Relativity Space Nears Debut of Terran R - Weekly Spaceflight News

[00:00:00]In this week's Avid Space Industry Update, while everyone was watching Starbase, in usual fashion, SpaceX's workhorse Falcon 9 continued its steady launch cadence. NASA's Aremis 3 mission is inching closer, and work progresses on several new launch vehicles approaching their debut.

[00:00:19]Starting off this week's Falcon 9 activity, the first launch of the week came on Monday evening from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base. Booster 1093 lifted off on its 15th mission, carrying another 17 satellites to low Earth orbit to join the Starlink constellation before landing downrange on of course I Still Love You. Less than 8 hours later, the East Coast joined in on the action as booster 1080 launched from Space Launch Complex 40 on its 28th mission. The rocket sent another 29 satellites to orbit and then touched down on a shortfall of Gravitas. The rocket was brought back to port a few days later and offloaded at SpaceX's dock. For the final mission of the week, we go back to the West Coast where booster 1103 launched its fourth mission on Thursday afternoon. The payload for this mission was 21 satellites that'll join a constellation for the US Space Force's Space Development Agency focused on providing worldwide connectivity for the military. In other space news, NASA shared a photo this week showing that the aft sections of both the solid rocket boosters for the Artemis 3 mission are now installed on the mobile launcher. Elsewhere in the facility, work is ongoing with the rocket's core stage in preparation for the mission that is currently slated for next year.

[00:01:34]PLLD Space shared footage from recent testing for their Mura 5 rocket. This was a pressurization system stability test performed to simulate nominal propellant flow in order to validate multiple systems and hardware. Tory Bruner shared this week that Blue Origin's first Blue Ring spacecraft is moving through its assembly. He also shared some photos of the static test vehicle they built as part of the development process. Blue Ring is the company's craft design to support in space operations such as hosting, transporting, and refueling satellites.

[00:02:05]A couple of days later, he went on to share a photo of a new robotic grappling arm that the company developed and built in just 4 months for integration on their first blue ring spacecraft. After some internet proddding, Tori also shared a short clip of the arm called the Orca arm in action during testing.

[00:02:22]Relativity Space released their June update on the progress of their Terran R program. Last month, the design team released more than 2,000 flight parts, and almost all hardware needed for the first stage shipping assembly has also been released. This progress enabled additional downstream work on the first stage, including doublers, stringers, and raceway work. On the thrust structure, they're focusing on fluid builds in preparation for leak checks, and avionics testing. Major progress was also made on the first stage qualification article, which was completed and transitioned to testing.

[00:02:54]It was moved out of the factory and installed onto their can crusher style test stand. The article has already completed initial proofing with additional testing still to come. The second stage has already been delivered to NASA's Stenis Space Center. The flame diverter also arrived and crews began its installation as well as the access platform at the A2 test stand ahead of second stage testing. Meanwhile, acceptance testing for all of the flight 1 AONR R engines has been completed with the team now moving on to testing for the AONV engine for the mission second stage. At Space Launch Complex 16, new tanks arrived for the deluge farm and the liquid oxygen farm has now been activated. Bridge crane installation is underway inside the pad's horizontal integration facility. And outside, construction of the lighting towers and launch table is progressing. Sierra Space announced on Monday that they've been awarded a nearly $800 million contract to design, build, and deliver 18 satellites for the accelerated missile defense trench 3 program. For this contract, the company will leverage the technology from their Eclipse satellite family to help build out America's missile defenses. Rocket Lab shared footage from a recent full duration burn of the vacuum variant of their Archimedes engine designed for the second stage of their underdeveloped Neutron rocket. This test utilized a stub skirt to test the engine since a fulllength vacuum nozzle is inherently unstable at ground level. Impulse Space posted a clip of them installing their Helios kick stage on the test stand at their facility in the Mojave Desert.

[00:04:26]This liquidfueled rocket stage is designed to launch as part of the payload on another rocket, then be utilized to boost payloads from low Earth orbit to other high energy orbits.

[00:04:36]And finally for this week, Firefly Aerospace announced that they've received Volta Space Technologies Light Port for integration on the top of their Blue Ghost lander. Lightport is a power receiver and its role on the mission is a demonstration for a future wireless lunar power grid.

[00:04:53]Well, that's going to do it for this week's Avid Space Flight Update. But as you know, back at Starbase, Flight 13 may be on its way to orbit this coming Thursday, the 23rd. So, make sure you tune in to our live broadcast for another exciting day at Starbase. Thanks for watching and we'll see you then.