SpaceX’s Starship Flight Test 12 – 22 May 2026

SpaceX’s Starship photographed in space by Dodger Dog’s camera. Flight Test 12, (Ren@art, SpaceX, 22 May 2026).

SpaceX’s Starship Flight Test 12 launched successfully from pad 2 at Bocachica, Texas, USA on 22 May 2026. The first test of version 3 of the Starship was a success, collecting all the expected data and demonstrating the viability of new technology in all areas.

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Updates

Starship Launch Test 12 - 22 May 2026.
● Countdown.
● Lift-off & Ascent.
● Stage separation & Booster landing.
● Orbit insertion & Satellite deployment.
● Re-entry & Water landing.
Launch Test 12 Broadcast.

Background

NASA's Artemis Programme.
Artemis plans for the Moon.
Moonwalkers.
Artemis Accords.
Artemis Goddess of the Moon.

References

UPDATES

Starship Launch Test 12
– 22 May 2026 -

The first launch attempt on 21 May was scrubbed because the hydraulic safety pin that locks the lower arm kept triggering a “hold” as it would not retract. This arm supports the fuel pipes during loading of the tanks and is required to fully retract for launch. The issue was solved successfully, and the launch was resumed the next day.

On 22 May 2026, Starship successfully launched from Starbase’s brand-new launch pad 2 at Bocachica, Texas. The flight profile included the following milestones.

• Launch firing all 33 new Raptor Engines.
• Ascent and separation testing the new integrated hot stage.
• The booster performs a return burn and controlled water landing.
• Starship continues entering orbit to deploy 20 satellite simulators and 2 test simulators, a.k.a. Dodger Dogs.
• Starship performs a return burn to initiate re-entry.
• Starship performs an autonomous controlled water landing in the Indian Ocean.

Countdown

Starship v3 during countdown on brand-new Launchpad 2 at Starbase, the “Gateway to Mars”.
Notice the historic relic Sky-Hopper in the carpark opposite the platform (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 21 May 2026).

Starship v3 loading cryogenic fuels: Methane (CH4) and Liquid Oxygen (LOX)
into the tanks of both stages, Booster and Starship (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 21 May 2026).

Starship v3 closeup 40sec before launch. Notice larger Grid-Fins and open walls of the integrated Hot-Stage (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 21 May 2026).

Starship v3 Raptor Engines (also v3): 3 inner, 3 outer rings.
Notice open walls at the interface with the Hot Stage that constitutes the top of the booster’s fuel tank (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 21 May 2026).

Lift-off & Ascent

Starship FT12: Lift off.
Notice all 33 raptor engines firing on the Super Heavy Booster (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Starship FT12: Ascent with all booster engines ignited. Bocachica coast in the background (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Starship FT12: Ascent. Starbase and Bocachica coast in the background (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Watch Test Flight 12 Lift-off:

Liftoff of Starship! pic.twitter.com/LQLdjK5V6K

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 22, 2026

Video of Flight Test 12’s “Liftoff of Starship!” posted on “X” (SpaceX, 22 May 2026) (51sec).

Public videos of the launch of Starship Flight Test 12.

Starship FT12 liftoff, public perspective (@LaunchHeaven, 22 May 2026).

Starship FT12 liftoff, ground camera perspective (@LaunchHeaven, 22 May 2026).

Stage separation & Booster landing

Starship FT12: Separation boost. Note the ring of fire around the interface diverted by the integrated Hot Stage.
Notice that all 6 engines of Starship ignited (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Starship FT12: Stage Separation. Note the opened wall surrounding the Booster's integrated Hot Stage (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Starship FT12: Superheavy booster in free fall guided by the new larger Grid Fins towards the Gulf of America.
Notice that one of Starship’s engines switched off (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Watch the Super Heavy Booster controlled vertical landing on a barge parked on the Gulf of America during Flight Test 12.

Booster v3 vertical landing on a barge, public perspective (@SkySpaceBrief, 22 May 2026).

Orbit insertion & Payload deployment

Despite the unintentional loss of one engine, Starship compensated the power using its remaining 5 raptors to continue with its mission and entered lower orbit.

