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Fugro SpAARC

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The Fugro SpAARC Space Automation, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Control (SpAARC) facility is a mission control center created by a collaboration between the Australian Space Agency , the government of Western Australia (WA) and the Dutch company Fugro . SpAARC provides telerobotic control for both spaceflight and terrestrial vehicles. SpAARC, opened in November 2020, is Fugro's largest remote operations center. SpAARC is located in Perth , Australia.

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46-612: Fugro SpAARC was selected as the contingency control center for the Intuitive Machines Nova-C IM-1 lunar landing mission. This article about an Australian corporation or company is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Dutch corporation or company article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This spacecraft or satellite related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Intuitive Machines Nova-C The Intuitive Machines Nova-C , or simply Nova-C ,

92-1128: A launch pad , supported by a launch control center and systems such as vehicle assembly and fueling. Launch vehicles are engineered with advanced aerodynamics and technologies, which contribute to high operating costs. An orbital launch vehicle must lift its payload at least to the boundary of space, approximately 150 km (93 mi) and accelerate it to a horizontal velocity of at least 7,814 m/s (17,480 mph). Suborbital vehicles launch their payloads to lower velocity or are launched at elevation angles greater than horizontal. Practical orbital launch vehicles use chemical propellants such as solid fuel , liquid hydrogen , kerosene , liquid oxygen , or hypergolic propellants . Launch vehicles are classified by their orbital payload capacity, ranging from small- , medium- , heavy- to super-heavy lift . Launch vehicles are classed by NASA according to low Earth orbit payload capability: Sounding rockets are similar to small-lift launch vehicles, however they are usually even smaller and do not place payloads into orbit. A modified SS-520 sounding rocket

138-490: A Nova-C mission for CLPS task order CP-11. It will deliver payloads to the lunar swirl in the Reiner Gamma region. In August 2021, Intuitive Machines selected SpaceX to launch its third lunar mission, IM-3. As of August 2024, the launch of IM-3 is expected to take place no earlier than October 2025. The lander will conduct experiments investigating the properties of the unexpected magnetic field that has been detected in

184-584: A joint press conference on February 28 to discuss and review the IM-1 mission. IM was selected in October 2020 in order to land its second Nova-C lander near the lunar south pole . As of September 2024, IM-2 is expected to be launched no earlier than January 2025. In May 2024, the company shared IM-2 entered into its final assembly stage. The primary payload, PRIME-1 , includes the TRIDENT ice drill to sample ice from below

230-411: A leg off of the hexagonal body, and bounced back along the line of approach, with the main engine and RCS firing to null out vertical and lateral velocities. After landing vertically, the lander slowly settled onto the lunar surface with the top solar array pointed in the general direction of Schomberger crater. One of the rectangular arrays, originally intended to be vertical, is on top and angled 30° with

276-549: A partnership with Nokia Bell Labs and IM . MAPP will collect lunar samples for NASA under a contract worth just $ 1, which is symbolic of a new incentive for the emerging commercial space industry to access resources in space. Photos of the samples and other data will be transmitted through radio equipment and antennas to communicate with the Nova-C lander. A collaboration in order to demonstrate 4G cellular connectivity, in partnership with Nokia Bell Labs and NASA will be aboard

322-529: A rocket stage may be recovered while others are not. The Space Shuttle , for example, recovered and reused its solid rocket boosters , the Space Shuttle orbiter that also acted as a second stage, and the engines used by the core stage (the RS-25 , which was located at the back of the orbiter), however the fuel tank that the engines sourced fuel from, which was separate from the engines, was not reused. For example,

368-453: A standalone hopper lander, exploring multiple difficult-to-reach areas such as deep craters on the lunar surface. A lunar communications satellite will be deployed on this mission to facilitate communications between the lander and ground stations on Earth. Spaceflight will deliver rideshare payloads on this mission aboard its Sherpa EScape (Sherpa-ES) space tug called Geo Pathfinder . The MiniPIX TPX3 SPACE payload, provided by

414-581: Is a class of lunar landers designed by Intuitive Machines (IM) to deliver small payloads to the surface of the Moon . Intuitive Machines was one of three service providers awarded task orders in 2019 for delivery of NASA science payloads to the Moon. The IM-1 lunar lander, named Odysseus (pronounced / ə ˈ d ɪ s i ə s / ə- DISS -ee-əs ), was launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on 15 February 2024, reached lunar orbit on 21 February, and landed on

460-431: Is capable of 24/7 data coverage for its client payloads The lander is designed to stay upright when landing on a slope of up to 10 degrees. The lander includes autonomous landing and hazard detection technology and once landed is still capable of relocating itself to a second landing site by performing a vertical takeoff, cruise, and vertical landing. Intuitive Machines is conducting the first three Nova-C missions for

