SpaceX Starship orbital flight test 5 - infographic by Tony Bela

Today US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) finally issued a launch license for the 5th integrated flight test of SpaceX's Starship rocket (booster B12, ship S30)! Here is an infographic of the upcoming flight test by Australian space illustrator Tony Bela. The flight is scheduled as soon as Sunday, October 13 (the 30-minute test window opens at 7:00 a.m. CT) from Starbase, Boca Chica, Texas.

This will be the 1st attempt to return the Super Heavy booster to the launch site and catch it.

SpaceX: "The fifth flight test of Starship will aim to take another step towards full and rapid reusability. The primary objectives will be attempting the first ever return to launch site and catch of the Super Heavy booster and another Starship reentry and landing burn, aiming for an on-target splashdown of Starship in the Indian Ocean. Extensive upgrades ahead of this flight test have been made to hardware and software across Super Heavy, Starship, and the launch and catch tower infrastructure at Starbase. One of the key upgrades on Starship ahead of flight was a complete rework of its heatshield, with SpaceX technicians spending more than 12,000 hours replacing the entire thermal protection system with newer-generation tiles, a backup ablative layer, and additional protections between the flap structures."

Tim Dodd, the Everyday Astronaut explaining HOW and WHY SpaceX will catch the booster:

SpaceX Starship orbital flight test 4 - infographic by Tony Bela

Australian space illustrator Tony Bela has created an infographic of the upcoming 4th integrated flight test of SpaceX's Starship rocket (booster B11, ship S29) on Thursday, June 6 (the 120-minute test window opens at 7:00 a.m. CT) from Starbase, Boca Chica, Texas.

SpaceX: "The fourth flight test turns our focus from achieving orbit to demonstrating the ability to return and reuse Starship and Super Heavy. The primary objectives will be executing a landing burn and soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico with the Super Heavy booster, and achieving a controlled entry of Starship. To accomplish this, several software and hardware upgrades have been made to increase overall reliability and address lessons learned from Flight 3. The SpaceX team will also implement operational changes, including the jettison of the Super Heavy’s hot-stage following boostback to reduce booster mass for the final phase of flight.

Flight 4 will fly a similar trajectory as the previous flight test, with Starship targeted to splashdown in the Indian Ocean. This flight path does not require a deorbit burn for reentry, maximizing public safety while still providing the opportunity to meet our primary objective of a controlled Starship reentry."

SpaceX livestream of the launch:

SpaceX Starship orbital flight test 3 - infographic by Tony Bela

Australian space illustrator Tony Bela has created an infographic of the upcoming 3rd integrated flight test of SpaceX's Starship rocket (booster B10, ship S28) on Thursday, March 14 (the 110-minute test window opens at 7:00 a.m. CT) from Starbase, Boca Chica, Texas.

SpaceX: "The third flight test aims to build on what we’ve learned from previous flights while attempting a number of ambitious objectives, including the successful ascent burn of both stages, opening and closing Starship’s payload door, a propellant transfer demonstration during the upper stage’s coast phase, the first ever re-light of a Raptor engine while in space, and a controlled reentry of Starship. It will also fly a new trajectory, with Starship targeted to splashdown in the Indian Ocean."

SpaceX livestream of the launch:

SpaceX Starship orbital flight test 2 - infographic by Tony Bela (updated)

Australian space illustrator Tony Bela has created an infographic of the upcoming 2nd integrated flight test of SpaceX's Starship rocket (booster B09, ship S25) on Saturday, November 18 Friday, November 17 (a 20 minute launch window opens at 7:00 a.m. CT pending final regulatory approval) from Starbase, Boca Chica, Texas.

SpaceX: "Starship’s first flight test [on April 20] provided numerous lessons learned that directly contributed to several upgrades to both the vehicle and ground infrastructure to improve the probability of success on future flights. The second flight test will debut a hot-stage separation system and a new electronic Thrust Vector Control (TVC) system for Super Heavy Raptor engines, in addition to reinforcements to the pad foundation and a water-cooled steel flame deflector, among many other enhancements."

Breakdown of Tony's infographic into phases:

SpaceX Starship orbital flight test 1 - infographic by Tony Bela

Australian space illustrator Tony Bela has created an infographic of the upcoming first integrated flight test of SpaceX's Starship rocket next week from Starbase, Boca Chica, Texas. We have been waiting for this test flight for a year and a half by now!

Updated version. You can download the infographic in full resolution here.

Artemis rockets (SLS & Starship) that will get us to the Moon - infographic by Tony Bela

Australian space illustrator Tony Bela has created an infographic of Artemis rockets – NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), boosting Orion crew capsule to lunar orbit, and SpaceX's Human Landing System (known as Lunar Starship) – that will get the humanity back to the surface of the Moon.

You can download the infographic in its original resolution here.

NASA Mars 2020 Perseverance rover landing in infographics

Tomorrow, on February 18, NASA will land its Mars 2020 Perseverance rover on Mars in Jezero Crater (Western Isidis Planitia). Its mission is to collect samples for later retrieval and it is accompanied by a small reconnaissance drone-helicopter Ingenuity - the first such craft on Mars. We will be able to watch NASA's broadcast of the landing here (starting on 19:15 UTC).

Here is an excellent infographic of Perseverance's landing sequence by Australian space illustrator Tony Bela:

Open link in new tab to view the infographic in its original resolution.

Lift-off of the Starship SN8 by Tony Bela

New illustration depicting lift-off of SpaceX's Starship SN8 test vehicle from company's launch site in Boca Chica, Texas by Australian space illustrator Tony Bela. Yesterday Starship SN8 12.5km test flight was scrubbed but there is a new attempt scheduled today.

You can view Tony's infographic of the upcoming Starship SN8 flight here and his incredibly detailed posters of the flight here.

Incredibly detailed posters of SpaceX Starship SN8 15km test flight by Tony Bela

Australian space illustrator Tony Bela has created a set of four incredibly detailed sequential posters of the upcoming 15km test flight of SpaceX's Starship SN8 test vehicle. You can view Tony's infographic of the upcoming Starship SN8 flight here.

Starship SN8 on the launch stand at Boca Chica, Texas

Starship SN8 launch

SpaceX Starship SN8 15km test flight infographic by Tony Bela

Australian space illustrator Tony Bela has created an infographic of the upcoming 15km test flight of SpaceX's Starship SN8 test vehicle, considering the information publicly available and the observations by fan community at SpaceX's test facility in Boca Chica, Texas.

You can download the infographic in its original resolution here.

Here is his poster of Starship SN8 during lift-off and when performing its "skydiver" belly flop maneuver:

You can download the poster in its original resolution here.

SpaceX Starship SN5 150m hop

On August 4, 2020 SpaceX's prototype Starship SN5 successfully performed 150 meter hop with one Raptor Engine at SpaceX's launch site in Boca Chica, Texas.

Starship Super Heavy is a fully reusable two-stage super heavy-lift launch vehicle and spacecraft currently developed by leading New Space company SpaceX.

Space illustrator Tony Bela captured the path of the flight in the sky from LabPadre's Sapphire Cam: