OrbitalHub

Wikipedia dicit:

Vulcan is a next generation heavy-lift launch vehicle under development by the United Launch Alliance (ULA) to meet the demands of the United States Air Force’s National Security Space Launch (NSSL) competition and launch program.

Vulcan is ULA’s first launch vehicle design, adapting and evolving various technologies previously developed for the Atlas V and Delta IV rockets of the USAF’s EELV program. The first stage propellant tanks share the diameter of the Delta IV Common Booster Core, but will contain liquid methane and liquid oxygen propellants instead of the Delta IV’s liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. Vulcan’s upper stage is the Centaur V, an upgraded variant of the Common Centaur/Centaur III currently used on the Atlas V. A lengthened version of the Centaur V will be used on the Vulcan Centaur Heavy. Current plans call for the Centaur V to be eventually upgraded with Integrated Vehicle Fluids technology to become the Advanced Cryogenic Evolved Stage (ACES). Vulcan is intended to undergo the human-rating certification process to allow the launch of crew.

The Vulcan booster will have a 5.4 m (18 ft) outer diameter to support the methane fuel burned by the Blue Origin BE-4 engines. The BE-4 was selected to power Vulcan’s first stage in September 2018 after a competition with the Aerojet Rocketdyne AR1. Zero to six Graphite-Epoxy Motor-63XL (GEM-63XL) solid rocket boosters (SRB)s can be attached to the first stage in pairs, providing additional thrust during the first part of the flight and allowing the six-SRB Vulcan Centaur Heavy to launch a higher mass payload than the most capable Atlas V 551 or Delta IV Heavy. Vulcan will have a 5.4 m diameter fairing available in two lengths. The longer fairing is 21 m long, with a volume of 317 m3.

Video Credit: ULA

Wikipedia dicit:

Artemis 1 (known as Exploration Mission-1 or EM-1 before the introduction of the Artemis program) is the second planned flight of the uncrewed Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle to be launched on the first flight of the Space Launch System. The launch is planned from Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center no earlier than November 2020. The Orion spacecraft will spend approximately 3 weeks in space, including 6 days in a retrograde orbit around the Moon. It is planned to be followed by Artemis 2 between 2022 and 2023.

The Block 1 version of the SLS rocket used on this mission will consist of two five-segment Solid Rocket Boosters, four RS-25D engines built for the Space Shuttle program and an Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage. Artemis 1 mission is intended to demonstrate the integrated spacecraft systems prior to a crewed flight, and in addition, test a high speed reentry (11 km/s or 6.8 mi/s) on Orion’s thermal protection system.

Video Credit: NASA

Wikipedia dicit:

The SpaceX Starship is a fully reusable second stage and space vehicle being privately developed by SpaceX. It is being designed to be a long-duration cargo- and passenger-carrying spacecraft. While currently it is tested on its own, it will be used on orbital launches with an additional booster stage, the Super Heavy, where Starship would serve as the second stage on a two-stage-to-orbit launch vehicle. The combination of spacecraft and booster is called Starship as well. Beginning in mid-2019, prototype versions are being flown with Starship as an independent rocket in its own right—without any launch vehicle booster stage at all—as part of an extensive suborbital flight testing program to get launch and landing working and iterate on a variety of design details, particularly with respect to atmospheric reentry of the vehicle.

Integrated system testing of Starship began in March 2019 with the addition of a single Raptor rocket engine to the first flight-capable propellant structure, Starhopper. Starhopper was used through August 2019 for static testing and low-altitude, low-velocity flight testing of vertical launches and landings in July/August. Two additional test articles, Starship orbital prototypes, are being built by competing teams in Texas and in Florida. They are planned to be used for high-altitude, high-velocity testing beginning in late 2019. All test articles have a 9-meter (30 ft)-diameter stainless steel hull.

Video Credit: SpaceX

Northrop Grumman dicit:

Northrop Grumman is developing the next generation of the GEM family of strap-on boosters to support intermediate- and large-class space launch vehicles. These boosters build on the company’s extensive history of the successful GEM 40, GEM 46, and GEM 60 motors. The GEM 63 and GEM 63XL motors will be capable of supporting national security, science and commercial payloads. The company is leveraging its industry-leading expertise in composite large solid rocket motor development and manufacturing to provide customers with a cost-effective, reliable, flexible, and on-time system, starting in 2019 for United Launch Alliance’s Atlas and Vulcan launch vehicles.

Video Credit: Northrop Grumman

NASA dicit:

Exploration Ground Systems continued to make sure the mobile launcher is ready for Artemis I with a multi-arm swing test on Friday, October 4, 2019 at Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Umbilical Arm Simultaneous Retract Test included retraction of the connections that will provide fuel, coolant and communications to the Space Launch System rocket up until launch. The umbilicals tested included the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage Umbilical (ICPSU), the Core Stage Forward Skirt Umbilical (CSFSU) and the Core Stage Intertank Umbilical (CSIU).

Video Credit: NASA

Wikipedia dicit:

The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (Orion MPCV) is a US-European spacecraft intended to carry a crew of four astronauts to destinations at or beyond low Earth orbit (LEO). As of August 2019, it is under development by NASA and the ESA for launch on the Space Launch System (SLS), Orion is intended to be the main crew vehicle of the Artemis lunar exploration program and other missions not far beyond lunar space. Artemis 1 is planned to be the first flight of Orion on SLS, Artemis 2 the first crewed flight, and Artemis 3 the first lunar landing via the Lunar Gateway.

The Orion MPCV uses the same basic configuration as the Apollo command and service module (CSM) that first took astronauts to the Moon, but with an increased diameter, updated thermal protection system, and a host of other modern technologies. Orion will support long-duration deep space missions with up to 21 days active crew time plus 6 months quiescent spacecraft life. During the quiescent period crew life support would be provided by another module, such as the proposed Deep Space Habitat. The spacecraft’s life support, propulsion, thermal protection, and avionics systems can be upgraded as new technologies become available. The Orion spacecraft includes both crew and service modules, and a spacecraft adapter. The Orion’s crew module is larger than Apollo’s and can support more crew members for short or long-duration missions. The European service module propels and powers the spacecraft as well as storing oxygen and water for astronauts.

Video Credit: Lockheed Martin