506-643: Is developing the first stage of the orbital New Glenn LV to be reusable, with first flight planned for no earlier than 2024. SpaceX has a new super-heavy launch vehicle under development for missions to interplanetary space . The SpaceX Starship is designed to support RTLS, vertical-landing and full reuse of both the booster stage and the integrated second-stage/large-spacecraft that are designed for use with Starship. Its first launch attempt took place in April 2023; however, both stages were lost during ascent. The fifth launch attempt ended with Booster 12 being caught by

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552-622: The Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. CLPS is part of the NASA Artemis program ; one of the long term goals of Artemis is establishing a permanent crewed base on the Moon . Intuitive Machines was one of three service providers awarded task orders in 2019 for delivery of NASA science payloads to the Moon. In 2021, Intuitive Machines received a NASA contract that was initially valued at US$ 77 million to conduct lunar landings for NASA. After contract modifications,

598-667: The European Space Agency is responsible for the Ariane V , and the United Launch Alliance manufactures and launches the Delta IV and Atlas V rockets. Launchpads can be located on land ( spaceport ), on a fixed ocean platform ( San Marco ), on a mobile ocean platform ( Sea Launch ), and on a submarine . Launch vehicles can also be launched from the air . A launch vehicle will start off with its payload at some location on

644-416: The launch pad alongside propellant loading of the launch vehicle . Use of liquid methane and liquid oxygen is believed to be an enabling technology for future deep space missions. Propellants aboard the lander were stored in composite over-wrap liner-less cryogenic tanks. Thermodynamic venting systems provide cryogenic cooling. Nova-C landers use solar panels as a source of electrical power. Most areas of

690-444: The upper stage of the launch vehicle or launched to a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). A direct insertion places greater demands on the launch vehicle, while GTO is more demanding of the spacecraft. Once in orbit, launch vehicle upper stages and satellites can have overlapping capabilities, although upper stages tend to have orbital lifetimes measured in hours or days while spacecraft can last decades. Distributed launch involves

736-467: The 2000s and launch vehicles with integrated distributed launch capability built in began development in 2017 with the Starship design. The standard Starship launch architecture is to refuel the spacecraft in low Earth orbit to enable the craft to send high-mass payloads on much more energetic missions. After 1980, but before the 2010s, two orbital launch vehicles developed the capability to return to

782-594: The Czech company ADVACAM , will be onboard the Nova-C lunar lander. This payload is designed to monitor the radiation field on the Moon and help understand how to protect crew and equipment from the negative effects of cosmic rays. This marks the first Czech payload planned to be delivered to the Moon's surface. Space technology company Lunar Outpost will send their first lunar rover, the Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (MAPP), on this mission in

828-526: The IM-3 mission is scheduled for no earlier than October 2025. SpaceX is under contract to provide Falcon 9 launches for each of the three landers. In 2017, Space Policy Directive 1 signaled the intention of returning NASA astronauts to the Moon. NASA documents obtained by The New York Times suggested the agency would involve the private spaceflight sector in the effort. In 2018, NASA solicited bids from nine companies, including Intuitive Machines, for

874-509: The NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. The landers are tasked with delivering small science and technology-development payloads. The lander for the first Nova-C mission, IM-1, was named Odysseus . A contract for the mission was signed in 2021, with later modifications. The mission launched 15 February 2024 on a Falcon 9 launch vehicle and landed with a "rough" - soft landing on 22 February 2024 in

920-581: The Nova-C lander (APL magnetometer, SwRI plasma spectrometer, and Redwire camera arrays) and on a Lunar Outpost rover (APL magnetometer and Canadensys microscopic imager). APL also provided overall management, systems engineer, SMA, and rover integration and testing. Additional IM-3 payloads include the Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Explorers (CADRE) rovers, ESA's MoonLIGHT Pointing Actuator (MPAc) and KASI's Lunar Space Environment Monitor (LUSEM). IM-4

966-423: The Nova-C lander may be based using In-situ resource utilization (ISRU) (off-world resource processing technologies). The Nova-C lander technology platform can be scaled up to mid and large lander classes, capable of accommodating larger payloads. In an interview with NASA recorded in October 2023, Tim Crain, CTO of Intuitive Machines, mentioned the possible development of a Nova-D lander. Early reports of

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1012-509: The South Pole region of the moon, approximately at 80.13° South latitude and 1.44° East longitude, inside a shallow 1 km diameter crater with a 12° slope. The lander came to rest about 1.5 km away from the intended landing site near the Malapert A crater. The line of approach brought Odysseus in from the northeast over Schomberger crater. Upon initial contact with the lunar surface, the lander broke

