Ariane, Falcon 9, Hyperbola Rockets All Suffer Failures In Space - Deep Space Updates 17th July

In another batch of news updates we get 3 rocket failures in sequence, 3 difference launch systems - Ariane 6, Hyperbola & Falcon 9 - all suffer second stage failures with Ariane coming out best with it at least delivering some of the payloads.
Falcon 9 is the biggest surprise, and has the potential to make a big impact on launch schedules since so many payloads depend on it. But it may be allowed to return to flight given its long string of successful launches.
Elsewhere, 15 year old Radar data is used to show that a big hole in the moon may lead to lava tubes. Kazakhstan signs up for China's lunar base and all the small rocket companies show off new rocket engines being tested.
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[@TheRogueWolf]

There's the old saying "Anything that is not nailed down is mine; anything that can be pried loose is by definition not nailed down". Now there's "Anything that is not bolted down is flight-capable; anything that can work itself loose from its clamps is by definition not bolted down".

[@richardunruh4035]

We now have the answer to the question: "why do we need a flight termination system for a static test?"

[@gdutfulkbhh7537]

When your hold-down clamps are made in China...

[@PixalEater]

😂 harsh ​@@gdutfulkbhh7537

[@richardunruh4035]

@@gdutfulkbhh7537 LOL, well said...but I don't think you need to limit it to just the hold-down clamps.

[@ThatOpalGuy]

@@gdutfulkbhh7537 its just a very capable first stage.

[@alexyoung6418]

Platform whispers to the rocket shortly before the test:"Which one of us is the testee again?"

[@RyanHoovermikebegoodyo]

Glad to hear a comment on the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. It would be a true shame to have a functioning space telescope canceled because of budget issues and not actual hardware issues.

[@doxielain2231]

I mean, that's what happened to the entire US space program for the last 40 years.

[@Grey0730]

They’re also discontinuing VIPER for the same reasons

[@radekc5325]

OK I spit my drink at the "first word problem". Nicely done.

[@TJ-W]

🤦‍♂️

[@timmcdaniel6193]

I went "OW OW OW" for about 20 seconds. -- The bit starts at 9:10.

[@sndsiwrite]

Weird Al has it covered. A medley of First World Problems and Word Crimes😂😂😂

[@TheMarcusGomez]

2nd staging is hard.

[@MisterItchy]

That was delivered so dryly, I thought I misheard him!

[@botondkis9624]

We have seen the Ariane 6 APU failture from Győr, Hungary. We were at the Hungarian Asztronautical Scosiety's Space Camp. We were watching the stars that night. It looked amazing!

[@beenaplumber8379]

It was a spectacular launch! I'm still happy for Ariane & ESA, even though it's so disappointing they couldn't relight the APU. That's an awesome rocket!

[@cotabom]

Oh my god.. Oh my god I can't believe my eyes. I used to watch your old KSP videos all the time and now you appeared in my recommended feed after.. god.. what 8 or 9 years now?? I'm really happy to see you're doing well!!

[@NeonVisual]

Funny how even after thousands and thousands of years, humans still look at caves and think "home".

[@davisdf3064]

I mean, it's a natural place with a roof, good enough I'd say

[@NeonVisual]

@@davisdf3064 But there might be a space bear in there.

[@davisdf3064]

@@NeonVisual That is true

[@symmetricat188]

We like it cozy.

[@saumyacow4435]

@@davisdf3064 An unstable and dangerous roof

[@joyl7842]

great to hear they said don't shut down Chandra!

[@owensmith7530]

Absolutely.

[@paulcarpenter999]

I remember previous instances when there seemed to be clusters of unrelated launch failures, the first half of 1986 comes to mind, and there was a similar period in the late 90's.

[@KaiHenningsen]

Also that first big SpaceX failure (was that AMOS?), there was the explosion of that transporter (I forget the name), and didn't Sojus also have a mishap around that time? Or was that when SpaceX lost that docking adapter? Three launch providers for ISS, three failures. That was ... _interesting._

[@DEADB33F]

"Mr Bond, they have a saying in Chicago: Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action." --- Ian Fleming

[@weppwebb2885]

​@@DEADB33Fwho would be the enemy of space? :O

[@philb5593]

@@KaiHenningsen Amos-6 was the second big F9. It was the CRS-7 in-flight failure you are thinking about. Antares had a failure launching Cygnus in Oct 2014, Progress had a failure in April 2015, and Dragon CRS-7 failure was in June 2015. 3 resupply mission failures in a row.

