SpaceX Super Heavy and Starship updates

[FloatingFatMan]

On 18/11/2023 at 16:15, Xenon said:

I have to say it did go better than I thought it would. The explosion of the booster was quite impressive. I figure the next attempt in 2 to 4 months. 

Baldrick else said it far better than I could...  

 

 

[DocM]

The next few Starships to fly ar partially complete. Mods will be made to them based on what was learned today.  Next flight probably around February or March.

 

 

 

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[anthdci]

interesting tweet about the front of the starship separating after the FTS

 

https://x.com/astroferg/status/1726002014918705581?s=20 

[DocM]

On 19/11/2023 at 14:56, anthdci said:

interesting tweet about the front of the starship separating after the FTS

 

https://x.com/astroferg/status/1726002014918705581?s=20 

The FTS charges are near the common and upper domes. Having the nose cone detach after the upper charge goes off is not a surprise.

[anthdci]

On 20/11/2023 at 02:15, DocM said:

The FTS charges are near the common and upper domes. Having the nose cone detach after the upper charge goes off is not a surprise.

I'd agree, but it's a single large piece of debris that could cause some damage. Obviously no charge is going to make something so big turn completely into tiny pieces, but it's certainly something the FAA will be asking about before the next one. 

[DocM]

On 20/11/2023 at 04:48, anthdci said:

I'd agree, but it's a single large piece of debris that could cause some damage. Obviously no charge is going to make something so big turn completely into tiny pieces, but it's certainly something the FAA will be asking about before the next one. 

That's not really the purpose of the FTS as far as FAA is concerned. It's purposes are,

1) to terminate engine thrust, and

2) unzip the tanks to disperse propellants (95+% of vehicle mass at liftoff).

The Notice to Mariners and Notice to Airmen give a pre warning to avoid areas under the flight path which could have falling debris. 

The nose cone was only a few seconds from achieving orbit when the FTS fired, and traveling about 22,000 kph. It's very UNlikely it was able to stay together due to aerodynamic and thermal forces. The debris field was Northeast of the Turks.

Edited November 21, 2023 by DocM

[DocM]

Starship liftoff drone clip

 

[IsItPluggedIn]

I would guess that the cause of the booster failure was fuel sloshing, probably just need to change the flight profile for the boost back. Should be a quick turn around.

The Starship is probably a bigger issue. Looks like a LOX leak, with where it was when it went boom, might not have a lot of telemetry of what went wrong.

[DocM]

On 21/11/2023 at 22:17, IsItPluggedIn said:

I would guess that the cause of the booster failure was fuel sloshing, probably just need to change the flight profile for the boost back. Should be a quick turn around.

The Starship is probably a bigger issue. Looks like a LOX leak, with where it was when it went boom, might not have a lot of telemetry of what went wrong.

 

Starship and Booster are  both equipped with Starlink, allowing communications even when out of sight of a ground station. 

Starlink is also going into Dragon, the upcoming Polaris Dawn Crew mission testing the use of Starlibj instead of NASA's telemetry network. It'll be going into the lower Van Allen belt, and the crew will come down to 500 km for a few spacewalks.

[DocM]

Starship 2

There are four remaining Starships to be tested; Ships 28, 29, 30, and 32. Ship 31 has been moved to the Starbase Rocket Garden for display.

Subsequent Ships will be a new configuration, Starship 2. 

Expect significant upgrades.

 

 

 

[anthdci]

On 27/11/2023 at 17:32, DocM said:

Starship 2

There are four remaining Starships to be tested; Ships 28, 29, 30, and 32. Ship 31 has been moved to the Starbase Rocket Garden for display.

Subsequent Ships will be a new configuration, Starship 2. 

Expect significant upgrades.

 

 

 

going to be interesting what they do. If they stretch it to give bigger tanks to feed the extra 3 vacuum raptors that will probably make it too tall for the chopsticks to grab it in the same location as the V1. Either the tower will need to be taller or the mounting point needs to relatively lower down starship.

[DocM]

On 28/11/2023 at 04:50, anthdci said:

going to be interesting what they do. If they stretch it to give bigger tanks to feed the extra 3 vacuum raptors that will probably make it too tall for the chopsticks to grab it in the same location as the V1. Either the tower will need to be taller or the mounting point needs to relatively lower down starship.

There has been talk about the forward fins being relocated, so the attach points may also be moving. They may also extend the height of the tower. We'll just have to wait and see.