Once the required altitude and speed were reached, the cargo was deployed without anomalies. Starship’s cargo consisted of 20 satellite simulators and 2 experimental ones fitted with cameras and sensors that stuck out at both ends, for which they were affectionately known as “Dodger Dogs”.

In comparison with Test 11, the payload deployment was faster, satellites were ejected in pairs. The last test satellite recorded the exit looking back at the compartment, the exit door and the outside of the ship filming for the first time the complete Starship suspended in space. In the future, modified instruments will fly around Starship to inspect the Heat Shield before proceeding with re-entry.

Starship FT12: Starship S39 in orbit with the Earth in the background (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Starship FT12: Stack of 20 Satellite simulators ready for deployment.
Notice the elongated opening at the end and the cupula of the fuel tank at the bottom of the image (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Starship FT12: Deployment of the first pair of satellite simulators.
The engineering teams at Starbase applaud to celebrate their success (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Starship FT12: Starlink’s view of the port as it exits Starship.
Notice one of the four round supports for future docking to another Starship for refuelling in space (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Starship FT12: Starlink’s view of the full unshielded side of Starship in space (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Watch Dodger Dog’s view of Starship in space as it is deployed into orbit:

Views of Starship in space from a @Starlink satellite pic.twitter.com/5hfw1n8v1o

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 22, 2026

Video of Flight Test 12’s “Starlink satellite view” of deployment from Starship, posted on “X” (SpaceX, 23 May 2026) (1min).

Re-entry & Splashdown

Re-entry was completed successfully with the expected formation of plasma. The process was transmitted live via the Starlink network, avoiding the communications blackout that typically hinders missions during re-entry.

Starship FT12: Re-entry with formation of plasma (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Waiting for Starship in the Indian Ocean was the SpaceX team represented by Suren Sanai during the live broadcast. Their main goal was “range-clearing”, ensuring the predicted landing zone is clear of vessels or other obstacles; they also collect imagery of Starship’s water landing using cameras mounted on buoys. Over time, the buoys and cameras were fitted with means to steer and aim at the fast-moving vehicle, helped by Starship’s ability of precise landing.

Starship FT12: Suren Sanai represents the Indian Ocean team, preparing bouys with cameras and aiming equipment
(SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Starship FT12: Indian Ocean SpaceX team onboard “JMR19005 N.T.140” in charge of range-clearing and imagery collection
(SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Inside the atmosphere, Starship cruised down towards the Indian Ocean and around 20 metres above sea level, the Raptor engines lit up for a landing burn, flipping the ship to vertical and hovering over the landing zone before touchdown over the ocean. Once in the water, Starship fell on its belly and the programmed auto-destruction mechanism was activated, resulting in a large explosion that consumed the remaining fuel minimising chemical contamination of the ocean. The event was filmed by buoy and drone cameras. Debris from the ship were later gathered by recovery teams.

Starship FT12: Starship descending inside the atmosphere at subsonic speed (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Starship FT12: Starship’s landing burn and flip to vertical (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Starship FT12: Starship falling from vertical onto the ocean (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Starship FT12: Starship’s controlled explosion (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Starship FT12: Starship’s mushroom cloud following explosion to burn out fuel (SpaceX, Flight Test 12, 22 May 2026).

Watch Buoy’s view of Starship water landing:

Starship flip and landing burn at the end of its twelfth flight test pic.twitter.com/0iJUox3FJt

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 25, 2026

Video of Flight Test 12’s Starship's landing on the Indian Ocean, posted on “X” (SpaceX, 23 May 2026) (23sec).

Starlink-equipped buoys provided real-time video streaming in the Indian Ocean during Starship's twelfth flight test pic.twitter.com/SzfmwUMg4N

— Starlink (@Starlink) May 26, 2026

Video of Flight Test 12’s Starship's flip and landing on the Indian Ocean, posted on “X” (SpaceX, 23 May 2026) (16sec).

