SpaceX says refueling Starship in space isn’t scary

When SpaceX pushes Starship onto the launch pad for its third test this year, the company will begin testing the spacecraft’s ability to transport ultra-cold rocket fuel in space.

NASA is relying on billionaire Elon Musk’s rocket company to carry astronauts to the lunar surface for its Artemis III and IV missions under a $4.2 billion contract. Monthly tasks. To do this, SpaceX must first master how to refuel an already-launched Starship in low-Earth orbit. The tricky concept is called “cryogenic propellant transfer” — and it’s something that’s never been done in microgravity before.

NASA’s plan to return astronauts to the moon for the first time in half a century involves its own Orion spacecraft as well as SpaceX’s Starship. In a space relay of sorts, Orion will launch the astronauts into lunar orbit, and Starship will rendezvous with the astronauts in space and land them on the lunar surface for the final leg of the journey. The “baton” can be passed on the unfinished lunar space station, or it can be passed directly from one spacecraft to another.

NASA promises Artemis 3 will put a woman and person of color on the moon for the first time. But given that Starship has attempted two space flights so far, each ending in an explosion minutes after liftoff, it’s perhaps not surprising that NASA has just announced that the moon mission will be delayed by at least a year to 2026 .

“They made tremendous progress with their test flight in Boca Chica,” said Amit Kshatriya, NASA’s associate administrator for Moon to Mars, referring to SpaceX’s privately owned facility in South Texas. Spaceport. “But it’s extremely challenging for some of the propellant transfer and other goals they have set to get Earth out of sequence to serve us.”

Why does NASA want to build a propellant depot in space?

NASA and commercial partners are interested in space fuel stations because they can allow spacecraft to travel farther and farther in the solar system. Future missions could use ice on the moon to create propellant by splitting water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. If engineers can figure out how to store ultra-cold liquids in space, whether they are launched from Earth or produced elsewhere, it could make long-term stays on the moon possible and even support missions to distant Mars.

NASA has invested $370 million in more than a dozen U.S. companies to develop the technology needed to store and transport rocket fuel in space. The funding includes $53 million for SpaceX to demonstrate the transfer of propellant from a tanker to a spacecraft in orbit.

NASA chose to use private lunar lander suppliers to reduce technical risks and costs for its Artemis program, which aims to use the moon as a springboard for an eventual mission to Mars. SpaceX was the first company chosen, with billionaire Jeff Bezos’ rival space company Blue Origin awarded the Artemis V contract, The manned mission is expected to take place no earlier than 2029.

In a space relay of sorts, Orion will launch the astronauts into lunar orbit, and Starship will rendezvous with the astronauts in space and land them on the lunar surface for the final leg of the journey.
Image source: NASA

SpaceX’s 400-foot-tall rocket and spacecraft, collectively known as Starship, are designed to carry large amounts of cargo and large numbers of people into deep space. Starship runs on 10 million pounds of liquid methane and oxygen, but the rocket consumes a lot of fuel just to escape the firm grip of Earth’s gravity.

How does propellant transfer occur in orbit?

To complete the remaining 250,000 miles of its journey to the moon, Starship needs to refuel its fuel tanks. SpaceX’s plan is to send a tanker version of Starship into low-Earth orbit and establish a fuel depot in space. The passenger version of Starship would dock on a tanker, refuel, and fly the rest of the way to the moon.

Blue Origin will also rely on orbital refueling.

“The transfer of propellant in orbit sounds complicated and scary — it looks like one big, fuzzy thing — but when you actually break it down into its individual parts, we’ve actually achieved what we planned to do. Almost every complex part that exists,” said Jessica Jensen, SpaceX’s vice president of customer operations and integration.

NASA astronauts test the docking hatch on a prototype Orion spacecraft.
Image credit: NASA / Radislav Sinyak

Starship’s third orbital test flight

NASA, on the other hand, seems more intimidated by the obstacles ahead. Kshatriya said getting ready for the dual Orion and Starship launches will be a “significant coordination challenge.”

SpaceX plans to conduct initial tests in orbit in February this year, attempting to transfer 11 tons (or 10 metric tons) of liquid oxygen between tanks within Starship. This is the first step toward the ultimate goal of transferring propellant between two separate craft in space.

But orbital refueling can seem murky to outsiders, in part because of how many launches are needed to deliver propellant to a tanker in space. Rival Blue Origin said SpaceX’s proposal would require 16 consecutive launches.Musk told one Washington post Reporters at X (then known as Twitter) said the number was “extremely unlikely” and could be between four and eight posts.

During an Artemis conference call with reporters this week, Jensen estimated “around 10,” after NASA Administrator Bill Nelson urged him to provide a number.

SpaceX confident of rapid refueling

No matter how many consecutive launches the operation requires, SpaceX officials are confident based on their track record. While rapid refueling may “seem very scary,” SpaceX has proven it can handle multiple launches of the Falcon 9, the workhorse rocket that regularly puts satellites into orbit, in a matter of hours.

The company has even demonstrated that it can turn around and launch from the same launch pad within days.

During Artemis 1’s maiden voyage, the Orion spacecraft flew away from the moon and back to Earth.
Image source: NASA

Additionally, Jensen assured that SpaceX has experience with many steps of propellant transfer, such as rendezvous and docking operations. Its Crew Dragon spacecraft has docked with the International Space Station more than 30 times and flown 250 miles from Earth.

“Everything we learn from the sensors we use, the algorithms we use for rendezvous, everything we learn from the retreat — we’re going to use all of that to dock two starships together,” she said.