NASA announced the addition of SpaceX's Starship rocket to the NASA Launch Services contract (NLS) II, which is used to launch the agency's science and research missions. However, before Starship can perform large-scale missions for NASA, it still needs to pass important tests and certification.
What the inclusion of Starship in NLS II means?
The NLS II contract is the core mechanism, through which NASA procures launch services for its missions. Falcon Missiles 9 and Falcon Heavy are already part of this contract and in active use by the agency. Example, 11 March with the help of Falcon 9 a double launch of SPHEREx and PUNCH satellites was carried out.
Besides SpaceX rockets, other carriers are also registered within NLS II, including Blue Origin's New Glenn, Alpha by Firefly Aerospace, Pegasus XL від Northrop Grumman, Rocket Lab's Electron and ULA's Vulcan Centaur.
Certification levels for NASA launches
Adding Starship to NLS II doesn't mean, that he will immediately be able to participate in all NASA competitions. The agency classifies rockets into three risk categories based on their flight experience and level of NASA oversight:
- Category 1 (high risk) - for carriers, who have not yet made a single successful flight or are just starting to fly. They can only be used for Class D missions, which have the highest tolerable probability of failure.
- Category 2 (medium risk) – for rockets, that was carried out from 1 to 6 successful launches (depending on the level of NASA verification). They are suitable for C and D class missions.
- Category 3 (low risk) – for rockets, that have from 3 to 14 successful launches and can be used for critical Class A missions, such as the launch of the Roman Space Telescope or the exploration of Jupiter's moon Europa Clipper.
For comparison, Blue Origin has announced, that after New Glenn's first flight in January 2025 he received Category certification 1 within NLS II.
Starship's main mission for NASA
Despite them, that Starship is now NLS II listed, in the near future, its main mission for NASA will be the Human Landing System program (HLS). SpaceX is developing a lunar version of Starship, which is supposed to land astronauts on the surface of the Moon as part of the Artemis missions 3 and Artemis 4 at the end of this decade.
As part of this program, SpaceX has filed an application with the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for permission to use frequencies to communicate with the Starship during missions. This application has been officially accepted for consideration 27 March.
New details on Starship missions
SpaceX's filing with the FCC also provides additional details about the use of Starship:
- Low Earth orbits will be used to launch satellites and refuel in orbit (LEO) at an altitude of 181–381 km with an inclination of 0–90 degrees.
- A “Final Refueling Orbit” is planned for missions to the Moon, where the transfer of fuel for lunar crewed missions will take place. Its parameters:
- Perigee: 281 ± 100 km; Apogee: from 10 534 to 150 534 km; Orbit inclination: 28–33°
- SpaceX also envisions Starship operating in low lunar orbit (120 km above the surface) or in the orbit of a near-rectilinear halo (NO), which is used by NASA for the Gateway lunar station (from 3 000 to 70 000 km).
What's next?
The addition of Starship to the NLS II contract is an important step in the collaboration between NASA and SpaceX, but the company still needs to demonstrate the rocket's reliability, before it can participate in the launch of important scientific missions.
Initially, SpaceX will focus on Starship testing, development of fuel tankers and testing of the lunar landing module. If the tests are successful, Starship will be able to apply for more serious tasks within the framework of NLS II, including missions to Mars and beyond.
Source: https://spacenews.com/nasa-adds-starship-to-launch-contract/