Starship’s Pivotal Test Flight; Firefly Expands to Japan
▼ Summary
– SpaceX’s Starship Flight 9 test is scheduled for Sunday at 6:30 pm local time in Texas, with Ars providing coverage.
– The report reviews what went wrong during May’s Flight 9 and discusses the high stakes of the upcoming mission.
– Firefly Aerospace and Hokkaido Spaceport are exploring the feasibility of launching Alpha rockets from Japan.
– Launching from Japan would allow Firefly to serve the Asian satellite market and add resiliency for US allies.
– All previous Alpha rocket launches occurred from California, and the seventh launch for Lockheed Martin is pending a mishap investigation.
SpaceX’s Starship vehicle is preparing for another critical test flight, with the upcoming mission scheduled for Sunday at 6:30 pm local time in Texas. This flight follows the ninth test in May, which encountered issues that engineers have since addressed. The stakes remain high as SpaceX continues refining the world’s most powerful rocket, and detailed coverage will be available as the event unfolds.
Readers are encouraged to submit updates and subscribe to ensure they receive each edition of the report, which covers developments across small, medium, and heavy-lift launch systems. A preview of the next three scheduled launches is also included in every issue.
In other industry news, Firefly Aerospace is exploring opportunities to launch its Alpha rocket from Japan. The company has signed a memorandum of understanding with Space Cotan Co., Ltd., operator of the Hokkaido Spaceport, to study the feasibility of conducting Alpha missions from the northern island of Hokkaido. The spaceport, located in Taiki Town, promotes itself as a commercial facility serving businesses, universities, and government agencies both in Japan and internationally. It offers launch azimuths supporting orbits from 42 to 98 degrees, including Sun-synchronous trajectories.
Adam Oakes, Firefly’s vice president of launch, emphasized that these discussions are preliminary but represent a significant opportunity to expand the company’s reach. Launching from Japan would enable Firefly to better serve the Asian satellite market and provide additional launch options for U.S. allies. To date, all six Alpha launches have originated from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. A seventh mission for Lockheed Martin is planned, though its schedule remains pending as the company addresses findings from an investigation into an anomaly during its sixth flight in April.
(Source: Ars Technica)
