SpaceX Starship

nah, they'll make more. .......... they have 3 or 4 nearly finished. They never stop building. >>> Test, Fail, Improve, Repeat

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Scott Manley's full flight review (he talks pretty slow, crank up playback speed )

Jump to 11:20 for heat shield re-entry commentary



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SpaceX Starship Grounded Again - FLYING Magazine

LOL, mishap investigation.

bureaucrats got to bureaucrat

 

It's literally a development flight

As if the FAA could determine anything better than the SpaceX engineers...

Elon will start launching these from International waters...

I would say "this is stupid" except for it's probably on-purpose corruption designed to help SpaceX's competitors play catch up as they're all 5+ years behind...

Why pay for engineers when you can pay for lobbyists? Right Boeing? And Bezos? Clowns...

 

The FAA has a duty to the American people to make sure that these test flights don't pose a hazard to people or property. That's their purpose and what they are doing.

For the last flight, the launch license was granted without delaying SpaceX.

This is done for OUR safety, not some conspiracy theory.

 

Sure, cause the FAA and Boeing are best buds these days.

 

Yes, there was no delay on the last on. I am curious as to the experience and expertise that FAA had to make a real informed opinion/decision. I will stay with pencil pushers being pencil pushers. Change my mind

 

Latest cover of Aviation Week...

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This thing is like 165 feet long.

 

It is an incredible image.

Seems like the ship was rolling out of control at that point though... did they ever recover the wreckage of it? I'd imagine giant stainless steel panels don't just "burn up"

If they can truly making these things as efficient and reliable as the Falcon 9 launches.... you could even use them for commercial travels.... flights from London to Sydney, etc.

 

It costs something like $6k/kg to send cargo to low earth orbit with a Falcon 9. Already the cheapest by far for any launch provider.
Starship will lower that from $6k/kg to $200/kg for the first generation, and up to $10/kg as they spool up. So for the average 100kg man, that's $1k to orbit.

I see me taking a ride someday. I finally think I will live long enough to do it.

 

Ref: Last launch (3rd) was March 14 ............. soooo, let's say 3 months from 3rd to 4th flight. Was hoping sooner. At some point they will pick up the pace.

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I’d like to see both the booster and starship have successful splashdowns in the next flight

 

Fully reusable TSTO was always the Holy Grail for launch providers. Great that private industry is doing it before the government.

 

There's no reason the booster and starship shouldn't be able to both do a controlled 'landing' in the ocean. They've already demonstrated both.
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Flight 4 coming

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Already gearing up for Flight #5.
SpaceX fires up Starship rocket for upcoming 5th test flight (photos, video) | Space

Meanwhile, launch of Boeing Starliner on indefinite hold.

 

On Monday, the 20th, they loaded the ship and booster for flight 4 with a total of 10 millions lbs of propellant as part of a practice countdown. It was a successful test. Tuesday they removed the propellant, removed the ship from the booster and put it back in the maintenance hanger. They are still installing the heat shield tiles. Key deliverable for this flight is successful reentry/splashdown for both the booster and the ship. They are not planning on relighting the engines or anything else they did on launch 3. Musk tweeted Wednesday that ship 4 should launch in about 2 weeks. Although they are still waiting for FAA approval.

 

Targeted as soon as June 5th
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'dearMoon' project/mission CANCELLED ......... unrealistic (Elon) timeline?

The world’s first civilian circumlunar voyage aboard SpaceX’s space vehicle, Starship.

https://dearmoon.earth/
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SpaceFlightNow.com is now reporting Starship 4 will launch Not Earlier Than June 6th. Launch window opens at 08:00, there is a window on the 7th and 8th if the 6th doesn't work out.

 

Taking bets on the success of #4.

Does the Booster make it back for a soft landing offshore from the launch point?

Does the Starship make a soft landing in the ocean intact?

If I was a betting man, I'd put my money on the booster returning successfully but the starship burning up again. It's far harder to bring a 50m tube travelling at 24,000kmh than to return the booster which never left the atmosphere.

Hoping both make it!

 

I think those are reasonable goals. They exceeded my expectations with flight 3. Incredible that thing flys at all

 

Starship's 4th flight test on Thurs. June 6 ... tentatively at 8 am EST (1200 GMT)(7 am CST) .... 2 hr window

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so much for FULL re-usability.

"SpaceX team will also implement operational changes, including the jettison of the Super Heavy’s hot-stage following boostback to reduce booster mass for the final phase of flight."

too much weight at top of booster affecting controlled return. Something they'll have to figure out.

https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-4

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You mean it's not so easy to land an entire office building?

If anyone can figure it out... it's Elon