SpaceX dominates the overall ranking of orbital launches after Elon Musk’s rocket already exceeded the number of launches in 2021 in July, but new orbital launchers continue to appear, not necessarily to challenge SpaceX’s lead, but rather to meet several specific requirements. niches: either small-caliber launchers for low-cost launches of small satellites into low Earth orbits, or massive rockets for ambitious missions to the Moon or, who knows, maybe even to Mars.

A new Indian rocket lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in India on Sunday morning (August 7) ​​at 06:48 Romanian time. India had three active launch vehicles in its portfolio: PSLV (Polar Launch Vehicle) and GSLV (Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle) and GSLV Mk. III (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III), to which the SSLV (Small Satellite Launch Vehicle) was added on Sunday.

Admittedly, India doesn’t have much imagination when it comes to orbital rockets (surprising given the vast Hindu mythology), but at least we can decipher the role and size of the rockets relatively easily from their names: PSLV for medium and light satellites for polar orbit. , the GLSV for telecommunications satellites destined for geostationary orbit, and the SSLV is intended as a cheap, lightweight launch vehicle that can launch small satellites into low Earth orbit, thus taking over the tasks that the PSLV had (the secondary stage of the SSLV is effectively similar to the third stage of the PSLV rocket).

But Sunday’s launch didn’t go too well: While the first three solid-fuel stages performed flawlessly, the rocket’s liquid-fueled fourth stage failed to put the EOS-02 onboard satellite into the correct orbit: instead of reaching a circular orbit with an altitude of 356 km, it reached an orbit with a perigee (the point with the lowest altitude) of only 76 km, which means an unstable orbit, which led to the fall of the satellite into the ocean (in fact, it failed to orbit the Earth even once). Fortunately, it looks like the problem can be fixed relatively easily for the next launch, since it’s an upper stage sensor failure, so we’ll probably see a new SSLV rocket on the launch pad soon.

For the European Space Agency (ESA), July 13, 2022 was a happy day, as at 13:13 UTC (16:13 Romanian time) the Vega-C rocket launched and launched the Italian LARES-2 satellite into orbit. It was the first orbital rocket on which the Romanian tricolor was painted on the initial stage (along with the flags of 12 other European states), since, thanks to our country’s membership in the ESA, Romania also contributed to the project of the new European orbital launcher. Vega-C is an evolution of the Vega rocket, which not only can lift heavier payloads into orbit, but also lowers production costs because the primary stage is similar to the boosters used in Europe’s future Ariane 6 heavy rocket (whose debut, however, has been delayed until next year).

South Korea refuses to cooperate with Russia and independently begins to build a missile, which seems to suit them

The Lijian-1 (or Zhongke-1A) is a rocket produced by a private Chinese company called CAS Space (more or less private, please, because it’s actually a subsidiary of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a state-like organization) that successfully launched 27 July from the Jiuquan Space Center. The Lijian-1, based on the DF-31 intercontinental ballistic missile, has four stages, all of which are solid fuel. They are similar in performance to Europe’s Vega rocket, meaning it doesn’t break the bank when it comes to payload mass placed in low Earth orbit (about 500 km altitude), but it gets the job done. in the region of about 1.5 tons.

Although the debut of South Korea’s Nuri rocket (or KSLV-II) took place last year, the launch on October 21, 2021 ended badly, so the South Korean space agency got down to business, fixed the problems found and tried again, on June 21, 2022, this time with success: the rocket ” Nuri” launched without problems (even if it did not put a viable satellite into orbit, the purpose of the launch was only to test the rocket). If you’re wondering why we still call it KSLV-II, the answer is simple: between 2009 and 2013, there was a Russian-built KSLV-I (or Naro) rocket: the first stage of the rocket was actually similar to the Anagar rocket. The rocket flew 4 times, but only once did not explode. As a result, South Korea refuses to cooperate with Russia and begins to independently build a missile, which seems to suit them.

Now that we’ve covered the brand new rockets that will take off for the first time in 2022, I should mention that this year also saw the launch of some already installed rockets, but on the launch pads in new variants. And since we are still talking about Angara, it is worth noting that on April 29, 2022, the long-delayed launch of the Angara-1.2 launch vehicle finally took place from the Plesetsk military cosmodrome. This comes after the Angara-1.2PP variant completed a suborbital test in 2014 and the Angara-A5 variant made three flights between 2014 and 2021 (the last launch was missed).

