🚀 Starship was too light to reach orbit?!

Welcome to another issue of Aerospace by Interesting Engineering, where we highlight the latest trends and innovations in the space and aviation industries.

This week, we’ve had a big update on SpaceX’s massively ambitious Starship program from Elon Musk himself.

Though delays to Starship were part of the reason NASA recently decided to postpone its Artemis III lunar landing mission, the company still aims to revolutionize human spaceflight by making the world’s most powerful rocket a fully reusable launch system capable of sending humans to Mars.

In his latest company update, Elon Musk spoke of the importance of creating a sustainable colony on Mars as well as the latest on the Starship launch system’s development.

SpaceX also launched the private Ax-3 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) this week. That mission lifted the first Turkish astronaut to orbit as well as three crew members for the European Space Agency.

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

🚀 Northrop Grumman aces critical rocket test for next-gen 'Sentinel' ICBM

🛰️ Sierra Space joins Lockheed and L3Harris in $2.5B satellite deal for US missile defense

🗑️ Japanese startup plans to vaporize space junk using ground lasers

🇰🇵 North Korea 'launches' solid-fuel hypersonic missile, putting US on radar

🛣️ Axiom and SpaceX are disrupting Europe’s traditional pathway to space

🌑 Peregrine Moon Lander heading for fiery re-entry, says Astrobotic

🏎️ Mansory is apparently planning to 'pimp up' future sports flying cars

💣 Russia set to mass produce 'drill' gliding cluster bombs

AEROSPACE ENGINEERING SPOTLIGHT

Starship soared into the sky for the first time last year. The massive Mars rocket didn’t get far on its first attempt. Shortly after launch, the fully-integrated rocket started spinning out of control before its first stage could separate, leading to a manually triggered explosion.

On its second attempt, Starship flew much further, allowing for a successful hot-staging separation. Unfortunately, though, SpaceX lost contact with the Starship upper stage a short while after separation, leading many to speculate that Starship went on to perform an automated termination.

Now we know the whole story, thanks to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. In a company update shared on Musk’s social media platform X, the CEO explained that Starship would have reached orbit if it was flying under normal operational conditions.

As Musk explained, "Flight 2 actually almost made it to orbit. In fact, ironically, if it had a payload it would have made it to orbit. The reason that it didn't quite make it to orbit was we vented the oxygen, and liquid oxygen ultimately led to fire and an explosion.”

“We wanted to vent the liquid oxygen because we normally wouldn't have that liquid oxygen if we had a payload,” Musk continued. “So, ironically, if it had a payload it would have reached orbit."

So it turns out the hulking Starship rocket was just a little too light to reach orbit the last time around.

It won’t be long now until Starship flies again, though. SpaceX has already carried out a static fire engine test on Ship 28, the Starship upper stage prototype designated for flight test 3.

Given the fact that such a small detail could have led to Starship reaching orbit, the massive Mars rocket has a great chance of finally flying into orbit on its third attempt. If it does reach orbit, the next stage will be to continue testing until it is ready to go operational. Musk clearly has faith in the rocket’s ability, as he only recently stated it could fly to Mars “within four years”.

Last week we asked “Has your confidence changed on the Boeing 737 max? Here are the results:

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Absolutely (29%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Yes, but still safer than a car ride (10%)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Largely uneffected (1%)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Not at all, these things happen (50%)

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AERO BULLETIN

The European space sector faced a crisis last year after delays in the development of Arianespace’s Ariane 6 rocket left the continent without an operational rocket from July onwards.

Earlier in the year, a panel commissioned by the European Space Agency (ESA) released a report warning that the continent is at risk of missing out on the next big tech boom unless it channels more funds toward its space industry.

There were signs of hope though, as Spain’s PLD Space launched its first suborbital rocket, the Miura 1, and other private companies unveiled their latest innovations.

Here are three companies that could help take the European space sector to the next level this year. For more, look at our list of the 10 most promising European space startups.

PLD Space
The launch of PLD Space’s Miura 1 rocket last year could go down as a pivotal moment for the European space sector. The company described it as "the launch of the first private European rocket." Miura 1 is really a test rocket that will help the company develop its next model, Miura 5, which will eventually fly from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.

Orbex
Scottish company Orbex aims to make satellite launches more sustainable by using a biopropane-fueled rocket called the Orbex Prime. In a 2022 interview with IE, former CEO Chris Larmour said biopropane will lead to a "90 percent reduction on carbon emissions" when compared with traditional rockets.

ClearSpace
Swiss startup ClearSpace is addressing a pressing matter by developing technology capable of removing space junk from orbit. The company’s ClearSpace-1 mission will see a spacecraft capture a piece of space debris and deorbit it into Earth’s atmosphere. Ironically, though, that mission may be delayed due to unforeseen space debris in the vicinity of its mission target.

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