Documents of the US Federal Civil Aviation Administration (FAA) provided new details about SpaceX's project to develop and test atmospheric entry vehicles, which can be used to support manufacturing projects in space.
The FAA issued a positive ruling on the Starfall unmanned re-entry vehicle test flights. According to the management's opinion, these devices will not have a significant impact on the environment. The documents describe the Starfall as an apparatus, which will serve both for production in space, as well as for the delivery of goods according to the "point-to-point" principle. Starfall will be able to carry up to 1000 kilograms of payload in a volume of 2.5×1.5×0.5 meters inside the device. Capsules could become 'massively propagated successor' to International Space Station to support 'self-sufficient manufacturing economy in space'.
According to the FAA decision, the main goal of SpaceX is to create a system of ultra-fast delivery of strategic cargo on the "point-to-point" principle. in addition, the company aims to develop a self-sustaining commercial orbital manufacturing market. For this purpose, long stay in orbit services will be offered to customers on an industrial scale, access to vacuum and microgravity, as well as the safe return of the devices to Earth. US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved two re-entry test missions of Starfall capsules in the Pacific Ocean, about for 1300 kilometers from the coast of California and Mexico. Unmanned vehicles will be launched using Falcon launch vehicles 9 or Starship; they will be able to either enter a full orbit before returning to Earth, or head to the landing zone on a direct suborbital trajectory.
For reference: Capsules are disc-shaped, height 0,75 meter and diameter 3,1 meter in the upper part. They are equipped with cold-gas engines for orientation control, but do not have another propulsion system and cannot independently leave orbit. The device consists of two parts: top plate and heat shield. The top plate is an aluminum structure, partially wrapped in an unspecified thermal insulation material, by weight 1400 kilograms. The heat shield is a carbon-plastic construction, covered with heat-protective material, which also contains nitrogen cylinders for engines and other systems. Its weight is about 700 kilograms. The device will slow down the descent with the help of one main parachute, as well as pilot and braking parachutes, at the same time, the heat shield will be separated before water-down. FAA documents state, that SpaceX will use the boats to recover all elements of the spacecraft after the crash.
The FAA's environmental impact assessment documents do not list the exact dates of the tests, and there is currently no authorization for additional missions after the first two tests. However, in the future, SpaceX plans to create a serial spacecraft, able to quickly and with high accuracy deliver cargo from orbit to any point on Earth.
Source: https://spacenews.com