The Changzheng-6A launch on March 29, 2022 from the Taiyuan Spaceport also includes the old rocket head in new configurations. While the Changzheng-6 has completed 8 flights since 2015 (without a single failure), the 6A variant has some upgrades to improve performance: two YF-100 engines for the first stage (as opposed to one) and four auxiliary propellants. solid boosters (the previous version does not use such auxiliary boosters). Thus, Changzheng-6A can lift more than 4 tons into low Earth orbit, compared to about 1 ton that Changzheng can lift.

If everything goes according to plan, the launch of the most powerful rocket in existence will take place on August 29

We’ve saved the most interesting part for last, the massive SLS (from NASA) and Starship (from SpaceX) orbital launch vehicles, both preparing for their first launches. On August 18, NASA will lift the SLS rocket from the hangar and transport it to the LC-39B launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. If all goes according to plan, on August 29 we will see the launch of the most powerful rocket ever (but not more powerful than the legendary Saturn V, at least not in its current configuration), a mission that will send the Orion capsule into orbit around the Moon, in what will be the first mission of the Artemis program, with which NASA wants to send again crews to the moon. The Orion capsule of the Artemis-1 mission will not have a crew on board, but if all goes well, we will see American astronauts walking on the moon again in 2025. Let’s stay healthy until then, because there is still a long way to go.

For example, NASA’s plans to send astronauts to the moon are connected to SpaceX and the vehicle that will knock SLS off the pedestal of the most powerful rocket: Starship. SpaceX’s future rocket is an integral part of the Artemis program, and its variant will be used for landing of astronauts on the moon in 2025 (the Orion capsule cannot leave lunar orbit). But until then, Elon Musk has to prove that the Raptor engines work and that they can launch the colossal Starship rocket into orbit. We don’t yet know when we’ll see an orbital test, the rocket is currently undergoing testing at SpaceX headquarters in Boca Chica, Texas, and Elon Musk has said the launch could happen anytime next month or next year. And no one has high hopes that the first issue will be successful.

At the other end of the spectrum are two small American launch vehicles that used advanced 3D printing technology that companies promised us we’d see on launch pads this year: the Terran-1 (from Relativity Space) and the RS-1 (from ABL Space System). It remains to be seen how successful the two new rockets will be, given that Rocket Lab’s Peter Beck, whose portfolio includes the light-caliber Electron rocket, can’t find customers for more than 6-7 launches a year.

Towards the end of the year, we should also see the first launch of the Vulcan rocket, the successor to the Atlas V, Delta IV and Delta IV Heavy rockets.

The Firefly Alpha rocket is likely to return to the launch pad by the end of this year after its first launch failed last year, when the rocket was lost just seconds after firing its engines. Especially since a few days ago the company named after Northrop Grumman announced a partnership with Firefly Aerospace to create new engines to be used by the Antares rocket during resupply operations at the International Space Station (between us, I don’t think it would surprise anyone if Northrop Grumman were to acquire Firefly Aerospace in the near future).

Towards the end of the year (although I wouldn’t bet on it not being delayed until next year) we should also see the first launch of the Vulcan rocket, the successor to the Atlas V, Delta IV and Delta IV Heavy rockets. It is operated by United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, and is intended to compete with the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy. The Vulcan is to be powered by two methane-fueled BE-4 engines manufactured by Blue Origin, and it was the delay in the completion of these engines that delayed the debut of the rocket, which should have already flown according to the original plan.

Not only the Artemis program and activities at Boca Chica will make the rest of 2022 extremely interesting in terms of space activities in general and orbital launches in particular, but also new private companies in China testing new orbital launch vehicles, 3D printing of rockets launched from of the United States, and even the upcoming Vega-C missions, the first rocket to which Romania made a significant contribution recognized by ESA. Last year we saw a total of 134 successful orbital launches, and already in 2022 we have reached 98 successful launches (on August 4th alone, less than 20 hours apart, we had 5 launches, a new record). Look at the sky, interesting things are happening up there.