Technically, yes. The Jules Verne Launcher (Which is now GreenLaunch) can allegedly (i.e. on paper) launch ~500 kg into low orbit. Anything beyond that (or a larger payload) and the projectile needs to be a little rocket in itself. Which has been done already at a small scale, and the math works out for a larger scale.
Not for crewed vehicles, though. Whichever way, the G forces are in the four five digit range.
“Liftoff is now scheduled no earlier than 16:00 local time (21:00 CEST), with the live stream starting at 15:30 local time (20:30 CEST).”
Gone well so far!
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is set to spend a little longer attached to the International Space Station (ISS) as engineers on the ground work to recreate the oddities seen in orbit.
During a briefing on July 10, mission managers admitted that engineers had not been able to recreate the conditions that caused problems for the vehicle’s Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters during docking.
[…]
Although managers have become comfortable with going beyond the initial 45-day limit set by the lifetime of batteries onboard Starliner, describing them as healthy and showing no sign of performance anomalies, getting the spacecraft away by the end of July is important to avoid a potential conflict with a Crew Dragon handover in August.
[…]
Use a tow chain and drag the Starliner behind the ISS. Problem solved. NASA, call me!
[…]
The mission was to launch 20 Starlink satellites, including 13 with Direct to Cell capabilities. The launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 1935 Pacific time on July 11 (0235 UTC July 12) seemed to go well, with the first stage of the Falcon 9 making a successful landing on a drone ship.
However, something appeared to be amiss with the upper stage. Onlookers including this reporter saw an unusual build-up of what appeared to be ice around the Merlin engine during the first burn of the stage. A scheduled restart of the engine to raise the perigee before the deployment of the Starlink satellites “resulted in an engine RUD for reasons currently unknown,” according to SpaceX boss Elon Musk. “RUD” stands for Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly.
[…]
Fist failure in ~9 years, the Falcon 9 is remarkable reliable.
Only Starlink satellites, so nothing of value was lost.
The reported ice build-up makes me wonder whether they tried out something new there to fix similar issues with Starship?
If they changed the usual configuration it might mean that Falcon 9 won’t be grounded too long - NASA needs it to shuttle crew to the ISS and back and nobody has any clue if/when Starliner can do this reliable. There’s always Roskosmos, but…
Come on, you big brains! You can do it!!
I know you’re joking but doesn’t the ISS have a repositionable grabby arm that could hold onto it if needed? Or maybe the capsule is too massive for that to work?
Apparently so! Who knew?