[@flaviosalatino8192]

​@@philb5593Yeap, the ISS was close to be evaquated because they where almost out of supplies

[@S1nwar]

4:20 what a crazy trackingshot

[@HasanProd]

its post processed

[@MonkeyJedi99]

Another difference between rockets and ICBMs that contribute to price is that a rocket needs to be in a sound state or launch through a short period of time, while an ICBM needs to sit ready and in mechanically sound condition for decades (honestly in the hope it NEVER launches).

[@taras3702]

Retired ICBM'S are converted to launch satellites too. The Titan ICBM's were very successful in that role after retirement.

[@krisk7]

You forgot to mention on Jul 3rd Poland went into space using Bursztyn (Amber) rocket launched from Norway and reached 100+ km altitude.

[@_TeXoN_]

Do Rockets that someone else launched from Poland to above 100km also count, because Germany did this in 1942.

[@MinedMaker]

Poland can into space!

[@stupidape]

Lesgoooo

[@donjones4719]

@@_TeXoN_ I like your sense of humor. But I have questions. Germany's 1942 launch of an A4 (later V2) went beyond the US definition of space, 80 km, when it hit 85 km. It was also beyond the German definition at that time, they celebrated going into space (Wikipedia). A 1944 launch went well above 100 km, to ~180 km. But both launched from Peenemunde in Germany. V2 test launches were being made from Poland from late 1943 after Germany shifted a lot of V2 stuff to Poland to escape Allied aerial bombing. So one could have reached one of the altitudes I mentioned, although I haven't found anything specific.

[@aspassov]

Ruzzian troll 😅 ​@@_TeXoN_

[@UncleManuel]

"All was going well until it exploded." -some dude on the Internet 😁😁🤘🤘

[@paulpantea9521]

Ariane demonstrated the ability to put stuff into orbit just fine. The problem was on the third engine light up which was supposed to deorbit the second stage, along with the reentry payloads. Still disappointing, but no concerns about the upcoming launches in the near future.

[@admarsandbeyond]

Don't Kuiper launches require the APU?

[@paulpantea9521]

@@admarsandbeyond they do but they'll take a while, that's why I said "near future" 👀

[@Pieman10101tx]

Moon caves. For when caves here on earth aren’t dangerous enough for you.

[@scottmanley]

At least moon caves won’t be flooded.

[@kobusdowney5291]

​@@scottmanleysays who? They might contain ice. Herge might have been right with the Tintin comic: Explorers on the moon.

[@nikolaideianov5092]

At least you wont drown​@@kobusdowney5291

[@chrissouthgate4554]

@@kobusdowney5291 Or H G Wells, "First Men in the Moon"

[@M167A1]

​@@scottmanleyYou say that like it doesn't suck to be engulfed in molten green cheese.

[@johnburr9463]

Starliner is just the newest ISS module.

[@davisdf3064]

Might as well use the little fuel that it has to boost the ISS a little more

[@TastyBusiness]

I am so excited to hear about the Dawk MK-II Aurora update. Space planes ARE cool! Thanks Scott!

[@williambaikie5739]

While using lava tunnels on the Moon for habitation is very cool. I've yet to hear anyone postulate these being cold traps for volatiles, similar to the craters on the poles which are in perpetual darkness. Perhaps H2O, Methane, and CO2 have deposited in the tubes and it might be much more pure due to not having impact dust mixed in.

[@dmdrosselmeyer]

Nothing like some space news with a cup of coffee and a morning dab🙏

[@bastiat691]

The static fire became more dynamic than planned

[@MCsCreations]

Thanks for all the updates, Scott! 😊 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@simonkovacic2585]

I think the Ariane 6 upper stage engine failed when it was supposed to fire a 3rd time, not 2nd

[@Schinkeldink]

yes the supposed de-orbit burn

[@billbassett887]

He said "it was supposed to relight the engine for the second time" .... in other words, the second re-light, which is the third light

[@yumazster]

There was one successful relight, fault developed during the second on orbit burn and they couldn't relight it for the deorbit trajectory I think.

