SpaceX (general discussion)

I've been surfing all the different videos over and over. It's every bit as thrilling as the S5 launch in '69 (I skipped school to watch that). BTW, the delay just before launch was to accommodate me. I over slept. Thanks SpaceX, GS and EM for the most thrilling morning since I was 12. Holy Cow.
 
abheiden said:
That was another close call at the re entry.
At least one flap almost burn trough and the entry heating stopped not a moment to soon.
But overall a big succes
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Definitely more work to do on TPS for the flaps, all of them seemed to distort and discolor on the way down even before the burn through. But it speaks to how robust this prototype series is that it not only survived but hit it's landing zone.
 
Moose said:
Definitely more work to do on TPS for the flaps
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Starship 33 (block 2) has modified flaps to deal with that problem
GT6OmZHXIAYj9XL
 
Firefinder said:
States cant do anything with US military Bases.
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While theoretically Federal Supremacy could allow the military to do that, in practice they don't. As an officer who has been through many ESOCAMP inspections, in practice military bases comply with state environmental, health and safety laws. They only pull the NS card if it really, really has to be done. Think three letter agencies...
 
The starship and it's first stage are so large that it seems these kinds of maneuvers to land them are quite aggressive. I wonder if as they perfect the landing and capture of starship and first stage if we won't see frequent damage to equipment and outright losses. Then again I am no engineer. To anyone with engineer chops out there, are these vehicles getting to the outer edge of safety in these kinds of landings?

Edit: corrected words
 
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TomcatViP said:
Did they really notch it on the first attempt (catching the booster)?!!!
Amazing team.
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Falcon hoverslams actually impress me more being around zero altitude, zero speed and zero fuel. SuperHeavy could take its time in comparison. A big fuel fat rocket allows that.

Starship recovery will be the hardest.

The two rockets that impressed me the most were Sprint and those kinetic kill vehicles that hovered rock steady over nets…amazing.
 
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Moose said:
Definitely more work to do on TPS for the flaps, all of them seemed to distort and discolor on the way down even before the burn through. But it speaks to how robust this prototype series is that it not only survived but hit it's landing zone.
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When I saw them start to change color I thought, "oh shit".
 
publiusr said:
Falcon hoverslams actually impress me more being around zero altitude, zero speed and zero fuel. SuperHeavy could take its time in comparison. A big fuel fat rocket allows that.

Starship recovery will be the hardest.

The two rockets that impressed me the most were Sprint and those kinetic kill vehicles that hovered rock steady over nets…amazing.
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Would like to see video of UpSTAGE.
 
There's also the issue that DoD isn't going to love their payloads going to a non-DoD range. Vandyland isn't going to shut down because a CEO and some CA state officials are having a snit fit.
 
ITAR restrictions doesn´t apply. France is a NATO country. Honestly, SpaceX should just try asking. '
 
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dark sidius said:
Let the bobo californian with their homeless and insecurity they want to look like France :D give the employement to others go straight to Florida and Texas
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Yes, pretty please, let us wretched, demented, depraved Coastal Southern Californians wallow in all of our Mediterranean Climate Pacific Rim dwelling deprived misery, filth, and squalor, and migrate en masse to such unwoke cradles/graves of civilization like Florida (from the evening news I gather the weather there is really balmy and pleasant around this time of year!) or Texas (hee haw!) instead. Avowed and proud German Superfan of Sociopoliticaleconomic Self Sorting here. And, as a self-appointed pseudo-honorary member of the International Grammar and Spelling Police, I'm not even gonna (see what I did there?) comment on your command (or lack thereof) of the English Language, my dear dark (your word, not mine) sidius (although you really do strike me much more as the *insidious* type)...
 
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TomcatViP said:
ITAR restrictions doesn´t apply. France is a NATO country. Honestly, SpaceX should just try asking. '
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Still export controlled and France doesn't like SpaceX. I, as a NASA civil servant, had to be escorted at Kourou for JWST meetings because I worked with SpaceX on other missions. Other Goddard NASA employees were unescorted.
 
Byeman said:
meaningless point. Not viable for US company.
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www.nasaspaceflight.com

Firefly preparing new launch pads in Virginia, Sweden for Alpha rocket - NASASpaceFlight.com

Firefly Aerospace, the decade-old spaceflight company based in Cedar Park, Texas, is now working on…
www.nasaspaceflight.com www.nasaspaceflight.com
Electron counts too, signficant parts of it are built in the USA, and the company is registered as american.
Pegasus launched from a Spanish base, LauncherOne form a british airport,
Most (largely american-made) N-I and N-II and the last San-Marco-Scouts flew after ITAR was well established...
And starship is expected to be transported to Australia as part of an agreement!

It's definitely possible to have american launchers outside of the US, with the right clearances and political support.
There's little need to launch Starship from the EU, however.



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It's still hard to believe that a Fully reusable LV has been demonstrated... the holy grail of rocketry, and it exists! :)
 
@Byeman : I hope that with a deserted launchpad and budget realignment, Kuru spaceport would reconsider their apparent lack of fair play.
At the end, making space more a private endeavor is what their gov, as the EU, have called for. It might not start with their plethora of dubious startups. But we could see that aspiration lifted hosting the best of the best athlete... (as they say).

Probably also that the French, German and other NATO members MoD would be relieved to see SpaceX reliable launchers available also there.
 
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TomcatViP said:
Well, I heard that French don´t know really what to do with their own launch site in Guiana...
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Some FARC splinter group or other might cause headaches in that part of the world.

If SpaceX dared set up shop there--you can be assured the Camponesian Liberation Something-Or-Other would look to kidnap Elon for big bucks in a Maersk Alabama situation.

I seem to remember Christmas Island (the other one) was to be used by Beal...
 
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