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Launch Broadcast – 22may2026

Hosts

The broadcast of Flight Test 12 Launch was hosted by Emmy Award Winner Kate Tice, Senior Manager, Quality Systems Engineering; Jake Berkowitz, Lead Propulsion Engineer, and Dan Huot, from the Communications team, all based near the production floor at Star Factory in Bocachica, Texas. An additional presenter was Tyler Lionquist, Starlink Business Analyst based in Hawthorne, Texas.

Flight Test 12 Broadcast Hosts: Kate Tice, Jake Berkowitz, Dan Huot and Tyler Lionquist (SpaceX, 22 May 2026).

Guests

A special guest of the webcast was Jared Isaacman, a former SpaceX customer in Inspiration 4 and Polaris Dawn missions. He flew onboard Dragon Capsule Resilience in both missions and in the latter, he performed the first commercial spacewalk. Isaacman is the current NASA Administrator and arrived at the launch complex in style, with a flyby on his supersonic F5 private jet. He was delighted to see the changes and a brand-new rocket on the launchpad.

Mr Isaacman thanked President Donald Trump and NASA partners in Congress, the agency’s workforce, the international partners including the European and Canadian Space agencies, and the American Taxpayers.

“There is no doubt that there is a price to pay when it comes to exploring the Cosmos, but there is also a return, in the jobs it creates, the technologies that improve life on Earth and the inspiration it sparks on those who choose to follow” (Jared Isaacman, 2026).

Astronaut Christina Koch described a crew as a team where everyone has the same needs, must face the same threats and must care for each other no matter what because they are in the same journey. When watching the Earth suspended alone in the blackness of space, she realised that Planet Earth is analogous to a crew.

Jeremy Hansen was praised by Lisa Campbell, Canadian Space Agency President, for representing “the best of what it means to be Canadian, exemplifying the deepest values of discipline, humility and hard work”.

US Representative Chairman Brian Babin, representing the US Congress and the district of Texas, said that the Artemis 2 crew inspired not only America but the entire World and generations of humans that will come after them.

“The United States is ready for this challenge and ready to lead. As the US leads in space, they carry the principles of Freedom, Innovation and Opportunity” (Brian Babin, 2026).

Michael Cloud, US Representative of the congressional district of Texas thanked the crew for inspiring everyone again.

At the end of the conference, Commander Reid Weisman addressed the NASA astronauts-in-training who had attended the event and promised that the Artemis 2 crew would support them at every step of the way in their journey to the Moon.

Artemis 2 Crew on stage, presented by Jared Isaacman, NASA Administrator, Huston, Texas, USA (NASA, 11 April 2026).

Artemis 2 astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Jeremy Hansen and Victor Glover deliver their personal messages to the world,
Huston, Texas, USA (NASA, 11 April 2026).

Speakers at the Welcome Back Artemis 2 event: Norm Knight, Jared Isaacman, Vanessa Wyche, Lisa Campbell, Brian Babin and Michael Cloud,
Huston, Texas, USA (NASA, 11 April 2026).

Watch the full video “Artemis II Crew returns to Huston” (1hr).

NASA's Artemis II Crew Return to Houston (NASA, YouTube, 11apr2026) (video 1h 20m, event starts at 36m).

--O--

Artemis 2 returns to Earth – 10 April 2026

The crew of Artemis 2 returned to Earth with a successful splashdown in the Pacific ocean in the evening of 10 April 2026.

During the Artemis 1 mission, re-entry consisted in bouncing off the atmosphere to reduce speed, resulting in 20 minutes of exposure to extreme heat, and some damage to the tiles. Learning from that experience, Artemis 2 went for a direct re-entry reducing thermal exposure to 13 minutes, which was more protective to the heat shield.

Descent and landing critical events

• Separation of the Crew Module Orion from the European Service Module (37min before splashdown).
• Orion performs a Raise Burn to position the module in correct orientation for re-entry.
• Orion begins entry into the atmosphere at 121km of altitude (13min before splashdown).
• Jettison of the Forward Bay Cover at 10km of altitude to expose parachute system.
• Parachutes: Drogues, Pilots and Main, are deployed in sequence starting at 6km, 2km and 1.5km respectively.
• Splashdown on the Pacific Ocean.
• Uprighting system deploys to stabilise the capsule on the surface.
• Recovery.