[DocM]

Super Heavy breathes fire...

 

[TrevorLahey]

 

 

[DocM]

YouTube version of above

 

[Xenon]

On 07/12/2023 at 15:51, DocM said:

YouTube version of above

 

That rocket is a freaking beast. 

[DocM]

On 08/12/2023 at 13:45, Xenon said:

That rocket is a freaking beast. 

And it will be getting even more beastly as in stretch it taller, larger tanks in the Starship.

Edited December 8, 2023 by DocM

[DocM]

Air Force Rocket Cargo Program via C4ISR.net, a defense and military oriented news site.

Rocket Cargo is a US military project to transport large amounts of cargo within an hour. SpaceX as a contract to use Starship to test the concept.

C4ISR = Command, Control, Communications, Computers (C4) Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR).

C4ISR.net...

Quote

Will Rocket Cargo work? Data collected in 2024 may hold the answer.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of the Air Force’s effort to one day launch equipment halfway around the world via space-bound rockets will go through a series of test flights in 2024 that could reveal whether the concept would even work.

>

Next year, he said, the Air Force also plans to have a cargo bay mockup — basically the upper half of a Starship — it can use to refine the techniques for rapidly loading and unloading 20-foot containers from a rocket. That mockup is now in the final stages of construction by the engineering firm SES in Alliance, Ohio.

And by 2026 — though Spanjers said it could be done by 2025 — the Air Force expects the Rocket Cargo program to demonstrate the ability to rapidly launch rockets, bring large masses of cargo down from orbit, and rapidly load and unload cargo.

>

 

[FloatingFatMan]

On 07/12/2023 at 20:51, DocM said:

YouTube version of above

 

Yeah.. I just love the way it exploded all over the place...

 

Twice.

 

 

[TheReaperMan]

On 09/12/2023 at 10:25, FloatingFatMan said:

Yeah.. I just love the way it exploded all over the place...

 

Twice.

 

 

You have to give bang for bucks, right? 😛

 

 

[DocM]

On 09/12/2023 at 04:25, FloatingFatMan said:

Yeah.. I just love the way it exploded all over the place...

Twice.

Tomatoes from the peanut gallery, again.

The process is iteration. One milestone at a time, just like they did when they were developing reusable rockets. 

Since they figured out the magic sauce recipe they have landed over 250 of them.

The first Starship launch was to determine if the pad could survive the environment. Any data acquired after that was gravy. It didn't survive, so they fixed it and moved on to the next milestone. The flight termination system did not work as expected, so they fixed it too. NASA considered the test successful. Things were learned.

The FAA investigation? SpaceX conducted it, not FAA.

The second one was about getting through hot staging, a method not used much outside of Russia. It  succeeded. So did the new  flight termination system. In this case the gravy was Starship getting within 8 seconds of achieving orbit. NASA also considered this  test a success.

Flight 3 will have a different set of milestones.  Even if they are met someone will find a problem with it. SSDD.

 

Edited December 9, 2023 by DocM

[DocM]

Starship Flight 3 preparations have begun, Ship 28 rolls out for testing...

 

SPMT = Self-Propelled Mobile Transporter

Tower = launch/catch tower

SQD Arm = Ship Quick Disconnect Arm (umbilical)

 

 

 

[DocM]

Starbase is getting a 2nd Starship Tower

Tower segments are already on a barge, destination Texas.

Full text

Quote

Also, the purpose of adding additional towers US 8to support the launch cadence required for the Artemis missions. It is not to create a catch only tower.

In order to catch a booster, a launch mount is needed to place the booster back down and safe the vehicle. There will be residual fuel in the tanks (even if its only fumes) and this will need to be purged with nitrogen provided by the OLM in order to safe the vehicle after landing.

It can not be placed directly onto a transport stand.

 

[anthdci]

obviously they know what they are doing, but if they are stretching starship then it would have made sense for any new towers to be taller to accommodate that.

[DocM]

On 17/12/2023 at 07:25, anthdci said:

obviously they know what they are doing, but if they are stretching starship then it would have made sense for any new towers to be taller to accommodate that.

The catch arms grab pins on either side of the booster or ship. Those pins can be moved to a lower location to accommodate a longer vehicle. 

If at some time this relocation poses a problem (balance, etc) they can take the top off the tower and add another segment; they were built using modules.