A few days ago, a brand-new contract was signed and awarded to SpaceX from NASA. In the little details provided from the actual document, it mentions a price of around a quarter million dollars with the purpose being a study for emergency response capabilities. In other words, in theory, how fast could the company get a Dragon up in the event of an emergency.
The first thing that comes to mind for many is likely Starliner’s current position at the station. That being said, there is no information in the document that suggests this has anything to do with the current ongoing mission. Here I will go more in-depth into what the contract says, the Dragon’s emergency capability, what to expect, and more.
Emergency Response
On a public government website used to show a live record of every contract the federal government has entered into, a new SpaceX contract was found. In the initial description, it mentions the contracting agency is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and that the partner is SpaceX. They also include the contract amount which is $266,678. This number is quite low, at least when compared to other contracts within the industry, especially crew-related flights and capabilities. However, the low price gives some more insight into what exactly the contract is for.
On a different page, practically the only other information we get about this contract and its purpose is a description that says, “Special Study for Emergency Response”. This is where the details of the contract end, meaning the idea of it being related to Dragon is mainly speculation. That being said, it would make sense based on SpaceX’s current capabilities and NASA’s crew-related goals for the future.
The low price along with the details provided suggests NASA wants SpaceX to determine exactly how fast they could get a Dragon in the air to retrieve a crew from the ISS for example. It would mainly consist of paperwork and calculations based on the available hardware and its capabilities. There are currently 7 active Dragon spacecraft including 4 crew Dragons and 3 cargo Dragons. With crew rotations happening at the ISS pretty frequently, SpaceX is almost always preparing the next capsule for an upcoming launch. This combined with the frequency of Falcon 9 launches support a current emergency response of likely only a few weeks.
The thing stopping them from a response time of only days would be the necessary checks and precautions that go into launching a spacecraft meant for humans. One of the outcomes of this study could be a new contract from NASA paying SpaceX even more to keep a Dragon ready at all times for an emergency event.
As far as this new contract’s relevance to Boeing and the Starliner spacecraft, as partially mentioned before, they don’t mention it at all. Also, Boeing and NASA have continued to stress that the crew is safe and will be able to return on Starliner in the future. That being said, some of the issues Starliner experienced may have encouraged the agency to create this contract. The current flight status helps remind the agency of the problems that can occur during spaceflight and the need to have a reliable and easy-to-access crew emergency option going forward.
SpaceX highlights that the “Dragon spacecraft is capable of carrying up to 7 passengers to and from Earth orbit, and beyond. And that its the only spacecraft currently flying that is capable of returning significant amounts of cargo to Earth.” These capabilities would be very helpful if a crew was stranded and needed to return on a different vehicle. The Dragon spacecraft also has a lot of experience at this point. To put it in perspective, SpaceX’s next crew mission will be Crew-9, set to happen sometime in August, meaning they have already launched a crew of 4 8 times. This practice and familiarity go in their favor for future emergency responses and requirements if that’s what this new contract is referring to. Something we should get more details on in the future.
Falcon 9’s Return To Flight
At the same time as all of this is going on, SpaceX is still working with the FAA trying to get the Falcon 9 back up and running. This comes after the recent upper-stage failure after a liquid oxygen leak prevented a second engine burn. In terms of progress, we recently learned that SpaceX is seeking a public safety determination. In a statement, the FAA said, “The FAA is reviewing the request and will be guided by data and safety at every step of the process”.
Importantly, the FAA’s main concern is not necessarily if SpaceX loses a payload but instead public safety. This new determination could allow the company to start launching satellites again once deemed safe even before fully completing a full investigation on the upper-stage engine and related hardware.
Soon after the launch occurred, the FAA mentioned that they were aware of the anomaly and had begun an investigation into the matter. In a statement, they said, “An investigation is designed to further enhance public safety, determine the root cause of the event, and identify corrective actions to avoid it from happening again.” Importantly, related to future flights of Falcon 9 they said, “A return to flight is based on the FAA determining that any system, process, or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety. In addition, SpaceX may need to request and receive approval from the FAA to modify its license that incorporates any corrective actions and meet all other licensing requirements” they said.
Its thought that the only missions expected to take on actual relevant delays would be the upcoming crew missions such as Polaris Dawn and Crew 9. NASA especially will be more hesitant and might even require SpaceX to have a few successful satellite launches before they approve launching humans.
To clarify what happened, in a SpaceX statement they said, “Falcon 9’s second stage performed its first burn nominally, however a liquid oxygen leak developed on the second stage. After a planned relight of the upper stage engine to raise perigee – or the lowest point of orbit – the Merlin Vacuum engine experienced an anomaly and was unable to complete its second burn. Although the stage survived and still deployed the satellites, it did not successfully circularize its orbit, but it did passivate itself as normally performed at the end of each mission. This left the satellites in an eccentric orbit with a very low perigee of 135 km, which is less than half the expected perigee altitude.”
“The team worked overnight to make contact with the satellites in order to send early burn commands, but the satellites were left in an enormously high-drag environment only 135 km above the Earth (each pass through perigee removed 5+ km of altitude from the orbit’s apogee, or the highest point in the satellite orbit). At this level of drag, our maximum available thrust is unlikely to be enough to successfully raise the satellites. As such, the satellites will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and fully demise. They do not pose a threat to other satellites in orbit or to public safety” they said.
Importantly, after the launch NASA said in a statement, that its receiving “insight from SpaceX on all items of interest about the Falcon 9 rocket, as part of the agency’s fleet following.” They went on to say that “Crew safety and mission assurance are top priorities for NASA. SpaceX has been forthcoming with information and is including NASA in the company’s ongoing anomaly investigation to understand the issue and path forward. NASA will provide updates on agency missions including potential schedule impacts, if any, as more information becomes available.”
One of the big upcoming launches is Polaris Dawn. Here, at approximately 700 kilometers above the Earth, the crew will attempt the first-ever commercial extravehicular activity (EVA) with SpaceX-designed extravehicular activity (EVA) spacesuits, upgraded from the current intravehicular (IVA) suit. They mention that this Dragon mission will take advantage of Falcon 9 and Dragon’s maximum performance, flying higher than any Dragon mission to date and endeavoring to reach the highest Earth orbit ever flown. Orbiting through portions of the Van Allen radiation belt, Polaris Dawn will conduct research with the aim of better understanding the effects of spaceflight and space radiation on human health. Also, eventually building a base on the Moon and a city on Mars will require thousands of spacesuits; the development of this suit and the execution of the EVA will be important steps toward a scalable design for spacesuits on future long-duration missions.
On their website they are quoted saying, “Polaris Dawn, the first of up to three spaceflights in the Polaris Program, endeavors to rapidly advance human spaceflight capabilities by demonstrating new technologies and conducting extensive scientific research to expand our knowledge of humans adapting, living and working in space. The 38 selected projects from 23 partner institutions are designed to advance both human health on Earth and on future long-duration spaceflights. While each experiment was selected for inclusion in the mission profile, additional testing and qualification requirements are underway. A final list of approved-to-fly experiments will be published closer to launch.” Even though the Falcon 9 anomaly could push this mission back from its August time frame, it still is set to happen not long from now. When it does eventually launch, it will be a first and mark an impressive milestone for SpaceX and its capabilities.
Conclusion
A brand new contract was found between SpaceX and NASA with the description of Special Study for Emergency Response. While not confirmed, this could have to do with the Dragon spacecraft and determining how fast SpaceX could get the vehicle ready if needed. This comes in addition to continued progress toward getting the Falcon 9 back up and running. We will have to wait and see how it progresses and the impact it has on the space industry.