Separation from the Service Module

Separation of the Orion capsule from the Service Module was successfully completed 37min before splashdown as the crew of Artemis 2 continued their journey towards the atmosphere.

The European Service Module (ESM) was developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and controlled from the ESA Eagle Control Room at the ESTEC facility in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.

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BACKGROUND

NASA’s Artemis Programme

The Artemis Programme was established in 2017 with the goal of returning to the Moon through five increasingly complex missions. The main element is the Space Launch System (SLS), a super heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle derived from developments that started with the Space Shuttle (1981-2011).

NASA’s Artemis 2 Mission around the Moon. 01 to 10 April 2026.

Artemis 2 crew Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Jeremy Hansen and Reid Weisman wearing Solar Eclipse glasses on board the Orion capsule named Integrity. On the right, the outbound patch on top of the return patch. The Earth behind the crew, as seen from Orion’s window (NASA, 2026).

NASA’s Artemis 2 mission successfully completed a flyby to the Moon and returned safely after a 9-day historical mission. The crew departed from Florida, USA and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.

Go to

Updates

11 Apr 2026: Artemis 2 Back to Huston.
10 Apr 2026: Artemis 2 Returns to Earth.

Background

NASA's Artemis Programme.
Artemis plans for the Moon.
Moonwalkers.
Artemis Accords.
Artemis Goddess of the Moon.

References

UPDATES

Artemis 2 returns to Huston, Texas
– 11 April 2026

On 11 April 2026, the crew from Artemis 2 held a news conference at Ellington Field, Huston, Texas, USA.

The event was opened by Norm Knight, NASA Flight Operations Director, followed by Vanessa Wyche, NASA Johnson Space Centre Director, and finally, Jared Isaacman, NASA Administrator who welcomed the Artemis 2 crew back to the stage where they were greeted by a standing ovation.

Mr Isaacman thanked President Donald Trump and NASA partners in Congress, the agency’s workforce, the international partners including the European and Canadian Space agencies, and the American Taxpayers.

“There is no doubt that there is a price to pay when it comes to exploring the Cosmos, but there is also a return, in the jobs it creates, the technologies that improve life on Earth and the inspiration it sparks on those who choose to follow” (Jared Isaacman, 2026).

Astronaut Christina Koch described a crew as a team where everyone has the same needs, must face the same threats and must care for each other no matter what because they are in the same journey. When watching the Earth suspended alone in the blackness of space, she realised that Planet Earth is analogous to a crew.

Jeremy Hansen was praised by Lisa Campbell, Canadian Space Agency President, for representing “the best of what it means to be Canadian, exemplifying the deepest values of discipline, humility and hard work”.

US Representative Chairman Brian Babin, representing the US Congress and the district of Texas, said that the Artemis 2 crew inspired not only America but the entire World and generations of humans that will come after them.

“The United States is ready for this challenge and ready to lead. As the US leads in space, they carry the principles of Freedom, Innovation and Opportunity” (Brian Babin, 2026).

Michael Cloud, US Representative of the congressional district of Texas thanked the crew for inspiring everyone again.

At the end of the conference, Commander Reid Weisman addressed the NASA astronauts-in-training who had attended the event and promised that the Artemis 2 crew would support them at every step of the way in their journey to the Moon.

Artemis 2 Crew on stage, presented by Jared Isaacman, NASA Administrator, Huston, Texas, USA (NASA, 11 April 2026).

Artemis 2 astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Jeremy Hansen and Victor Glover deliver their personal messages to the world,
Huston, Texas, USA (NASA, 11 April 2026).

Speakers at the Welcome Back Artemis 2 event: Norm Knight, Jared Isaacman, Vanessa Wyche, Lisa Campbell, Brian Babin and Michael Cloud,
Huston, Texas, USA (NASA, 11 April 2026).

Watch the full video “Artemis II Crew returns to Huston” (1hr).

NASA's Artemis II Crew Return to Houston (NASA, YouTube, 11apr2026) (video 1h 20m, event starts at 36m).

