SpaceX (general discussion)

TheSapceBucket has some news about the two oil-rigs that SpaceX had bought with the intention of turning them into floating Starship launchers:


It had been a long time since we heard anything regarding SpaceX's two oil rigs before the news came out that they were no longer part of the plan. Originally bought and intended to go through a refit for future Starship launches, months ago, it was revealed that they had both been sold. This came as a shock to some as only a few years ago the rigs were bought with ambitious future plans.
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In reality, SpaceX decided that they already had enough on their plate with Starship and wanted to get the vehicle off the ground first before such a big project. Combine this with work at both Boca Chica and the Cape, and the company decided these two sites would provide plenty of future launch opportunities for Starship.
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While it would have been exciting to see these ocean launch platforms in action, there is still hope for the future. Here I will go more in-depth into exactly why the two rigs were sold, what the original plan was, what to expect in the near future, and more.
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@NMaude : many thanks for that video. Very interesting. SpaceX is realizing SH-Starship won't be easy to launch in quantities - explosion risks, noise, vibrations...

As far as oil rigs are concerned, the closest of course is Sea Launch. Interestingly enough, Falcon 9 is extremely similar to good old Zenit rocket.

Bad luck, it is not F9 SpaceX wants to launch, but SH-Starship. Which is 10 times bigger, with the according larger destruction if it goes KABOOM.

But there is a way around this: just launch Starship with sea-level Raptor 2s and no SH, from the platforms. Even if not SSTO and with little payload, it could be interesting nonetheless for suborbital point to point - not 9 km/s but 7 km/s or 6 km/s. While the rocket equation is a massive PITA, the highest hurdle for chemical rocketry is mostly the final push from 7 to 9 km/s (Musk nailed it a few years ago: Earth is the wrong planet for SSTO). Mars, Moon, fine: even Venus size and density would help a little. Chemical rocketry essentially falls appart above 7 km/s; bad luck, ascent to Earth orbit takes 9 km/s.

Still, 7 km/s "only" - allows for a rather large ballistic range: 10 000 km or more, enough to displace 777s, 787s and A350s - longer range maybe, but agonizingly slow to the other side of the world.
 
Archibald said:
@NMaude : many thanks for that video. Very interesting. SpaceX is realizing SH-Starship won't be easy to launch in quantities - explosion risks, noise, vibrations...

As far as oil rigs are concerned, the closest of course is Sea Launch. Interestingly enough, Falcon 9 is extremely similar to good old Zenit rocket.


Still, 7 km/s "only" - allows for a rather large ballistic range: 10 000 km or more, enough to displace 777s, 787s and A350s - longer range maybe, but agonizingly slow to the other side of the world.
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I’d like to see Starship with some jets for that role to aid in landing.
 
publiusr said:
Archibald said:
@NMaude : many thanks for that video. Very interesting. SpaceX is realizing SH-Starship won't be easy to launch in quantities - explosion risks, noise, vibrations...

As far as oil rigs are concerned, the closest of course is Sea Launch. Interestingly enough, Falcon 9 is extremely similar to good old Zenit rocket.


Still, 7 km/s "only" - allows for a rather large ballistic range: 10 000 km or more, enough to displace 777s, 787s and A350s - longer range maybe, but agonizingly slow to the other side of the world.
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I’d like to see Starship with some jets for that role to aid in landing.
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Adding another separate propulsion system would unnecessarily increase complexity.
 
...Another reason that Texas will support Elon Musk.

Tesla build a Lithium refinery in Corpus Christi.
Back by US government, who want become independent from China, who dominated the export on Lithium.
the refinery has to be complete end 2023 and start production in begin 2024.

FvuitshXwAE1SD_
 
www.vastspace.com

VAST Announces the Haven-1 and VAST-1 Missions. — VAST

Scheduled to be the world’s first commercial space station, Haven-1 and subsequent human spaceflight missions will accelerate access to space exploration.
www.vastspace.com www.vastspace.com

VAST Announces the Haven-1 and VAST-1 Missions.
MAY 10, 2023

LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA
SCHEDULED TO BE THE WORLD’S FIRST COMMERCIAL SPACE STATION, HAVEN-1 AND SUBSEQUENT HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT MISSIONS WILL ACCELERATE ACCESS TO SPACE EXPLORATION.

