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Meet the Ax-3 Mission Crew | Press Conference | Countdown to Launch
As the first all-European commercial astronaut mission to the International Space Station, Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) will "redefine the pathway to low-Earth orbit for nations around the globe." This mission is an opportunity for more countries to join the international space community and access low-Earth orbit to advance exploration and research in microgravity.
The Ax-3 Mission crew is expected to launch no earlier than Thursday, January 18, 2024, from Kennedy Space Center atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Their Dragon Freedom crew spacecraft will have a day-and-a-half-long ride to the International Space Station.
"Axiom Space is guided by the vision of a thriving home in space that benefits every human, everywhere. . . . Axiom offers end-to-end missions to the International Space Station today while privately developing its successor—a permanent commercial destination in Earth’s orbit that will sustain human growth off the planet and bring untold benefits back home."
NASA’s X-59 Supersonic Aircraft: Test Pilot Inspection | The Quesst Mission
NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft sits on the ramp at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California during sunrise, shortly after completion of painting. With its unique design, including a 38-foot-long nose, the X-59 was built to demonstrate the ability to fly supersonic, or faster than the speed of sound, while reducing the typically loud sonic boom produced by aircraft at such speeds to a quieter sonic “thump”.
This is the X-59, a single-seat X-plane aiming to reduce the sound of the sonic boom to a mere thump. It opens the possibility for commercial supersonic flights over land, which has been prohibited since 1973. Be on the lookout for the first flight!
NASA test pilots Nils Larson (left) and Jim “Clue” Less (right), and Lockheed Martin test pilot Dan “Dog” Canin pose with the newly-painted X-59 as it sits on the ramp at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California. The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission, which seeks to solve one of the major barriers to supersonic flight over land, currently banned in the United States, by making sonic booms quieter.
NASA Test Pilot Checks Out Painted X-59
NASA test pilot Nils Larson gets an initial look at the painted X-59 as it sits on the ramp at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California. Larson, one of three test pilots training to fly the X-59 inspects the side of the 38-foot-long nose
NASA test pilot Jim “Clue” Less poses with the newly-painted X-59 as it sits on the ramp at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California.
The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission, which seeks to solve one of the major barriers to supersonic flight over land, currently banned in the United States, by making sonic booms quieter.
NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft is the product of decades of aeronautics and supersonic flight research. The X-59 is designed to be able to fly supersonic, or faster than the speed of sound, without producing a loud sonic boom, which occurs when aircraft fly at such speeds. Instead, the X-59 is designed to reduce that boom to a quieter sonic “thump.”
The X-59's goal is to help change existing national and international aviation rules that ban commercial supersonic flight over land.
Have you ever seen a dragon in the sky? Although real flying dragons do not exist, a huge dragon-shaped aurora developed in the sky over Iceland in 2019. The aurora was caused by a hole in the Sun's corona that expelled charged particles into a solar wind that followed a changing interplanetary magnetic field to Earth's magnetosphere. As some of those particles then struck Earth's atmosphere, they excited atoms which subsequently emitted light—aurora. This iconic display was so enthralling that the photographer's mother ran out to see it and was captured in the foreground. Our active Sun continues to show an unusually high number of prominences, filaments, sunspots, and large active regions as solar maximum approaches in 2025.
On Earth, auroras are mainly created by particles originally emitted by the Sun in the form of solar wind. When this stream of electrically charged particles gets close to our planet, it interacts with the magnetic field, which acts as a gigantic shield. While it protects Earth’s environment from solar wind particles, it can also trap a small fraction of them. Particles trapped within the magnetosphere—the region of space surrounding Earth in which charged particles are affected by its magnetic field—can be energized and then follow the magnetic field lines down to the magnetic poles. There, they interact with oxygen and nitrogen atoms in the upper layers of the atmosphere, creating the flickering, colorful lights visible in the polar regions here on Earth.
Earth auroras have different names depending on which pole they occur at. Aurora Borealis, or the northern lights, is the name given to auroras around the north pole and Aurora Australis, or the southern lights, is the name given for auroras around the south pole.
