rocket stack alone for the last 375 seconds of flight after two solid rocket boosters complete firing and are discarded. The core stage’s target will lift Artemis 2 to an altitude of approximately 162 km (531,380 ft) before separating and reentering the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean. It is not a reusable component.
Photo: Richard Gallagher, Florida Media NowPhoto: Richard Gallagher, Florida Media NowPhoto: Richard Gallagher, Florida Media NowPhoto: Richard Gallagher, Florida Media NowPhoto: Richard Gallagher, Florida Media Now
Move teams with NASA and Boeing, the SLS core stage lead contractor, position the massive rocket stage for NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket on special transporters to strategically guide the flight hardware the 1.3-mile distance from the factory floor onto the agency’s Pegasus barge on July 16. The core stage will be ferried to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where it will be integrated with other parts of the rocket that will power NASA’s Artemis II mission. Pegasus is maintained at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility. Credit: NASA
The core stage of Artemis 2 departed the Assembly Facility in New Orleans on July 16th and is heading to Kennedy Space Center, where it will be assembled for a circumlunar mission planned for no earlier than September of 2025.
When it launches, Artemis 2 will have four crew members aboard an Orion capsule: Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor J. Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen.
Artemis 2 Prime Crew. Photo: NASA/Robert Markowitz
In a press release, Catherine Koerner, associate administrator for NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington said, “With Artemis, we’ve set our sights on doing something big and incredibly complex that will inspire a new generation, advance our scientific endeavors, and move U.S. competitiveness forward,” said. The SLS rocket is a key component of our efforts to develop a long-term presence at the Moon.”
Artemis 1 and SLS on its launch pad in 2022. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
NASA also says that the SLS rocket’s core stage is the largest the agency has ever produced. At 212 feet tall, it consists of five major elements, including two huge propellant tanks that collectively hold more than 733,000 gallons of super-chilled liquid propellant to feed four RS-25 engines. During launch and flight, the stage will operate for just over eight minutes, producing more than 2 million pounds of thrust to propel four astronauts inside NASA’s Orion spacecraft toward the Moon.
Artemis 2 booster being loaded aboard NASA’s Pegasus barge. Photo: NASA
Now aboard NASA’s Pegasus barge, the massive core stage will travel by sea to Kennedy Space Center late this month.
Tugboats push and pull the barge Pegasus.
Photo: NASA
NASA announced today that it has canceled its VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) mission, which was planned to explore the Moon’s South Pole region for water ice.
The vehicle, about the size of a small car, is already built and was awaiting final processing and launch late next year. Now, NASA plans to disassemble and reuse VIPER’s instruments and components for future Moon missions. The Astrobotic Griffin lander, intended to carry the VIPER rover, will proceed with its mission without the rover.
Delays, Rising Cost Cited
Originally slated to launch in 2023, VIPER had experienced delays due to supply chain issues and scheduling delays. NASA cited those reasons in its cancelation announcement today.
VIPER Rover Photo: NASA
Joel Kearns, the deputy associate administrator for exploration in the science directorate for NASA, stated today in a press conference that the agency had spent $450 million on VIPER. NASA anticipates saving about $84 million dollars by cancelling the project.
“The agency has an array of missions planned to look for ice and other resources on the Moon over the next five years,” NASA’s associate administrator of the science mission directorate, Nicola Fox stated today in a NASA release. “Our path forward will make maximum use of the technology and work that went into VIPER, while preserving critical funds to support our robust lunar portfolio.”
According to NASA, “Astrobotic will continue its Griffin Mission One within its contract with NASA, working toward a launch scheduled for no earlier than fall 2025. The landing without VIPER will provide a flight demonstration of the Griffin lander and its engines.”
NASA will still pay Astrobotic for that mission, despite their removing the payload from it.
NASA also said that the agency “will pursue alternative methods to accomplish many of VIPER’s goals and verify the presence of ice at the lunar South Pole. A future CLPS delivery –the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) — scheduled to land at the South Pole during the fourth quarter of 2024, will search for water ice and carry out a resource utilization demonstration using a drill and mass spectrometer to measure the volatile content of subsurface materials.”