[@Ph33NIXx]

Oooh! Nice to hear Aurora news!

[@davidlang4442]

Those holes on the moon look like a punch through of a space rock that hit a lava tube..

[@linecraftman3907]

Earth also has these very sharp sinkholes when a cave forms under ground

[@Deltarious]

Please *keep* talking about Starlink launches even those that don't fail- the fact that they are becoming so mundane and routine is actually amazing and so the launches deserve to be documented. It's a good reminder that access to space has improved so much so quickly.

[@momentik0712]

Its always a good day when Scott uploads!

[@otpyrcralphpierre1742]

Excellent update! Thank you SO much!

[@peeftribos]

I would LOVE a video about the discoveries brought by Bennu, do we have enough for a video? 😅

[@frankgulla2335]

Thanks, Scott. Great report and analysis.

[@SandroWalach]

My brain, somehow, read, "Great Scott." I have no idea how, but it did :P

[@MrBoho7]

Thabks for the ICBM update, I loved your series on the history of them!

[@krakhedd]

Roscosmos was most-accurately evicted for failing to pay rent and otherwise abide the terms of their lease

[@0x8badbeef]

A frustrating thing about these failures is they may not have sufficient telemetry in the area of failure.

[@hamjudo]

We can be sure that going forward there will be more telemetry in that region.

[@JimWhitaker]

As always, this is where I come to get decent (no, excellent) coverage of what is going on in spaceflight. Thanks Scott.

[@terranovarain6570]

Wow lot going on in space news And the best place to get informed ❤

[@KaroKuje]

thanks for always being so thorough and meticulous!

[@The_dislike_guy]

July 2024: also known as *the month the firmament fought back*

[@roguedruid]

Patch notes: - Fixed bug that allowed players to glitch out of the skybox

[@Nathan-vt1jz]

The SpaceX failure is the most significant as it may interrupt other launches/missions, possibly even those to the ISS. The US doesn’t have a good alternative ready to go without asking the Russians for help, which is obviously problematic with the war in Ukraine. On the plus, I’m really stoked for the next Starship launch! At the least we should get to see some cool ‘virtual’ catch’s over the water and at best we’ll get to see a full catch test of the booster! (I say all this as a SpaceX fanboy)

[@_TeXoN_]

Falcon 9 was completely without alternatives last year. I am happy to see that H-III, Vulcan and Ariane 6 are now entering service and slowly distributing the risk in the western launcher market.

[@raybod1775]

Failure is part of rocket science… and anything else cutting edge.

[@donjones4719]

If the US had an urgent need to launch in the next couple of weeks NASA or the DoD would authorize it. (The FAA only has authority over commercial payload launches.) They'd certainly do that before relying on Russia. Nothing else is that urgent, even the next Cargo Dragon and Crew Dragon missions. If by some vanishingly small minute chance F9 was grounded for months then a NASA or DoD authorization would be more likely, still before Russia. Any purely commercial launches will just have to wait. By law they can't go on Soyuz and Vulcan will make only 2 flights by the end of the year, if lucky.

[@javaman4584]

I was annoyed when you said they were going to beam hip-hop music into space, but since they're aiming at Venus, which is almost literally Hell, I'm ok with that.

[@Idkhowtofkinread]

Love that

[@donjones4719]

At leas it wasn't rap. But then the headline couldn't say they launched music.

[@davisdf3064]

Hey! Respect Venus! Part of my family lives there!

[@TheMoneypresident]

Beastie boys blowing ships up. Worst moment in star trek history.

[@SpaceGhost1701]

Racist vibes coming from you.

[@MisterItchy]

Just wanted you to know that, even though your delivery was more than suitably dessicated, your "First word problem" was received and appreciated.

[@CodyDockerty]

The way you said "it's still not coming home" I'm curious how close to the Euro finals this was recorded

[@blimeycrikey]

FAA to SpaceX: You're grounded. FAA to Boeing: Meehhh.. lets see how it goes Buddy.

