Title: SpaceX CEO Elon Musk presents company highlights at the launch of 2024.
On 13 January 2024 Elon Musk, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SpaceX, presented a summary of the company’s achievements in 2023. The audience of SpaceX employees rejoiced as they heard about their magnificent work.
Thee months later, Elon Musk presented an update shortly after another successful flight.
Go to
Updates
08apr2024: SpaceX update by Elon Musk.Background
1. Falcon.2. Falcon heavy.
3. Fairing recovery.
4. Marine launchpads.
5. Launch rate.
6. Mass to orbit.
7. Dragon.
8. Two towers in Florida.
9. First spacewalk.
10. Starlink.
11. Argon-Hall thrusters.
12. In-space lasers.
13. Community gateways.
14. Next generation hardware.
15. Direct to cell.
16. Starship.
17. Two towers in Texas.
18. Hot staging.
19. Accelerated build.
20. Goals for the future.
21. Mass to orbit.
22. On orbit refilling.
23. Starlink deploy.
24. Back to the Moon.
25. Moon base.
Elon Musk's update 13 Jan 2024.
UPDATES
SpaceX updates by Elon Musk – 08 April 2024
On 08 April 2024, Elon Musk presented an update of SpaceX successes.
SpaceX made tremendous progress from Starship flight 1 to flight 3, which launched successfully on 14 March 2024.
“Although success is not guaranteed, it is one of the possible outcomes” Elon Musk commented, “if all goes well, the sand pit where SpaceX is based, in Boca Chica, Texas, might become the future portal to the Moon and Mars”.
SpaceX employees gathered again to listen to their CEO with the background of prototypes of the rockets produced by the company.
Elon Musk showed cautious optimism when he forecasted that among the space transport companies, SpaceX is expected to lift 90% of the mass to orbit, while China 6% and the rest of the world the remaining 4%. Once Starship is flying SpaceX will lift over 99% of all Earth mass to orbit.
His vision about Mars is that the ships will not be brought back but used as raw material to build a colony. Most people that go to Mars will never come back to Earth, but they want to have the option, therefore some of the ships will need to have capacity to return. A self-sustaining population needs to be of about a million people who will need several millions of tonnes of cargo.
The moon ship will be specialised as it will need to have landing legs and will not need flaps because there is no atmosphere. Instead of coming back to Earth and land, those ships will only go to orbit to refill before returning to the Moon.
Elon Musk updates SpaceX staff on the progress of the company in 2023 and early 2024.Gathering at “SpaceX Starbase”, Boca Chica, Texas, USA. SpaceX, 2024.
Current vehicles
Comparing size of vehicles, the various rockets produced by SpaceX got bigger and bigger, starting with Falcon 1 at 21.3 m, Falcon 9 at 70 m, the same height as Falcon Heavy although the latter was 4 times wider at 12 m, and finally, Starship with a height of 121 m and a width of 9 metres is the largest rocket ever built.
Vehicle sizes compared to that of a human show a progressive increase in power and lift capacity. SpaceX, 2024.
END of UPDATES
SPACEX ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2023
1. FALCON
SpaceX’s Falcon-9 first stage landing (CRS-8).SpaceX, 2024.
American SpaceX’s Falcon rocket was launched 96 times in 2023, making it the World’s record after Russian Soyuz with 63 launches.
The first Falcon 9 launch was on 04 June 2010, two years later it delivered the first resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS), and in 2020 it became the first commercial rocket to transport humans.
The rocket has 2 stages. The first stage is the booster and can land vertically for reuse. The second stage carries the payload. Both stages are powered by SpaceX Merlin engines that use cryogenic liquid oxygen (LOX) and rocket-grade kerosene (RP-1) as propellants.
The price per load for commercial customers is US$67 million. Dragon missions for NASA cost US$133 million.
The Falcon 8 rocket is an ongoing success story:
- 19 flights on a single Falcon-9 booster in 3.5years.
- 860 satellites and 260 Tonnes into orbit.
- 260 booster landings in 8 years.
Some notable Falcon-9 payloads:
- AMOS-17: An Israeli commercial communications satellite.