LONG BEACH, Calif. — May 10, 2023 — Vast, a pioneer in space habitation technologies, announced today their plans to launch the world’s first commercial space station, called Haven-1. Scheduled to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to low-Earth orbit no earlier than August 2025, Haven-1 will initially act as an independent crewed space station prior to being connected as a module to a larger Vast space station currently in development. The mission will be quickly followed by Vast-1, the first human spaceflight mission to Haven-1 on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. The vehicle and its four-person crew will dock with Haven-1 for up to 30 days while orbiting Earth. Vast also secured an option with SpaceX for an additional human spaceflight mission to Haven-1.

This represents the first time in history that a commercial space station company has both a contracted launch for its space station and a visiting human spaceflight mission.

“Vast is thrilled to embark on this journey of launching the world's first commercial space station, Haven-1, and its first crew, Vast-1,” said Jed McCaleb, CEO of Vast. “We are grateful to SpaceX for this exciting partnership that represents the first steps in Vast’s long-term vision of launching much larger, artificial gravity space stations in Earth orbit and beyond.”

“A commercial rocket launching a commercial spacecraft with commercial astronauts to a commercial space station is the future of low-Earth orbit, and with Vast we’re taking another step toward making that future a reality,” said Tom Ochinero, Senior Vice President of Commercial Business at SpaceX. “The SpaceX team couldn’t be more excited to launch Vast’s Haven-1 and support their follow-on human spaceflight missions to the orbiting commercial space station.”

Vast’s long-term goal is to develop a 100-meter-long multi-module spinning artificial gravity space station launched by SpaceX’s Starship transportation system. In support of this, Vast will explore conducting the world’s first spinning artificial gravity experiment on a commercial space station with Haven-1.

Vast is selling up to four crewed seats on the inaugural mission to Haven-1. Expected customers include domestic and international space agencies and private individuals involved in science and philanthropic projects. Visit vastspace.com/reserve for more details.

SpaceX will also provide crew training on Falcon 9 and the Dragon spacecraft, emergency preparedness, spacesuit and spacecraft ingress and egress exercises, as well as partial and full mission simulations including docking and undocking with Haven-1 for return to Earth.

HAVEN-1 FEATURES:

Compatible docking with the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft

Extend the on-orbit duration of commercial Dragon spacecraft human spaceflight missions for up to 30 days for four astronauts

Science, research, and in-space manufacturing opportunities - 1000 W of power, 24/7 communications, and up to 150 kg of pre-loaded cargo mass in Haven-1. Opportunities for lunar artificial gravity by spinning.

Fully independent space station providing life support functions and consumables for the full mission’s duration.

Privacy and control of your crew schedule

Large window dome for viewing and photography

Always-on internet via onboard Wi-Fi

Room to stretch and rest

VAST-1 - OUR FIRST EXPEDITION TO HAVEN-1

‍‍Fly to Haven-1 in a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft launched by the Falcon 9 rocket

For space agencies and private individuals

Fly four crew members to Haven-1 for up to 30 days

Be the first crew to visit the world’s first commercial space station

Available per seat or as a full, four-person crew mission

Advanced science, research, and in-space manufacturing opportunities
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Some Statistic
222th launch of Falcon 9 Series
189th landing of first stage (115th consecutive since last accident)
and 31th launch this year since may 10, 2023 (include Falcon heavy)

Upcoming launches:
14 May, Starlink Group 5-9
18 May, Starlink Group 6-3
21 May, Axiom Ax-2 flight to ISS
22 May, Arabsat 7B

the upcoming Falcon Heavy launches in July, Will feature booster landing on two drone ships.
 
GTX said:
Michel Van said:
.China, who dominated the export on Lithium.
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??

www.weforum.org

This chart shows which countries produce the most lithium

Australia, Chile and China are the three largest producers of lithium - and demand for the metal is increasing as EVs gain traction.
www.weforum.org www.weforum.org
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I've noticed that sometimes rare earths and "lithium" get lumped in together or used interchangeably depending on the "journalist". Good to see Australia has such a stake in it. (Unless they're just Chinese mines in Australia of course.)
 
