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SpaceX's Starship HLS has been selected land astronauts on the moon under the international Artemis Program. 47 Nations have signed the Artemis Accords and will be participating in the program.
Starship Block 1 development so far has been to get the vehicle flight worthy, and to do the booster catch accomplished with Flight 5. Flight 6 will be the last Block 1 vehicle and launch in a few weeks.
Flight 7 will transition to Block 2, which will have numerous upgrades including repositioned front fins and larger propellant tanks. Further down the road will be Block 3. More upgrades, larger tanks etc. Preparations begin for an uncrewed landing on the Moon. This would be followed by a landing with 2 astronauts, and larger crews later.
Better stock up on popcorn for 2025
SpaceFlightNow interview with NASA HLS Deputy Program Manager Dr Kent Chojnacki at Huntsville, AL
• LOTS of HLS work going on
• SpaceX meets with astronauts monthly to work on the HLS design
• 27 milestones to be met, some already checked off
• There are HLS crew cabins, control cabin, sleeping quarters, elevator, and lab mockups at Starbase. The astronauts are using them for training.
• Starship design update in November, CDR in 2025, followed by the DCR (design certification review)
• orbital propellant transfer (refueling test) campaign begins March 2025
• Target & Chaser propellant transfer test summer 2025
• NASA plans a cadence ramp to weekly, then LC-39A at Cape Canaveral comes online.
• Targeting September 2026 for the crewed lunar landing; 6.5 day stay, with an uncrewed test before then
Screenshot_2024-10-31-22-43-56-063.jpg
Starship Block 1 development so far has been to get the vehicle flight worthy, and to do the booster catch accomplished with Flight 5. Flight 6 will be the last Block 1 vehicle and launch in a few weeks.
Flight 7 will transition to Block 2, which will have numerous upgrades including repositioned front fins and larger propellant tanks. Further down the road will be Block 3. More upgrades, larger tanks etc. Preparations begin for an uncrewed landing on the Moon. This would be followed by a landing with 2 astronauts, and larger crews later.
Better stock up on popcorn for 2025
SpaceFlightNow interview with NASA HLS Deputy Program Manager Dr Kent Chojnacki at Huntsville, AL
• LOTS of HLS work going on
• SpaceX meets with astronauts monthly to work on the HLS design
• 27 milestones to be met, some already checked off
• There are HLS crew cabins, control cabin, sleeping quarters, elevator, and lab mockups at Starbase. The astronauts are using them for training.
• Starship design update in November, CDR in 2025, followed by the DCR (design certification review)
• orbital propellant transfer (refueling test) campaign begins March 2025
• Target & Chaser propellant transfer test summer 2025
• NASA plans a cadence ramp to weekly, then LC-39A at Cape Canaveral comes online.
• Targeting September 2026 for the crewed lunar landing; 6.5 day stay, with an uncrewed test before then
Screenshot_2024-10-31-22-43-56-063.jpg