- Boeing X-37: The Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) from the Department of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, is a robotic reusable spacecraft that re-enters the atmosphere and lands like a plane.
- Crew and Cargo Dragon: The capsule can carry 7 passengers (launch payload: 6 Tonnes) and return cargo (return payload: 3 Tonnes). The spacecraft was launched 46 times, of which it was re-flown 25 times, it took part of 41 visits to the ISS.
- Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART): Mission to redirect asteroid Dimorphos, launched 24nov2021, impacted 26sep2022.
- Euclid: A wide-angle space telescope developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) to study dark energy, dark matter and measure the expansion of the universe. Launched 01jul2023; first images revealed 7 nov2023.
- GPS IIIA: The first ten of GPS III satellites, which will be used to keep the Navstar Global Positioning System operational. Developed by Lockheed Martin.
- RADARSAT Constellation: A three-spacecraft fleet of Earth observation satellites operated by the Canadian Space Agency for climate research and commercial applications like exploration, fishing, shipping and others.
- SpaceX Starlink: Satellite developed to provide global broadband. Initial internet coverage of 70 countries.
- Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)NASA’s space telescope, part of the Explorer program to study exoplanets.
- Zuma: A classified United States government satellite.
SpaceX is an ongoing success that will continue into 2024 taking cargo and crew into orbit, combined with Dragon, the first commercial spacecraft certified to carry humans.
Elon Musk presents the Falcon rocket; an ongoing success story. SpaceX, 2024.
Space race
World governments are investing heavily into space technology as the “space race” seem to continue. NASA and commercial partners like SpaceX keep USA at the top but Russia and now China are not far behind.
From a total of 223 launches worldwide in 2023, USA launched the most, with 116 launches, of which, Space-X launched 91 Falcon 9 and 5 Falcon Heavy rockets. This was followed in frequency by 67 Chinese, 20 Russian, 7 Indian, 3 Japanese, 3 North Korean, 3 European, 2 South Korean, 1 Israeli and 1 Iranian launches. From the world-total, 10 launches failed, resulting in 77.7% success worldwide, although there was only 1 American failure (3-D printed Terran-1), meaning that USA achieved 97.7% success.
Top: Global orbital launches in 2023: December saw most orbital launches, mainly by USA and China, followed by Russia.Bottom: The bubbles on the map represent the number of rocket-launches per launch site. Spacestatsonline.com, 2024.
The only European launch site on the map was Spaceport Cornwall in the UK, from where the first UK and West European launch took place on 09 January 2023. A Virgin Orbit Boing 747 airplane named Cosmic Girl carried under her wing the LauncherOne rocket loaded with nine satellites including one made by Britain. The pilots performed a “horizontal launch” by releasing the rocket in flight. The autonomous rocket malfunction on its way to the atmosphere.
2. FALCON HEAVY
SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket was launched in 5 missions in 2023, which surpassed the Saturn 5 record.
Payloads launched in 2023:
- 15 Jan - CBAS 2: The military’s Continuous Broadcast Augmenting SATCOM mission consisting of the USA 342 and USSF 67 payloads, and LPDE-3A (a bus carrying 5 military missions from the Space Rapid Capabilities Office).
- 01 May - x3-part payload:
- ViaSat-3: A communication satellite for the Americas.
- Arcturus: A MicroGEO satellite by “Space unicorn Astranis” to provide broadband for Alaska.
- G-Space 1: Multiple units by “Space Inventor” including Earth observation and scientific experiments on vision-based navigation: G-Space 1, Gravity Space 1, Nusantara H-1A, OrbitGuard1, Orbit Guard #1.
- 29 Jul - Jupiter-3: A commercial geostationary satellite weighing 9 Tonnes, owned by EchoStar Corporation, an American company that provides satellite communications, Internet, television and mobile services.
- 13 Oct – Psyche: NASA mission that launched from lower orbit destined to orbit and study the metallic asteroid 16 Psyche (220 Km diameter, has an iron core and orbits the sun between Mars and Jupiter). The spacecraft is powered using solar electric propulsion rather than chemical propellants. It will arrive to its destination in early 2029.
