SpaceX And NASA Have Big Problems...
Summary
TLDRIn recent space exploration setbacks, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket suffered a payload loss due to an engine leak, grounding the system for investigation. Meanwhile, NASA faces challenges with the Europa Clipper mission due to faulty transistors, and Europe's Ariane 6 rocket successfully launched its maiden flight, marking a new era in European space ambitions.
Takeaways
- π SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket experienced a failure in its upper stage Merlin engine on July 11th, leading to the loss of 20 Starlink satellites.
- π Despite the rare mishap, the Falcon 9 system has a remarkable track record, having flown 364 consecutive missions without payload delivery issues.
- π§ The reusable stage of the Falcon 9 performed flawlessly, marking SpaceX's 70th mission of the year, highlighting their unprecedented launch frequency.
- 𧩠The issue was identified as a liquid oxygen leak in the upper stage Merlin vacuum engine during the initial burn towards orbital insertion.
- π The anomaly was visually captured on camera at t+ 4 minutes 7 seconds, showing a buildup of ice crystals due to the leak.
- π°οΈ The malfunction prevented the engine from relighting, causing the orbit to be lower than intended, which will eventually lead to the satellites re-entering the Earth's atmosphere.
- π Elon Musk suggested using the ion thrusters at maximum capacity to try and raise the orbit, though the satellites are likely to burn up or re-enter the atmosphere.
- π The Falcon 9 is grounded until SpaceX can diagnose the issue and the FAA clears it for flight, potentially affecting upcoming high-profile missions.
- π NASA's Europa Clipper mission, scheduled for October 2024, faces a new challenge with potentially faulty transistors that may not withstand the radiation environment near Jupiter.
- π The inaugural flight of Europe's Ariane 6 rocket was successful, marking a new era in European space exploration, despite some issues with the auxiliary power unit.
- π° Ariane 6 aims to be cost-effective, offering a 44% price reduction compared to its predecessor, Ariane 5, and is already scheduled for multiple missions in the coming years.
Q & A
What significant event occurred with SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket on July 11th?
-On July 11th, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket experienced a failure in its upper stage Merlin engine, leading to the total loss of the mission payload, which included 20 of the company's own Starlink satellites.
What is notable about the Falcon 9's performance prior to the recent incident?
-The Falcon 9 rocket had flown 364 consecutive missions across nearly 8 years without any issue related to payload delivery, making the recent mishap particularly surprising due to the system's rarity of any mishap.
How did the reusable stage of the Falcon 9 perform in the recent mission?
-The reusable stage of the Falcon 9 performed flawlessly, coming down for a textbook water landing, marking SpaceX's 70th mission of the year.
What was the specific issue with the Falcon 9's upper stage Merlin vacuum engine?
-The upper stage Merlin vacuum engine experienced a liquid oxygen leak during the initial burn towards orbital insertion, which was visible as an anomaly on camera at t+ 4 minutes 7 seconds.
What is the significance of the Radiant Barrier seen in the video?
-The Radiant Barrier is a thermal blanket that protects the engine's sensitive components like valves and sensors from radiant heat coming off the engine nozzle and the sun, and also prevents the kerosene liquid from freezing.
What was the impact of the engine issue on the mission's second burn?
-During the second burn of the upper stage, the engine was unable to relight, preventing the vehicle from circularizing its orbit and resulting in a lower than intended orbit that would be affected by atmospheric drag.
How did SpaceX attempt to mitigate the loss of the Starlink satellites?
-SpaceX updated the satellite software to run the ion thrusters at their maximum capacity in an attempt to raise the orbit faster than atmospheric drag would pull them down, though this was acknowledged as likely not to be successful.
What is the current status of the Falcon 9 rocket following the incident?
-The Falcon 9 is grounded until SpaceX can diagnose the problem, decide on a solution, and submit a report to the FAA for clearance to resume flights.
What are some of the high-profile missions affected by the Falcon 9 grounding?
-The Falcon 9 grounding affects upcoming missions such as a cargo resupply mission to the ISS, the Crew 9 mission, and the Polaris Dawn mission, all of which are scheduled for launch in August.