TheSpaceBucket has just put out a video about SpaceX's upcoming attempt to land the two boosters of a Falcon Heavy rocket on drone-ship barges:


After years without a mission, late last year Falcon Heavy launched again and since then has been very active. Despite launching earlier this month the rocket is already preparing for another two missions within the next three months, one of which will be very unique in two ways. First scheduled in July, Falcon Heavy will launch the USSF-52 mission.
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However, in August, the heavy lift rocket will launch the heaviest commercial satellite ever sent into space and attempt a simultaneous drone ship landing with both side boosters on the same mission. Only days ago a permit was filed that gave us a hint about this dual booster landing attempt. This flight profile and payload combined make this upcoming launch a true test of what the Falcon Heavy is capable of.
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If successful, the rocket will have even more opportunities ahead of it and features within its arsenal. All this being said, a booster landing like this has never been attempted and will be far from easy. Here I will go more in-depth into the upcoming mission, how exactly this flight profile would work, what to expect in the coming weeks, and more.
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Full article here - https://thespacebucket.com/falcon-hea...
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Whoa whoa whoa. So the plan is to get the two barges at sea, same time, and land one booster on each barge ? That will be a rather interesting... ballet to coordinate indeed. Will watch that with interest.

Why would it so complicated, in passing ? F9H boosters separate at the same time from the core ? no ?

Hence, once the two boosters have separated, just treat their landings as two separate single landings, each one with its control team focusing on its own booster and own barge.
 
Another Bombshell by Musk
i guess
that fuel gas generators are now more powerful
or the Turbopumps hat reserve to produce more pressure on propellants
who are presst in fine tune injector into combustion chamber that certain use a special copper alloy
 
Another nail in the coffin for SLS and Boeing Starliner. If your choice is a class 8 truck or a railcar load to space and the railcar is cheaper ($2B vs $100M) why do you still want two vendors? In two or three years, SpaceX will offer Starship in lieu of Crew Dragon, charge $55M a seat and still everybody wins.

Yet, unfortunately, I feel confident the US Congress will continue to fundboth Starliner and SLS.
 
NeilChapman said:
Another nail in the coffin for SLS and Boeing Starliner. If your choice is a class 8 truck or a railcar load to space and the railcar is cheaper ($2B vs $100M) why do you still want two vendors? In two or three years, SpaceX will offer Starship in lieu of Crew Dragon, charge $55M a seat and still everybody wins.

Yet, unfortunately, I feel confident the US Congress will continue to fundboth Starliner and SLS.
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Because you always want differential providers. I do not get why some on here are so eager to race back to the kind of monopoly market position that you had for years in the US with ULA.
 
NeilChapman said:
Another nail in the coffin for SLS and Boeing Starliner. If your choice is a class 8 truck or a railcar load to space and the railcar is cheaper ($2B vs $100M) why do you still want two vendors? In two or three years, SpaceX will offer Starship in lieu of Crew Dragon, charge $55M a seat and still everybody wins.

Yet, unfortunately, I feel confident the US Congress will continue to fundboth Starliner and SLS.
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It's not called the Senate Launch System for nothing.
 
update at Launch pad
they drilling and pour 12 deep foundations pillar around Pad
while they drill various holes in crater left from Superheavy under the pad
seems they reenforce the ground under launch pad
FwB_22iWYAIshvC
 
Michel Van said:
Another Bombshell by Musk
i guess
that fuel gas generators are now more powerful
or the Turbopumps hat reserve to produce more pressure on propellants
who are presst in fine tune injector into combustion chamber that certain use a special copper alloy
Click to expand...

These types of engines are always limited by the chamber walls, not by the pumps. It's trivial to get a little more power out of the FFSC pumps, but the expected outcome of doing that is that something melts. "We pushed pressure higher" means that they managed to make cooling work better, or have new materials that survive in worse conditions.

Copper alloy is fine for most of the structure, but the problem is that the flow from the oxygen-side preburner is hot supercritical oxygen, and if you let that touch copper it will burn with a bright flame.
 
Tuna said:
Copper alloy is fine for most of the structure, but the problem is that the flow from the oxygen-side preburner is hot supercritical oxygen, and if you let that touch copper it will burn with a bright flame.
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This issue solved the German in 1960s for P111 a high pressure Kerolox engine for Interceptor jet with special copper alloy.
They modified P111 into H20 engine that burn Hydrolox for Europa III rocket.
in the end the that copper alloy was used in RS-25 of Space Shuttle engine.
seems that SpaceX used it too
 

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