And that's third launch of the year for SpaceX, just 24 days in.
Order of Kilopi
And that's third launch of the year for SpaceX, just 24 days in.
Established Member
Yup, with another StarLink launch NET January 29.
Time: TBD
Methinks the term is "a blistering pace."
Icing on the cake: the 10 Starlinks on Transporter-1 have laser satellite links
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1353408098342326276
Last edited by docmordrid; 2021-Jan-24 at 07:48 PM.
Order of Kilopi
I took that from the NASA web siteOriginally Posted by Garrison
I am because we are
(African saying)
Order of Kilopi
Classic throwaway rockets are like throwaway aircraft. Small rockets are like private jet, useful if only you needs to be exactly there exactly then. A large reusable rocket rideshare is like an airliner. The latter two could coexist. Exceptions aside, the former will go extinct.
With sufficient thrust, water towers fly just fine.
Established Member
I'm thinking the small launcher folks were not pleased by Transporter-1 going so well.
Order of Kilopi
Yes, I’ve read analyses that there is room in the market for maybe two small rocket launcher companies, but probably not three, and perhaps just one. There are companies with some interesting technology approaches, but that might end up being sold to SpaceX or someone else when they go out of business. Rocket Lab, if they get their own reusable booster working, likely could outcompete the others, except for large rocket rideshares. They already are looking like the SpaceX of small rockets.
"The problem with quotes on the Internet is that it is hard to verify their authenticity." — Abraham Lincoln
I say there is an invisible elf in my backyard. How do you prove that I am wrong?
The Leif Ericson Cruiser
Order of Kilopi
Speaking of launch cadence, between Transporter-1 and the next Falcon 9 launch in 4 days, they will try an SN9 test flight today.
With sufficient thrust, water towers fly just fine.
Order of Kilopi
Basically there will be a market for those who don't want to wait for a rideshare, or who want orbits that don't fit any available rideshare. Virgin Orbit's flexibility may well give them a niche alongside Rocket Lab. I can also see one of the Chinese small sat launchers surviving simply because China won't want to use western launchers.
Established Member
Flight Readiness Review: GO for launch
Road barricades going up
@BocaChicaGal setting up her camera gear
Weather/fog could cause a scrub.
Last edited by docmordrid; 2021-Jan-25 at 05:34 PM.
Established Member
SN-09
Window: 1300 - 1900 Eastern
Michael Baylor@nextspaceflight
Starship SN9's testing window today lasts from 12 pm to 6 pm Central time. If the test flight occurs today, it will likely be towards the second half of that window. As always, this is testing. Schedules heavily subject to change. Teams could decide to standdown at any time.
12:14 PM · Jan 25, 2021
https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/...53006353772545
Order of Kilopi
SpaceX Starship SN9 go for high-altitude launch attempt later today. All signs point to SpaceX’s second high-altitude Starship prototype preparing for a 12.5-kilometer (~40,000 ft) as early as Monday, January 25th in a bid to rectify a last-second bug that caused its predecessor to explode last month.
https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-sta...e-launch-date/
Do good work. —Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom
Order of Kilopi
...while technically correct, this isn't what I'd call an accurate description.
First, it didn't just explode, it had a hard landing due engine issues resulting from low fuel pressure. When it broke up on impact, the fuel and oxidizer did what pressurized fuel and oxidizer in the presence of flame tend to do.
Second, this is a test program of a vehicle under rapid development. They'd be flying again even if the previous flight went perfectly. They have way more than one goal for the test, and correcting the low fuel pressure issue may not even be toward the top of the list, especially since SN9 is more of a hastily-modified twin of SN8 and later builds will probably have more permanent design changes to deal with the issue.
Established Member
SN-09
No test today, winds. Trying tomorrow or Wednesday.
Established Member
StarLink
StarLink upgrade: 10 Gbps 😎
IMG_20210125_185654.jpg
Michael Sheetz ✓ @thesheetztweetz (CNBC)
Jan 25, 2021
SpaceX director David Goldman spoke with FCC officials late last week, to discuss the company's proposal to modify lower some of the Starlink satellites to lower altitudes and give a presentation with an update on the network's progress:
||
SpaceX says it plans to increase Starlink's download speeds from ~100 Mbps currently to 10 Gbps in the future.
||
SpaceX dismissed Amazon's $AMZN protest of the modification as "attempts to stifle competition", saying Amazon makes "misleading claims of interference" and emphasizing that the competing Project Kuiper network represents "still nascent plans"
||
SpaceX also emphasized an "ongoing commitment to space safety," saying its operations are transparent to other satellite operators, implemented automated collision avoidance, and Starlink satellites passively decay (i.e., fall out of orbit) faster due to "higher drag:"
https://twitter.com/thesheetztweetz/...30512557780993
Established Member
Boca Chica Testing
Today: pressure testing tank SN-7.2 to failure (3mm steel, new alloy). Fill with liquid nitrogen, pressurize until it pops. Goal: see what it can take.
Thursday or Friday: weather & rocket gods permitting, SN-09 flies.
Established Member
Is this tank design for the bottom of the first stage? Or is it a new design for the SN-xx rockets?
Order of Kilopi
It's a test tank for thinner steel with a new alloy, and whatever design changes came along with that.
Established Member
It's 3mm steel so for Starship (and Cybertruck). Super Heavy looks to be 4mm steel.
