 In today's news we have more data on booster 7's big boom, Russia's space agency leader is sacked, SpaceX are flying Russian cosmonauts and a Ukrainian rocket factory has just been struck by a missile. This is Tomorrow Space News. Let's address the elephant in the room first, the big bang under booster 7. I'm sure you've seen lots of theories flying around on Twitter, but this is the best analysis that I've been able to make so far. I think that whilst the SpaceX team at Starbase were performing the spin prime tests of all 33 Raptors at once, which is when they spin up the turboprumps without igniting the engines, there is a big accidental buildup of methane underneath the orbital launch mount. We then had this big dump of liquid oxygen before an ignition source was found, resulting in this may seem like a small explosion, but some scale is required to realise just how big the boom was. Firstly, booster 7 is 9m wide and the visual fire of the explosion was much wider than that in just 1 30th of a second. Secondly, the shockwave reached a long distance. Tim Dodd, the everyday astronaut, said on Twitter that his Texas studio, Studio B, shook like crazy, which is positioned just outside of the flight exclusion zone, over 8km away. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk initially replied on Twitter to a screenshot of NASA's spaceflight stream saying that the test was planned, but he was obviously briefed on it later, as that initial tweet was deleted and he re-replied saying that this was actually not good and the team was assessing the damage. A Raptor was replaced at the launch site on Wednesday evening, which could have been an inspection routine to assess the damage, but once inspections had been completed, the booster was lifted off by the chopsticks off the pad onto the transport This was followed the next day with a rollback to the production site. Elon later told Reuters that the damage is minor, but the booster will be transferred back to the high bay for inspections, returning to the launch stand probably next week. A new section of Super Heavy Booster 9 has been spotted, this being the forward domed section. It's the piece which will go right at the top with 4 holes for the grid fins. There has also been some more scrapping of booster 5 segments. In other Starbase updates, two new raptors have been delivered. They've been identified as serial number 99 and 76. The new massive actuator, which arrived last week on the back of a flatbed truck, has been installed into the chopsticks, giving them their full functionality once again. But that full functionality has now been taken away again, as the red chopstick in this picture has just had its actuator removed, most likely for a similar replacement, which is exactly what happened. Later the same day, a new actuator was lifted up by Crane. It's been will they won't they for a long time now, as we've waited to see if NASA and Russia would enter an agreement swapping seats, one for one, allowing a NASA astronaut to fly on a Soyuz, and in return, a Russian cosmonaut flying on a Crew Dragon. Well, it's just been confirmed. It's happening. As it was speculated last year, 37-year-old Anna Kikina will be flying as Mission Specialist 2 on SpaceX's Crew 5 mission, with the backup crew slot also being assigned to an unknown Russian cosmonaut. In return, Francisco Rubio will be flying on Soyuz MS-22, filling Kikina's now empty seat. Kikina is currently Russia's only active female cosmonaut, and when Crew 5 launches, it'll mark the first female cosmonaut in space since 2014, excluding the actress Yulia Parasild, who was more of a tourist, in 2021. SpaceX Crew 6 also has a crew swap with cosmonaut Andrey Fidyev, also serving as Mission Specialist 2. In return, astronaut Laurel O'Hara will fly on Soyuz MS-23. If you're new to the spaceflight community, you may be wondering why on Earth NASA would want to collaborate with Russia in the current geopolitical climate, considering the atrocities their military are performing in Ukraine. Well, this agreement gives NASA a contingency plan, which is crucial for the operation of the ISS. The space station is mainly operated by just the United States and Russia, so it is really important that both nations always have a representative onboard to operate their respective components. If either side can't get to the station, then it can't operate safely, putting the lives of the crew at risk and the lifespan of the station. By bartering seats, Russia and the USA always have a way to get a human to the space station in case there's a problem with Falcon 9, Crew Dragon or Soyuz, and soon Atlas V or Starliner. This agreement will also help in a medical emergency if a crew member has to get back down to the ground as soon as possible. Dmitry Rogozin is a man who is not afraid to speak his mind and make rather extreme comments on social media about his competitors, calling US rocket broomsticks and launchpad trampolines. Until just a few days ago, he was the director general of Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, where he made relations with the western world a little more difficult than they had to be. Many would be very happy to see him being sacked and replaced, but who was he replaced by? Yuri Borisov is now running the space agency, moving from his previous position of deputy prime minister of Russia, the same role which Rogozin used to occupy before he became the leader of Roscosmos in 2018. The difference between the two, however, is that unlike Rogozin, Borisov has not been making comments such as broomsticks and trampolines on social media, which could make him a less controversial figure for the West to interact with. Only time will tell what's going to happen. Rogozin might not be getting thrown out by the Kremlin, however, even though he has been sacked from the position of Roscosmos director general. Since the war in Ukraine began, he has been extremely supportive in public, which could mean Putin and his allies are looking to give him a promotion to somewhere higher on the military food chain. Again, only time will tell and that is speculation. Russia is doing a really good job at making the news this week, but this next story is definitely for the wrong reason. According to BBC News, the Yuzmash assembly plant in Ukraine, which has been used in the past to manufacture different parts for all kinds of rockets, was struck by a missile. It's been confirmed that because of this strike alone, three people have died and 15 more were injured, with nearby residential buildings also suffering from damage. The justification for