posted 06-13-2022 03:41 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by SpaceAholic:
At a minimum this has the appearance of a non-apolitical process weaponized to obstruct the program.

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posted 06-13-2022 05:38 PM               

The assorted species biological protections make good logical sense, and are not particularly difficult to do. While Cape Canaveral/KSC did not have significant environmental laws when they were first developed, you can bet your bottom dollar that biological protection of the area has become much more restrictive over the years, thanks in part to the "Earthrise" photo of Apollo 8.

As an aside, if you actually read the 40 page report in the link, it is amusing to see how some of the interest groups were bought off for absolute chump change... $5,000 here and there... for "free" fishing tackle etc.

posted 06-14-2022 02:27 PM               

Starship will be ready to fly next month. I was in the high bay and mega bay late last night reviewing progress.

We will have a second Starship stack ready to fly in August and then monthly thereafter.

posted 06-19-2022 12:43 PM               

I might also be concerned that a launch or landing mishap involving the Super Heavy booster might take out the Falcon 9 launch pad facilities and there would be no place from where to launch manned Dragon flights.

posted 06-20-2022 10:27 AM               

"We all recognize that if you had an early failure like we did on one of the early SpaceX flights, it would be pretty devastating to 39A," Kathy Lueders, NASA's space operations chief, said in an interview of the agency's discussions with SpaceX.

SpaceX did not return a request for comment.

SpaceX has already invested heavily in building a Starship pad some hundreds of feet from pad 39A's launch tower. It has responded by pitching NASA on a plan to outfit its other Florida pad - Launch Complex 40, five miles away on Space Force property - with the means to launch U.S. astronauts, according to a person familiar with the plans.

The company is also studying ways to "harden" 39A, or make the launchpad more resilient to both an explosive Starship accident and the immense forces emitted from a successful Starship liftoff, Lueders said.

Hardening the 39A pad and launching humans from pad 40 would both require agency approval.

"SpaceX is working with us on those things," said Lueders. "Because it's also in their best interest to not have what is a pretty steady source of income for them become interrupted."

posted 06-23-2022 08:17 PM               

Super Heavy Booster 7 with 33 Raptor engines installed was transported to the orbital launch pad at Starbase.

posted 07-02-2022 05:38 PM               

33 Raptor engines installed on the booster, six on the ship.

posted 07-06-2022 01:23 PM               

Ship 24 was transported to the pad at Starbase in preparation for the first orbital flight test of Starship.

posted 07-11-2022 09:01 PM               

Yeah, actually not good. Team is assessing damage.

posted 08-09-2022 07:28 PM               

Team at Starbase completed a single Raptor engine static fire test of Super Heavy Booster 7 on the orbital launch pad.

posted 09-08-2022 06:15 PM               

Ship 24 completes 6-engine static fire test at Starbase.

posted 09-19-2022 03:58 PM               

From Elon Musk (via Twitter):

Booster 7 now returns to high bay for robustness upgrades and booster 8 moves to pad for testing.

Next big test is probably full stack wet dress rehearsal, then 33 engine firing in a few weeks.

posted 10-04-2022 09:59 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Headshot:
...there would be no place from where to launch manned Dragon flights.

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At a Sept. 26 briefing, Bill Gerstenmaier, SpaceX vice president for build and flight reliability, said the company had already started preparations for the upgrades needed at SLC-40 for cargo and crew launches. "We've already started the work to begin the preparations for pad 40. We've ordered some hardware, put some contracts into place," he said.

He didn't elaborate on the work needed to prepare SLC-40 for cargo and crew missions. "We'll do cargo first. We can do that fairly easily," he said. "It gives us some flexibility to move some things off 39A, which helps us balance launches off both pads. We'll add crew at the right time."

posted 10-12-2022 07:22 AM               

Starship 24 and Booster 7 fully stacked on the orbital launch pad at Starbase.

posted 10-31-2022 10:05 PM               

• Booster 7/Starship 24 re-stacking
  
• Additional single-species prop system testing
  
• Additional de-stacked static fire tests (including Booster 7 33-engine test)
  
• Wet dress rehearsals
  
• FAA license processing in work

posted 11-04-2022 03:06 PM               

At SpaceX, we are actively developing technologies with the potential to change the course of life on Earth and beyond. We believe that hard work and innovative solutions result in big gains, so we prioritize hiring top talent and cultivating a culture based on merit. From building our interplanetary transport system to working with astronauts and deploying our Starlink broadband internet system, all SpaceX employees directly contribute to making our mission of making humanity multi-planetary a reality.

posted 01-10-2023 01:01 PM               

Ship 24 stacked on Super Heavy Booster 7 at Starbase in Texas.

posted 01-23-2023 07:01 PM               

Starship completed its first full flight-like wet dress rehearsal at Starbase today [Jan. 23]. This was the first time an integrated Ship and Booster were fully loaded with more than 10 million pounds of propellant.

