JAHNIVERSE 64 Q&A 10 URBAN AIR MOBILITY 22 Wayfi nders as spacecraft trackers NASA’s Nelson on 2022 budget priorities Building UAM ground infrastructure The text you’re reading now is sized to represent the tonnage of satellites that fall back to Earth annually. The text would need to look like this... ...to represent the tonnage from the coming megaconstellations. Learn about the risks. PAGE 34 A giant leap for SPACE TOURISM? PAGE 18 JULY/AUGUST 2021 | A publication of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics | aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org KEY MOMENTS IN The July 20 fl ight by Jeff Bezos and his fellow passengers will take about 11 minutes, but like BLUE ORIGIN astronaut Alan Shepard’s 15-minute fl ight 60 years ago, the impact could be felt for decades. Success by Blue Origin would end a race with Virgin Galactic to send the fi rst paying 3 customer to the fringes of SECRET START FIRST FLIGHT OUT OF THE SHADOWS MINOR SETBACK space and could spark September 2000 — Jeff Bezos 1 March 5, 2005 — Blue 2 Jan. 2, 2007 — Blue makes Sept. 2, 2011 — A blog post regular tourist fl ights. The quietly founds Blue Origin. conducts a test fl ight of its jet the fi rst public reference to on the company website signed The company’s existence isn’t engine-powered vertical takeoff “New Shepard,” in a blog post by Bezos describes two “short fl ight will be the 16th for known publicly until 2003, and landing experimental on the company website signed hop” fl ights Blue conducted when reports emerge of Bezos vehicle, named Charon. The by Bezos. He describes a No- with the Propulsion Module 2 the company’s New Shepard purchasing thousands of acres tank-like article reaches vember 2006 low-altitude test test vehicle. The rocket was in West Texas to be converted 96.3 meters in altitude and with a different experimental destroyed during the second rocket and capsule design. into a launch site. then fi res its thrusters for a vehicle, a rocket-powered test fl ight when “a fl ight instability controlled landing. article named Goddard that is drove an angle of attack that After capsule separation, “a fi rst development vehicle in triggered our range safety the New Shepard program.” system to terminate thrust on the passengers will fl oat the vehicle.” free for three minutes as they continue to climb to 100 kilometers, and they will view Earth silhouetted NEW SHEPARD DEBUT LANDING DOWN PAT REUSABILITY PLAN FOR PASSENGERS 3 April 29, 2015 — Blue com- 4 Nov. 23, 2015 — Blue MILESTONE Oct. 13, 2016 — Blue will fl y against the black of space pletes the fi rst fl ight of the New launches the second uncrewed Jan 22, 2016 — Blue conducts employees as “test astronauts” Shepard design, consisting of a fl ight of the New Shepard de- the second uncrewed fl ight in 2017, President Rob Meyerson through six large windows rocket and unoccupied dummy sign. Both the capsule and the of the New Shepard 2 topped says at the International capsule that reach about 93.5 rocket, dubbed New Shepard 2, with an unoccupied capsule, Symposium for Personal and before descending back to kilometers in altitude. The are recovered. the fi rst time the company has Commercial Spacefl ight in New capsule separates from the refl own a rocket. Mexico. This does not happen. Texas for a landing under rocket for a parachute- He says commercial fl ights assisted landing, but the would then begin in 2018, and parachutes. Here are the booster crashes upon descent. this does not happen either. top milestones in the battle of the billionaires, Bezos and Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic. SCHEDULE SLIP BREAKING RECORDS A NEW ROCKET READY FOR Oct. 10, 2018 — With the Dec. 11, 2019 — Blue launch- 6 Jan. 13, 2021 — The New PASSENGERS 7 May 5, 2021 — Blue holds 2018 deadline slipping away, es the New Shepard 3 rocket for Shepard 4 rocket, with an Blue plans to begin passenger the sixth time, surpassing the unoccupied crew capsule, a webcast announcing plans — Cat Hofacker fl ights in the fi rst half of 2019, record of fi ve fl ights set by New makes its fi rst fl ight. This is to auction off a seat aboard CEO Bob Smith tells attendees Shepard 2 before that vehicle the version that will perform New Shepard’s fi rst crewed at the Aerospace Futures Alli- was retired. passenger fl ights. fl ight on July 20. The seat sells ance Summit in Washington. for $28 million in June to an undisclosed buyer. 18 | JULY/AUGUST 2021 | aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org BLUE ORIGIN v. THE RACE VIRGIN GALACTIC 1 2 ONGOING TESTS Oct. 22, 2012 — Blue posts a video on its website showing the fi rst test of the crew capsule escape system, a col- lection of thrusters that would propel the capsule and passen- gers inside away from a sizzling or exploding launch vehicle. In the video, a test capsule blasts off from the ground in a plume of smoke, landing under three parachutes. 