SpaceX and the US Air Force Research Lab will have a series of 2024 test flights and is testing systems with a mockup.
The Military department will test and gather data for a decision in 2026 on whether to operationalize Rocket Cargo or move onto something else.
Rocket Cargo is one of the lab’s so-called Vanguard programs, which aim to use cutting-edge technology to develop and deliver new capabilities troops can use on the battlefield. This program is studying the commercial rocket sector to see if the military could rapidly transport goods around the world, though the program does not itself fund the development of commercial rockets.
The Cargo program goal is one launch per day, on each launch pad, with about an hour’s notice, and be able to carry 100 tons of cargo in a single rocket, as needed.
The Air Force also plans to have a cargo bay mockup the upper half of a Starship — to work on rapidly loading and unloading 20-foot containers from a rocket. That mockup is now in the final stages of construction by the engineering firm SES in Alliance, Ohio.
The Air Force expects the Rocket Cargo program to demonstrate the ability to rapidly launch rockets by 2025-2026, bring large masses of cargo down from orbit, and rapidly load and unload cargo.
Nextbigfuture has covered how SpaceX will dominate air cargo. The Starship upper stage will be able to move 200-300 tons at a time which is more than the largest cargo planes. The Starship will be 20 times faster and the engines at an eventual $250,000 will reduce the cost of the single stage needed for point to point travel to $10 million or less versus $200 million for large cargo planes.
Launch Tower to Launch Tower and Launch Tower to Landing Pad
The Air Force goal says one launch per day from a launch pad and seemingly implying it would go to another launch pad.
The Air Force is funding SpaceX to get to rapid once a day launches or more. We knew this was the SpaceX goal and SpaceX Gwynn Shotwell has talked about multiple launches per day for each Starship by 2030. This once per day launch rate by 2026 is new goal with a specific date.
If the SpaceX cargo starship were to fly to simple concrete landing pad or getting landing legs to land on dirt, then it would not be able to fly back out. Unless something was made to prevent the debris storm caused by launch. This would only be the upper stage but the first test flight in 2023 showed that powerful Starship rockets would likely cause a lot of launch damage.
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If it becomes really a weapons platform, it will be a target. And if ships become targets, the amount of debris in orbit will escalate quickly and soon destroy Starlink and other satellites.
A point to point transport system does not needs to reach orbital speed. The range of speeds is around 50% -approx. 25% of the energy- to 95% -approx.90% of the energy- of the orbital speed depending on the destination and possible gliding of the transporter. The trayectory of the center of masses -in a ballistic path it is an ellipse that cuts the earth- is not able to reach the orbit.
It is possible that some debris have the chance to be exactly in a trayectory to reach the orbit, but the majority of the debries will down to earth.
Still very unsafe for human travel. Elon never learned from the Shuttle issues. This will be great for Cargo and Large solar system ships, humans will still travel the old ways. Capsules.
I think this program makes enough sense that it works well as a cover for Starship as an Orbital bomber. That would also use tuna can shaped cargo modules. The only difference would be they’re designed to be ejected in Space rather than unloaded on the ground.
Starship would be amazingly versatile for delivering all sorts of weapons and drones from kinetic strikes from orbit like Thor to re-entry modules that work like Rapid Dragon to deliver cruise missiles, drones, mines, torpedos, UAV fighters etc. – anywhere midair in an hour.
Even for delivering military cargo to battlefields, it makes more sense for Starship to drop modules from Space (orbit or suborbital ballistic) and land at bases where it can be rapidly reused.
Things are getting serious for SpaceX and Starship.
So far the enabling has been slow and rife with learnings (that is, RUDs).
Hopefully they manage it and they get the space cargo seal of approval, which would mean Starship could reach its reusability and cadence targets.