Small Space News Story Roundup 42

The first one is just because I think the picture is pretty.

SpaceX Return to Flight Set a Time Record

The return to flight approval from the FAA that was talked about in last night's post took place almost immediately. There were Falcon 9s loaded with Starlink satellites at both Vandenberg and Cape Canaveral and both launched early this morning. 

One Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 3:43 a.m. Eastern, placing 21 Starlink satellites into orbit. It was followed at 4:48 a.m. Eastern by another Falcon 9 lifting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base’s Space Launch Complex 4E, also delivering 21 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. The 65 minutes between launches is the shortest interval yet between Falcon 9 launches.

In the foreground is Pad 39A of the Kennedy Space Center, with a Falcon 9 and Polaris Dawn capsule waiting for their desired weather conditions. In the background of the long exposure shot, the Falcon 9 lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. SpaceX photo

NASA Awards $117 Million to Intuitive Machines for a 2027 Mission to Moon's South Pole

Remember the first Intuitive Machines probe to the moon last February, Odysseus - quickly nicknamed Odie? Odie got a lot of attention and coverage here on the blog. It was, after all, the first US launched vehicle to land on the moon since the end of the Apollo program when it landed on February 22nd. Granted that "Landing" is only accurate in the loosest sense of the word - the lander broke a leg on its final approach and tipped over. Because of that, the mission was a continuous string of what I call "asbestos moments" - doing "as best as they could with what they got" and Intuitive Machines reported every paying customer was happy with their results. 

On Friday (the 30th) NASA announced they had awarded Intuitive Machines a nearly $117 million contract for a lander to deliver six instruments to lunar south pole in 2027.

"The instruments on this newly awarded flight will help us achieve multiple scientific objectives and strengthen our understanding of the moon's environment," Chris Culbert, manager of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, said in a statement. 

"For example, they'll help answer key questions about where volatiles — such as water, ice, or gas — are found on the lunar surface and measure radiation in the South Pole region, which could advance our exploration efforts on the moon and help us with continued exploration of Mars."

This is not the Next lander for IM, so it's not three years between missions. Their next lander, IM-2, is expected to fly before the end of this year, also to the south pole area. It carries a NASA payload called PRIME-1 (Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1) that will hunt for water ice, which is thought to be abundant in the area. IM-3 will follow next year. That means IM landers in '24, '25, and '27.