4 MULTIPLE FIRSTS 5 Dec. 12, 2017 — Blue fl ies its fi rst customer payloads. The 12 experiments from companies, universities and a K-8 school launch aboard Blue’s Crew Capsule 2.0 and New Shepard 3 rocket, the fi rst fl ight for both vehicles. 5 6 BEZOS ON BOARD 8 June 7, 2021 — Bezos posts on Instagram that he and his brother Mark will be among the four passengers on New Shepard’s July 20 fl ight. 7 8 aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org | JULY/AUGUST 2021 | 19 KEY MOMENTS IN THE RACE VIRGIN GALACTIC 6 BOLD BEGINNING DEADLY EXPLOSION SHIFTING TIMELINES SPACEPLANE ROLL NEW MEXICO HUB September 2004 — Richard July 26, 2007 — A tank of 1 July 28, 2008 — Virgin rolls OUT OPENS Branson founds Virgin Galactic. nitrous oxide at the Mojave Air out its WhiteKnightTwo carrier 2 Dec. 7, 2009 — Virgin 3 Oct. 17, 2011 — Branson He gives a press conference at and Space Port in California ex- aircraft at the Mojave Air and unveils the fi rst SpaceShipTwo, dedicates Virgin’s hangar and the Royal Aeronautical Society plodes, killing three employees Space Port in California with a VSS Enterprise, at the runway at Spaceport America in London, laying out plans to of Scaled Composites, which ceremony that includes Bran- Mojave Air and Space Port in in New Mexico by rappelling begin suborbital fl ights with was building the SpaceShipTwo son popping a bottle of cham- California. down a balcony alongside customers in 2007 aboard planes for Virgin. Scaled pagne and naming the aircraft aerial performers and swigging piloted SpaceShipTwo becomes a Northrop Grumman VSS Eve (short for Virgin Space from a bottle of champagne. He planes, to be built by Scaled subsidiary in late August, Ship), after his mother. He says tells event attendees and press Composites and based on the concluding a deal that was passenger fl ights could begin that he hopes test fl ights will SpaceShipOne design that announced in July before the between 2009 and 2011. wrap up by the end of 2012 and won the 2004 X-prize. AvWeek explosion. that passenger fl ights from the reports that Branson and facility, Virgin’s planned hub, Scaled founder Burt Rutan will will begin shortly after. be Virgin’s fi rst passengers. FIRING THE ENGINES TARGETING 2014 A SECOND TRAGEDY DEADLY ERROR NEW SPACEPLANE 4 April 29, 2013 — Virgin Jan. 10, 2014 — Virgin pilots 5 Oct. 31, 2014 –Traveling July 28, 2015 — Last year’s 6 Feb. 19, 2016 — Bran- completes the fi rst powered complete the third powered at Mach 0.8 over Koehn Dry crash was caused by pilot error son unveils the second fl ight of VSS Enterprise after fl ight of VSS Enterprise, and Lake, California, VSS Enter- and a design fl aw, the National SpaceShipTwo plane, Virgin a series of captive-carry and CEO George Whitesides says prise breaks apart seconds Transportation Safety board Space Ship or VSS Unity, in a unpowered glide fl ights in a press release that “we after it is released from the reports. Scaled should have ceremony at the Mojave Air and spanning three years. The are progressively closer to our WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft. considered that a pilot might Space Port in California. The spaceplane is released from the target of starting commercial Co-pilot Michael Alsbury is prematurely pull the lever that spaceplane’s fi rst free fl ight WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft service in 2014.” killed, and pilot Peter Siebold held the vehicle’s tail wings occurs in December, when and fi res its hybrid rocket parachutes to the ground but is in place, leaving it vulnerable VSS Unity is released from the motor for 30 seconds. The two severely injured. It will be two to drag that pulled it upward WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft pilots then steer Enterprise for years before Virgin conducts its while Enterprise was traveling and pilots steer it back to a glided landing at Mojave Air next piloted fl ight. too fast and the atmosphere Mojave for a glided landing. and Space Port. was too thick. SCHEDULE UPDATE EDGE OF SPACE FIRST PASSENGER GOING PUBLIC NEW TARGETS April 26, 2017 — Virgin will Dec. 13, 2018 — VSS Unity 7 Feb. 22, 2019 — Virgin’s July 9, 2019 — Virgin Aug. 3, 2020 — Branson’s begin customer fl ights in 2018, burns its hybrid rocket motor chief astronaut trainer Beth announces plans to become a fl ight aboard VSS Unity will CEO George Whitesides tells the for 60 seconds during its sec- Moses joins the two pilots for a publicly traded company via a occur between January and Senate Commerce Committee.