Today's test will help verify a full launch countdown sequence, as well as the performance of Starship and the orbital pad for flight-like operations.

After completing Starship's first full flight-like wet dress rehearsal, Ship 24 will be destacked from Booster 7 in preparation for a static fire of the Booster's 33 Raptor engines.

posted 02-08-2023 05:08 PM               

Speaking at the Federal Aviation Administration Commercial Space Transportation Conference here Feb. 8, Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer of SpaceX, announced the impending test, the final major technical milestone before the vehicle's first orbital launch attempt.

"Tomorrow is a big day for SpaceX. We are going to attempt a 33-engine static fire booster test for Starship," she said. "It's really the final ground test that we can do before we light 'em up and go."

posted 02-09-2023 03:38 PM               

Congrats to the SpaceX team on full duration of the Starship 33 Engine static fire test!

posted 02-09-2023 03:40 PM               

Team turned off one engine just before start and one stopped itself, so 31 engines fired overall.

But still enough engines to reach orbit!

posted 02-10-2023 04:10 PM               

Super Heavy Booster 7 completed a full duration static fire test of 31 Raptor engines, producing 7.9 million lbf of thrust (~3,600 metric tons) – less than half of the booster's capability

posted 02-11-2023 05:42 PM            

I suppose the key question is what the launch rules will be. I just can't see the Super Heavy launch going ahead if even one engine signals that it's faulty before ignition, or shuts down after ignition but before liftoff. Of course, we can't really look to the Saturn V for guidance on that: the Saturn V couldn't lift-off on four engines. Maybe 32 out of 33 will be acceptable for Super Heavy.

posted 02-11-2023 06:50 PM            

I guess I’m old school but

Intent is fill the rocket and ignite all 33 engines

But only fill 1/3 full

And one engine does not light

And one engine shuts itself down in the 5 seconds of the test

Well, you’ve learned a lot but it stretches the definition of success.

posted 04-06-2023 04:33 PM               

Starship fully stacked at Starbase. Team is working towards a launch rehearsal next week followed by Starship’s first integrated flight test about a week later pending regulatory approval.

posted 04-11-2023 04:01 PM               

Starship Mission to Mars

posted 04-14-2023 04:59 PM               

FAA Issues SpaceX License to Launch Starship/Super Heavy

On April 14, the FAA issued SpaceX a Vehicle Operator License to launch the Starship/Super Heavy vehicle from Boca Chica, Texas. After a comprehensive license evaluation process, the FAA determined SpaceX met all safety, environmental, policy, payload, airspace integration and financial responsibility requirements. The license is valid for five years.

The FAA is responsible for protecting the public during commercial space transportation launch and reentry operations. We carefully analyzed the public safety risks during every stage of the mission and required SpaceX to mitigate those risks.

In addition, the FAA will implement various airspace integration measures designed to reduce the impact of the launch on commercial airline flights and other airspace users.

• The FAA will use key mission "triggers" such as the loading of rocket fuel and the final disposition of the booster rocket to pinpoint when to close and reopen airspace.

• For the first time, the FAA will implement time-based procedures for a launch from Boca Chica. This will identify and reroute only the aircraft directly affected by the closed airspace allowing more aircraft to stay on their most optimal and efficient routes. It has previously only been used for launches from the Florida space coast.

• Both the Starship vehicle and the Super Heavy booster rocket will transmit telemetry data to the FAA via the Space Data Integrator tool. Data such as position, altitude, speed and any deviation from its expected flight path will provide the FAA situational awareness, and in combination with other information, help to reopen airspace quicker.

posted 04-14-2023 05:52 PM               

Targeting as soon as Monday, April 17 for the first flight test of a fully integrated Starship and Super Heavy rocket from Starbase in Texas.

For anyone thinking of traveling to the area to view the launch, SpaceX has released a map detailing the keep out area for the public. Road and beach closure notices can also be found here.

posted 04-16-2023 09:23 AM               

Teams are completing final checkouts and reviews ahead of Starship's first flight test attempt; weather is looking pretty good for tomorrow morning (April 17) but we're keeping an eye on wind shear.

posted 04-16-2023 08:11 PM               

T-12 hours until the first flight test of a fully integrated Starship and Super Heavy rocket; targeting about 8:00 a.m. CDT for liftoff.