--O--

Artemis 2 returns to Earth – 10 April 2026

The crew of Artemis 2 returned to Earth with a successful splashdown in the Pacific ocean in the evening of 10 April 2026.

During the Artemis 1 mission, re-entry consisted in bouncing off the atmosphere to reduce speed, resulting in 20 minutes of exposure to extreme heat, and some damage to the tiles. Learning from that experience, Artemis 2 went for a direct re-entry reducing thermal exposure to 13 minutes, which was more protective to the heat shield.

Descent and landing critical events

• Separation of the Crew Module Orion from the European Service Module (37min before splashdown).
• Orion performs a Raise Burn to position the module in correct orientation for re-entry.
• Orion begins entry into the atmosphere at 121km of altitude (13min before splashdown).
• Jettison of the Forward Bay Cover at 10km of altitude to expose parachute system.
• Parachutes: Drogues, Pilots and Main, are deployed in sequence starting at 6km, 2km and 1.5km respectively.
• Splashdown on the Pacific Ocean.
• Uprighting system deploys to stabilise the capsule on the surface.
• Recovery.

Separation from the Service Module

Separation of the Orion capsule from the Service Module was successfully completed 37min before splashdown as the crew of Artemis 2 continued their journey towards the atmosphere.

The European Service Module (ESM) was developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and controlled from the ESA Eagle Control Room at the ESTEC facility in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.

Visualisations: Orion Spacecraft with the Crew Module closer to Earth and the ESM with solar panels deployed.
Right: Separation of crew module from ESM. Below: ESA’s Eagle Control Room, Noordwijk, Netherlands (NASA, ESA, 2026).

The ESM supports the crew module of the Orion Spacecraft from launch through to separation prior re-entry, after which the module is discarded. It provides propulsion for orbital transfer and attitude control and high-altitude ascent aborts. The module also holds water and oxygen and generates and stores electrical power using a solar panel array. It maintains the temperature of the vehicle and can hold unpressurised cargo and scientific payloads. It is designed to support the crew for 21 days.

This module is 5m in diameter and 4m in length, made of aluminium-lithium alloy and uses a refurbished AJ10-190 engine that was previously used by the Space Shuttle. Overall, in comparison with the Apollo service module, the ESM generates twice the electricity (11.2kW) weights 40% less (15 tonnes), it supports a larger (45%) habitable volume but carries 50% less propellant (8 tonnes). It was built by Airbus in Bremen, Germany.

European Service Module (ESM) main components and a view of its single AJ10-190 engine and the 8 smaller R-4D engines (ESA, 2023).

During the Artemis 2 mission, Pilot Victor Glover manually controlled the ESM for 70 minutes to test the controls and practice docking manoeuvres, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen also tested the controls for a shorter time. The main engine was only used for less than 6 minutes for Trans Lunar Injection (TLI), attitude changes were carried out by the 8 smaller R-4D secondary engines.

Return Burn and Re-entry

After a short Return Trajectory Correction (RTC-3) burn, Orion made the final adjustment to her orientation aiming at her re-entry path, gradually speeding up to 39,500 kph and colliding with increasing amounts of atmosphere particles, causing friction and generating temperatures as high as 2,700° C with the formation of plasma. During this period, there was a 6-minute communications blackout.

Visualisation of re-entry and monitoring of the same at Mission Control Centre during communications blackout (NASA, 2026).

Parachutes and Splashdown

Once inside the atmosphere, Orion’s free-fall was slowed down by the deployment of the first set of Drogue Parachutes, followed by a set of small Pilot Parachutes that preceded the three 49-metre in diameter Main Parachutes, which slowed down the vehicle to 30 kph before splashing down onto the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, California, 2 hours before sunset on 10 April 2026.

The splashdown of Orion capsule marked the end of the Artemis 2 mission, around the Moon and back, with a total duration of 9 days, 1 hour and 31 minutes since lift off (01 to 10 April 2026).

Artemis 2’s Orion crew capsule near the surface and at splashdown.
Notice drogue parachutes and tip of the capsule in the background (NASA, 10 April 2026).

Shortly after splashdown a set of bags inflated with helium to keep the capsule upright and on the surface.