What is the significance of the Europa Clipper mission and how is it affected by a recent issue?
-The Europa Clipper is a flagship mission set to launch in October 2024 to study Jupiter's moon Europa. However, it is facing a potential issue with faulty transistors that may not be radiation-resistant enough for the extreme environment near Jupiter.
What was the outcome of the inaugural flight of the Ariane 6 rocket?
-The Ariane 6 rocket had a successful inaugural flight, deploying three satellites and initiating experiments, despite a serious issue with the auxiliary power unit that affected the Vinci engine's ability to reignite.
What are the economic considerations behind the design of the Ariane 6 rocket?
-The Ariane 6 was designed with cost-effectiveness in mind, aiming to reduce launch costs by 44% compared to its predecessor, the Ariane 5, and to secure Europe's independence in launching its own payloads and securing major commercial contracts.
Outlines
π SpaceX Falcon 9 Engine Failure and Its Impact
On July 11th, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket suffered a significant setback when its upper stage Merlin engine failed, leading to the loss of 20 Starlink satellites. This incident is notable due to the Falcon 9's impressive track record of 364 successful missions over nearly eight years. The reusable stage performed flawlessly, but the engine issue occurred during the initial burn towards orbital insertion, resulting in a liquid oxygen leak. Despite the anomaly, the primary burn continued until the end of the SpaceX live stream. The second burn failure prevented the satellites from reaching their intended orbit, causing them to re-enter Earth's atmosphere. SpaceX is now grounded until the issue is diagnosed and resolved, potentially affecting high-profile missions including a cargo resupply mission to the ISS, the Crew-9 mission, and the Polaris Dawn mission. The incident highlights the rarity of such failures with the Falcon 9 system and the challenges faced in maintaining reliability in space missions.
π NASA's Europa Clipper Mission Faces Technical Challenges
NASA's Europa Clipper mission, set to launch in October 2024, is facing potential delays due to a technical issue with transistors in its electronics. These transistors are crucial for operating in the extreme environment near Jupiter and its moon Europa. Testing data suggests that some transistors may fail in the high radiation environment, which is a significant concern given Jupiter's powerful magnetic field that creates intense radiation belts. The mission's spacecraft is designed to minimize radiation exposure by following a long elliptical path, but the transistor issue could jeopardize the mission's success. NASA is working to determine the extent of the problem and is evaluating options to maximize the transistors' longevity. Meanwhile, the mission profile includes a radiation vault to protect sensitive electronics, but the preliminary analysis of the transistor issue is expected to be completed in late July.
π Europe's Ariane 6 Rocket Successfully Launches on Its Inaugural Flight
The Ariane 6 rocket, developed by the European Space Agency, successfully launched on its inaugural flight from the Koru launch site in French Guiana. Despite initial delays due to a data acquisition system issue, the launch proceeded flawlessly. The rocket deployed three satellites and initiated experiments with its upper stage. However, a serious issue with the auxiliary power unit affected the Vinci engine's ability to reignite. Despite this, a passivation maneuver was planned to ensure a safe conclusion, with the components designed to re-enter the atmosphere and descend into the Pacific Ocean. Ariane 6 is an expendable rocket, reflecting Europe's current economic realities and planned launch frequency of about 10 launches per year. The rocket aims to secure Europe's independence in launching its own payloads and compete with SpaceX in the commercial launch market. With over 30 missions scheduled, including 18 dedicated to Amazon's Project Kuiper, Ariane 6 is poised to make a significant impact in the space economy.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘SpaceX
π‘Falcon 9
π‘Merlin Engine
π‘Starlink
π‘Radiant Barrier
π‘Ion Thrusters
π‘Europa Clipper
π‘Ariane 6
π‘Vinci Engine
π‘Project Kuiper
π‘Radiation Belt
Highlights
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket experienced a failure in its upper stage Merlin engine, leading to the total loss of the mission payload.
This incident is surprising due to the rarity of any mishap with the Falcon 9 system, which has flown 364 consecutive missions without payload delivery issues.
The reusable stage of the Falcon rocket performed flawlessly, marking SpaceX's 70th mission of the year.