- 29 Dec USSF-52: Boeing X-37-B robotic Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV), part of a classified mission from the Department of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office and the US Space Force. Included NASA’s Seeds-2 experiment on the effects of space radiation on plant seeds.
In 2024 Falcon Heavy will take into orbit: NASA’s GOES-U geostationary satellite and Europa Clipper, the spacecraft that will conduct a detailed survey of Jupiter’s moon Europa.
Falcon heavy’s payloads taken to orbit in 2023. SpaceX, 2024.
3. FAIRING RECOVERY
The fairing is a structure of the rocket that after serving its function, mostly protection of the payload, is released to falls into the sea. To maintain reusability, and minimise damage, fairing units require attitude control thrusters and steering parachutes.
SpaceX crew had more than 300 Fairing Recovery operations, which means $6million in savings per recovery.
Fairing recovery vessel and fairing from top of Falcon rocket. Space-X, 2024.
4. MIRINE LAUNCH PADS
SpaceX operate a small navy of remote controlled marine launchpads or Drone-ships and support ships. For example “Just read the instructions” and "A shortfall of gravitas", both operating at Cape Canaveral, Florida, and “Of course I still love you”, at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.
Drone-ship "A shortfall of gravitas" operating at Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA. SpaceX, 2024.
5. LAUNCH RATE
In 2010, Falcon 1 reached orbit for the first time on its fourth flight.
Since 2017 “Flight-proven boosters” were re-used. SpaceX is aiming at having 150 flights in 2024.
SpaceX launch rate has increased rapidly in the last 3 years and is expected to go further in 2024. SpaceX, 2024.
Reusability has come a long way since the beginning of the company, when they could hardly launch a rocket into space. Sceptics claimed that re-using a rocket was impossible and even if they were recovered, none would want to fly a used rocket. But they were proven wrong because so far, SpaceX had 327 successful launches that include 291 successful landings (89% of launches) and 261 successful re-flights (90% of landings).
The recovery of booster stages by autonomous landing and of the fairing from the sea made reusability a commercially viable reality. SpaceX, 2024.
6. MASS TO ORBIT
SpaceX’s total mass of equipment lifted to orbit has increased from 370 Tonnes (T) in 2021, to 450 T in 2022, and 1,200 T in 2023; The rest of the world had 400, 210 and 370 T respectively.
Mass to orbit is expected to increase by 50% in 2024. The launch of Starships will increase this value as each spacecraft can lift 100 to 200 T, which will look small in the future because to build a city on Mars it will take at least 1 million T lifted to Earth orbit, which translates to 200,000 T to the surface of Mars.
Mass to orbit lifted by SpaceX has increased year after year and is now well ahead of that of the rest of the world. SpaceX, 2024.
7. DRAGON
The Dragon spacecraft clocked an accumulative 1,300 days in orbit so far, surpassing the Space Shuttle’s fleet.
Dragon had 45 successful launches taking a total of 50 crew to orbit, 24 re-flights and 46 successful flights to ISS. This includes Cargo missions to resupply ISS. Access to the station was provided by AXIOM.
The Dragon missions proved that refurbishment and re-flight of spacecraft is possible and sustainable. The spacecraft is expected to fly 8 missions in 2024.
Graphic models of the Dragon Capsule that carries humans and cargo into space. On the right, dragon docking into the International Space Station (ISS). SpaceX, 2024.
Human spaceflight has continued with the successful Dragon programme. SpaceX, 2024.
8. TWO TOWERS IN FLORIDA
SpaceX has completed the build of a second crew-arm or passage-arm to access the Dragon at Pads 39a and 40 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
SpaceX new passage arm to access the Dragon capsule for launch. Insert: Axiom3 crew pose inside the access arm on launch day, 18 January 2024. SpaceX, 2024.
9. FIRST SPACEWALK
SpaceX is planning the first private spacewalk from the Crew Dragon capsule as part of the Polaris Dawn mission expected to launch in the summer of 2024. The redesigned spacesuit requires certification for survival in space. The mission will also test Dragon’s laser interlink communication via Starlink.