Fifty-five years ago today, I saw Apollo 11 as she lifted off from Cape Kennedy and on her way to the moon. There are still a lot of us that were present that morning here on the Space Coast, and like a lot of those folks, the memory is as vivid today as it was in July, 1969.
The day was typical Florida morning coastal weather: hot and humid, with a bit of a sea breeze to only slightly temper the sun that bore its way through the sky and onto sizzling skin. The crowd around me flapped whatever papers or fans they had as they waited nervously for the launch, whose time was marked by a huge clock counting backward.
My mother and I had been at Cape Kennedy since long before dawn, and we were seated among VIPs, including the vice president, movie stars, politicians, and the well-to-do that NASA thought were important. I was not important; I was just a lucky kid.
We were incredibly privileged because my Dad was working the launch and had friends over at Headquarters who did him the favor of giving us the best view of the roughly one million civilians gathered in my small hometown (Cocoa Beach) to see the rocket off. To arrive in time for the launch, we left home at 3 AM.
Apollo 11 sitting in the distance, awaiting its launch. Photo: UNC School of Journalism, photographer unknown.
Needless to say, I was on my best behavior. My very best behavior indeed.
Slowly, the clock ticked its way to ten seconds. Time stretched, and every one of those seconds felt like ten more. Inevitably, the time disappeared as mission control voices calmly announced milestones on the launch checklist. The dulcet tones of Jack King, the voice of NASA explained everything in enough detail that everyone could understand. Me, even though I was seven, had heard these things before from previous launches I’d seen (eventually, I saw every single Saturn V launch, in person) and I was familiar — in a child’s way — of what would come next.
Former President Lyndon, wife Lady Bird and Vice President Spiro Agnew in the VIP Area to watch the liftoff of Apollo 11. photo: NASA
The tension built continuously, and the crowd hushed and stared in the same direction. At around nine seconds left, a flash of light, brighter than even the bright sunshine. Smoke blasted out on either side of the towering rocket. Then, zero, the launch pad’s support fell, and she lifted slowly in silence. Loudspeakers transmitted the air-to-ground chatter between the astronauts and controllers, but in person, the sound took about 18 seconds to reach those of us watching. It was a fiery quiet.
For those of you who’ve seen the Space Shuttle launch, you saw the sports car of rockets. They leaped off of the ground and ran away into space like ocelots. Saturn V rockets were very different. Twice as large and with much more power, they slowly lifted from the ground on a pillar of fire tens of stories high. Consider that a Saturn V is taller than downtown Orlando’s biggest building and with the same girth, and you may get an idea of the size of the best only 20,000 feet from our eyes. And that beast was belching out fire.
The Saturn V seemed angry as it clawed inch by inch off the ground. Then, amid screams of “Go baby, GO!” from the crowd around us, the sound arrived in a deafening crash. At first, it was like a clap of thunder from a storm just about to arrive. Instead of fading, however, the roar only increased in intensity, but not only in volume.
People gasped as the ground began to vibrate and shake, as windows and the stands they were standing on rattled, adding to the already nearly deafening sound. Still, we all craned our necks and watched the firebird tear its hole in the sky as it left the surly bonds of earth behind. We could barely hear the loudspeakers — if we could hear it all over the roar — kept telling us all was well as we silently prayed for the men aboard. Those men spoke occasionally, let us know that they were fine, which was fine with us watching from below. We were with them in spirit. In retrospect, so was the rest of the world, but for those of us there, it was intense and it was personal.
Apollo 11 about 60-70 after liftoff. Photo: NASA
After a few minutes, it was over. Apollo 11 was in orbit, and we were all in awe. People had built that thing! Men had flown that thing! We were on our way home. That trip, one that was normally about half an hour, took nearly four as over a million people all did the same. Traffic was insane, and even worse than what we’d see twelve years later for the first Space Shuttle launch.
