Starship’s latest flight draws both praise and concerns at IAC

MILAN – For many of the more than 11,000 participants at this year’s International Astronautical Congress, the biggest news of the week-long conference was not what happened inside the sprawling convention center here, but more than 9,000 kilometers away.

The final flight of SpaceX’s Starship/Super Heavy vehicle, which took place in Boca Chica, Texas, on October 13, one day before the IAC opening ceremony, demonstrated the ability of the Super Heavy booster to return to the launch site and be “caught” by stabilized mechanical arms On the launch tower. This was a big step toward the rapid reuse the company envisions for the vehicle, which will be needed for some of its key near-term missions such as NASA’s Human Landing System (HLS) program.

SpaceX itself kept a low profile at IAC, with no booth on the exhibit hall and no keynote presentations, but the flight was the talk of the show for many, demonstrating SpaceX’s capabilities and, for some, its growing gap with the rest of the industry.

For NASA, the flight was a sign that development of the HLS version of Starship was on track for Artemis 3, which is still officially scheduled to take place no later than September 2026.

“Just yesterday, SpaceX had a very successful fifth launch as they developed this very large rocket,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said during an October 14 public session that included the heads of several space agencies. “This was another one of the steps in iteratively developing that.”

He added at a press conference the next day that work on the HLS version of Starship was on schedule. “I think you saw, as a result of the test that SpaceX conducted on Sunday and its large rocket, that they are moving very well, and this will ultimately determine the timing of the Artemis 3 landing on the moon,” he said. “As of Sunday’s test, it was fine.”

“They’re right to set the standards because they plan to land in late ’26,” he said of SpaceX later in the press conference.

The flight’s success has also been welcomed by companies planning to use the spacecraft for other missions, ranging from launching large payloads such as commercial space stations into low Earth orbit to commercial missions to the moon.

However, for others in industry and government, Starship’s recent test flight has sparked mixed reactions, particularly among European companies and agencies as the continent emerges from its “launch crisis” with the successful launch of Ariane 6 in July and returns to flight. Vega C in early December.

“Congratulations to SpaceX, what an amazing engineering achievement! Mars, here we come,” the Augsburg rocket factory said. Posted on social media October 14. “At the same time, the coin has a second side: it shows and confirms that Europe has completely lost touch. Can he still catch up? No chance. “At least not the way things are going right now.”

The company, which lost its first launch vehicle, RFA ONE, in a static fire test accident in August, called on governments in Europe to act as major customers for the new launch vehicles, increase investment and “a framework that allows and encourages non-bureaucratic, rapid and efficient action”. Risk development.”

In an interview on October 15, Joseph Aschbacher, ESA’s director general, said he was “impressed” by the launch from an engineering perspective. “Then I have to think, what does it mean for Europe, and see what change it will bring to the landscape and the ecosystem, and what we need to do.”

He acknowledged that Europe could not compete head-to-head with Starship, but could instead benefit from the broader changes in the space economy that Starship enables. “How do we position ourselves in this ecosystem that is evolving now?” He said. “You can imagine that if a spacecraft brought 100 tons into space repeatedly, that would change everything out there in space, how things are built and how space is used.”

He said it was “interesting” that RFA criticized Europe for falling further behind in launches, noting that Europe was taking steps to make the launch industry more competitive while supporting emerging markets such as commercial freight transportation. “We are on the right track. We are moving full speed in this direction.”

Starship, as well as SpaceX’s reuse of Falcon 9 boosters, has made it clear to many that reusability is essential for future launch vehicles. S pointed out. Somanath, head of the Indian Space Agency, noted at the plenary session on October 14 that the Indian government recently approved the development of a Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV) that will provide increased payload performance over existing rockets and with a reusable booster. He estimated that developing the NGLV would take six years.

“I think you all realize that reuse is mandatory for launch pads,” he said.

Related to