The first spacesuits were developed by NASA in 1961 and used in 9 spacewalks during the Gemini missions until 1966. The Apollo missions between 1961 and 1972 had 21 spacewalks, with 160 hr clocked exploring the surface of the Moon. Between 1973 and 1979, the Skylab project required 10 spacewalks. The Space Shuttle had 82 spacewalks between 1972 and 2011, and the ISS has seen 184 spacewalks.
Returning to the Moon and the exploration of Mars and beyond will need new developments in the design of space suits.
SpaceX Dragon Polaris Dawn mission planned to demonstrate the first commercial spacewalk in 2024.Inserts show from left: Gemini, Apollo and ISS spacesuits. NASA, SpaceX, 2024.
10. STARLINK
SpaceX is developing the Starlink communication satellite network that serves nearly 3 million customers in 70 countries and 7 continents so far. The company aims at re-building the Internet in space, giving remote locations access to the internet for the distribution of knowledge. This technology works better in low-population-density areas; therefore, it does not compete with internet providers in cities.
The new Mini Satellites v2 transmit 88-165 tbits/sec. The goal is to get the mean latency below 20ms, which provides an excellent connection and gaming experience.
Starlink needs 420 satellites for minimum, 780 for moderate and 1,600 for solid broadband coverage across the globe. By early 2024 the network had 5,600 operational satellites while 390 came down due to early deorbit, disposal or fail; this means a 77% success rate.
Starlink will also be important for high bandwidth communication with Mars.
SpaceX Starlink satellite network operates at an altitude of 550km. The company will launch more satellites to build-up the network in orbit. Starlink, 2024.
Photo of Starlink satellites deployed into orbit. SpaceX, 2024.
11. ARGON-HALL THRUSTERS
Starlink satellites are propulsed by Arton-Hall thrusters, the first ones to operate in space with 1.5x increase in impulse. Argon is widely available and about 100 times cheaper than the rarer Krypton used on first generation thrusters, besides, Argon produces x2.4 more thrust.
The technology was initially developed by NASA and the Soviet Union and applies electromagnetism to accelerate the propellant (Argon gas). The thruster is compact, slightly larger than a can of soda.
Starlink’s Argon-Hall thrusters are slightly larger than a can of soda and more efficient when using Argon gas as propellant. NASA, SpaceX, 2024.
12. IN-SPACE LASERS
Starlink’s largest in-space laser communication mesh uses more than 9000 lasers across the constellation to connect satellites over 3,000 km apart and enable data transfer up to 100gb/s on each link.
Crew Dragon Polaris Dawn mission will test laser communications between Dragon and the Starlink network in 2024.
Starlink satellites use in-space lasers to communicate despite being separated by 3,000 km.Right: Starlink satellites packed before launch. SpaceX, Starlink, 2024.
13. COMMUNITY GATEWAYS
Starlink satellites can deliver fibre-like speeds with local providers distributing connectivity to homes, businesses, and governments located in remote areas using last-mile fibre, fixed wireless and mobile wireless.
Sold as a kit ready for installation, customers just need to provide space, power and lifting equipment. The Gateway offers download and upload speeds of up to 10 gigabytes per second (GBps) and a latency of 99 milliseconds (ms).
Starlink community gateways provide web access via satellites to local networks like that in Analasks Alaska. SpaceX, Starlink, 2024.
14. NEXT GEN HARDWARE
Starlink antennas or user terminals have evolved to lighter models and in 2024 Starlink will introduce the portable terminal that fits in a backpack.
Starlink is working in the next generation of antennas and terminals including a portable model. Starlink, 2024.
15. DIRECT TO CELL
Starlink satellites work as a cell phone tower in space that eliminates dead zones and connects to existing Long-Term Evolution (LTE) phones (a 4G wireless standard), without the need of software or hardware changes. They are supplemental to phone companies that do not cover those areas avoiding competition.
Starlink satellite network connects with regular LTE phones in areas without coverage.G4 mobile phone on the left, and a stack of Starlink satellites on the right. Starlink, 2024.
16. STARSHIP
SpaceX Starship has double the thrust than Saturn 5, the biggest flying object ever made. It is due to launch in 2024.
