On a calm August afternoon on Florida’s Space Coast, the silence is broken by the roar of a Falcon 9’s engines. After a 3-week hiatus from launches following a second stage failure, SpaceX returned to its regular flight cadence with its third launch in the week following FAA approval. The first two of these were Starlink launches, a somewhat routine occurrence in the 2020s. This launch however was far more important, as it carried vital cargo and supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) on behalf of NASA.
Picture by Ashton Guitard
Within the fairing of this Falcon sat a Cygnus resupply vehicle: an autonomous spacecraft developed by Northrop Grumman, capable of rendezvousing with the ISS so that it can be captured by the station’s robotic arm, the Canadarm. According to Northrop Grumman, the spacecraft contains over 8,000 pounds of new and innovative science experiments, as well as food, water, and other disposables that astronauts may need topping up on. The spacecraft will spend up to 180 days docked to the station before being loaded with waste and deorbiting itself to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.
After a scrubbed launch attempt on August 3rd due to weather, Falcon 9 did not disappoint as it lifted off from SLC-40 and soared to orbit on August 4. About nine minutes later, the vehicle’s first stage returned to the launch site and safely landed at Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) with a thunderous sonic boom.
This launch represents many of the dynamics within the current spacy industry. For starters, the partnership between Northrop Grumman, a Space-Race era defense contractor, SpaceX, the pinnacle of the modern space industry, and NASA is a prime example of the various forms of space organizations working together to push innovation. On the other side of this coin is the very reason Cygnus is flying on a Falcon 9 at all. For most of its history, Cygnus has launched aboard an Antares 230+ rocket, a vehicle whose first stage is powered by two Russian RD-181 engines. However, due to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, most Western aerospace companies have tried to distance themselves from Russian-made parts. As a result, the American company Firefly Aerospace has been contracted to develop the replacement for Antares, which is scheduled to fly next year.
As the second space race continues, and as a return to the lunar surface draws closer, simple logistics missions like this may seem benign but are in fact the cornerstone of long-term human presence in space. Whether they are relay satellites that orbit Mars, data centers that will be landed on the surface of the Moon, or routine resupply missions to the ISS, these components of space infrastructure will be key to continued human expansion into the solar system.
Picture by Ashton Guitard