Weekly Space Report: Reusable Competition for SpaceX

SCANALYZER The Happening World
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Highlights:

  • TF5 fully stacked and ready to launch. Partial wet dress rehearsal. SpaceX waiting on politicized FAA.

  • Iconic crew photo. (:

  • Tower Two flame trench progress and more speculation.

  • Starlink commercial success review, and discussion of consequences.

  • Booster 11 recovery activity in the Gulf. Partial ring of engines transported to Boca Chica.

  • Falcon 9: Starlink 9-8

  • Crew-9 postponed due to Hurricane Helene.

  • Successfully hot fire of New Glenn Second Stage. Proceeding to stack for hopeful November launch.

  • Longshot Space funding for its space cannon.

  • Deeo Blue Aerospace Nebula-1 partial success returning to launch site.

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An interesting point about the Chinese company Deep Blue Aerospace, which is currently where SpaceX was some years ago – learning through failure. But the long-term threat to SpaceX (and its US employees) is not just China’s superior manufacturing base and lower cost structures, Deep Blue apparently has the support of a government which would like them to succeed. If only the “Joe Biden” Administration were so supportive.

Why SpaceX’s Chinese rivals can turn around faster if rocket launches fail | South China Morning Post (scmp.com)

… At 1.40pm on Sunday, Deep Blue launched a vertical recovery flight test of its “Nebula-1” reusable launch vehicle from a site in Inner Mongolia autonomous region in northern China. The vehicle ascended and descended smoothly, but its engine shut down before landing, causing the rocket to crash and explode.

“Another vertical recovery test will be carried out in November, and the rocket will be launched into orbit in the first quarter of 2025,” Deep Blue Aerospace’s chief engineer Du Pengfei said on Monday.

Explaining the quick recovery, he said: “The Chinese government is very tolerant and encouraging of commercial space flights. We have implemented comprehensive safety measures and getting approval after filing the required application was quick.” …

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