After upgrades, this massive rocket it will deliver 20 million pounds of thrust, almost three times that of Saturn-5 with 7.5 million. Starship version 3 is 121 m in height.
Space X Starship is the future of heavy lifting. SpaceX, 2024.
Starship at the launch pad in Boca Chica, Texas. SpaceX, 2024.
Starship is much taller than and powerful than Super Heavy rockets, about a “Statue of Liberty” taller (46 m).Mecha Godzilla made an appearance at the presentation. SpaceX, 2024.
Space X Starship is due to launch again in 2024. SpaceX, 2024.
Comparing Starship flights
Comparing the three Starship flights, a progressive increase in thrust is evident by the faster gain in altitude and a longer flame tail, which in flight 3 was about 300 m long, twice as long as the spacecraft. The next flight, Starship 4 is due to launch close to the summer of 2024.
Although flight 3 landed splashing on the ocean (in the Pacific or Indian Ocean), the progression of successes will see flight 4 booster landing on a virtual tower over the ocean under full control. then they will attempt landing flight 5 on the tower. The towers have a gripping mechanism that “grabs” the booster as it arrives, they are called “Megazilla arms”.
When operational, Starship will handle 400 times more payload for less than the cost of a Falcon 1. Ultimately, the cost per flight to Earth orbit will go down to around US$ 2-3 million.
Starship flights compared. Notice a faster ascent and a longer flame tail in later flights. SpaceX, 2024.
17. TWO TOWERS IN TEXAS
The research and rocket launch facility “SpaceX Starbase” in Boca Chica Village, on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, Texas, USA will see the building of a second launch tower.
SpaceX Starbase in Texas, USA will have two launch towers. SpaceX, 2024.
18. HOT STAGING
Hot staging is a technique that allows to launch the second stage of the rocket from the first, rather than simply separating from it, increasing propulsion, thrust and efficiency of the rocket. Payload capacity is expected to augment by 10%.
At launch, all 33 Raptor engines propel the Starship for 2 minutes into the sky, then most of the engine shut down, leaving 3 still burning to turn the first stage into a platform that resists the thrust of the second stage’s 6 Raptor engines that ignite to launch the load into orbit.
Although hot staging was successful, the test flight from 18 November 2023 resulted in failure because an error triggered the automatic flight termination system on the second stage after the first stage unexpectedly broke apart.
Failure in space exploration and in science commonly ignites further research leading to robust solutions, which is the path to all the success stories celebrated so far.
Hot staging allows the second stage to launch mid-flight, increasing payload by 10%. SpaceX, 2024.
19. ACCELERATING BUILD AND TEST
SpaceX’s success in building rockets derives in part from the company’s motto “Rapid Reusable Reliable Rockets”, and the number of launches in the last decade are a testament of their commitment to go further.
Failure is part or experimentation and development and Elon Musk remarked “It is better to sacrifice hardware than to sacrifice time, because time is the true currency”.
SpaceX accelerating build and test will result in many more flights in 2024. SpaceX, 2024.
20. GOALS FOR FUTURE FLIGHTS
Each iteration of Starship had a goal to keep. Future developments will follow their own.
- Goal of Starship flight 1: Not to blow the launch pad and gain some distance. Achieved.
- Goal of Starship flight 2: Getting past staging. Achieved.
- Goal of Starship flight 3: Get to orbit, perform an in-space engine burn, prove that it is possible to de-orbit reliably, test propellent transfer for NASA’s Autonomous programme, demonstrate payload door or dispenser to orbit satellites. Expected to achieve in 2024.
Failure is part or experimentation and development and Elon Musk remarked “It is better to sacrifice hardware than to sacrifice time, because time is the true currency”.
Starship flight 3 is in progress and expected to launch in 2024. SpaceX, 2024.
21. MASS TO ORBIT
Increasing mass to orbit is an essential development to allow space exploration and to intensify the use of orbital technology like satellites.
Mass to orbit will increase to more than 1,000 times greater than the current capacity with falcon heavy.
Starship will increase the lifting capacity to 150 tonnes. SpaceX, 2024.
