February 28, 2025 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.
- Stoke Space touts another video of a 30-second static fire engine test of its multi-nozzle Andromeda upper stage rocket engine
Apparently the test destroyed the camera, though it did its job. Stoke seems to be closing in on getting that reusable upper stage with its very radical design ready for launch.
- NASA uploads the directive that approved the return of Starliner unmanned [pdf]
A lot is redacted, and the rest really doesn’t add anything to what we already know, as far as I could see.
- China agrees to carry Pakistani astronaut to its Tiangong-3 space station
China has very few substantial partners in its lunar base alliance, so this deal is to highlight one.
- Rocket Lab touts its new “flatellite” satellite design for launching large constellations
It is designed to be built quickly in an assembly-line manner and launched stacked to maximum the number on each launch. The company provides the satellite basics, all a customer need do is add on its own instruments, whether for communications, remote sensing, or whatever.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
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c/o Robert Zimmerman
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You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.
- Stoke Space touts another video of a 30-second static fire engine test of its multi-nozzle Andromeda upper stage rocket engine
Apparently the test destroyed the camera, though it did its job. Stoke seems to be closing in on getting that reusable upper stage with its very radical design ready for launch.
- NASA uploads the directive that approved the return of Starliner unmanned [pdf]
A lot is redacted, and the rest really doesn’t add anything to what we already know, as far as I could see.
- China agrees to carry Pakistani astronaut to its Tiangong-3 space station
China has very few substantial partners in its lunar base alliance, so this deal is to highlight one.
- Rocket Lab touts its new “flatellite” satellite design for launching large constellations
It is designed to be built quickly in an assembly-line manner and launched stacked to maximum the number on each launch. The company provides the satellite basics, all a customer need do is add on its own instruments, whether for communications, remote sensing, or whatever.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
“February 22, 2025 Quick space links”
Published 28 February
Were you traveling 88 mph?
Blair: It’s called old age. Fixed and thanks.
A question: Why are the sections of the Commercial Crew Program Directive blacked/redacted out?
Is any of this classified?
Are there trade secrets being revealed?
Chris asked: “Why are the sections of the Commercial Crew Program Directive blacked/redacted out?”
This is a good question. The largest redactions occur in the rationale (reasoning) section and the decision section. This limits our knowledge of what they decided and why they decided it.
“Is any of this classified?”
It does not look like classified information, but then that is the point of redacting classified stuff. It is possible that there are International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) issues, which would be considered national security issues, but there is not enough context to be able to say that there is any classified material in this document.
“Are there trade secrets being revealed?”
Possibly, but the shortest redacted sections could reference the thruster failures. Since the reference to the helium leaks is not redacted, the leaks do not seem to be the reason for the redactions, but there are no references to the thruster problems, making me think that this topic is at least part of the redacted text. We already know that the thrusters had problems, so why they may have needed to redact that part is a mystery to me.
What I noted in this document is that the Commercial Crew Program and the Program Control Board decided that putting the two astronauts in makeshift seats on Crew-8 Dragon was safer than returning them aboard the Crewed Flight Test Starliner. It also appears that they intended for the two astronauts to be unsuited, should they have needed the Crew-8 Dragon for an emergency evacuation of ISS after Starliner departed and before Crew-9 Dragon arrived. They must have thought that Starliner is very unsafe.