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(futuristic music)

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- [Narrator] New projects
are advancing slowly,

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moving hardware into the testing phase.

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New designs, new capabilities.

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The next 12 months

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will see an intense rise in flight tests,

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demonstration launches,
(exhaust rumbling)

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and high priority flights.

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Some are on time,

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others are not.
(air hissing)

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Let's check the flight status

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of some of this new hardware
(air hissing)

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and these new capabilities.

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(exhaust rumbling)

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(lively music)

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(exhaust rumbling)

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(exhaust rumbling)

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(exhaust hissing)

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(asteroid hissing and booming)

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(futuristic music)

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(upbeat music)

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(vehicle humming)

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Early morning at
Armstrong Flight Research,

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Edwards, California.

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The Sierra Nevada
Corporation's Dream Chaser

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sits engineless, awaiting
a lift from a chopper.

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(helicopter whirring)

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Lift and release.

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The remotely controlled lifting body

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makes an unpowered descent to the runway,

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completing another test run.

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The 10-year project has
had its difficulties,

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but now, the pilotless cargo ship

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is a step closer to a 2020 launch

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with cargo to the ISS.

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(exhaust rumbling)

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Boeing's crew capsule,
the CST-100 Starliner,

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has survived several high altitude drops,

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testing chute and airbag deployment.

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(exhaust whirring and rumbling)

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Weight and aerodynamic issues

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have pushed testing back by eight months.

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Other aspects of design, however,

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are proceeding well,

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including new space suit designs.

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- [Chris] We needed a
suit that was airtight,

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could withstand the pressure differential,

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could get the crew down
from an extreme situation,

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whether it was a fire or a cabin leak.

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- Underneath these shoulder covers

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is some material that we've developed

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that really helps provide
pressurized mobility

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while still preserving
unpressurized comfort.

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- You can pretty much lay there

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without any external cooling.

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Right, it's that comfortable.

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It's something that I could
stand here like this in

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and not have to worry about

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developing a big heat load.

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- [Narrator] The gas intake valves

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are located on the
abdomen for easy access.

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The lightweight gloves and connections

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allow easier attachment

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and come with added technology.

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- A neat feature about these gloves is

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they have a advanced material here

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that enables you to interact

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with a capacitive touchscreen.

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So any type of tablet,

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you'll be able to interact with

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while wearing these gloves while suited

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fully up in the suit.

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(upbeat music)

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- [Narrator] The lightweight helmet,

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akin to the Russian Sokol design,

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is attached to the suit,

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and sealed with a zipper.

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The suit is designed to
be worn in the capsule

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and not for EVA purposes,

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and only in comes Boeing Blue.

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At the same time,

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Boeing has the capsule trainer in service,

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and NASA astronauts assigned
to the commercial crew roster

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are getting a taste for the new capsule.

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- What the Part Task Trainer does

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is it gives you a chance

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to get the feel and look,

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where to look, how to use the procedures.

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When you go to a screen in the background,

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when I hit this button,
what's it gonna look like?

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- So I think one of the greatest things

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about these trainers,

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it gets you so used to
what you're gonna do,

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we'll practice a number of times

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that you'll be so familiar

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that like a lot of people
ask, "Is it scary?"

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Of course it's scary 'cause
you're sitting on a rocket,

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but you're very familiar
with where you are.

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- [Narrator] Test schedule

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calls for an uncrewed orbital test

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later in 2018

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and a manned flight at the end of 2018.

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This is very ambitious, however,

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and previous experience
of spacecraft engineering

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suggests it may be 12
to 24 months premature.

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Another company with an
ambitious timetable is SpaceX,

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whose Dragon capsule

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is looking for an uncrewed
flight early 2018,

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and a manned launch four months later.

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The new breed of entrepreneurial
and commercial imperatives

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may just make it.

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The interior design of this capsule

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is more in line with high-end sports cars:

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maximum use of carbon fiber, titanium,

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and other lightweight alloys

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coupled with the latest
in electronic display

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and glass control surfaces.

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(exhaust rumbling)

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(suspenseful music)

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Far commercial in view

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than the usual NASA or
Russian practicality

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and minimal comfort ergonomics.

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- Engine shutdown.
- 150 meters per second.

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- [Mission Control]
Slightly below nominal.

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Drogue in one kilometer.

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Trunk deploy.

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Drogues look good.

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Sequencing the mains.
(mission control mumbling)

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- [Narrator] Their capsule is
well along its testing phase,

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having completed both static
(mission control chattering)

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and pad abort exercises,

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including parachute deployment test,

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a wild ride indeed.

