Rocket Report: Blue Origin explosion still making headlines; Impulse raises money

Canada is spending serious money on developing its own access to space, with federal grants awarded to three Canadian launch startups, and now an agreement to bankroll construction at Spaceport Nova Scotia. But Canada has a long path ahead. The nation has little experience in the launch sector, and it’s hard not to wonder if there’s any significant private investment that will follow the government’s sizable financial commitment in this area. (submitted by JoeyS-IVB) Been there, done that… To better understand the challenges Blue Origin now faces, Ars spoke with several SpaceX veterans who experienced the Falcon 9 failure in 2016 and worked the long days afterward to get the rocket flying and rebuild the shattered facility at Space Launch Complex-40. Blue Origin’s CEO, Dave Limp, has said the company will launch from its damaged pad by the end of the year, less than seven months from now. None of the former SpaceX employees Ars spoke with—some on the record, some off—believe this timeline is realistic. Twelve months was generally viewed as the best-case scenario. Eighteen months was seen as most likely. NASA chief urges new ride for Blue Moon. Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket was supposed to launch the company’s first lunar lander, Blue Moon Mark 1, some time this fall. The Blue Moon test mission is an important precursor for Blue Origin’s future human-rated Moon lander for the Artemis program, and NASA is eager to see it fly. The rocket’s explosion on the launch pad last week makes a launch on New Glenn this year unachievable. NASA now wants to find an alternative launcher for the first of Blue Origin’s Blue Moon demo missions, Spaceflight Now reports. In an interview with FOX Business on Thursday, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman described a “whole of government response” to the May 28 incident with the New Glenn. “We are also de-coupling the lander from the launch vehicle and the pad itself,” he said. Only one option... “NASA is laser focused on the lander because we’re laser focused on our mission to return astronauts to the surface of the Moon before 2028, and we’re going be able to keep that lander in development, progressing, so it’s available for our test mission in 2027, which is Artemis III, and potentially available to meet our landing objectives in 2028,” Isaacman said. A NASA spokesperson confirmed to Spaceflight Now that NASA would like to see the launches of the Blue Moon Mark 1 cargo lander and potentially the Blue Moon Mark 2 crewed lander move to a rocket that’s not New Glenn. For Mark 1, at least, the only realistic option is SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket, but there are several technical hurdles to making that happen. Artemis III booster segments shipped to KSC. While there is some uncertainty regarding timelines and landers, the rocket for the Artemis III mission is being prepared for launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Northrop Grumman began shipping all of the remaining solid rocket booster segments for the mission’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket from Utah on Tuesday, June 2, NASASpaceflight reports. The Union Pacific train will deliver the eight remaining booster segments to Kennedy, joining other booster components previously shipped to the Florida launch site. Chris Cianciola, NASA’s deputy SLS program manager, said at a departure ceremony in Utah that NASA will begin stacking the boosters on the SLS mobile launch platform this summer, with an eye toward having the rocket ready for launch as soon as March 2027. The mission will launch only when at least one of NASA’s Artemis lunar landers is ready for a demonstration mission in low-Earth orbit. Officials have said that isn’t likely to occur until later in 2027, and that was before Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket explosion last week. A Trumped-up ride... The train carrying the booster segments to Florida is being pulled by Union Pacific locomotive 4547, built in partnership with Wabtec and GE Transportation. In response to online criticism, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman wrote on X: “A major vendor, Union Pacific, decided to paint one of its locomotives in patriotic colors to celebrate America’s 250th birthday as it transports components of a NASA rocket. They also decided to paint “45 47″ on the train to recognize the sitting president during this important anniversary.” This is the third locomotive in Union Pacific’s presidential series. The rail operator previously honored President Abraham Lincoln and President George H.W. Bush with specially-numbered locomotives. President Donald Trump is the first president to receive the honor while still in office. June 7: Falcon 9 | Starlink 17-43 | Vandenberg Space Force Base, California | 02:00 UTC June 8: Falcon 9 | Starlink 10-35 | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida | 10:07 UTC June 9: Zhuque-2E | Unknown Payload | Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China | 08:20 UTC