The Falcon rocket system made a total of 96 launches in 2023, with SpaceX on track to beat that record.
The upper stage Merlin vacuum engine experienced a liquid oxygen leak during the initial burn towards orbital insertion.
An anomaly was visible on camera, with a buildup of ice crystals forming and falling away, blasted by the engine exhaust.
Despite the anomaly, the primary burn of the upper stage engine continued until the end of the SpaceX live stream.
The second burn of the upper stage failed, with the engine unable to relight and the vehicle unable to circularize its orbit.
The low point of the flight path was only 135 kilometers above the surface, less than half the intended altitude.
SpaceX deployed the 20 Starlink units, but atmospheric drag will pull them down into Earth's gravity well, losing about 5 km of altitude with each pass.
Elon Musk plans to update satellite software to run ion thrusters at maximum capacity in an attempt to raise the orbit faster than atmospheric drag pulls them down.
The satellites are likely to re-enter the atmosphere without issue, similar to an incident in February 2022 where 49 Starlink satellites fell back to Earth and burnt up completely.
Falcon 9 is grounded until SpaceX can diagnose the problem and submit a report to the FAA for clearance to resume flights.
High-profile missions such as a cargo resupply mission to the ISS, Crew 9 mission, and Polaris Dawn are delayed until Falcon 9 is back in service.
NASA's Europa Clipper mission faces a potential delay due to a faulty transistor inside the spacecraft's electronics, which may not be radiation-resistant enough for the mission.
The Europa Clipper is designed to make a long elliptical path through the Jupiter system to limit radiation exposure and gather data.
The Ariane 6 rocket had a successful inaugural flight, deploying three satellites and initiating experiments, despite a serious issue with the auxiliary power unit affecting the Vinci engine's ability to reignite.
Ariane 6 is an expendable rocket with plans for future reusable rocket technologies like Themis and Prometheus by the 2030s.
Ariane 6 aims to secure Europe's independence in launching its own payloads and secure major commercial contracts, with over 30 missions already scheduled.
Ariane 6 faces competition from SpaceX's Falcon 9, which offers launches to geostationary transfer orbit at a significantly lower cost.
Transcripts
[Music]
on today's episode NASA and SpaceX have
problems so big they reach all the way
to Jupiter while the Europeans newest
rocket has an eventful first
flight they say timing is everything and
for America's leading space exploration
Ventures NASA and SpaceX a new series of
unfortunate events couldn't have come at
a worse time on Thursday July 11th the
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket experienced
against a failure in its upper stage
Merlin engine SpaceX later confirmed
that this event has led to the total
loss of the mission payload which was 20
of the company's own starlink satellites
what makes this story particularly
surprising is the Rarity of any mishap
with the Falcon 9 system this rocket has
flown
364 consecutive missions across nearly 8
years without any issue related to
payload delivery we've seen a few
booster crashes and tip overs but even
those have largely become a thing of the
past and to be clear the reusable stage
of the vehicle again performed
flawlessly on this latest Mission it
came down for a textbook water landing
with SpaceX noting that this was their
70th mission of the year so far which is
an unprecedented launch frequency the
Falcon rocket system made a total of 96
launches in 2023 so SpaceX was on track
to beat that record and that's why the
real surprise here is just how rare rare
it is to see an issue related to Falcon
9 the only rocket we can really draw a
comparison to would be Russia's soyu U
variant which flew 786 missions and this
was considered to be a very reliable
system with a success rate of
97.3% what we've been told by SpaceX is
that the upper stage Merlin vacuum
engine experienced a liquid oxygen leak
during the initial burn towards orbital
insertion and we you can definitely see
an anomaly happen on camera this is at
t+ 4 minutes 7 Seconds that thing that
looks like a bag of aluminum foil is
something called a Radiant Barrier it's
like a thermal blanket that protects the
engine's sensitive components like
Valves and sensors from radiant heat
coming off the engine nozzle and the sun
on the flip side it also prevents the
kerosene liquid from freezing anyway
it's not unusual to see Puffs underneath
this barrier as the engine vents
different gases and things
but then we start to see a lot of
material leaking out from the Merlin