Alper Gezeravcı: Ax-3 Mission Specialist | International Space Station
As the first all-European commercial astronaut mission to the International Space Station, Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) will "redefine the pathway to low-Earth orbit for nations around the globe." This mission is an opportunity for more countries to join the international space community and access low-Earth orbit to advance exploration and research in microgravity.
The Ax-3 Mission crew is expected to launch no earlier than Thursday, January 18, 2024, from Kennedy Space Center atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Their Dragon Freedom crew spacecraft will have a day-and-a-half-long ride to the International Space Station.
Born December 1979 in Silifke, Türkiye, Alper Gezeravcı attended the Air Force Academy in Istanbul, Türkiye, where he completed a Bachelor of Science in Electronics Engineering. In addition, he completed a master's degree from the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
As a fighter pilot with the Turkish Air Force, Gezeravcı has 15 years of flying experience on multiple aircraft, including the T-41, SF-260, T-37, T-38, F-5, KC-135 and F-16 . In addition, he served as a captain with Turkish Airlines for seven years. Gezeravcı has also served as a flight leader, flight safety officer, and commercial airlines captain.
Gezeravcı is honored and excited for the opportunity to be a part of the historic Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) as the first Turkish astronaut to go to space. Gezeravcı will serve as a mission specialist for Ax-3.
Read his full biography on the Axiom Space website here:
"Axiom Space is guided by the vision of a thriving home in space that benefits every human, everywhere. The leader in providing space infrastructure as a service, Axiom offers end-to-end missions to the International Space Station today while privately developing its successor—a permanent commercial destination in Earth’s orbit that will sustain human growth off the planet and bring untold benefits back home."
Marcus Wandt: Ax-3 Mission Specialist | International Space Station
As the first all-European commercial astronaut mission to the International Space Station, Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) will "redefine the pathway to low-Earth orbit for nations around the globe." This mission is an opportunity for more countries to join the international space community and access low-Earth orbit to advance exploration and research in microgravity.
The Ax-3 Mission crew is expected to launch no earlier than Thursday, January 18, 2024, from Kennedy Space Center atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Their Dragon Freedom crew spacecraft will have a day-and-a-half-long ride to the International Space Station.
Born 1980 in Sweden, Marcus Wandt has over 20 years of aviation experience with the Swedish Air Force as a fighter pilot, squadron commander, wing commander, and chief test pilot. Previously a member of the European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut reserve, Wandt is now an ESA project astronaut for the duration of his mission duties.
Throughout his academic and professional career, Wandt received various honors and awards for his outstanding performance as a student and pilot. He speaks Swedish and English.
Wandt will be the second ESA astronaut of Swedish nationality to ever go to the International Space Station during Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3). He will serve as a mission specialist during Ax-3.
Read his full biography on the Axiom Space website here:
"Axiom Space is guided by the vision of a thriving home in space that benefits every human, everywhere. The leader in providing space infrastructure as a service, Axiom offers end-to-end missions to the International Space Station today while privately developing its successor—a permanent commercial destination in Earth’s orbit that will sustain human growth off the planet and bring untold benefits back home."
Walter Villadei: Ax-3 Mission Pilot | International Space Station
As the first all-European commercial astronaut mission to the International Space Station, Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) will "redefine the pathway to low-Earth orbit for nations around the globe." This mission is an opportunity for more countries to join the international space community and access low-Earth orbit to advance exploration and research in microgravity.
The Ax-3 Mission crew is expected to launch no earlier than Thursday, January 18, 2024, from Kennedy Space Center atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Their Dragon Freedom crew spacecraft will have a day-and-a-half-long ride to the International Space Station.
Born April 1974 in Rome, Italy, Walter Villadei is a colonel in the Italian Air Force (ItAF) and is currently the head of ItAF’s representative office in the U.S., overseeing commercial spaceflight initiatives. He has extensive experience in Italian space programs, including multiple assignments as a member of the scientific committee of the Italian Space Agency and national representative for the European Commission for the Space Surveillance and Tracking Program.