1058-537: The accomplishment of a goal with multiple spacecraft launches. A large spacecraft such as the International Space Station can be constructed by assembling modules in orbit, or in-space propellant transfer conducted to greatly increase the delta-V capabilities of a cislunar or deep space vehicle. Distributed launch enables space missions that are not possible with single launch architectures. Mission architectures for distributed launch were explored in

1104-530: The booster stage of a launch vehicle. After 2010, SpaceX undertook a development program to acquire the ability to bring back and vertically land a part of the Falcon 9 orbital launch vehicle: the first stage . The first successful landing was done in December 2015, since 2017 rocket stages routinely land either at a landing pad adjacent to the launch site or on a landing platform at sea, some distance away from

1150-524: The cold lunar night will set in and the solar panels will no longer be able to supply power. IM engineers announced that they may be able to maintain communication with Odysseus for an additional 10 to 20 hours after the sun has gone down over the Odysseus landing site, due to Odysseus' s battery capacity. It was also announced that the Odysseus data feed back to Earth has been sending back payload related science data as well as images. IM and NASA held

1196-463: The engine produces 3,100 N (700 lb f ) of thrust. For attitude control the vehicle uses a helium reaction control system (RCS). Each thruster in the RCS produces 4.45 N (1 lbf) of thrust. At launch Nova-C is filled with 845 kg (1,863 lb) of liquid oxygen, 422 kg (930 lb) kg of liquid methane and 17 kg (37 lb) of gaseous helium. Propellant is loaded onto Nova-C at

1242-463: The first by a private company . The soft Odysseus landing also qualifies the Odysseus mission as the first liquid methane and liquid oxygen ( methalox ) powered spacecraft to fire beyond low earth orbit, as well as the first methalox spacecraft to land on an off-world celestial body. After the landing Odysseus was resting on the surface at a 30° angle with the horizontal. It has been confirmed by Tim Crain, CTO of Intuitive Machines, that one of

1288-442: The ground. In contrast, reusable launch vehicles are designed to be recovered intact and launched again. The Falcon 9 is an example of a reusable launch vehicle. As of 2023, all reusable launch vehicles that were ever operational have been partially reusable, meaning some components are recovered and others are not. This usually means the recovery of specific stages, usually just the first stage, but sometimes specific components of

1334-448: The horizontal, or about 18° with the lunar surface. IM announced that until entering standby mode on February 29, 2024, Odysseus had transmitted over 350 megabytes of science and engineering data from all payloads, and it will try to revive Odysseus during the next lunar day. Odysseus' s "rough" - soft Moon landing is the first soft landing of any kind for an American made spacecraft since Apollo 17 , more than 50 years ago, and

1380-584: The in-development Nova-D state that it will use two of the VR-900 engines and be capable of carrying more than 500 kg to the lunar surface. In August 2024, Intuitive Machines proposed a mission to deliver NASA's VIPER rover to the Moon on a Nova-D lander no earlier than late 2027. Intuitive Machines is developing another lander, the Nova-M which, according to early reports, will use two VR-3500 engines originally developed for Boeing and their HLS to carry 5,000 kg to

1426-426: The lander. Nokia's equipment is a Network-In-a-Box and will connect the Nova-C lander with Lunar Outpost's MAPP rover and IM's Micro-Nova Hopper. This 4G / LTE network will provide more bandwidth than the more conventional ultra-high frequency (UHF) systems used for space communication. Nokia says they hope that future missions will use shared infrastructure to interlink bases on the lunar surface. NASA selected

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1472-449: The lander. It was hoped that a data link could be restored with Odysseus after lunar sunrise occurs at Malapert A crater, although this was not a requirement of the mission, On March 23 Intuitive Machines announced that Odysseus would not wake up and that the mission had ended Odysseus touched down on the Moon in the middle of a lunar day, and was expected to remain functional for approximately six Earth days (until February 27), when

1518-434: The landing leg struts broke off during the landing, and that the lander is resting on a helium tank and/or a computer shelf that was strapped outside of the main fuselage. Based on telemetry received by mission controllers Odysseus appeared in "good health." The antennas were not vertically aligned as initially planned, and transmissions from the lander were somewhat reduced. Both science and engineering data were received from

1564-514: The launch site (RTLS). Both the US Space Shuttle —with one of its abort modes —and the Soviet Buran had a designed-in capability to return a part of the launch vehicle to the launch site via the mechanism of horizontal-landing of the spaceplane portion of the launch vehicle. In both cases, the main vehicle thrust structure and the large propellant tank were expendable , as had been

