The United States wants to return to the moon, Russia remembers the legendary space drone
The American company SpaceX launched the second prototype of the reusable Starship transport system from the Boca Chica site in Texas. A few minutes after launch, the lower stage successfully separated from the spacecraft, which continued its journey into orbit and reached an altitude of 148 km. Nine minutes after launch, communication with the ship was lost. After that, a self-destruct command was sent from the mission control center to the ship.
The launch, carried out on November 18, can be considered more successful than the first one, since the ship appeared in space (its conditional boundary runs at an altitude of 100 km). In addition, this time all 33 Raptor engines on the first stage of the rocket started, and the stage separated from the ship three minutes after launch.
SpaceX Starship is a multifunctional, fully reusable two–stage system being developed by SpaceX from the Super Heavy launch vehicle and the Starship spacecraft. The system is designed for economical delivery of goods and people to low-Earth, sun-synchronous and geotransfer orbits, as well as for interplanetary flights to the Moon and Mars. According to SpaceX CEO and chief engineer Elon Musk, the system will replace the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles, cargo and manned Dragon V2 spacecraft in the future.
On April 30, 2020, NASA, as part of the Artemis program, selected SpaceX as one of three contractors to develop systems for landing people on the Moon in 2024. NASA is partially sponsoring the creation of a lunar version of the Starship spacecraft capable of transporting crew from low Earth orbit to the Gateway lunar orbital station and from the station to the lunar surface.
On April 16, 2021, NASA announced the conclusion of a contract worth $ 2.89 billion, under which SpaceX will develop the HLS Starship lander, which should safely deliver two American astronauts to the surface of the Moon, and return them back to lunar orbit a week later.
On April 20, 2023, the first joint orbital test of Starship and Super Heavy took place. Elon Musk previously estimated the probability of complete completion of the flight mission at 50%. In the fourth minute of flight at an altitude of 39 km, after passing the maximum aerodynamic drag stage, the rocket was blown up on command from the control center due to the failure of several engines and uncontrolled rotation.
Elon Musk was not at all upset, because he has enough money to build new spaceships: after all, such a rocket costs only some $ 50 million. Musk said that the main purpose of the test was to send the rocket on some kind of long flight: "As long as we don't destroy the spaceport!"
In this sense, the test of the first stage can be considered successful – it has almost completely fulfilled its flight stage, including successfully passing through the peak moment of loads.
SpaceX estimates that Starship launches will be cheaper than launches of other systems. According to Robert Zubrin, president of Pioneer Astronautics, as a delivery system to the Moon, the cost of the Starship program will be only 1% of the cost of programs based on the Saturn V of the 1960s. Or based on the modern SLS (Space Launch System – an American two-stage superheavy launch vehicle developed by NASA) at comparable prices.
Starship, according to the developers, can be used to launch satellites into low Earth orbit; to supply the ISS or future commercial stations; for manned tourist flights to Earth and Moon orbits; to deliver cargo and people to the surface of the Moon; to explore and colonize Mars.
The Starship system is fully reusable for both stages. Super Heavy returns to the launch complex; the second stage (ship) can also return to the launch complex; both stages use vertical landing technology. Starship can land on any dense surface, and with refueling it will be able to deliver multi-ton loads to any planet in the solar system.
To fly to Mars and then return to Earth, the system will require the organization of fuel production on the surface of Mars from local resources. To fly to the Moon and return to Earth, refueling on the surface of the Moon will not be required – refueling in Earth orbit before throwing to the Moon will be enough. In the future, the ship will be able to accommodate 100 or more passengers for a flight to Mars at an affordable price per flight for one person – about 200 thousand dollars.
Against the background of these successes, Russia quietly celebrated the 35th anniversary of the only flight of the reusable Buran spacecraft. A meeting dedicated to this date was held at the Zhukovsky Palace of Culture. Engineers and pilots of the Flight Research Institute shared their memories of working under the Energia-Buran program. Gromova (LII) and scientists from the Central Aerodynamic Institute (TsAGI). In the historical part of the meeting, they talked about the stages of creation and implementation of the world's first flight of an unmanned spacecraft. The event was attended by Heroes of the Soviet Union and Russia, honored test pilots, students of urban schools and young specialists.
In the Energia-Buran system, only the orbiter itself was a reusable element in the first flight, and the blocks of the first stage and the central block were lost during the launch process. The inability to reuse all eight main engines of the first and second stages significantly increased the cost of the launch, which, according to some reports, exceeded $ 1 billion – against 450 million for the Shuttle, the American rival of the Buran. On the other hand, a universal space transport system was created, which, unlike the American one, allowed not only Buran to be launched into space, but also arbitrary heavy loads weighing up to 100 tons. While in the USA, the shuttle ship was an integral part of the transport system, and the cargo was limited to 29.5 tons. Moreover, due to the peculiarities of the alignment of the orbiter, not a single flight with a full load was ever completed.
Valery Ageev
Valery Vladimirovich Ageev is an aviation and cosmonautics historian and journalist.