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(exhaust rushing and hissing)

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(component clicking)

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(air whooshing and hissing)

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With room for a crew of seven,

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the Dragon capsule may well
be the first commercial entity

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to launch and land astronauts from the ISS

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within a year.

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(capsule rumbling)

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(upbeat music)

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(serene music)
(air hissing)

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(exhaust rumbling)

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The Unity spaceplane of Virgin Galactic

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has been building its test
credentials slowly but steadily.

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Having suffered catastrophic
failures in the past,

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they are fully focused on safety.

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Ground crew operations
of both the spacecraft

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and its carrier plane

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are rehearsed ad infinitum,

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training and checking as
flawless procedures evolve,

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(exhaust rumbling)

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motor testing again and again.

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Unpowered flight,

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carried aloft by the White Knight Two.

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(aircraft engine roaring)

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Rehearsing with ever-greater complexity,

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the latest flight's fully loaded

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with rocket, motor and propellant tanks.

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(aircraft engine roaring)

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The pilot's performing a perfect landing.

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Next step, a powered suborbital flight,

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perhaps sometime in the next 12 months.

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(lively music)
(exhaust rumbling)

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The newest space-capable
nation, New Zealand,

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is preparing the second
launch of its Electron rocket.

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Powered by Rocket Lab's homegrown

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3D-printed Rutherford engine,

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their second test launch is imminent,

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designed for the small satellites

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and low Earth orbit

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at a fraction of the standard cost.

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If this second test launch is successful,

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then Rocket Lab may drop the
third and final test flight

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in favor of full commercial
deployment next year.

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(exhaust rumbling)

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(upbeat music)

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Blue Origin's reusable New Shepard rocket

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and capsule system

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has proceeded successfully
through the testing phase,

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including launch abort
(exhaust hissing)

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and single parachute landings.

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It won't be long before
six paying passengers

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will fly into space.

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- [Mission Control] And liftoff.

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New Shepard has cleared the tower.

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(exhaust rumbling)

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(onlookers cheering)

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- [Announcer] There it is,
70,000 pounds of thrust

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pushing that crew capsule.

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- [Announcer] 'Kay, so those three mains

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are reefed right now

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to keep them small.

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The reefing will remove shortly

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to fully expand, as you can see.

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- [Announcer] And touchdown of
the New Shepard crew capsule.

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(exhaust rumbling)

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- [Narrator] Blue Origin
is also developing

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a multistage version to reach orbit.

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The New Glenn could send
payloads or passengers into orbit

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with a two or three-stage variant,

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although it is still some years away.

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(lively music)
(sparks hissing)

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(exhaust rumbling)

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Delayed several times

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from an overenthusiastic launch timeline,

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the Falcon Heavy will
undergo a static fire test

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of all its 27 engines

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in the coming weeks.

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The first test flight

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will follow within the
first two or three months

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of the new year.

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(rocket roaring)

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NASA's Space Launch System

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has hit further snags in development,

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namely issues with the wells
of the enormous fuel tanks.

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Not unexpected,

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as the new technologies and
manufacturing techniques evolve.

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Delays in delivering the
Orion's EMS propulsion system

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have also set back the timetable,

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with 2020 likely to be the earliest

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a flight could take place.

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The James Webb Telescope

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has also been delayed by a year.

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A planned Ariane 5 launch

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will hopefully take place mid-2019.

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(upbeat music)

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(exhaust rumbling)

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Ariane 5, Soyuz, and Vega launches

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are due for an upgrade.

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At the European Spaceport
in Kourou, French Guiana,

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the new launch facilities
for ESA's Ariane 6 launcher

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are being built.

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At least the big hole is there.

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The excavation is done

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and the launch zone buildings

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will soon appear on schedule.

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- The independent access to space

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is of course a primary objective.

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And we always use the
European-developed launchers

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to fulfill this objective.

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We were lucky enough that

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we were very successful also

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on the commercial market with Ariane 5.

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We still have over 50%
of the commercial market.

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As we all know,

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this environment is exposed
to fierce competition.

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The offer of launch vehicles

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from 2020 onward will
be significantly higher.

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And we have designed Ariane 6,

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we have designed it to cost,

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we have designed it to
be able to go against

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this fierce competition in 2020 onwards.

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And for this, of course,

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we also use this launcher

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to deploy European flagship
programs like Galileo.

