Chapter 537 - 526: SL-X_1

"What’s the separation speed?"

"2.5 kilometers per second; separation speed is considerably higher when not recovering. In cases of recovery, it can be reduced to around 1.8 kilometers per second."

Robert was now at the Starship manufacturing base, carefully reviewing the entire process record of Starship’s third launch.

SpecaX is actually quite a unique company; unlike XAP, which focuses on high-tech prowess, Musk is striving to take aerospace down from its lofty pedestal.

The entire Starship manufacturing base is actually quite rudimentary (for a space enterprise), where the largest workshops and assembly centers are made of steel frames and sheet materials, looking from the outside like an oversized tent.

One Starship after another, as well as Super Heavy boosters, are shipped out from here, though more than half of them are scrapped during ground tests, with only a small portion passing the pre-flight standard inspection.

This time, the B10 booster that was launched had significant differences from the original design, mainly because NACA wanted to obtain a usable first stage that did not require the swiveling feature for most of the engines.

The previous design relied on the inner ring of thirteen engines to control thrust vectoring, but B10 had only the central three engines capable of swiveling.

If there wasn’t enough turning force, it would be achieved by adjusting one side’s engine throttle to create a thrust differential for turning, essentially a combination of the N1’s steering method.

There were numerous other scattered improvements; although the early SpecaX launches didn’t intend to recover, they still included many designs prepared for recovery, of which all were eliminated on B10, significantly simplifying the structure and reducing the computer load.

Since the second Starship launch had basically solved the reliability issue of thirty-three engines working together, B10 reached the target perfectly with significantly lowered design expectations, though the second-stage Starship spacecraft still exploded.

Robert, with his team, carefully checked the entire launch process record of B10, including the mission log sent in real time by the computer, and found no suspicious points.

"Tom, set B10’s parameters immediately; how long will it take to modify B11 to B13 in your warehouse to be the same as B10?"

Tom Mueller frowned and thought for a moment:

"In fact, this launch proved that many of B10’s designs could still be optimized. Maybe we..."

Robert cut him off:

"No, just B10; freeze its technical status without any changes. We don’t have time to pursue better now, NACA just needs a rocket that can launch successfully."

"Okay then." Tom understood Director Robert’s urgency, although the post-launch analysis of B10 revealed many potential improvements, but after all, modifications carried risks.

Changes to the original design must be approached with utmost caution.

"However, we’ve only basically completed B11 so far, B12 and B13 are still half-finished. SpecaX can deliver B11 by the end of October, followed by the remaining two in November and December."

"Great, then we’ll use B11 and ICPS to execute Artemis III in November and perform the second manned Moon landing mission, Artemis IV, before January 1."

Director Robert answered quickly.

He had already planned during the third Starship launch to transplant the ICPS used by the original SLS rocket onto the Super Heavy booster, effectively replacing SLS’s Core Stage One and boosters with Starship’s first stage. The new rocket’s lunar orbital payload capacity could reach 46 tons, equivalent to a Saturn V.

The new rocket will keep using the SLS name, called SLS-X, or simply SL-X.

The goal of SLS-X is to send a deeply modified "Blue Moon" lander on an unmanned Moon landing mission. If feasible, a second SLS-X would be launched.

The structure of the SLS-X remained the same. This time, it would send an Orion spacecraft and a fueling unit for "Blue Moon" before refueling the Artemis III’s lander, achieving the second crewed Moon landing.

As long as the first stage is reliable, the mature ICPS upper stage will surely meet the mission requirements.

In fact, Starship’s Super Heavy booster has tremendous potential. With the Centaur VI upper stage powered by three RL-10 engines, its Low Earth Orbit (LEO) capability could reach 180 tons, and 55 tons to Moon orbit;

If equipped with the five RL-10 engine-powered EUS upper stage, the LEO capability would reach an astonishing 70 tons.

The SLS-X block1 carries the ICPS upper stage, the Centaur VI upper stage is on the SLS-X block2, and the EUS upper stage version is the SLS-X block3.

Although none is reusable, their low cost and strong lifting capability destine them to be the main force for the next two years.

The new SLS-X is a "modular" rocket, but the Raptor engines used in the first-stage boosters are easy to control the flow. Director Robert sees the overall rocket testing as not very challenging.

After the Artemis II mission in July, Director Robert also began a major reorganization within NACA. He has now set the goal for this year as "Return to the Moon," and launching at least one SLS-X within two months is not a problem. It’s also worth trying to launch the second one by the tail end of the Gregorian New Year.

...

October 8th, the first day after the Golden Week.

Like the rest of the base, Golden Week included seven days off, but many still stayed to work, collaborating with other design firms participating in the Cloud Ascend project to maintain and inspect the Aero-Space Plane.

After four days of inspections, the design team was surprised to find Cloud Ascend in exceptionally good condition. A quick inside-and-out sweep of the entire aircraft revealed no issues, perfectly meeting the "normalized launch" target criteria.

Theoretically, without doing anything else but refueling, Cloud Ascend could take astronauts into space for a second time. This marked a significant advancement over the Space Shuttle and reusable rockets.

Cloud Ascend’s first test flight was different from typical airplane procedures. Although it bore the title of a prototype, all configurations were already in place, and the subsystems were tested during a few days in space without any issues.

Thus, Lin Ju "hijacked" the second flight mission, deciding to directly arrange novices for the flight.

All 22 passengers of the flight mission gathered on the runway, among whom 18 were "payload specialists," six of which were from the aerospace agency.

Yun Hongjun, feeling the ultra-lightweight cabin suit on his body, couldn’t quite believe it was real.

The day before yesterday, Lin Ju told him that Xie Liaofu wanted to discuss a high-strength booster separation design issue and hoped he could come over as soon as possible. So the next day, he flew over on the C810.

As soon as he landed, he was grabbed by a few technical experts from the aerospace agency at the base and rushed to the medical center, only to find out when he came out that he was due to take the Aero-Space Plane to space the next day...

Xie Liaofu’s explanation was that Cloud Ascend’s previous test flights were all for testing the aircraft and didn’t have any critical missions, so everyone on this flight were essentially guinea pigs.

During the entire last flight, the maximum acceleration felt by the astronauts was 2.55G, lasting for 3.3 seconds, with an average G-force of 1.59G.

What does this mean? The maximum takeoff acceleration G-force for a commercial airliner is 1.5; a roller coaster can reach up to 4.8G and continue for 6 to 7 seconds. The Aero-Space Plane’s requirements for astronauts’ physical health could be relaxed to include ordinary humans without any training...

Moreover, the second flight was just a 24-hour independent flight mission. Lin Ju boldly allowed all passengers, except the pilot and co-pilot, to be ordinary people — including Xie Liaofu himself.

Before gathering at the airport, he even sneakily drank half a glass of whiskey. When he stood next to Yun Hongjun, the smell of alcohol was slightly overwhelming.