Several Navy vessels that were waiting in the vicinity kept their distance until the capsule settled down and any gases produced during descent vented.

Recovery

US Navy ship USS John P. Murtha (www.cruisingearth.com, 2026).

The vessel in charge of recovery was the USS John P. Murtha, an amphibious transport dock ship of the United States Navy (named after Congressman John Murtha of Pennsylvania). The vessel carried two MH-60S Seahawk helicopters from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 23 to collect the Artemis 2 crew.

Once the capsule was stable, Navy divers approached and secured the inflatable porch, while others secured the parachutes. The astronauts were helped onto one of the boats, taken to the open sea and hoisted into helicopters in pairs.

Crew of Artemis 2 on inflatable boat escorted from the Orion Capsule (NASA, 10 April 2026).

Astronaut from Artemis 2 crew is air lifted to a Seahawk helicopter from the recovery inflatable boat (NASA, 10 April 2026).

The helicopters landed on the ship’s platform and once the area was safe the astronauts were greeted by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman before visiting the medical station for a health check.

MH-60S Seahawk helicopters on the platform of the Navy’s dock ship USS John P. Murtha (NASA, 10 April 2026).

Artemis 2 crew onboard USS John Murtha after recovery: Reid Wiseman, Jeremy Hansen, Victor Glover and Christina Koch (NASA, 10 April 2026).

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman welcomes the crew of Artemis 2 aboard the USS John P. Murtha (NASA, 10 April 2026).

Watch the full video “Artemis II Return and Splashdown” (4hr).

NASA's Artemis II Crew Comes Home, Official Broadcast (NASA, YouTube, 10apr2026) (4hr).

--O--

Q & A returning from the Moon – 9 April 2026

Day 7 on return with mission lapse time of 5d 17h, 53min.

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MORE COMING SOON TO REPLACE THE BELOW

Artemis 1 launch on 16 November 2022 (NASA, 2022).

The mission was an integrated system that consisted of the Orion spacecraft, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the ground systems at the launch site.

The first two launch attempts were cancelled due to a faulty engine temperature on 29 August 2022 and Hydrogen leak during fuelling on 03 September 2022. Each time, the SLS was rolled out and back to NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) where building and repairs were carried out.

The Artemis 1 vehicle was a Block 1 variant of the SLS: A core stage, two solid rocket boosters and an upper stage. The core stage had x4 RS-25D refurbished engines previously flown by the Space Shuttle around the turn of the century. The boosters also come from the Shuttle era and each contains a single motor and nozzle. The upper stage had a single RL10B-2 engine.

At launch, the core and boosters produced 4,000 tons of thrust at liftoff.

Journey and destination

After liftoff, the solid rocket boosters separated and splashed down on the ocean. Later, the Launch Abort System was jettisoned and the core stage separated to descend and also splash down.

Once in Earth’s orbit, the upper stage gained speed with a Perigee Raise burn and then a Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI) burn that placed the Orion spacecraft on a trajectory to the Moon. At 3,700 km of altitude, Orion separated from the second stage to continue towards the Moon.

Outside Earth’s orbit most of the CubeSats were deployed in 2 stages, the last one was released near the moon’s orbit.

Three weeks later Orion came within 130km from the lunar surface and entered Lunar Orbit. Orion reached a distance of 432,210 km away from Earth becoming the farthest distance from Earth travelled by an Earth-returning human-rated spacecraft, a record previously held by After Apollo 13 (400,171 km).

Orion orbited the Moon from 25 November to 01 December 2022, when it began its journey back home.

Artemis 1: Left: Orion looking back at the Earth, 16 November. Right: Orion approaching the Moon, 20 November 2022 (NASA, 2022).

Artemis 1: Orion closest to the Moon, 04 December 2022 (NASA, 2022).

The following graphic shows a summary of Artemis 1 mission. The journey consisted of 9 days, 10 hr outbound, 6 days in lunar orbit and 9 days 19 hr return, making a total of 25 days.

Artemis 1: Mission summary (NASA, 2022).