[@andrewgarley1400]

Love your show, from the UK

[@jonathanshaw6784]

"it's still not coming home" Subtle dig at English football there.

[@Steeyuv]

Which means it’ll be wasted on them! (joke…)

[@brettwoodard167]

Thanks Scott!

[@derekwood8184]

I love that the launch of mutliple superconstellation satellites on a rocket that lands tail first on a boat in the middle of the ocean makes you go "yeah boring".. how far we have come in the last few years!

[@chris-hayes]

15:48 ooh, the flaps on New Zealand's tail fin has a similar design to the shuttle's, where the tail flap is 2 pieces, they both pop out to slow down the aircraft on landing.

[@peterwilson7532]

The Ariane 6 launch was great. So some engineers and agencies are actually still capable of building a whole new rocket and getting it right first time. What an achievement, well done ESA. Exploding rockets is getting pretty boring these days. Now Europe has a great new medium to high power independent launch capability. Perfect for the politics of the current era and half the price of Ariane 5. I just hope they stay away from manned spaceflight, a huge waste of money for boring missions. It'll be nice to get some good Ariane launched scientific exploratory missions launched to continue their previous great achievements including launching the James Webb Space Telescope.

[@admarsandbeyond]

Lots of rockets got it right first time, e.g. Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, Vulcan. Starship has a different development process (hardware rich rapid iterative) because it's pioneering into the unknown on the bleeding edge of space tech. Ariane6 also is not half price of Ariane5. Even if we take away the 300 million per year subsidies for assured access, the 4B dev money rightoff, the free new launch site, Ariane64 (which is the one comparable to A5, 62 is comparable to Suyuz) is still only about 10% cheaper.

[@revmsj]

Idk they’re still a whole APU away from your premature congratulations it would seem…

[@therealcherti]

long time since I got notifications for your videos. Recently got kerbal space program up and just needed to binge watch your videos again. Love your stuff

[@ValentineC137]

Static fire failure: engine damaged on ascent

[@seasong7655]

The story from China is crazy. I'm surprised how big the fireball was as well

[@spikespa5208]

The test "was not as static as they anticipated." Uh huh. 😒

[@raybod1775]

Stuff happens, can’t fail without trying.

[@otpyrcralphpierre1742]

@@spikespa5208 They successfully failed.

[@chrissouthgate4554]

The amazing thing is how close to built-up areas it was!

[@madsam0320]

@@chrissouthgate4554the whole area was evacuated.

[@FrankDTank-lf4dq]

wow just heard your voice in the new hbo wild wild space documentary 👏

[@albertvanlingen7590]

....the recent solar storm we had caused the outer atmosphere to become much thicker amplifying drag. Could that impact the second stages?

[@nils1543]

Scott, I'd love to see some videos on the new Sentinel nuclear missile. You know both rockets and nukes so I'm sure you could give some interesting commentary on it.

[@craigmooring2091]

Good stuff as usual, Scott, except for the part starting @ about 3:32 when you said, "...we were able to see it where I was...137 degree inclination orbit which meant it kind of flew East over the Pacific..." I didn't know you had gone to Panama, the only place on the Pacific coast in the Americas, south of Alaska, where anything CAN go East over the Pacific. 😊

[@sheldoniusRex]

You need to look more closely at the geography of southern California. The coast curves hard to the east approaching Mexico, where it is conceivable to look east-southeast and be looking at ocean.

[@elisha.schiff]

Perhaps you could explain what you meant by there not really being science reasons for sls?

[@javant6993]

I think because reasons would be that it is not very practical to operate the SLS? Costs something like $2 bil to launch

[@californiascapes]

This was a great video.

[@Imagine_Beyond]

The Block 2 nose cone looks like a penguin in the photo 13:56

[@ganonzero1]

Yessss! A guy on another channel actually traced out the outline, and filled in all the penguin details. 😂

[@Imagine_Beyond]

@@ganonzero1 Yes I saw that. It was Matt lowne

[@rizizum]

I made a Starship in KSP and from some angles it's just straight up a penguin, especially when i turn the lights on

[@davisdf3064]

​@@rizizum Perhaps Elon Musk should change the name to Penguin Imagine: "the Penguin" super heavy launch vehicle

[@ravimehta7302]

Did you see the computers being suggested for the "Replacement Modernization Design"? At 10:48

[@heatshield]

Missy Elliott? Okay I did not hear about that yet. You’re one in a million.