this attack from the Russian Ministry of Defense is that the factory produced components for Ukrainian ballistic missiles and it is another case of Russia firing missiles far beyond their occupied territory. The plant is in southwest Dnieper, a central Ukrainian city. The red shaded area here is what Russia is currently occupying and Dnieper is far into the centre of the country. So what exactly did Yuzmash manufacture and what will be impacted because of this missile strike? I did a deep dive into many of the implications of Russia's war with Ukraine back in February, but a lot has changed since then. Yuzmash isn't just a rocket factory, it's built trolleybuses before as well as tractors. However, it is best known for its work within the aerospace industry. When Ukraine was a part of the Soviet Union, many Soviet missiles were produced here, such as the R-16 intercontinental ballistic missile. During Soviet times and even after the collapse of the Union, Yuzmash continued to manufacture parts for Russian rockets that didn't have a warhead as a payload. Parts for the Cosmos, Dnieper, Cyclone, Zenit and Energia series of rockets were all manufactured here. But international partners were also important to the Yuzmash plant. The first stage of Antares, the rocket designed by Orbital Science Corporation and the Usnoi Design Bureau, was manufactured there until the war broke out. Antares is currently operated by Northrop Grumman to deliver cargo to the International Space Station with the Cygnus spacecraft from the Mid-Atlantic regional spaceport. Northrop Grumman does have options with Cygnus however as it can fly and has flown on other vehicles. Back in 2015 and 2016, OA4 and OA5 flew to the ISS on an Atlas V. Yuzmash also manufactures the RD-843 engine used on Ariane Space's Altitude Vernier upper module or AVM as the fourth stage on their Vega rocket. With no engine, there's no working module. As you may know, and I'll be getting onto it in a minute, Ariane Space performed the inaugural launch of their next version of the Vega last week, the Vega C which utilises the Avon Plus fourth stage. That stage also uses the RD-843 but Ariane Space does have plans in place with the war in Ukraine. I'm just unsure of what that plan is. It is important to remember though that there are much bigger human issues occurring right now in Ukraine with innocent people being murdered and injured by Russian military forces following the Kremlin's orders. These aerospace problems are gutting for us spaceflight fans and the company's impact but the human toll is the more important impact at the moment and we need to remember that and not get ahead of ourselves. On a more uplifting note, let's get into some traffic. First up, Tiang Lian 203. This tracking and data relay satellite launched to top this Long March 3BE from the Xi Chang Satellite Launch Centre in China at 1630 Coordinated Universal Time on July 12th. The payload is headed for a geostationary Earth orbit marking China's 23rd orbital launch of the year. The next day, the 13th of July at 0600 UTC, this electronic launch from LC1A on the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand carrying a classified US National Reconnaissance Office payload. Nicknamed Wide One Looks Ahead, this is all we know about the mission. A few hours later at 1313 UTC, we had a launch I mentioned earlier, the inaugural flight of Ariane Space's brand new Vega C. It's an evolution of their Vega rocket and a stepping stone to the Vega E, the next generation of the Vega family. Launching from ELV1 at the Guyana Space Centre in French Guiana, there was an actual payload on board, not just the mass simulator, in fact there were several of them. The largest was Lares 2 which is essentially a big space grade disco ball which will be monitored by ground lasers which will monitor the distortion of space time caused by the rotation of the Earth. The 15th of July at 0400 UTC saw the launch of CRS-25, SpaceX's 25th resupply mission to the ISS. Commencing at LC39A, this mission is utilising cargo Dragon C208-3 and Booster B1067 which landed for a fifth time on the drone ship, a shortfall of Gravitas. Between the departure and arrival of Dragon, Superview Dio 201 and 202 launched atop this long much 2C from Launch Complex 9 at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre. The satellite are Earth observation satellites manufactured for the China Seaway Survey and Mapping Technology Company. Dragon C208 arrived at the International Space Station at 1521 UTC on the 16th of July docking to the forward port on the Harmony module allowing the crew to access the multiple new scientific payloads. The final departure to cover is Styling Group 4 Mission 22. These 53 Styling satellites launched atop Falcon 9 B1051 at 1450 UTC on July 17th from Slick 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. These satellites were delivered to an initial 338x232km low Earth orbit with a 53.22 degree inclination and they'll be slowly raising themselves to 540km over the next few months. B1051 successfully landed on just read the instructions, becoming the third booster to reach a record-equalling 13 flights. Over the next week, Styling Group 3, Mission 2 will be launching from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, Antipodean Adventure will be launching on an Electron, the Wentianne module of the Tiangong Space Station is then launching from China and then we'll have another Styling flight for 25. Making this and all the other tomorrow shows possible are the very generous citizens of tomorrow. The different levels are gifted different perks depending on how much they're contributing to the show. If you want to support financially and join the Grand Support, Suborbital, Orbital, Escape Velocity and Tomorrow Model 33 Plan Pro plus citizens, head to youtube.com forward slash Tmorrow forward slash join or click the join button below. You can help out in many other ways if you want to share the news with your family and friends that have been greatly appreciated. If you want to help out with the production of these episodes that would also be a big help. That's not it for this week, hopefully Jared will be able to deliver a J-Dub deep dive and Dr. Tarrifus Gove will have your space and weather at the end of the week or then have our live show. Jamie may do something but she's quite busy at the moment so I'm not sure. Thank you for watching, hopefully we'll see you in the next show and goodbye. I'm literally sweating. No way the temperature's gone down. Oh I got sweat in my eye. Oh that's not nice. Ah it was 37.1 when I started.