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- [Narrator] This move is
associated with a change

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in the governance of the
European launcher sector

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based on a sharing of responsibility,

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cost, and risk by ESA

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and private industry.

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- We are in the middle
of the full development

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of the launcher, Ariane 6,

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and of the base,

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which is ELA-4 in Kourou.

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I can say that currently,

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everything goes well, it's on track.

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We are now in the situation

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where the configuration is clear.

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We know exactly

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what the configurations are with

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the Ariane 62 and the Ariane 64.

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The first one is for
institutional payloads mainly

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because it's a single payload version

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where we can launch up to 4.5 tons

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in a sun-synchronous orbit.

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And Ariane 64 enables a dual launch

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which goes up to 10.5 tons

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in an equivalent
geostationary transfer orbit.

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- ESA and its member states

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have a new role in Ariane 6

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in the sense that we change governance,

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governance by giving more
responsibility to industry,

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to the private sector

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while the public sector has defined

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the high level requirements

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which means that we said
we want a cheaper launcher,

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we said we want an
environmental friendly launcher,

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we want a flexible launcher,

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and this is absolutely key
in the current situation

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to be ready to catch new markets,

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and Ariane 6 will be the
right response to that.

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We can say that European industries

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are working full speed ahead.

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We just had a Maturity
Gate 6, what we call,

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where can consolidate
the industrial structure.

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We aim at starting the first
batch of production next year,

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spring, next year.

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So now we can say
(machinery hissing)

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the industries are ready,
(speaking in foreign language)

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they are full speed ahead,
(exhaust rumbling)

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and we will start to produce Ariane 6

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from next year onward.

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(exhaust rumbling)

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(engine hissing)

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(exhaust rumbling)

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(exhaust rumbling)

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(mission control applauding)

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It is very clear,

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in a definition of space power,

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the independent access
to space is part of it.

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Ariane 6 and Vega-C

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is the new family

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of the European independent
access to space.

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(exhaust rumbling)

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- [Narrator] Vega-C will
cover the deployment

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of the Sentinel satellites

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for the EU's Copernicus Programme.

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Vega-C will increase
Vega's current capacity

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from 1.5 to 2.2 tons on polar orbit,

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which is the most common
for observation satellites.

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(lively music)

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(exhaust rumbling)

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For Ariane 6,

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the pad will be different

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from previous launchers in Kourou,

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with a horizontal
preparation of the stages.

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The first launch is still on target

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for sometime in 2020.

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(exhaust rumbling)

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(exhaust rumbling)

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00:19:04,956 --> 00:19:07,539
(upbeat music)

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(suspenseful music)

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Although there are extensive
works going on at Kourou,

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they will not affect
the upcoming Vega launch

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of the European Aeolus satellite

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slated for early 2018.

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(machinery whirring)

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Next major launch is the Tess
Exoplanet Survey mission.

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The satellite has
completed preflight tests

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and is the first NASA
astrophysics satellite

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to be launched under contract with SpaceX.

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The current launch window of the Falcon 9

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is no earlier than March 2018

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and not later than June 2018.

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00:20:46,726 --> 00:20:49,643
(exhaust rumbling)

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The second exoplanet hunter, CHEOPS,

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is on schedule as well.

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- [Man] The satellite
is commissioned by ESA.

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The project is being led

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by the University of Bern.

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They also built the instrument

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that's the main part of the satellite.

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And the satellite structure,

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the platform with all the housekeeping

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is built by Airbus in Madrid.

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(suspenseful music)

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- [Narrator] The
satellite has gone through

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rigorous preflight tests,

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including vibration, acoustic,

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and vacuum chamber tortures,

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and is on track for late 2018 launch

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aboard a Soyuz launcher.

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(speaking in foreign language)

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(exhaust rumbling)

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(machinery clacking)

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BepiColombo, the joint JAXA-ESA
project bound for Mercury,

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is ready to launch.

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The mission consists of multiple parts,

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including the Mercury Transfer Module,

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a sun shield,

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and two scientific orbiters:

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ESA's Mercury Planetary Orbiter

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and JAXA's Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter.

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The spacecraft was assembled
in its launch configuration

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inside a clean room at the
European Space Research

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00:23:17,780 --> 00:23:20,070
and Technology Centre, or ESTEC,

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in Noordwijk in the Netherlands.

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It has been dispatched to
the spaceport in Kourou

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for its mid-2018 launch

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and seven-year flight to Mercury.

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(rocket whooshing)

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00:23:53,195 --> 00:23:56,278
(futuristic chiming)