SpaceX (general discussion)

[siegecrossbow]

Elon Musk will just have to move the whole lot down to Texas and launch Falcon 9 from there, California's loss is Texas's gain.

Beaches in South Padre is seriously underrated. Galveston and Corpus Christi gave the rest of the coast a bad name.

Heard that SpaceX will be a major draw to the region as well.

 

[Archibald]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1846108045648318831

View: https://x.com/johnkrausphotos/status/1846108045648318831

Plus Crew 8 coming down, SpaceX also works the other way around.

 

[Titus]

I don't post much because I am an aerospace and astrospace fan, not an expert. I've enjoyed following discussions by those more knowledgeable than myself on this forum for many years. Sometimes, lately, the politics of the forum members spoils some of the enjoyment of the conversation.
I don't always agree with Elon Musk's political posturing but his accomplishments are amazing. I think maybe he might be an alien .
SNNE, thanks for the levity.
MartinBayer, Dark Sidius and Archibald, you all three seem like very charming and knowledgeable gentlemen...most of the time.
Forgive the rant. (Picks up soap box and shuffles off stage left.)

 

[DWG]

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?

Wrong kind of engineer, but my immediate reaction to the Super Heavy mission profile is that bringing the booster back to the launch tower doubles the chance of an accident taking out your launch infrastructure and I'm not convinced that's a sensible decision. It's a spectacular decision, but I'm not convinced it's sensible in a pure engineering sense. Better to bring it back to a separate tower that doesn't have multiple functions.

 

[Byeman]

@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.

No, they don't have deserted launch pads
It has nothing to do with FairPlay.
They want an indigenous European launch vehicle and not be dependent on a US company. Especially the French(who own Kourou).

 

[Byeman]

It's still hard to believe that a Fully reusable LV has been demonstrated... the holy grail of rocketry, and it exists!

no, it has not been demonstrated. One has yet to refly.

 

[Ainen]

Yep，both stages at that.
But we seem to be on that path.

 

[TomcatViP]

No, they don't have deserted launch pads
It has nothing to do with FairPlay.
They want an indigenous European launch vehicle and not be dependent on a US company. Especially the French(who own Kourou).

How many launches this year and the one before?

 

[PMN1]

What have Space X said about how much time will be saved recovering it in this way vs it coming down on a pad elsewhere?

 

[Josh_TN]

How many launches this year and the one before?

Last year was I think 94 going from memory.

 

[Flyaway]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1846211353750524089

View: https://twitter.com/nasaspaceflight/status/1846211353750524089

Caught Booster 12 is being lifted off the OLM ahead of transportation back to the Production Site.

nsf.live/starbase

 

[Flyaway]

fram2
@framonauts
We are now targeting NET spring 2025 for launch of Fram2, the first human spaceflight to explore Earth from a polar orbit. The new timing allows us to take advantage of more favorable weather conditions required for a safe launch and return to Earth for human spaceflight missions

We continue to train and finalize details around the research we will be flying aboard Dragon.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1846016893766807631

View: https://twitter.com/framonauts/status/1846016893766807631

https://twitter.com/x/status/1846156249743720806

View: https://twitter.com/satofishi/status/1846156249743720806

Will splashdown in the Pacific.

 

[FighterJock]

That is something to look forward to Flyaway, during next Spring.

 

[bobbymike]

Someone on X put it nicely “SpaceX launched a skyscraper and it returned to earth and was caught with chop sticks while it was parallel parking.”

 

[Michel Van]

i like SpaceX sense of humor

 

[TomcatViP]

Last year was I think 94 going from memory.

I was referring to nbr of launches from French Guiana

 

[Byeman]

What have Space X said about how much time will be saved recovering it in this way vs it coming down on a pad elsewhere?

It is not so much time, but mass. It doesn't need massive landing gear.

 

[Byeman]

How many launches this year and the one before?

A meaningless point.
a. They realized their folly in using Russian supplied Soyuz for medium launches.
b. The fact that Ariane 6 has had development challenges doesn't change their stance and only reinforces it.