Retrospect
“I’d like to raise a toast,” my father would say every July in mock seriousness, “to the other 400,000 people who kept the secret one more year.”
You should have heard the sarcasm in his voice. That alone made this toast hilarious.
Some idiots say that we never pulled off this feat, that it was impossible for us to go to the moon. Wrong. We did go, and some extremely intelligent people worked tirelessly to make it happen. Had they been there that day in Florida, I think their foolish opinions would be very different. That launch was awe-inspiring, proving what a nation like America could do when it decided to do so. And to the people who were working at the Cape and everywhere else at NASA that day, I’d like to tip a glass in their direction and raise a toast in thanks to what they did.
My Dad’s hard hat — he wore it during the launch of Apollo 11. I’m told I could sell it to a collector for a few hundred dollars, but to me and my family, this is priceless. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Today, documentaries and books usually only discuss the astronauts aboard the rocket, along with a very few key engineers and scientists in charge of Project Apollo. Still, in fact, this moment was the pinnacle of many years of work by hundreds of thousands of people. Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins may have been the only heroes in the media, but hundreds of thousands of people worked, sacrificed, and contributed to the effort. Those people should never be forgotten. Their efforts and hard work mattered just as much to the overall effort. It was not merely a handful of people, it was an entire nation that put in the effort. I tip my hat to them.
As a kid, my heroes were my father Armand, who was working this launch as the Pad Chief in charge of fire and pad safety until launch — and that job included rescuing them in case of an emergency; my uncle Jerry, who worked on the IBM computer system that was the brain of the Saturn V, and my uncle George, who was a project manager for Boeing’s S-1-C in Huntsville, which was the first stage of the Apollo 11 now flying into space above me.
I’m very glad we’re planning to go back to the moon. Apollo and all humanity have spent only about 80 hours walking on it, meaning we’ve just barely scratched the surface. Let’s go and spend a lot more time to see what’s there.
Some stories are almost forgotten about Apollo 11’s launch from Pad LC-39A — seemingly small stories that actually had a huge effect on the mission happening as it did. One of those stories concerns a hydrogen leak late in the countdown on the third stage of the Saturn V that was poised to launch on July 16, 1969 – if it was not remediated, Apollo 11 would not have launched on the day that it did.
Stephen Coester, an engineer on the console that day has an excellent recollection of the events that morning, and Talk of Titusville would like to thank Mr. Coester for allowing us to share them here. Presented in his own words with only light editing for continuity, here is “Apollo 11 Final Countdown LH2 Leak That Could Have Changed History“
Launch Control Staff Member Stephen Coester’s Recollections
“My favorite Apollo memory was performing my final walkdown of the LUT just before launching Apollo 11. We were so aware of the enormity of what we were about to do. The MSS (mobile service structure) had been rolled back revealing the enormous Saturn V to full view. It was after dark and the spotlights were casting their cones of illumination on the stack.
“I was virtually alone on the tower as I examined every component of the LH2 system to be as sure as I could that “my” system would do its job. It was just me and the Saturn V with a bright moon overhead. I would look at the moon, then at the rocket and think, ” I don’t want to be anywhere but right where I am right now.”
“Long forgotten is the fact that the Apollo 11 launch was almost scrubbed on July 16. I was assigned to the launch console (C4HU) that maintained 100% liquid hydrogen level in the Saturn third stage which was used to propel the astronauts from earth orbit to the moon. Late in the propellant loading as we were beginning the S-IVB replenish operation, a large liquid hydrogen leak at -423 degrees occurred on the third stage replenish valve on the 200 foot level of the launch umbilical tower.