engine which then quickly becomes a very
unusual buildup of ice crystals that
form and then fall away and get blasted
by the engine exhaust it's all very
fascinating to look at uh and all of
this didn't appear to have much effect
on the primary burn of the upper stage
engine it kept on keeping on right to
the end of the SpaceX live stream which
on a starlink deployment will typically
conclude with the booster Landing it was
on the second burn of the upper stage
that things started to go south with the
engine not able to relight the vehicle
couldn't circularize its orbit meaning
that the low point or the Pare of the
ovular flight path was coming down to
just 135 kilm above the surface Which is
less than half the altitude that was
intended even so the vehicle did still
manage to deploy the 20 starlink units
now at this point atmospheric drag is
going to start pulling those satellit
down into the gravity well of the Earth
every time they pass through that low
spot losing about 5 km of altitude with
each pass the upside of this situation
is that it now gives SpaceX an
opportunity to experiment with the
starlink propulsion system Elon Musk
wrote on x quote were updating satellite
software to run the ion thrusters at
their equivalent of warp 9 unlike a Star
Trek episode this will probably not work
but it's worth a shot the satellite th
thrusters need to raise orbit faster
then the atmospheric drag pulls them
down or they burn up the irony of ion
thrusters is that in spite of their name
they actually have a very low thrust
capability their real job is to gently
push the satellite around once it's
already reached its orbital velocity so
really this operation was just delaying
the inevitable demise of the satellite
group but it probably gave SpaceX a very
useful stress test of what those
thrusters are capable of when pushed to
to their extreme anyway the satellites
are likely to re-enter the atmosphere
without issue we've seen this happen
before in February 2022 when a group of
49 starlink satellites were hit by a
geomagnetic storm and that caused them
to fall back down to the Earth they all
burnt up completely so no big deal
here's the real problem though Falcon 9
is grounded until SpaceX can figure out
exactly what went wrong this is nothing
to panic over SpaceX just needs to
diagnose the problem decide on a
solution and submit everything in a
report to the FAA then the rocket should
be cleared for flight again typically
this wouldn't be much of a problem but
there just happens to be a series of
very high-profile missions on Falcon 9
that are coming up quick we have a cargo
resupply mission to the ISS with a
signis spacecraft that's scheduled to
launch in early August and then the crew
9 Mission that's supposed to take four
NASA astronauts on a Dragon capsule to
the space station in mid August and then
there's Polaris Dawn which was recently
set to launch as early as July 31st on a
crude Mission that's intended to push
the Falcon 9 and dragon to their
absolute limits it's not likely that any
of these flights will be able to go
ahead until Falcon 9 is back in service
and demonstrating reliability once again
although this can all happen very fast
if SpaceX is able to clearly explain the
issue make a fix and then resume flying
to or three missions per week of course
this wouldn't be such a big deal right
now if NASA had a functioning backup to
the SpaceX launch system but their only
other crew capsule the Boeing Starliner
remains deeply troubled in its extended
stay at the ISS and is unlikely to be
flying astronauts again anytime soon if
ever and NASA is also relying on the
heavy variant of the Falcon rocket for
one of their highest profile Flagship
outer space exploration missions ever
conceived the Europa Clipper this is set
to launch in October
2024 and it will make a 5-year trip to
the orbit of Jupiter where it we'll go
on to study the deeply fascinating Moon
Europa or at least that's the plan right
now but a new technical challenge could
put the entire mission in Jeopardy on
the same day that SpaceX experienced
their Falcon 9 issue NASA released a
statement about the Europa Clipper
Mission saying that progress was moving
forward on the spacecraft and that the
team had recently attached the High Gain
antenna which is good but the release
also says that NASA is dealing with a
potentially faulty transistor inside the
Clippers Electronics which is very bad
the problem comes down to a supplier of
transistors which are basically just
little switches inside of an electrical
circuit they're incredibly common but
also incredibly important and these
particular transistors in question are
not meeting the standards necessary to
operate in the extreme environment of