In 2011, Villadei received cosmonaut training in Star City, Russia as a Soyuz flight engineer and in advanced Orlan and International Space Station (ISS) Russian segment systems. In 2014 and 2018, he completed pre-assignment and multiple analog training, which included centrifuge, hypoxia chamber, and survival training.
In 2021, Villadei was selected to fly on Virgin Galactic’s rocket-powered flight, Unity 23, the first commercial, human-tended research mission for the company. The mission Vitute-1 was carried out in June 2023, and the crew conducted 12 experiments aboard Unity 23, to include materials, technology, and human physiology research. Villadei served as mission lead and tended to the rack-mounted payloads during the weightless portion of the flight while wearing a smart suit to measure his physiological responses.
Villadei has a Master's Degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Naples and a specialization in astronautical engineering from the University of Rome.
He is fluent in reading, writing, and speaking in English and his native Italian, along with extensive experience speaking Russian.
With a love for space, stars, aviation, and science combined with Russian cosmonaut and Italian Air Force training, Villadei is honored to have been chosen as the pilot for Axiom Space’s third commercial astronaut mission to the ISS, Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3).
Read his full biography on the Axiom Space website here:
"Axiom Space is guided by the vision of a thriving home in space that benefits every human, everywhere. The leader in providing space infrastructure as a service, Axiom offers end-to-end missions to the International Space Station today while privately developing its successor—a permanent commercial destination in Earth’s orbit that will sustain human growth off the planet and bring untold benefits back home."
Michael López-Alegría: Ax-3 Mission Commander | International Space Station
As the first all-European commercial astronaut mission to the International Space Station, Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) will "redefine the pathway to low-Earth orbit for nations around the globe." This mission is an opportunity for more countries to join the international space community and access low-Earth orbit to advance exploration and research in microgravity.
The Ax-3 Mission crew is expected to launch no earlier than Thursday, January 18, 2024, from Kennedy Space Center atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Their Dragon Freedom crew spacecraft will have a day-and-a-half-long ride to the International Space Station.
Michael López-Alegría was born in Madrid, Spain, and immigrated to the U.S. as a young boy with his family. He has over 40 years of aviation and space experience with the U.S. Navy and NASA in a variety of roles, including Naval Aviator, engineering test pilot, NASA astronaut, and commander of the International Space Station (ISS).
Read his full biography on the Axiom Space website here:
"Axiom Space is guided by the vision of a thriving home in space that benefits every human, everywhere. The leader in providing space infrastructure as a service, Axiom offers end-to-end missions to the International Space Station today while privately developing its successor—a permanent commercial destination in Earth’s orbit that will sustain human growth off the planet and bring untold benefits back home."
Rollout of NASA's Experimental Supersonic X-59 Plane | This Week @NASA
Week of January 12, 2024: Rollout of NASA's experimental supersonic X-59 aircraft, schedule updates for future Artemis missions, and another year of global record heat . . . a few of the stories to tell you about —This Week at NASA!
Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the 4-meter Mayall Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Sh2-155, informally known as the "cave nebula," is a dark cloud of gas embedded in a giant emission nebula. The top edge of the cloud is illuminated by several hot, massive (OB) stars that are part of the Cepheus OB3 association. The image was generated with observations in Hydrogen alpha (red), Sulphur [S II] (blue) and I (orange) filters. In this image, North is left, East is down.
The Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope is a four-meter (158-inch) reflector telescope in Arizona named after the American observational astronomer of the same name. The telescope saw first light on February 27, 1973, and was the second-largest in the world at that time.
Credit: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage) and H. Schweiker (WIYN and NOIRLab/NSF/AURA)
NASA’s X-59 Quiet Supersonic Aircraft Prepares for First Flight
NASA and Lockheed Martin Skunk Works recently unveiled the X-59 experimental aircraft, designed and built to reduce a loud sonic boom, associated with faster-than-sound flight, to a quiet sonic thump. The X-59 now moves closer to its first flight —a step toward making commercial supersonic flight over land a reality for everyone. Researchers on NASA’s Quesst mission will work to understand people’s reactions to the X-59’s thump and give that data to regulators, who will then consider writing new sound-based rules to lift the ban on commercial supersonic flight over land.