The scene in the Apollo 11 launch control center on July 11, 1969. Standing right, Apollo Program Director Lieutenant General Samuel C. Phillips monitors pre-launch activities for Apollo 11. Photo: NASA
“Loading was terminated and the lines drained to prevent a fire or explosion and a Red Crew went to the Pad to fix the problem. Using troubleshooting that I developed the Red Crew torqued packing and flange bolts and cycled the valve. then we resumed liquid hydrogen flow, but were unsuccessful in stopping the leak which prevented maintaining the 100% fuel level in the Saturn third stage. Without a full tank of liquid hydrogen there would be no launch.
The area of the leak. Photo credit: Stephen Coester
“Here is the location of the leaking valve (at left.)
“Finally the leak was isolated by freezing the valve by pouring water over it, but that made the critical valve inoperable. We then developed a way to use the large main fill valve which was not intended for that purpose to maintain the level and the launch countdown could finally continue. For several hours another engineer (CPH1) manually cycled the valve from his console as I reported the tank level as it fell below or exceeded 100%.
“See the PCR (procedure change request) that I wrote:
Via Stephen Coester’s personal papers
“If we hadn’t controlled the leak and maintained proper LH2 level the moon launch would have been scrubbed for at least July 16 and probably for several days.
Personnel within the Launch Control Center watch the Apollo 11 liftoff from Launch Complex 39A today at the start of the historic lunar landing mission. The LCC is located three-and-one-half miles from the launch pad. Photo: NASA
“I was twenty-eight years old when we landed on the moon, responsible for loading 600000 gallons of LH2 on the “moon rocket”. The managers were in their early thirties and someone over forty was “the old man”. Exciting times!”
In Summary
Exciting times indeed. Mr. Coester and the launch crew of Apollo 11 made indelible world history, and it was their work that made it possible for Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin to take humanity’s first steps on another celestial body some four days later on July 20, 1969. History will always remember Armstrong, Aldrin and Command Module pilot Mike Collins, of course, but it should always remember the names Coester and so many other as well. It truly was a national effort.
Talk of Titusville would like to salute Mr. Coester and every person still living that helped the US launch the most important mission thus far in space exploration.
Video of Inside the Launch
Fran Blanche, a noted film historian, assembled this video of what it looked behind the scenes that day. This is well worth watching.
Cape Canaveral, Florida as seen from STS-66 Atlantis Photo: NASA
Public Comment Period Ended June 24th
Interesting comments from other launch providers as well as the general public regarding the potential of Launch Complex 39A being used as a launch pad and landing zone for SpaceX’s Starship have been published online by the FAA: Environmental Impact Statements; Availability, etc.: Office of Commercial Space Transportation. Notably, United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin have weighed in with their thoughts, and their statements on the EISZ echo many of the general public’s concerns.
Blue Origin
Blue Origin, who has manufacturing, launch and refurbishment facilities at Kennedy Space Center and also Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, weighed in strongly.
They propose capping Starship Heavy launch and landing activities to a certain number in a given time period, limiting launches to a certain time period on any given day, government-built infrastructure to de-conflict other launch facilities from Starship activities, mandatory penalties for SpaceX violating launch licenses or environmental agreements, and also for SpaceX to indemnify (compensate for harm or loss) from any Starship activities at LC-39A:
• Capping the rate of Ss-SH launch, landing, and other operations, including but not limited to test firings, transport operations, and fueling, to a number that has a minimal impact on the local environment, locally operating personnel, and the local community, in consideration of all risks and impacts, including but not limited to anomaly risks, air toxin and hazardous materials dispersion, road closures, and heat and noise generation.
• Government investment in additional launch infrastructure that would make more launchpads available to other entities in a manner that deconflicts Ss-SH operations from other launch providers at KSC and CCSFS to preserve the health and safety of their personnel and Assets.
• Government investment in additional infrastructure for KSC and CCSFS that would reduce the risk to other launch providers at KSC and CCSFS in order to preserve the health and safety of their personnel and Assets by diverting traffic from the Proposed Action area, including but not limited to improving the Roy D. Bridges Bridge to accommodate transport of large Assets.
• Limiting Ss-SH operations to particular, limited times to minimize and make predictable their impact on the local community, and allotting other launch providers the right-of-firstrefusal or schedule priority for certain conflicting launch or other operational opportunities.