the outer solar system NASA writes quote
testing data obtained so far indicates
some transistors are likely to fail in
the high radiation environment near
Jupiter and his Moon Europa because the
parts are not as radiation resistant as
expected because Jupiter is so
incredibly humongous and massive it has
an equally large and Powerful magnetic
field that surrounds the planet it's
20,000 times greater than the Earth's
Own magnetic shield and this barrier
traps charge particles from the Sun then
concentrates them together creating an
intense band of radiation around Jupiter
that the moon Europa ends up traveling
through which means that our spacecraft
will need to pass through the same
radiation belt in order to study Europa
which makes the need for radiation
hardened Electronics even more important
than any other deep space mission which
is why it's so deeply frustrating that
this happened to be the one that got
screwed up the mission profile of
clipper is already designed to limit
radiation exposure as much as possible
so instead of orbiting close around
Europa it's going to make a long
elliptical path through the Jupiter
system that dips down to the Moon once
every few weeks and then flies back out
to escape the radiation belt this will
limit the overall radiation exposure and
allow the probe to gather and transmit
more data Clipper is already being built
with a radiation Vault that houses the
sensitive Electronics in the core of the
spacecraft it has aluminum alloy walls
that are 1/3 of an inch thick NASA's
engineering team is working to determine
how many transistors may be susceptible
and how they will perform in Flight the
agency will continue evaluating options
for maximizing the transistor's
longevity in the Jupiter system and a
preliminary analysis is expected to be
completed in Late
July on July 9th 2024 Europe's space
Ambitions took a giant leap forward with
the inaugural Flight of the Aran 6
rocket lifting off from the koru launch
site in French Guyana this historic
moment begins a new era in European
space exploration the launch initially
delayed due to a data acquisition system
issue proceeded flawlessly just over 2
minutes into the flight the solid
boosters separated at an altitude of 62
km the Vulcan 2.1 engine powered by
liquid hydrogen and oxygen cut off at
planned just under 8 minutes after
liftoff the first separation command
occurred 1 hour and 5 minutes into
flight deploying three satellites oov
Cube curium 1 and Robusta 3A at a
circular orbit of
577 km experiments YP sat and paragus
attached to the upper stage were also
successfully initiated however a serious
issue with the auxiliary power unit then
affected the Vinci engine's ability to
reignite despite this the mission was
able to proceed a passivation maneuver
of the upper stage was planned for 2
hours and 40 minutes into the flight
ensuring a safe conclusion the final
operation was designed for the
components to re-enter the atmosphere
and descend into the Pacific Ocean as
part of the deorbit maneuver Aran 6 is
an Expendable rocket and this decision
is rooted in Europe's relatively low
planned launch frequency of about 10
launches per year and reflects a
pragmatic approach to their current
economic realities however Europe is
already investing in future reusable
rocket Technologies with projects like
Themis and Prometheus which are aiming
to deploy a reusable successor to Aran 6
by the
2030s cost Effectiveness was a primary
driver of the design of the Aran 6 the
62 variant equipped with two solid side
boosters can launch up to 5,000 kg to
geostationary trans for orbit at an
estimated cost of $75 million for launch
this translates to about $4.7 th000 per
kilogram to GTO which is a 44% price
reduction compared to its predecessor
the Aran 5 the more powerful 64 variant
with four side boosters can lift up to
10,350 kg into low earth orbit at a cost
of about 85 million per launch or
roughly $8.2 th000 per kilogram
despite these improvements though Aran 6
faces stiff competition from SpaceX
whose Falcon 9 offers launches to GTO at
around $2.7 th000 per kilogram Herman
Ludwick Moyer of the European space
policy Institute highlights Aran 6's
role in securing Europe's place in the
new space economy the launcher aims to
defend Europe's Independence in
launching its own payloads and securing
major commercial contracts with over 30
missions already scheduled including 18
dedicated to Amazon's project Kyper Aran
6 is poised to make a significant impact
after this successful Maiden flight Aran
6's launch schedule includes one more
mission in 2024 six in 2025 and eight in
2026 the goal is to achieve a steady
Cadence of around 10 launches per year
once fully certified
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