22. ON ORBIT REFILLING
On orbit refilling is a necessary technology for NASA’s Artemis program in their preparation of long flights carrying heavy loads to more distant targets.
The Starship matches and docks to the Tanker in orbit to transfer Oxygen and Methane, enabling up to 100 tonnes of fuel required for a journey to Mars. This Tanker will be highly reusable. NASA entrusted Space X for this project as part of their Autonomous programme, also for the delivery of astronauts to the ISS and to be an integral part for astronauts going back to the Moon.
On orbit refilling tank will help transfer fuel (Oxygen and Methane) to Starship for longer journeys. SpaceX, 2024.
23. STARLINK DEPLOY
The Starlink Mesh or satellite network will require the launch of bigger satellites in 2024.
Deployment of larger satellites for the Starlink satellite network. SpaceX, 2024.
24. BACK TO THE MOON
The first humans took a controlled flight with the Wright brothers in 1903. Only 66 years later, in 1969, humans landed on the Moon. After 55 years, we are getting ready to return to the Moon.
For humanity to go back to the Moon, starships will need refilling in orbit, for which reliable docking is crucial. This technology has been proven with Dragon docking to the ISS and is now being developed for refuelling. Docking testing for this goal is expected to be completed by 2025.
We are going back to the moon with NASA’s Artemis 3 and SpaceX will play a crucial role. SpaceX, 2024.
25. MOON BASE
The ultimate plan of the Artemis programme is to develop a permanently occupied Moon Base that will require frequent payloads during development and maintenance.
The Moon base will be a permanently inhabited spaceport. SpaceX, 2024.
ELON MUSK ON SPACE-X PROGRESS - 13 Jan 2024
On 13 January 2024, Elon Musk gave a talk to Space-X staff about the achievements of the company to date. Watch the announcement below (58min).
On 08 April 2024, Elon Musk gave an update on the progress of SpaceX shortly after the successful launch of Starship 3 (39min).
EPILOGUE
The goal of SpaceX is to make life multiplanetary (Elon Musk). SpaceX, 2024.
Mars is the first step for a multiplanetary society (Elon Musk). SpaceX, 2024.
REFERENCES
» Duffy R (2022) Next Steps for Arcturus: A Q&A with Astranis CEO John Gedmark. Payloadspace [Online article]. Available at Spaceflightnow.com. Accessed: 18 January 2024.
» Evans B (2023) Falcon Heavy Launches USSF-67, Readies for Busy 2023. America Space [Online article]. Available at Americaspace.com. Accessed: 18 January 2024.
» Klotz I (2023) Starship sails through hot-staging separation before vehicles are lost. Aviationweek [Online article]. Available at Aviationweek.com. Accessed: 18 January 2024.
» McDowell J (2024) Starlink Statistics. Jonathan’s space pages [Online article]. Available at Planet4589.org. Accessed: 27 March 2024.
» NSSDCA (2023) LDPE 3A. NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive (NSSDCA) [Online article]. Available at NASA.gov. Accessed: 12 April 2022.
» NSSDCA (2023) USA 342. NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive (NSSDCA) [Online article]. Available at NASA.gov. Accessed: 12 April 2022.
» Sky News (2023) UK space launch - latest: Mission leaders speak of devastation after rocket's setback [Online article]. Available at Sky News. Accessed: 19 March 2024.
» Spacestatsonline (2024) Orbital launches in 2023 [Online article]. Available at spacestatsonline.com. Accessed: 18 January 2024.
» SpaceX (2024) Dragon [Online article]. Available at SpaceX.com. Accessed: 22 March 2024.
» Starlink (2024) High-speed internet [Online article]. Available at Starlink.com. Accessed: 27 March 2024.
» Starlink (2024) Starlink Community Gateways [Online article]. Available at Starlink.com. Accessed: 27 March 2024.
» Taylor C (2021) Starlink [Online article]. Available at CyberHoot.com. Accessed: 27 March 2024.
» Wikipedia (2024) Boeng X-37 [Online article]. Available at Wikipedia.org. Accessed: 21 March 2024.