1610-556: The launch site. The Falcon Heavy is similarly designed to reuse the three cores comprising its first stage. On its first flight in February 2018, the two outer cores successfully returned to the launch site landing pads while the center core targeted the landing platform at sea but did not successfully land on it. Blue Origin developed similar technologies for bringing back and landing their suborbital New Shepard , and successfully demonstrated return in 2015, and successfully reused

1656-637: The lunar surface and the MSolo mass spectrometer to measure the amount of ice in the samples. ILO-1 prime contractor Canadensys is working to deliver "a flight-ready low-cost optical payload for the ILO-1 mission, ruggedized for the Moon South Pole environment". It could potentially be ready for integration on the IM-2 mission. The μNova (Micro-Nova) Hopper will separate from the Nova-C lander after landing and function as

1702-407: The lunar surface are sunlit during lunar days , which last approximately fourteen Earth days. Electrical power is generated by a photovoltaic system with three solar panels, a top deck panel and two body panels, generating a combined maximum of 200 W on the lunar surface. A 25 amp-hour battery supplies power to a 28 VDC bus for use by the spacecraft when power generation lags consumption. Nova-C

1748-460: The lunar surface on 22 February. This marked the inaugural Nova-C landing on the Moon and the first American spacecraft to perform a soft landing on the Moon in over 50 years. It is the first spacecraft to use methalox propulsion to navigate between the Earth and the Moon. The second Nova-C lander with the IM-2 mission is scheduled to launch no earlier than January 2025, and a third Nova-C lander on

1794-431: The lunar surface. Launch vehicle A launch vehicle is typically a rocket -powered vehicle designed to carry a payload (a crewed spacecraft or satellites ) from Earth's surface or lower atmosphere to outer space . The most common form is the ballistic missile -shaped multistage rocket , but the term is more general and also encompasses vehicles like the Space Shuttle . Most launch vehicles operate from

1840-546: The same booster on a second suborbital flight in January 2016. By October 2016, Blue had reflown, and landed successfully, that same launch vehicle a total of five times. The launch trajectories of both vehicles are very different, with New Shepard going straight up and down, whereas Falcon 9 has to cancel substantial horizontal velocity and return from a significant distance downrange. Both Blue Origin and SpaceX also have additional reusable launch vehicles under development. Blue

1886-428: The standard procedure for all orbital launch vehicles flown prior to that time. Both were subsequently demonstrated on actual orbital nominal flights, although both also had an abort mode during launch that could conceivably allow the crew to land the spaceplane following an off-nominal launch. In the 2000s, both SpaceX and Blue Origin have privately developed a set of technologies to support vertical landing of

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1932-450: The surface of the Earth. To reach orbit, the vehicle must travel vertically to leave the atmosphere and horizontally to prevent re-contacting the ground. The required velocity varies depending on the orbit but will always be extreme when compared to velocities encountered in normal life. Launch vehicles provide varying degrees of performance. For example, a satellite bound for Geostationary orbit (GEO) can either be directly inserted by

1978-488: The total contract value came to US$ 118 million in 2024. The lander structure is a hexagonal cylinder with six landing legs and is 3.938 m (12.92 ft) tall. It has a launch mass of 1,908 kg (4,206 lb) and can hold a payload of 100 kg (220 lb). Nova-C was developed by Intuitive Machines, inheriting technology from NASA's Project Morpheus . Its gimbaled VR900 main engine uses methane and oxygen as liquid propellants . Pressurized by helium gas,

2024-531: The vicinity of the Reiner Gamma swirl. The Reiner Gamma landing site was announced for the first PRISM opportunity and the JHU Applied Physics Laboratory 's Lunar Vertex payload was selected to conducted a detailed scientific analysis of the surface and surface environment. David Blewett (APL) is the principal investigator and leads the science team. Lunar Vertex includes payload elements on

2070-460: Was announced and awarded by NASA in September 2024 for a launch in 2027. Intuitive Machines have indicated that they are working on a 'commercial' mission, named IM-C1. The Nova-C lander was designed to be compatible with methane and oxygen fuel sources that are believed to be available on both the Moon and on Mars . For future missions, methane and oxygen could potentially be "harvested" wherever

2116-596: Was used to place a 4-kilogram payload ( TRICOM-1R ) into orbit in 2018. Orbital spaceflight requires a satellite or spacecraft payload to be accelerated to very high velocity. In the vacuum of space, reaction forces must be provided by the ejection of mass, resulting in the rocket equation . The physics of spaceflight are such that rocket stages are typically required to achieve the desired orbit. Expendable launch vehicles are designed for one-time use, with boosters that usually separate from their payload and disintegrate during atmospheric reentry or on contact with

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