[@johnbazaar8440]

From: NASA To: Congress Re: Non NASA SLS customers -- Nada! Sincerely, NASA

[@ronwatkins5775]

Wondering why China doesn't make greater use of it's east coast for launch centers compared to inland sites?

[@dalehill6127]

The Chinese nature has always been secretive. Yes they copy, and no they don't want anyone else copying them. Specifically they want to keep all of their launches as far away as possible from prying Western eyes around the coast. You might also have noticed that in the last month or two they've been giving the world less and less notice of their launches - IIRC the last one went up just 4 hours after they announced it. I think all spacefaring nations are worried about someone else's on-orbit assets inspecting and potentially sabotaging their upper stages during launches...which makes me wonder mightily about those mysterious sudden upper stage problems of Ariane and the Falcon... 🤔

[@janusli8820]

Because the current launch sites were built to launch missiles during the cold war. And China coundn't defend its coast properly back then.

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

Great video, Scott...👍

[@somethingclever1234]

6:50 is that before or after the FAA Boeing thruster investigation???

[@jespado]

Only S.P.E.C.T.R.E has the capacity to do something like this!

[@blackterminal]

Thanks Scott.

[@chrischtea]

speaking of asteroid detection: have you or will you do a video on Apophis?

[@JustSomeCanuck]

"Who is Missy Elliot? We asked for more Chuck Berry."

[@elmofeneken4364]

Another batch of great space related info. Now you can enjoy that package of peanuts sitting behind you on the counter.

[@Forcemaster2000]

3 upper stage failures in a row...the aliens on the moon are trying to slow us down again!

[@richardbaker1308]

Thanks!

[@seancarroll146]

Spectacular Static Fire!!!!

[@peterbustin2683]

Ah. Theyve discovered the soup dragon's home!

[@nemom225]

Keep talking about Star link! We appreciate the accuracy!

[@RFC3514]

0:18 - That sentence (complete with the head movement) sounded exactly like _The Onion's_ Michael Falk. 😄

[@digitalplayland]

Stuckliner is not stuck. It's just on organic scheduling. Working hard on how not to die on re-entry.

[@privateerburrows]

What direction is "leeward"? Online dictionaries don't help; they all say "In the direction of the wind" but don't clarify if it's the direction the wind is going towards, or the direction it is coming from.

[@playitlouder451]

downwind

[@RechargeableLithium]

In nautical parlance, the usual origin of aviation and space terminology, the lee is the side of a ship or a shore where the wind is blocked by the object. On a boat, with wind blowing directly from the left across the boat, the right is the lee side. Same for an island - land reduces the effect of wind on the lee (vice windward) side

[@stargazer7644]

The lee side is the protected side - the side the wind doesn't reach. That's the downwind side.

[@privateerburrows]

@@stargazer7644 Ah, thank you all for the explanations. Now I understand.

[@TimothyLipinski]

Great Video ! My brother has seen a previous launch in 2024 of the Falcon 9 from the California SFB from the foothills on the East side of Albuquerque with NO clouds in the way ! I may have to go to a higher elevation to see if I can see Starship launch from Texas if the weather is clear to the South ! New Mexico has some Lava Tube Caves in western NM on the South side of I-40 ! tjl

[@DonBooch]

Not to take away from this excellent video, but something exciting happened in Rocketry. An AI completed its first 3d print of a working rocket engine, and I would rather hear the details from you. Will you be doing that video soon?

[@vincentcleaver1925]

The falcon side of SpaceX has a lot of good will to lean on, plus that team is all over this, unless all the gonzo engineers moved on or over

[@simon9070]

any news on those two Boeing astronauts?

[@luciealie]

First: Scott, thank you for your awesome, easy to understand videos. Second: It look like Falcon 9 are back in game (at least, by the Next Spaceflight app), do you know something more?

[@jimmyjames2022]

The Inhibitors have arrived.