• Mitigating the effects of Ss-SH that would require evacuation or other operational pauses at other launch providers’ launch sites through infrastructure improvements or other operational changes.
• Require SpaceX and/or the Government to indemnify third parties for any losses caused by or related to Ss-SH operations, including commercial disruption incurred due to the operation of Ss-SH.
• Institute independent mandatory penalties for SpaceX for conducting operations not included in an active EIS or other environmental restriction, violating a launch license, or any other laws, regulations, or other rules for operating.
Blue Origin also calls for the FAA to study effects of noise on workers at or near LC-39A, roadway capacity, infrastructure maintenance and other effects.
If interested, you can read Blue Origin’s comments in full:
ULA, which launches the Atlas V and Vulcan rockets for commercial and federal government customers from Space Launch Complex 41, made the following statements:
EIS Must Address Evolving Starship Heavy Design
“SpaceX intends to launch a larger model at LC-39A than it is currently testing in Boca Chica. In April 2024, SpaceX revealed plans to, at minimum, quadruple payload capability to make up for shortfalls in predicted performance. Starship will eventually be 492 feet tall, “roughly 20% higher than the massive system aboard the Super Heavy rocket right now.”21 The Super Heavy booster is expected to hold up to 4100 metric tons of propellant, and Starship up to 2,600 metric tons.22 The maximum lift-off thrust is anticipated at 103 meganewtons.23 The resulting launch impacts would far exceed current impacts seen during current Boca Chica launches. Additional growth of the Starship launch vehicle may be planned if performance continues to fall below expectations.
Given these changes, the EIS must perform a comparative analysis between current usage impacts and the proposed operations, with a rocket proposed to be more than double the size of any currently licensed launch vehicle and with increased frequency of launches.”
ULA also notes that returning booster and Starship vehicles locates the risk associated with these activities locally, rather than at sea:
Landing a booster at LC-39A, rather than in the ocean, shifts the risks of a system failure onto the communities, businesses, and environment that surround KSC.
They state that the EIS should also include impacts on other launch service providers:
“The FAA’s EIS should evaluate SpaceX’s proposed operations at LC-39A in conjunction with SpaceX’s proposed operations at SLC-37. This should further include an assessment of national security space capabilities and the associated vulnerabilities presented by the consolidation of these operations at adjacent launch complexes within a six-mile area. This also potentially increases the threat to other national security space launch providers located in the same six-mile area. SpaceX seeks to frequently launch the largest rocket ever from two launch sites within a six-mile area. Just one Starship launch site is likely to disrupt other launch operations in the area and cause significant environmental impacts”
ULA also states that the EIS should consider potential harms to local businesses and properties.
LC-39A sits in a bustling center for space operations. That center is surrounded by communities, including Cape Canaveral and Titusville, and important ecosystems, including the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and the Canaveral National Seashore.
The EIS must consider any disruptions to the health and safety of local communities and ecosystems, from both normal operations and any potential accidents. This includes impacts on traffic, economic and property harms to local businesses and individuals, and concerns about environmental justice. Impacts to public safety must also be addressed, including but not limited to nearby schools, hospitals and other key public support infrastructure and services.
These are just a few highlights from the ULA document. If interested, you can read their entire statement below, or download it and read using Acrobat Reader or another PDF compliant viewer.
Shown here is the current white cover layer of the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) spacesuit prototype as it is tested in the Active Response Gravity Offload System (ARGOS) system at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. The person wearing it tests its use with different tools. Photo: Axiom Space
Vital Program for Artemis and ISS Loses One of Two Vendors
Though they are often taken for granted, spacesuits are a vital part of US space efforts, both now with the International Space Station, and also later, when astronauts from Project Artemis undertake their EVA duties on the lunar surface. Without spacesuits, many of the necessary maintenance and upgrade duties on ISS cannot be performed, and obviously, without spacesuits, no one will be walking on the moon.
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