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SpaceX and NASA's 2024 Most Important Missions · Elon Musk Podcast

• 0:01
  Hey everybody, welcome back to the Elon Musk Podcast.
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  This is a show where we discuss the critical Crossroads, the
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  Shape, SpaceX, Tesla X, The Boring Company, and Neuralink,
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  and I'm your host, Will Walden. 2024 is going to be one of the
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  most amazing years for Space Flight.
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  It's going to be a historic one for space missions, with
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  numerous commercial companies and also NASA gearing up for a
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  series of ambitious launches. Now the spotlight for this year
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  is on the moon as NASA plans to send humans there for the first
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  time since 1972 with the Artemis 2 mission, while a host of other
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  commercial lunar Landers are also poised for launch.
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  Now the Artemis 2 mission, which is a cornerstone of NASA's lunar
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  exploration program, is scheduled for November of 2024,
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  although there's a possibility of it slipping into 2025 and the
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  mission crew includes 3 NASA astronauts and a Canadian
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  astronaut as well. They'll embark on an 8 day
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  journey to the moon and back testing the Orion capsules
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  ability to safely carry humans. Now this mission paves the way
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  for Artemis 3 aiming for 2025 launch, which seeks to land the
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  first woman on the moon. But this is probably going to
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  slip further on to 2027, possibly 2028.
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  So Artemis 3, don't worry about that one yet.
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  We're going to do Artemis 2/20/24, probably late 2024.
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  Now the Vulcan Centaur rockets, a whole different thing
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  developed by the United Launch Alliance, or ULA, is set to make
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  its debut in January of 2024. This is a new heavy lift rocket,
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  a successor to the Atlas 5 and D4 rockets, and it's slated to
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  launch from Cape Canaveral Space Forest Station, its first
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  mission. The Certification 1 mission is
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  crucial as ULA needs to complete 2 certification flights before
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  undertaking missions for the Department of Defense.
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  CERT One's payload includes the Peregrine Lunar Lander by
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  Astrobotic Technology, marking the first launch under NASA's
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  Commercial Lunar Payload Services or the CLPS contracts.
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  The Peregrine is targeting a moon landing in February of
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  2024, and this mission will also carry the remains and DNA of
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  several notable individuals, including Star Trek creator Gene
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  Roddenberry and actors James Duan and Shell Nichols and
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  Deforest Kelly to a permanent location in deep space.
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  Now, beyond the Peregrine, other CLPS missions are on the
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  calendar Intuitive machines Nova C Lander on the IM 1 mission is
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  scheduled to fly on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
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  Astrobotics Griffin Lander is targeting a lunar landing in
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  November on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy carrying NASA's Viper
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  Rover to explore the moon's South Pole.
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  Intuitive machine second mission, I am Two, also planned
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  for 2024. We'll send another Nova
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  Sealanter to the moon's South Pole to demonstrate resource
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  utilization and exploration. Now Boeing CST 100 Starliner is
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  also set to mark a significant milestone with its first ever
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  crude flight. After several delays and
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  setbacks, the Starliner aims to demonstrate its capability to
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  safely transport astronauts through the International Space
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  Station. The Crew Flight Test or the CFT
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  scheduled for mid-april will see astronauts Butch Wilmore and
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  Sonny Williams aboard an 8 day mission to the ISS.
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  Spacex's Crew Dragon has a busy schedule for 2024 as well,
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  including two private missions with Axiom Space to the
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  International Space Station, two more crew rotations for NASA,
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  and the private Polaris Dawn mission.
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  That's going to be my favorite mission.
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  This includes Axiom 3, Crew 8, and the summer mission for
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  Polaris, Dawn Crew 9 in August and Axiom 4 in October.
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  Now, these missions contribute to a record number of humans
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  launching to space from Florida. Now Sierra Space, the Dream
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  Chaser space plane designed to resemble kind of a miniature
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  space shuttle, is preparing for its first uncrewed flight to the
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  International Space Station. The mission, part of NASA's ISS
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  cargo supply contract, is unique as the Dream Chaser will land at
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  the Kennedy Space Center. Unlike other cargo spacecraft,
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  the first launch is planned before summer 2024 on a Vulcan
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  Centaur rocket. Its SpaceX is set to conduct at
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  least two cargo resupply missions for Northrop Grumman's
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  Cygnus spacecraft to the ISS due to Northrop Grumman's shortage
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  of parts for Santeri's rockets. Now, these missions launching
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  from Florida atop Falcon 9 rockets, it shows that the
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  increase in collaboration and interdependence with the
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  commercial space companies is very important.
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  For 2024, NASA's significant science mission.
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  For 2024, the Europa Clipper, is destined for Jupiter's moon
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  Europa. Scheduled for an October launch
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  on a Falcon Heavy, the mission aims to explore the icy moon's
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  potential to support life. Additionally, NASA's PACE
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  satellite set for a February launch, we'll study ocean health
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  and the Earth's marine ecosystems in the competitive
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  landscape of space launches. SpaceX continues to dominate,
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  planning for an accelerated launch schedule to support its
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  Starlink satellite constellation.
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  United Launch Alliance, on the other hand, is focusing on
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  increasing the launch frequency of its Vulcan, Centaur, and
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  Atlas 5 rockets, with aspirations for at least two
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  monthly launches by 2025. Now the final mission for UL as
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  D4 heavy rocket is scheduled for summer of 2024.
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  This marks the end of an era for this particular rocket model,
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  with ULA focusing on its Vulcan, Centaur, and Atlas 5 rockets for
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  future missions. Notably, all remaining Atlas 5
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  rockets have already been purchased, including several for
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  Amazon's Project Hyper. And while large rockets will
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  dominate the headlines, smaller rocket companies like Astra
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  Space and Relativity Space are not expected to launch from
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  Florida in 2024. However, other small rocket
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  firms like ABL, Space Systems, Firefly, and Rocket Lab continue
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  their orbital endeavours from other locations.
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  Blue Origins Heavy Lift New Glen rocket is a wild card for 2024.
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  Jeff Bezos's company, which supplies ULA with BE4 engines
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  for Vulcan Centaur, is working towards the first launch of
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  Newglen. Successful early Vulcan Centaur
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  flights might pave the way for enough engines to support
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  Newglen's inaugural mission from Launch Complex 36 at Cape
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  Canaveral. Now the year 2024 shaping up to
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  be a watershed moment in space exploration with a blend of
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  government and commercial endeavors that are pushing the
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  boundaries of what's possible Now.
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  Artemis 2 is the big one, but remember, we do have SpaceX down
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  at Starbase continuing to push new missions for the Artemis 3
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  program with their Starship rocket, Super heavy rocket.
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  It's a massive thing. And as we look ahead, from lunar
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  landings to ISS resupply missions to Starship, each
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  launch contributes to our understanding of space and our
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  place within it. Hey, thank you so much for
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  listening today. I really do appreciate your
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  support. If you could take a second and
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  hit the subscribe or the follow button on whatever podcast
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  platform that you're listening on right now, I'd greatly
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  appreciate it. It helps out the show
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  tremendously and you'll never miss an episode.
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  And each episode is about 10 minutes or less to get you
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  caught up quickly. Please, if you want to support
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  the show even more, go to Patreon Stage Zero and please
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  take care of yourselves and each other and I'll see you tomorrow.