[@Fister_of_Muppets]

One of these days I want this jovial fella to start a video like: "Hello, it's Scott Manley here, come here let me tickle ya..."

[@MarkGoldfain]

I'd love to see the rest of that t-shirt Scott was wearing.

[@bastersturm]

a brief moment i fotgot you´re a DJ. so the music news are exciting

[@JoseLuceroRodriguez]

its the sophons

[@friendlycommentwolf]

Thanks

[@cduemo]

Love your content. T-shirt details...?

[@extraordinarilybasic3250]

Something about the FAA completely grounding SpaceX rubs me the wrong way. A rocket that doesn’t have an issue until it’s already outside of earths atmosphere is more important while the FAA continues to let Boeing fly planes that aren’t constructed correctly.

[@charliekempf]

It's standard procedure unfortunately. Besides, I don't think SpaceX or it's customers (manned or unmanned) want F9 to fly anyway until they figure out what is wrong.

[@Mike.The.Jeweler]

I've been saying this for years. Spacex hiccups and the faa / fcc shuts them down, meanwhile boeing having multiple hull-loss level problems every flight and they just go "aww poor boeing, did you need us to ask congress for another two billion for you?"

[@bobert6259]

Those are completely different situations and not comparable. Firstly flying is much more important for day to day needs and you can’t just ground all Boeings Boeing planes have taken hundreds of millions of flights with something like

[@Mike.The.Jeweler]

@extraordinarilybasic3250 meanwhile congress: "aww poor boeing, did you need another 2 billion?"

[@andrewdrednaught]

Yep. Is spaceflight supposed to be dangerous and you sign a paper where it states that you won't sue the government?

[@benjamino.7475]

140 billion dollars on missile silos, (no big deal) compared to the 25 billion dollars on Nasa. Great use of money

[@sheldoniusRex]

It's a fantastic use of money. Unless you'd rather your grandchildren listen to this broadcast in Mandarin or Russian.

[@TheTamriel]

A pit might lead to a lunar lava tube but is nonsensical cos the bottom is out of direct reach and communication with Earth is impossible from down there anyway. A horizontally accessible lunar lava tube is the only practicable way to go for a protected Moon base and to maintain communication.

[@adamcollegeman2]

excellent

[@paulmoffat9306]

It seems that accidents always happen in '3's - Passenger plane crashes, Ship sinkings, Rocket Launches and so on.

[@vicroc4]

I believe it's the French that have a saying, "Troubles come in threes."

[@johnnylongfeather3086]

No

[@simongeard4824]

@@vicroc4 But it's also "third time lucky", so the proverbs are hedging their bets.

[@zlm001]

Thanks.

[@cmdraftbrn]

The Crust. coming to life

[@saumyacow4435]

Hey Scott, regarding Archimedes. Do you know if that's a test of the pre-burner or just the ignition system?

[@SRFirefox]

"Other customers for SLS." What garbage. SLS was built specifically for NASA. SLS, regardless of the politics of using Shuttle parts, does one thing well: Launch heavy payloads in one go into high energy orbits. No other rocket we currently have is capable of sending large payloads as far or as fast. If Congress wants it to be cheaper they could always buy thirty of them.

[@davisdf3064]

Congress, as always, not understanding how spaceflight works

[@Mckjku16]

The thing about sentinel is the massive cost overruns. It’s something like 80% over budget so far

[@penguin44ca]

Elom said it was an engineering upgrade for this flight. Rolled back the upgrade for the next. Also the starlink Sats managed to raise their orbits except for 7

[@scottmanley]

TLEs?

[@stevengaming3689]

Scott, are you going to do anything about these bots commenting?

[@I-0-0-I]

We can report them, misinformation is an option for Apollo deniers for example. I think if enough people report, they go away.

[@Hungary_0987]

I hope so. Make this the Top comment so he sees this!

[@Peizxcv]

Google isn’t doing a thing so what can any uploader do? You have to realize fighting BOT and scams are customer service and the less Google can spend on customer the more profit they have

[@Thetimecapsuletx]

How can you tell a bot comment from a real one?

[@cube2fox]

If it's a woman - probably a bot. (Not many real women interested in Scott's videos.)