Passed the cryo tests. Likely going to blow it to find the limits.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1354172189679955970
Order of Kilopi
SpaceX targeting Wednesday for Starship SN9 test flight. SN9 will be the second Starship prototype to perform a high-altitude test flight.
https://www.space.com/spacex-starshi...ht-jan-27-2021
Do good work. —Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom
Established Member
TFR for Wednesday cancelled, weather.
Thursday and Friday still active.
Order of Kilopi
Jan. 30 - Falcon 9 • Starlink V1.0-L17
Launch time: 1224 GMT (7:24 a.m. EST)
Launch site: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the 18th batch of approximately 60 satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink broadband network, a mission designated Starlink V1.0-L17.
OR
Jan. 29: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch approximately 60 satellites for SpaceX's Starlink broadband network, a mission designated Starlink 17. It will lift off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Not sure which is correct.
Do good work. —Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom
Order of Kilopi
I like the "approximately 60". Give or take a few. There was a time, not long ago at all, where they published a book cataloging every satellite ever launched in history. And now they don't even bother to mention the exact number in a single launch.
With sufficient thrust, water towers fly just fine.
Established Member
Boca Chica Road closures! 🚀
Primary: Thursday, January 28
Window: 1000 - 1900 Eastern
Secondary: Friday, January 29
Window: 0900 - 1500 Eastern
Established Member
SN-09
Mary @BocaChicaGal
Boca Chica Village residents have been asked to evacuate by 8 a.m. tomorrow. I can hardly wait to leave and watch Starship SN9 fly.
@NASASpaceflight
https://twitter.com/BocaChicaGal/sta...08270728704002
https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/
As early as Thursday, January 28, the SpaceX team will attempt a high-altitude flight test of Starship serial number 9 (SN9) – the second high-altitude suborbital flight test of a Starship prototype from our site in Cameron County, Texas. Similar to the*high-altitude flight test of Starship serial number 8 (SN8), SN9 will be powered through ascent by three Raptor engines, each shutting down in sequence prior to the vehicle reaching apogee – approximately 10 km in altitude. SN9 will perform a propellant transition to the internal header tanks, which hold landing propellant, before reorienting itself for reentry and a controlled aerodynamic descent.
The Starship prototype will descend under active aerodynamic control, accomplished by independent movement of two forward and two aft flaps on the vehicle. All four flaps are actuated by an onboard flight computer to control Starship’s attitude during flight and enable precise landing at the intended location. SN9’s Raptor engines will then reignite as the vehicle attempts a landing flip maneuver immediately before touching down on the landing pad adjacent to the launch mount.
A controlled aerodynamic descent with body flaps and vertical landing capability, combined with in-space refilling, are critical to landing Starship at destinations across the solar system where prepared surfaces or runways do not exist, and returning to Earth. This capability will enable a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo on long-duration, interplanetary flights and help humanity return to the Moon, and travel to Mars and beyond.
There will be a live feed of the flight test available here that will start a few minutes prior to liftoff. Given the dynamic schedule of development testing, stay tuned to our social media channels for updates as we move toward SpaceX’s second high-altitude flight test of Starship!
Last edited by docmordrid; 2021-Jan-28 at 05:29 AM.
Order of Kilopi
Just checked a couple of live cams; there are people on a lift doing something about half-way up so nothing super imminent at the moment.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt.
Established Member
The FAA Temporary Flight Restriction for today's SN-09 hop is still under review
Could have something to do with range violations during the static fires. Ex: the Sheriffs missed a guy on the beach with an SUV towing a kayak trailer. He drove right past a fuelled Starship. Caught by LabPadre's stream...
SN-9 range violation.jpg
Last edited by docmordrid; 2021-Jan-28 at 05:36 PM.
Established Member
/sigh... Feds
RGVAerialPhotography @RGVaerialphotos
Reason for delay
“FAA is basically giving SpaceX a hard time with the licensing because of the engine swap, it is technically a new vehicle. “
https://twitter.com/RGVaerialphotos/...60131335475200
Elon Musk ✓ @elonmusk
Unlike its aircraft division, which is fine, the FAA space division has a fundamentally broken regulatory structure.
Their rules are meant for a handful of expendable launches per year from a few government facilities. Under those rules, humanity will never get to Mars.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1354862567680847876
Last edited by docmordrid; 2021-Jan-28 at 07:51 PM.
Order of Kilopi
If the FAA keep up that kind of attitude, I wouldn't be surprised to see a swift move abroad to a floating launch pad in international waters... Even though there is still regulations in that scenario.
Last edited by Nicolas; 2021-Jan-28 at 08:52 PM.
With sufficient thrust, water towers fly just fine.
Order of Kilopi
SpaceX SN9 launch scrubbed for Thursday. The flight was postponed until Friday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
https://www.click2houston.com/news/l...n-as-thursday/
Do good work. —Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom
Established Member
Sounds like SN-09 flies tomorrow, January 29, if the weather & rocket gods are willing. The tweet's times are Central, so add 1 hour for Eastern.
Mary @BocaChicaGal
I have received an ‘Alert’ notice for tomorrow and there’s a road closure scheduled from 8 a.m - 2 p.m. I have been asked to evacuate by 8 a.m. tomorrow morning. Please Starship SN9 hop tomorrow.
@NASASpaceflight
https://twitter.com/BocaChicaGal/sta...19301812277250
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote