SpaceX

[Montag]

I want to see how the FCC commissioner slamming the FCC for its denial of approving Starlink shakes down. Starlink is making a difference to a lot of people now. The last performance summary I have seen had download speeds still on order of 100 Mbit/s which is a huge improvement for millions of people in the rural US.

[Zaxxon]

[Unagi]

Sounds like they built a new lightning ro , for the time being at least.

[jztemple2]

With the issues faced by SpaceX at Boca Chica, Starship ops from KSC are looking more and more like something coming sooner than later.

[Isgrimnur]

SpaceX Must Fix 63 Issues Before Its Starship Can Fly Again

The letter to SpaceX also summarizes what the FAA expects the company to address before it can be granted a new launch license. Those actions include “redesigns of vehicle hardware to prevent leaks and fires, redesign of the launch pad to increase its robustness, incorporation of additional reviews in the design process, additional analysis and testing of safety critical systems and components including the Autonomous Flight Safety System (AFSS), and the application of additional change control practices.”

A statement on the SpaceX website briefly describes updates the company has been making to the rocket and launchpad since April. These include a hot-stage separation system, intended to use the second-stage engines to “push the ship away from the booster,” as well as a new thrust vector control system with electric motors, rather than hydraulic systems, which the company says “has fewer potential points of failure.”

Their statement also said the company had reinforced the launch pad’s foundation.

[Zaxxon]

Most of which are likely done already. Will be interesting to see when the next launch happens.

[Zaxxon]

[Kraken]

Most of which are likely done already. Will be interesting to see when the next launch happens.

I read that SpaceX conducted the investigation and wrote the report, which the FAA reviewed and signed off on. I hope that means they've already got this in the bag.

[malchior]

Most of which are likely done already. Will be interesting to see when the next launch happens.

I read that SpaceX conducted the investigation and wrote the report, which the FAA reviewed and signed off on. I hope that means they've already got this in the bag.

Uh I hope that isn't true. I mean get back to launching but I would like to believe there was an independent investigation.

Edit: I found another story. FAA oversaw the investigation. I've participated in other agency investigations like this. Essentially they would have a lead investigator(a) who asked questions and SpaceX provided responses. That was compiled into a report and easily could be the basis of any report that SpaceX wrote the report.

To your hopes that usually gives the respondent enough information to proactively make improvements alongside the investigation. Hopefully that occurred in a way that allows FAA to quickly give the thumbs up.

[Kraken]

Whatever the procedural details -- and I, too, hope that the FAA provided genuine critical oversight -- the 63 items should come as no surprise to SpaceX, which should have them well in hand already. I presume that Musk's xeet was snark.

[Zaxxon]

Whatever the procedural details -- and I, too, hope that the FAA provided genuine critical oversight -- the 63 items should come as no surprise to SpaceX, which should have them well in hand already. I presume that Musk's xeet was snark.

I read it as either snark or a sign that the adults at SpaceX have been handling this while Musk is largely busy driving Xitter into the ground. In any case, there’s a 0.0% chance that SpaceX did not already have intimate detail on all 63 corrections.

[Unagi]

Whatever the procedural details -- and I, too, hope that the FAA provided genuine critical oversight -- the 63 items should come as no surprise to SpaceX, which should have them well in hand already. I presume that Musk's xeet was snark.

I read it as either snark or a sign that the adults at SpaceX have been handling this while Musk is largely busy driving Xitter into the ground. In any case, there’s a 0.0% chance that SpaceX did not already have intimate detail on all 63 corrections.

Am I the only one that allows their hatred of Musk to translate into a desire for SpaceX to fail? I feel horrible about that, as aerospace engineering and musings of space exploration have always been a big part of my life.

Fuck I hate that man.

[Zaxxon]

Whatever the procedural details -- and I, too, hope that the FAA provided genuine critical oversight -- the 63 items should come as no surprise to SpaceX, which should have them well in hand already. I presume that Musk's xeet was snark.

I read it as either snark or a sign that the adults at SpaceX have been handling this while Musk is largely busy driving Xitter into the ground. In any case, there’s a 0.0% chance that SpaceX did not already have intimate detail on all 63 corrections.

Am I the only one that allows their hatred of Musk to translate into a desire for SpaceX to fail? I feel horrible about that, as aerospace engineering and musings of space exploration have always been a big part of my life.

Fuck I hate that man.

Far from the only one.

[Kraken]

I can separate the companies from the founder and hope that both SpaceX and Tesla prosper. SpaceX has already revolutionized rocket science and Tesla mainstreamed EVs. Xitter, OTOH, is just Musk's mischievous plaything and I want it to fail hard soon, before he puts his thumb on the election.

[Zaxxon]

I can separate the companies from the founder and hope that both SpaceX and Tesla prosper. SpaceX has already revolutionized rocket science and Tesla mainstreamed EVs. Xitter, OTOH, is just Musk's mischievous plaything and I want it to fail hard soon, before he puts his thumb on the election.

Seconded on all counts!

[Unagi]

I can separate the companies from the founder and hope that both SpaceX and Tesla prosper. SpaceX has already revolutionized rocket science and Tesla mainstreamed EVs. Xitter, OTOH, is just Musk's mischievous plaything and I want it to fail hard soon, before he puts his thumb on the election.

Well aren't you just so wonderful



That's pretty much my problem. I'm haunted by my desire to tear him down and how that then unfairly extends to two companies I'd otherwise truly want to see succeed - and in my bones, still do want them to succeed.
Frustrates the hell out of me.

Man, I hate that fuck.

[Kraken]

I can separate the companies from the founder and hope that both SpaceX and Tesla prosper. SpaceX has already revolutionized rocket science and Tesla mainstreamed EVs. Xitter, OTOH, is just Musk's mischievous plaything and I want it to fail hard soon, before he puts his thumb on the election.

Well aren't you just so wonderful

I think disassociation might be my superpower. I can enjoy movies with reprehensible actors or directors, for example, or songs by musicians with tattoos. In my homophobic youth I stubbornly liked Queen's music even though my friends said Freddie Mercury was light in the loafers. I can enjoy art without liking the artist.

IDK if you read the WaitButWhy guy, but some years ago he did a long series of columns in praise of Elon Musk that convinced me Musk was the genius who might save humanity. I still like Wait But Why. The degree of Musk's genius is debatable and I really REALLY hate his narcissism and his antidemocratic politics. In spite of that, I still appreciate the impact that Tesla and especially SpaceX have had on the world, and I really REALLY hope that Starship will live up to even 50% of its promise.

I could extend this riff into politics but that's another forum.

[Zaxxon]

I can separate the companies from the founder and hope that both SpaceX and Tesla prosper. SpaceX has already revolutionized rocket science and Tesla mainstreamed EVs. Xitter, OTOH, is just Musk's mischievous plaything and I want it to fail hard soon, before he puts his thumb on the election.

Well aren't you just so wonderful



That's pretty much my problem. I'm haunted by my desire to tear him down and how that then unfairly extends to two companies I'd otherwise truly want to see succeed - and in my bones, still do want them to succeed.
Frustrates the hell out of me.

Man, I hate that fuck.

Like it or hate it, any hope of significant presence in space during your and my lifetime is entirely dependent on SpaceX succeeding. ULA et al ain’t gonna get it done.

So really, we’re cheering for ourselves here.

[Zaxxon]

Whelp….

[Holman]

Political putrescence aside, what does Musk bring to SpaceX that SpaceX couldn't do without him? Has he engineered solutions that no other engineer could otherwise engineer?

The Twitter saga suggests (assuming that he's destroying now-"X" through good-faith ineptitude rather than committing intentional sabotage) that he's actually a terrible organizational leader. There have been rumors for a while that even SpaceX has to devote whole executives to managing his ego (and, apparently, bearing his occasional child).