Artemis 1 Payload

Mannequins with sensors. Three mannequins were installed in the Orion Spacecraft:

• NASA’s “Captain Moonikin Campos” that recorded data on what the crew will experience.
• German Aerospace Centre’s “Helga” phantom torso measured radiation exposure without a vest. Its dosimetres detected radiation levels at stem-cell-concentration tissue locations.
• Israel Space Agency’s “Zohar” phantom torso tested the AstroRad radiation vest. The comparison provided data on the effectiveness of the vest.

Mannequins: Captain Moonikin Campos on the cockpit wearing orange.
Left: AstroRad vest. Right from top: Helga and Zohar wearing the Astrorad vest (NASA, 2022).

Technology demonstration: Amazon and Cisco in collaboration with Lockheed Martin developed “Callisto” that uses video conferencing and the Amazon Alexa Virtual Assistant to interact with mission control. They also posted messages from the public that were displayed at Orion.

The zero-G indicators selected by the teams: NASA sent a plush doll of “Snoopy” wearing an orange astronaut suit, and ESA sent “Shaun the Sheep” wearing an ESA blue suit.

Orion capsule interior showing Captain Moonikin Campos on the pilot seat, the Callisto techno demonstration in the centre.
Right: Floating Snoopy (green circle), enlarged for better view. Also, Shaun the Sheep from ESA (NASA. 2022).

Artemis 1 CubeSats

A CubeSat is a small satellite with a limit of 2 kg and a form factor of 10 cm. 10 CubeSats were carried in the Stage Adapter above the Second Stage. From those, 7 were selected by 3 groups at NASA and 3 were submitted by international partners.

1. ArgoMoon by the Italian Space Agency, designed by Argotec to image the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage. Operational.
2. EQUULEUS by the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) and the University of Tokyo to image the Earth’s plasmasphere and craters on the far side of the Moon. Operational.
3. OMOTENASHI by JAXA, a lunar probe that would have attempted to land using solid rocket motors. The CubeSat failed to start.
4. BioSentinel by NASA to detect effects of deep space radiation on yeast card rehydrated in space. Operational.
5. Lunar IceCube by Morehead State Univesity, USA., to orbit the moon and detect water and organic compoundsin the surface and exosphere with imfrared spectrometry. Contact was lost after launch.
6. Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper by NASA’s SIMPLEx programme aimed at orbiting the Moon and look for lunar water ice in permanently shadowed craters using a neutron detector. Engines failed to ignite and was lost.
7. LunIR by Lockheed Martin to flyby the Moon and record thermography. Communications were lost and no data was collected during flyby.
8. Near-Earth Asteroid Scout by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, would have flown by a near-earth asteroid using a Solar Sail. Communications were lost after launch and was lost.
9. Solar Particles by the Southwest Research Institute, USA, was to orbit the Sun and study particle and magnetic activity. Contact was lost after launch.
10. Team Miles by Fluid and Reason, USA., to demonstrate low-thrust plasma propulsion in deep space. Contact was not established after deployment.

Of the 10 CubeSats launched with Artemis 1, three remained operational after deployment. The remaining 7 failed.

END of UPDATES

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BACKGROUND

NASA’s Artemis Programme

The Artemis Programme was established in 2017 with the goal of returning to the Moon through five increasingly complex missions. The main element is the Space Launch System (SLS), a super heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle derived from developments that started with the Space Shuttle (1981-2011).

For each launch, the central Core Stage, built by Boeing, reuses and expends 4 pre-flown RS-25D refurbished engines demounted from the Space Shuttles (14 engines were left over). The stage contains liquid Oxygen and Hydrogen.

Solid Boosters Releasing from
the Space Shuttle (NASA, 2007).

SLS also uses two solid rocket boosters, also derived and refurbished from the Shuttle, they are filled with a composite propellant composed of Aluminium powder as fuel and Ammonium perchlorate as oxidiser, bound together with Polybutadiene acrylonitrile, a propellant fuel.

After 10 years of development, the first SLS launched from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on 16 November 2022 carrying the Artemis 1 mission (see below).

Space Launch System (SLS): Top: SLS at launch. 3D model. Solid Boosters. Bottom: Core Stage rollout from the building station (NASA, 2011).