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from the Which-will-first-orbit-the-Earth?-NASA-SLS-or-SpaceX-Starship? dept.
SLS debut slips to April 2021, KSC teams working through launch sims
Preparations continue at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the first launch of the Space Launch System, or SLS rocket – NASA's gigantic rocket the agency hopes to use to launch humans to the lunar surface and to the commercial-rocket constructed Lunar Gateway.
But while Kennedy prepares for the rocket's arrival and first mission, various NASA centers are now actively planning for a No Earlier Than 18 April 2021 launch for the rocket's debut.
[...] The 20 February 2020 NASA press release regarding the KSC launch team's performance of Artemis 1 countdown and launch simulations was the first NASA release to publicly confirm SLS will not fly this year, noting "NASA is preparing for the first uncrewed flight test next year of the agency's powerful new rocket and spacecraft in development for the Artemis lunar exploration program."
The previous NASA-provided No Earlier Than (NET) November 2020 launch date of Artemis 1 was always viewed as political in nature and not an accurate reflection of the rocket's readiness.
See also: Cruz skeptical about prospects for NASA appropriations or other legislation
(Score: 2) by slap on Saturday February 29 2020, @04:19AM (3 children)
At this rate there is a good chance that SpaceX Starship will reach orbit before SLS launches.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Saturday February 29 2020, @05:09AM
Heck, it's not exactly a long shot that it might reach the Moon and maybe even Mars before SLS launches.
I mean - the early production models probably won't be suitable for long service lives. If some survive early testing until the next iterations render them obsolete, then attempting landings under very different gravity and atmosphere conditions would provide some wonderful data relatively early in the development process. Not to mention the crowing rights for landing a skyscraper on the moon before NASA even builds their "gateway".
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday February 29 2020, @12:24PM
https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-starship-launch-pad-transport-test-campaign/ [teslarati.com]
There could be a suborbital test in late March. I wouldn't expect orbital to happen before they get a Super Heavy on the pad, and that is dependent on these tests and Raptor engine production. Although a Starship with no booster or payload might be able to do single-stage-to-orbit, barely.
But yes, April 2021 (or later) is a lot of time for this fast-moving program and might even be enough time for a nice stunt like landing it on the Moon. In fact, SpaceX wanted to launch a commercial payload using Starship in 2021 [spacenews.com].
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 01 2020, @09:34AM
I'd be concerned about the meta. NASA is a big customer still, and while it shouldn't matter - humiliating them is probably not good for business.