Relativity Space Poised to Lead New Generation of Launch Providers with Terran 1 Rocket

The inaugural flight of Terran 1, the first launch vehicle designed and manufactured in Long Beach CA, is scheduled to occur at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station LC-16 March 8, launch window open 13:00-1600 EST. At 33.5-m tall / 2.3-m diameter, the small-lift launch vehicle is built to loft 1,250 kg to LEO / 900 kg to SSO, with first stage powered by 9 in-house Aeon engines fueled by methane and liquid oxygen (LCH4 / LOX). Known as methalox and valued for its smaller carbon footprint compared to RP1 and its abundance on Mars, this propellant / oxidizer combo is the design focus of ULA Vulcan Centaur (BE-4 engines), LandSpace Zhuque-2 (TQ-12), SpaceX Starship / Super Heavy (Raptor), which are slated for launch in 2023; while Blue Origin New Glenn (BE-4) and Rocket Lab Neutron (Archimedes) are planned to fly in 2024. Operating since 2015, Relativity Space with cofounders (T-B) Tim Ellis and Jordan Noone, is establishing a business model based on additive manufacturing automated with productivity-boosting machine learning algorithms – Terran 1 is touted as being 85% 3D printed by weight. It is also working towards Terran R, a larger (66-m tall / 5.5-m diameter) rocket capable of carrying payloads up to 20,000 kg (medium-lift). Contracted missions for NASA, Spaceflight Inc, Momentus, Mu Space, Iridium and DoD have allowed Relativity to raise a market-leading US$1.3B in funding. (Image Credits: Relativity Space, NASA)

MONDAY

☆ Mar 6 — ISS, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 68 now 11-member crew with arrival of Crew-6; Soyuz MS-23 to remain attached until Sep 27, MS-22 to return to Earth before April for analysis.

☆ Mar 6 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou 15 three-member crew continue work in LEO as China plans to open TSS selection & training process for international Astronauts.

☾ = Moon activity

★ = Space and… ☆ = International space / astro events in Hawaii Standard Time unless noted. Add 10 hours to obtain UT (‘Universal Time’).

17th SpaceOps 2023 Being Held in Dubai as UAE Astronauts Fly to ISS, Rover Preps for Moon Landing 

The 2023 International Conference on Space Operations themed Invest in Space to Serve Earth and Beyond is being held March 6-10 in Dubai, UAE with support from Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre and under patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, VP and PM of UAE and Ruler of Dubai. H.E. Salem Humaid Al Marri (Director General of MBRSC) will open the conference which includes 5 plenary events, 3 special sessions, 2 keynote speakers (Amna Al Owais, Dubai Future Foundation Courts; and Sami W. Asmar, Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems), 13 oral / 4 electronic presentation sessions, an exhibition, tour of MBRSC, student workshop, speed mentoring, and Women in SpaceOps event. The “Public-private collaboration opportunities in lunar missions” panel will have representatives from ESTEC, Italian Space Agency, Thales Alenia, Orbital Reef, Surrey Space and Space Copy. Since the creation of SpaceOps in 1990 the organization has held 15 in-person International meetings; the 2025 edition being planned in Montreal, Canada by CSA-ASC. UAE newest Astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi, is now aboard ISS via SpaceX Crew-6 for a 6-month mission. Yet to fly are 2 other UAE Astronauts: Nora Al Matrooshi and Mohammed Al Mulla. In late April UAE is also set to see its Rashid lunar rover land on the Moon, after a ~4.5-month journey to lunafirma on ispace lander. (Image Credits: SpaceOps, MBRSC, UAE Gov, NASA)

☆ Mar 6 — ISS, Expedition 68 In-Flight Event, ~415-km LEO: In-flight United Arab Emirates event with UAE flight engineer Sultan Alneyadi with Johnson Space Center; starts 07:00 EST, live coverage available.

☆ Mar 6 — JAXA, Launch H-3 / ALOS 3, Tanegashima Space Center, Japan: H3 rocket on its 1st test flight will carry Advanced Land Observing Satellite 3 (ALOS 3) Earth observation satellite for JAXA (launch set Mar 5 at 15:37:55 HST / Mar 6 JST at 10:37:55); window open through Mar 10.

o Mar 6 — China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), Online / Beijing, China: Submissions Due: Logo Designs for upcoming crewed spaceships Shenzhou 16 and 17, cargo craft Tianzhou 6.

● Mar 6 — Secure World Foundation, Online / Washington DC: SWF Space Sustainability Research Fellowship Webinar: Polycentricity in Space Governance, and Is Outer Space a Commons?

● Mar 6-8 — National Space Society, Washington DC: 2023 March Storm; annual space advocacy meetings with USA Senate and House offices.

o Mar 6-10 — Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre, GMV, Yahsat, ESA, South African National Space Agency, et al, Dubai, UAE: 17th International Conference on Space Operations (SpaceOps 2023).

☆ Mar 6 — Apollo Asteroid 2022 EO: Near-Earth Flyby (0.097 AU)

Continued From…

● Oct 15, 2022 – Jun 15  — International Space Elevator Consortium, Online: Space Elevator Academic Challenge: Improving Humanity’s Future; for students 17-25.

☾ Dec 11, 2022 – Apr 25 — Hakuto-R / ispace Mission 1, Lunar Landing Trajectory: Carrying UAE Rashid 10-kg rover, 0.25-kg JAXA SORA-Q rover, Hakuto-R performing orbital control maneuvers to reach Lunar Orbital Insertion, followed by Moon touchdown nominally ~4.5 months after launch.

● Jan 18 – May 11 — Wichita State University, Wichita KS and Online: 2023 Interstellar Seminar ‘LASI 150G’; 1-credit hour seminar begins today; every Wednesday 14:30-15:20, led by Prof. Mark Schneegurt.