The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission that seeks to solve one of the major barriers to supersonic flight over land, currently banned in the United States, by making sonic booms quieter.
NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft is the product of decades of aeronautics and supersonic flight research. The X-59 is designed to be able to fly supersonic, or faster than the speed of sound, without producing a loud sonic boom, which occurs when aircraft fly at such speeds. Instead, the X-59 is designed to reduce that boom to a quieter sonic “thump.”
The X-59's goal is to help change existing national and international aviation rules that ban commercial supersonic flight over land.
NASA’s X-59 Supersonic Aircraft: Rollout Day | The Quesst Mission
This is the X-59, a single-seat X-plane aiming to reduce the sound of the sonic boom to a mere thump. It opens the possibility for commercial supersonic flights over land, which has been prohibited since 1973. Be on the lookout for first flight! NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft image released for rollout day, Jan. 12, 2024. (This not a "render.")
NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft sits on the ramp at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California during sunrise, shortly after completion of painting. With its unique design, including a 38-foot-long nose, the X-59 was built to demonstrate the ability to fly supersonic, or faster than the speed of sound, while reducing the typically loud sonic boom produced by aircraft at such speeds to a quieter sonic “thump”.
The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission, which seeks to solve one of the major barriers to supersonic flight over land, currently banned in the United States, by making sonic booms quieter.
NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft is the product of decades of aeronautics and supersonic flight research. The X-59 is designed to be able to fly supersonic, or faster than the speed of sound, without producing a loud sonic boom, which occurs when aircraft fly at such speeds. Instead, the X-59 is designed to reduce that boom to a quieter sonic “thump.”
The X-59's goal is to help change existing national and international aviation rules that ban commercial supersonic flight over land.
2023 Was the Hottest Year on Record | NASA Goddard
2023 was Earth’s warmest year since 1880, and the last 10 consecutive years have been the warmest 10 on record. Why does NASA, a space agency, look at Earth’s temperature? And how do we even measure global temperature?
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Kathleen Gaeta (NASA ROTHE): Lead Producer, Lead Videographer, Writer, Editor
Gavin Schmidt (NASA GISS): Lead Scientist
Peter Jacobs (NASA GSFC): Supporting Scientist
Grace Weikert (GSFC ROTHE): Associate Producer
Katie Jepson (GSFC KBR): Associate Producer
Mark Subbarao (NASA GSFC): Lead Visualizer
Krystofer Kim (GSFC ROTHE): Lead Graphics Animator
NASA's Space to Ground: Laser Link | Week of Jan. 12, 2024
NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what is happening aboard the International Space Station. Four private astronauts representing the United States, Italy, Turkey, and Sweden are scheduled to launch to the station aboard the SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft at 5:11 p.m. EST on Jan. 17, 2024. The Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) quartet, commanded by Michael Lopez-Alegria from the U.S. and piloted by Walter Villadei from Italy, will dock to the Harmony module’s forward port at 5:15 a.m. on Jan. 19. The duo will be joined by Ax-3 Mission Specialists Alper Gezeravci from Turkey and Marcus Wandt from Sweden for two weeks of research and education activities aboard the orbital outpost.
Station Commander: Andreas Mogensen of the European Space Agency (Denmark)
Roscosmos (Russia): Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub, Konstantin Borisov
JAXA: Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa (Japan)
NASA: Jasmin Moghbeli, Loral O'Hara (USA)
An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.
Learn more about the important research being operated on Station:
Planet Mars: Isolated Araneiform Topography | NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Have you ever found that to describe something you had to go to the dictionary and search for just the right word?
The South Polar terrain of Mars is so full of unearthly features that we had to visit Mr. Webster to find a suitable term. “Araneiform” means “spider-like.” These are channels that are carved in the surface by carbon dioxide gas. We do not have this process on Earth.
The channels are somewhat radially organized and widen and deepen as they converge. In the past we have just referred to them as “spiders.” “Isolated araneiform topography” means that our features look like spiders that are not in contact with each other.
Image cutout is less than 1 km (under 1 mi) across and the spacecraft altitude was 244 km (152 mi).
