SpaceX (general discussion)

Unless the sky clears up I'd think there would be 0% chance of a flight today.
 
sferrin said:
Unless the sky clears up I'd think there would be 0% chance of a flight today.
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Yeah. The mist and low cloud is not harmful for the rocket, but SpaceX probably wants nice footage of a successful hop (and for good reasons), and that's not possible today.
 
Tuna said:
sferrin said:
Unless the sky clears up I'd think there would be 0% chance of a flight today.
Click to expand...

Yeah. The mist and low cloud is not harmful for the rocket, but SpaceX probably wants nice footage of a successful hop (and for good reasons), and that's not possible today.
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If nothing else because if something goes wrong they'll want as much footage as possible to examine.
 
Might have spoken too soon, they have given the evacuation order to the residents.

Weather still hasn't improved, but maybe they are hoping for it to get better by the end of the window at 18:00 CST.
 
Tuna said:
Might have spoken too soon, they have given the evacuation order to the residents.

Weather still hasn't improved, but maybe they are hoping for it to get better by the end of the window at 18:00 CST.
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Nobody would be happier than me but it would surprise me if they launched with poor visibility.
 
Best part is that Amazing Stories on the top picture is the October issue. The SpaceX photo to it's right was taken in October.
 
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Well to be precise, when I followed your link, on Tweeter his post was 58min old and that was around 11:37am on SP forum time (GMT - see my post time).

Then the maths are easy ;)
 
TomcatViP said:
Well to be precise, when I followed your link, on Tweeter his post was 58min old and that was around 11:37am on SP forum time (GMT - see my post time).

Then the maths are easy ;)
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He posted at 3:30am. So was he up late or up early? :p
 
The FAA still haven’t authorised the flight of SN9 for reasons and no it’s not some grand conspiracy against the company.
 
Flyaway said:
The FAA still haven’t authorised the flight of SN9 for reasons and no it’s not some grand conspiracy against the company.
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I'd be very interested to hear the reasons, given how similar the vehicle is to SN8, and that one got authorized.
 
I honestly think it is only a matter of time before the missile defense agency pens a contract for SpaceX to build the sensor layer of its missile defense system. Laser cross linking is one of the key enabling technologies, and SpaceX has demonstrated an ability to crank out satellites and quickly orbit them. They likely will have a lot of unused capacity once Starlink is completed.

So I take it no launch today? When is the next possible window, next week?
 
Josh_TN said:
I honestly think it is only a matter of time before the missile defense agency pens a contract for SpaceX to build the sensor layer of its missile defense system. Laser cross linking is one of the key enabling technologies, and SpaceX has demonstrated an ability to crank out satellites and quickly orbit them. They likely will have a lot of unused capacity once Starlink is completed.

So I take it no launch today? When is the next possible window, next week?
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Technically they already have with SpaceX contracted to build (for now) four satellites that incorporate wide-angle IR missile tracking sensors onto the Starlink bus.

As for SN9, technically Thursday and Friday are still possibilities, but the weather doesn't look good, so next week might be more likely. They've also just moved the large crane that was previously used to lift SN8 and SN9 onto their launch pads, to the launch site. Cribbing (wooden boards to help with load distribution) for this crane has also been spotted via aerial photography as of a couple of days ago, up next to test stand 1 (the more elevated stand that SN8 launched from).

SN10 also appears to be completed, so there's speculation that they may try and move SN10 to the launch pad some time over the next few days. Musk has previously eluded via tweet that we could expected to see multiple Starship vehicles at the launch site "soon", so this might be that coming to fruition:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1333477514581336066
View: https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1333477514581336066
 
I think the four test satellites were put on hold for the moment for some kind of contract dispute. But long run, SpaceX's demonstrated ability to crank out and orbit the starlink bus, especially combined with the bus potentially having its own laser cross links (I think this was to be integrated into the test package for the four contracted satellites), would position them favorably to get a large contract so long as the IR package and cross linking worked reliably. I don't think it has been revealed who is doing the IR equipment for the test articles.
 
Seems to be some confusion whether there will be an actual launch today or not.
 
From "Nomaad": "
SpaceX just told me they're still working with the FAA to fly today.
 
sferrin said:
From "Nomaad": "
SpaceX just told me they're still working with the FAA to fly today.
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Spacex website updated.

Flight test description reads:

"As early as Thursday, January 28, the SpaceX team will attempt a high-altitude flight test of Starship serial number 9 (SN9) – the second high-altitude suborbital flight test of a Starship prototype from our site in Cameron County, Texas. Similar to the high-altitude flight test of Starship serial number 8 (SN8), SN9 will be powered through ascent by three Raptor engines, each shutting down in sequence prior to the vehicle reaching apogee – approximately 10 km in altitude. SN9 will perform a propellant transition to the internal header tanks, which hold landing propellant, before reorienting itself for reentry and a controlled aerodynamic descent.

The Starship prototype will descend under active aerodynamic control, accomplished by independent movement of two forward and two aft flaps on the vehicle. All four flaps are actuated by an onboard flight computer to control Starship’s attitude during flight and enable precise landing at the intended location. SN9’s Raptor engines will then reignite as the vehicle attempts a landing flip maneuver immediately before touching down on the landing pad adjacent to the launch mount.

A controlled aerodynamic descent with body flaps and vertical landing capability, combined with in-space refilling, are critical to landing Starship at destinations across the solar system where prepared surfaces or runways do not exist, and returning to Earth. This capability will enable a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo on long-duration, interplanetary flights and help humanity return to the Moon, and travel to Mars and beyond.

There will be a live feed of the flight test available here that will start a few minutes prior to liftoff. Given the dynamic schedule of development testing, stay tuned to our social media channels for updates as we move toward SpaceX’s second high-altitude flight test of Starship!"

source: https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/

A
 

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