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Vulcan's upper stage Centaur V using RL10s is apparently able to achieve specific impulse well in excess of 460s. This will significantly enhance direct injection of large payloads to MEO and GSO.
NRO and USSF are going to be very happy with this.

The US's attitude is hypocritical in the extreme. Most space launchers used to use repurposed military launcher technology until recently. The US even still uses those like with the Minotaur rocket.

North Korea has about as much right to use space including for Earth reconnaissance as anyone else.

gelgoog said:

It is possible to assemble the mission in orbit. But this will require two launch sites and multiple rockets.
I also think this is economically more feasible than the super heavy launchers. Especially if you use reusable rockets.

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Pavel said:

Do you need a super heavy carrier? I believe that for flights to the Moon and Mars, it is possible to assemble a starship in orbit and deliver a payload to it by launching heavy rockets.

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For moon you don't, but for Mars you have to.

In case of China, mars manned mission is to be assembled in orbit with 7 CZ-9 launches. How many launches would there be if it is anything smaller, falcon heavy or CZ-10?

The yellow colored modules are most likely launched by CZ-9, and multiple times. The transfer modules (LEO LMO) are over 120t to 180t even when empty. And they are nuclear propulsions, you can't ask astranaut to assemble them in orbit from smaller pieces. The total mass departing from LEO is 328+246+100, about 674t.

The US would have to do the same thing that is neclear propulsion. That is why both Ares V and Starship was/is aiming at 200t LEO, even SLS block II is aiming at 180t.

BTW, in mars mission, starship will have to be in expanded mode if US goes with nuclear and keep down the launches. If they go full chemical the total mass departing LEO would be over many thousand tons, and if starship goes reusable mode, there will probably 50 launches. Sending that many thousand-tons complex to mars is like catapulting a soft tofu, think about how much structural challenge and how low the permissible acceleration would be, therefor how long time the journey would be.

SlothmanAllen said:

I don’t know if Starship will ultimately be a success or failure, but certainly getting something that large with 33 engines into the air is very impressive. The speed of the program is also very impressive. A lot of people threw shade after the first launch attempt and the problems with the launch pad, but they seemed to resolve those faster then people anticipated.

I don’t like Elon Musk, but I think people need to stop doubting SpaceX. This program might end up a failure, but I am not going to bet against them at this stage. I don’t know what to call it, but they basically have lighting in a bottle right now. They are taking huge risks and yet still pulling off wins.

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And the speed of the program is greatly influenced by the FAA. So greatly that it look like the FAA, a federal agency, want to slow spaceX progress so NASA, another federal agency, look less lost that it is.

Government accountability office report: Artemis III may be pushed back to 2027 due to slow progress on HLS as well as overall budget concerns

NASA would like China to give them their lunar samples.

NASA has greenlit space agency-funded researchers to apply for access to China's lunar samples returned to Earth via that country's Chang'e-5 moon mission.

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"The Chang'e-5 samples originate from regions of the moon not yet sampled by NASA and are expected to provide valuable new scientific insight on the geological

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, which could provide new understanding of the Earth-moon system and potentially inform NASA's future lunar exploration plans," the statement adds.

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"Applying for samples will ensure that United States researchers have the same research opportunities as scientists around the world."

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But don't worry:

"the normal prohibition on bilateral activity with PRC [People's Republic of China] on NASA funded projects remains in place," says the statement.

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NASA officials in 2021

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the notion of a bilateral arrangement with China on the exchange of samples.

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Ariane 6 launch set for summer 2024:


The first DreamChaser spaceplane is ready for final testing and will launch no earlier than March 2024. The second DreamChaser is 24 months away from completion.


Starliner is "on track" (ok, I couldn't keep a straight face) for a crewed April 2024 launch:

Saudi Arabia has withdrawn from the Moon Treaty.