The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) instrument, that was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
“For 17 years, MRO has been revealing Mars to us as no one had seen it before,” said the mission’s project scientist, Rich Zurek of JPL.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
The first launch of the Gravity-1 solid-fueled rocket took place from a sea-based platform off the coast of Haiyang, Shandong Province, China, on January 11, 2024, at 05:30 UTC (13:30 local time). Gravity-1 was designed by the Chinese aerospace company OrienSpace to launch payloads of up to 6.5 tons to low-Earth orbit (LEO), up to 4.2 tons to a 500km Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) or up to 3.7 tons to a 700km Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). It is nearly twice as heavy as the European Space Agency’s Vega-C, the previous record holder.
Gravity-1 successfully launched three Yunyao-1 satellites. The Yunyao-1 satellites are for Tianjin, China-based Yunyao Yuhang. Yunyao plans to construct a satellite constellation to provide data for global weather forecasting.
OrienSpace's launch of China's most powerful commercial solid-fuel rocket is a coup for the country's private aerospace sector. Gravity-1 represents a 'significant advancement in independent innovation within China’s commercial carrier rockets’, according to the official Aerospace China newspaper.
Gravity-1 has a thrust of 600 tonnes and can lift 6.5 tonnes of cargo into near Earth orbit. The rocket’s cargo compartment—4.2 meters in diameter and 9 meters tall (13.7 by 30 feet)—is spacious enough to accommodate cargo for the China Space Station, if needed. The Gravity-1 rocket can support the launch of up to 30 satellites weighing 100kg (220lbs) each, according to Aerospace China. The Gravity-1 consists of seven solid rocket motors. The bundling and separation of large solid rocket boosters has been a challenge around the world.
The Gravity-1 Mission was the fourth Chinese orbital launch of 2024 as of Jan. 11. It followed shortly after a Kuaizhou-1A solid rocket launch Jan. 11 (UTC) and the Jan. 9 launch of the China-Europe Einstein Probe.
OrienSpace has not disclosed the cost of its first launch, but chief operating officer Wei Kai said the company had adopted a series of measures to establish a large-scale, convenient and low-cost launch service model.
Its factory in Haiyang will achieve an annual production capacity of 20 rockets, he said.
The use of solid fuel is "convenient and safe." It allows for the process of rocket assembly, testing and launch to be completed within a 5km radius, significantly reducing production time and cost.
Offshore launches offer additional advantages in terms of safety and frequency with potential for weekly launch missions using a single vessel, according to OrienSpace.
Wei told Aerospace China the Gravity-1 rocket structure was designed for rapid mass production. Its core and boosters have the same diameter, simplifying the manufacturing process and significantly improving manufacturing efficiency, while cutting production costs.
Chief designer Bu Xiangwei said the firm’s improvements—such as enclosing the rocket in a white protective cover before transport and launch—had saved considerable costs.
The flexible cover kept the rocket’s temperature at around 15 degrees Celsius in winter and isolated external rain and snow.
“Through such an inflatable protective cover, we can achieve a low-cost and simplified environmental support system for carrier rockets,” Bu said, according to Aerospace China.
“The juncture where the rocket booster meets the core stage, no larger than an A4 sheet of paper, must endure a force of roughly 200 tonnes,” said Yao Song, the co-CEO of OrienSpace.
“Its strength must be matched also by its simplicity, ensuring a clean break when the time comes.
“This, indeed, showcases the depth of our technological expertise.”
Behind this feat stands a team of about 100 scientists and engineers who spent about three years carrying out 23 large-scale ground tests of the rocket system, 489 tests of individual components and 1,452 iteration tests to improve the rocket’s overall performance.
As China embarks on an ambitious plan to build a constellation of 13,000 satellites to rival SpaceX’s Starlink, the need for reliable and cost-effective launch vehicles is paramount. Many commercial aerospace companies are eyeing this lucrative opportunity.
OrienSpace said it aimed to achieve liquid rocket recyclability and reusability within two years, increasing its carrying capacity to 15-20 tonnes and further driving down costs.