It's entirely possible that rooting for SpaceX means rooting against Elon Musk. At this point, the corporation's proven success could continue without him.

(And, yeah, I do remember that WaitButWhy tongue-bath. It's an embarrassing read nowadays, and the real story is how Elon Musk manages to sucker a gullible chronicler.)

[Kraken]

Well paint me green and call me Gumby; SpaceX got the all-clear and Starship could fly as early as Friday. The goal of this flight is to survive stage separation.

Let's hope it won't be another 7 months before they can take their third shot.

[Zaxxon]

Well paint me green and call me Gumby; SpaceX got the all-clear and Starship could fly as early as Friday. The goal of this flight is to survive stage separation.

Let's hope it won't be another 7 months before they can take their third shot.

Jumped the gun a little there, but they’ve gotten the green light!

[Isgrimnur]

SpaceX to Deorbit 100 Starlink Satellites Due to Potential Flaw

As a precaution, SpaceX plans on deorbiting 100 first-generation Starlink satellites, citing a potential flaw that could one day cause the satellites to completely fail.

As a result, the satellites will descend toward Earth before disintegrating in the planet’s atmosphere. “Starlink satellites are also fully demisable by design, meaning that the risk to those on the ground, in the air, or at sea from a deorbiting satellite is effectively zero as the satellites burn up during reentry,” SpaceX said on Monday.

The deorbiting will have no impact on Starlink customers, SpaceX says. Even though the network is losing 100 satellites, the network overall has more than 5,400 working satellites.
...
“The satellites will follow a safe, circular, and controlled lowering operation that should take approximately six months for most of the vehicles,” the company added. “All satellites will maintain maneuverability and collision avoidance capabilities during the descent.”

SpaceX adds that it’s already deorbited 406 satellites. “Of those, 17 are currently non-maneuverable, passively decaying, but well-tracked to help mitigate collision risk with other active satellites,” the company said. “The other 95% of satellites the Starlink team initiated controlled descent for have already de-orbited.”

[Unagi]

That network is a crime against humanity.

[Kraken]

Musk outlines plans to advance Starship

The goal of the fourth flight is for the Starship upper stage to get through the “high heating regime” of reentry and make a “controlled splat” into the ocean, he said. On the third flight, Starship broke up during reentry.

Musk said SpaceX also wants to bring the Super Heavy booster back intact on the next flight, having it land “on essentially a virtual tower” in the Gulf of Mexico. That would allow the company to proceed with an attempt to bring the booster back to Starbase for a landing.

“If the landing on the virtual tower works, then we will actually try on Flight 5 to come back and land on the tower,” he said. “That is very much a success-oriented schedule, but it is in the realm of possibility.”

Musk said he was optimistic that SpaceX would be able this year to land a booster back on the tower, using a pair of giant arms dubbed “Mechazilla” to cradle the booster. “The odds of us actually being able to catch the booster with the Mechazilla arms this year,” he said, “is probably 80 to 90%.”

...

Musk outlined improvements to the Raptor engine that will increase its thrust from 230 to 280 metric tons-force, and “ultimately” to more than 330 metric tons-force of thrust.

The engine improvements would support a “Starship 2” that also features a slightly longer booster and ship. That will be able to place more than 100 metric tons into orbit in a fully reusable configuration, Musk said. A future “Starship 3,” about 25 meters taller than Starship 2, would be able to place more than 200 metric tons into orbit in a fully reusable mode. He did not disclose when either Starship version would enter service.

Musk claimed that the future Starship 3 would cost less to launch than SpaceX’s original rocket, the Falcon 1 small launch vehicle, which had a price of about $10 million, because of full reusability. He estimated the Starship cost per launch could fall to as low as $2 million to $3 million.

...which is aspirational, obviously, but would be 0.01% of the price of an Artemis launch.

[jztemple2]

Sounds good, but we'll see. Still a lot of things to develop.

Thanks for posting that info

[Kraken]

Musk's timelines are always over-ambitious, but I wouldn't bet against them achieving it all.