» Wikipedia (2024) British space programme [Online article]. Available at Wikipedia.org. Accessed: 18 March 2024.
» Wikipedia (2024) EchoStar [Online article]. Available at Wikipedia.org. Accessed: 20 March 2024.
» Wikipedia (2024) Euclid spacecraft [Online article]. Available at Wikipedia.org. Accessed: 22 March 2024.
» Wikipedia (2024) Falcon Heavy [Online article]. Available at Wikipedia.org. Accessed: 20 March 2024.
» Wikipedia (2024) Falcon 9 [Online article]. Available at Wikipedia.org. Accessed: 20 March 2024.
» Wikipedia (2024) Hall-effect thuster [Online article]. Available at Wikipedia.org. Accessed: 27 March 2024.
» Wikipedia (2024) Polaris Dawn [Online article]. Available at Wikipedia.org. Accessed: 27 March 2024.
» Wikipedia (2024) Psyche (spacecraft) [Online article]. Available at Wikipedia.org. Accessed: 20 March 2024.
Title: Axom-3 Mission launched to ISS on 18 January 2024.
Ax-3 Mission concluded with a successful splash down off the coast of Florida on 09 February 2024. Axiom, 2024.
Graphic showing the stages of the return flight from departure burn to splashdown. NASA, Axiom 2024.
Composite image of the moment of splash down on the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Daytona, Florida, USA. NASA, Axiom 2024.
Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria smiles outside the Dragon Freedom capsule marking the end of the Ax-3 mission. 09 February 2024. NASA, Axiom 2024.
Axiom-3 astronauts thanking their hosts, Expedition 70 at ISS at the end of their stay at the station. NASA 02 February 2024.
Commander Michael López-Alegría (Spain/USA).
Pilot Walter Villadei (Italy).
Mission Specialist Marcus Wandt (Sweden).
Mission Specialists Alper Gezeravcı (Türkiye).
Michael T. Suffredini and Kam Ghaffarian, funders of Axiom Space Inc.
Axiom Station of the future in orbit. Axiom Space, 2024.
Axiom mission patches: Ax-1 flew in 2022; Ax-2 in 2023, and Ax-3 in 2024.
Ax-3 Patch added to the collection of mission patches at Johnson Space Centre, Texas. Axion.com.
GiGi the Zero-gravity indicator bear. Yahoo.com, 2022.
Dr Lucie Low from Axiom Space on research. NASA, 2024.
Italian experiments: 1. ISOC. 2. β-Amyloid aggregation in Alzheimer’s. 3. LIDAL. NASA, MDPI.com, 2024.
ESA/Sweden’s experiments: 1. Orbital architecture. 2. CIMON. 3. ANITA-2. NASA, ESA, 2024.
Türkiye experiments: 1. CRISPR-Gem exremophytes . 2. UzMan microalgae. 3. Vokalkord software. NASA, ESA, 2024.
Other experiments: 1. NSCF Brain organoids. 2. TRISH Space health. 3. Bodewell skin care. Axiom, Bodewell, 2024.
Flight stages: Ax-3 launch onboard a Space-X Falcon 9 rocket. From lift off to stage separation. Axiom, 2024.
Flight stages: Ax-3 launch onboard a Space-X Falcon 9 rocket. From second engine ignition to nosecone deployment. Axiom, 2024.
Orbital journey diagram showing the 5 major burns that propelled the Dragon Capsule to approach and successful dock into ISS. 20 January 2024. Axiom, 2024.
SpaceX Dragon spacecraft successfully docked into the ISS Harmony module on 20 January 2024 (Left: model. Right: actual photo). Axiom, 2024.
Axiom-3 crew salute viewers after the welcome ceremony at their arrival to ISS. Station crew on the background. 20 January 2024. Axiom, 2024.
Commander Lopez-Alegria awards new astronauts with their pins: Walter Villadei (609), Alper Gezeravci (610) and MarcusWandt (611). 20 January 2024. Axiom, 2024.
The Axiom-3 crew training at Axiom and finally living and working at ISS. 18 January to 09 February 2024. Axiom, 2024.