Video Credits: China Central Television (CCTV)/China Global Television Network (CGTN)/OrienSpace
Gravity-1: Launch of China's 'Most Powerful' Solid-Fuel Commercial Rocket
The first launch of the Gravity-1 solid-fueled rocket took place from a sea-based platform off the coast of Haiyang, Shandong Province, China, on January 11, 2024, at 05:30 UTC (13:30 local time). Gravity-1 was designed by the Chinese aerospace company OrienSpace to launch payloads of up to 6.5 tons to low-Earth orbit (LEO), up to 4.2 tons to a 500km Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) or up to 3.7 tons to a 700km Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). It is nearly twice as heavy as the European Space Agency’s Vega-C, the previous record holder.
Gravity-1 successfully launched three Yunyao-1 satellites. The Yunyao-1 satellites are for Tianjin, China-based Yunyao Yuhang. Yunyao plans to construct a satellite constellation to provide data for global weather forecasting.
OrienSpace's launch of China's most powerful commercial solid-fuel rocket is a coup for the country's private aerospace sector. Gravity-1 represents a 'significant advancement in independent innovation within China’s commercial carrier rockets’, according to the official Aerospace China newspaper.
Gravity-1 has a thrust of 600 tonnes and can lift 6.5 tonnes of cargo into near Earth orbit. The rocket’s cargo compartment—4.2 meters in diameter and 9 meters tall (13.7 by 30 feet)—is spacious enough to accommodate cargo for the China Space Station, if needed. The Gravity-1 rocket can support the launch of up to 30 satellites weighing 100kg (220lbs) each, according to Aerospace China. The Gravity-1 consists of seven solid rocket motors. The bundling and separation of large solid rocket boosters has been a challenge around the world.
The Gravity-1 Mission was the fourth Chinese orbital launch of 2024 as of Jan. 11. It followed shortly after a Kuaizhou-1A solid rocket launch Jan. 11 (UTC) and the Jan. 9 launch of the China-Europe Einstein Probe.
OrienSpace has not disclosed the cost of its first launch, but chief operating officer Wei Kai said the company had adopted a series of measures to establish a large-scale, convenient and low-cost launch service model.
Its factory in Haiyang will achieve an annual production capacity of 20 rockets, he said.
The use of solid fuel is "convenient and safe." It allows for the process of rocket assembly, testing and launch to be completed within a 5km radius, significantly reducing production time and cost.
Offshore launches offer additional advantages in terms of safety and frequency with potential for weekly launch missions using a single vessel, according to OrienSpace.
Wei told Aerospace China the Gravity-1 rocket structure was designed for rapid mass production. Its core and boosters have the same diameter, simplifying the manufacturing process and significantly improving manufacturing efficiency, while cutting production costs.
Chief designer Bu Xiangwei said the firm’s improvements—such as enclosing the rocket in a white protective cover before transport and launch—had saved considerable costs.
The flexible cover kept the rocket’s temperature at around 15 degrees Celsius in winter and isolated external rain and snow.
“Through such an inflatable protective cover, we can achieve a low-cost and simplified environmental support system for carrier rockets,” Bu said, according to Aerospace China.
“The juncture where the rocket booster meets the core stage, no larger than an A4 sheet of paper, must endure a force of roughly 200 tonnes,” said Yao Song, the co-CEO of OrienSpace.
“Its strength must be matched also by its simplicity, ensuring a clean break when the time comes.
“This, indeed, showcases the depth of our technological expertise.”
Behind this feat stands a team of about 100 scientists and engineers who spent about three years carrying out 23 large-scale ground tests of the rocket system, 489 tests of individual components and 1,452 iteration tests to improve the rocket’s overall performance.
As China embarks on an ambitious plan to build a constellation of 13,000 satellites to rival SpaceX’s Starlink, the need for reliable and cost-effective launch vehicles is paramount. Many commercial aerospace companies are eyeing this lucrative opportunity.
OrienSpace said it aimed to achieve liquid rocket recyclability and reusability within two years, increasing its carrying capacity to 15-20 tonnes and further driving down costs.
Video Credit: China Central Television (CCTV)/OrienSpace
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