SpaceX, Blue Origin, Virigin Galactic and other Private Space Companies Thread

[Elderberry]

Possible problem with the Raptor Engine's fuel pump.

[Elderberry]

Trevor Mahlmann @TrevorMahlmann

SCRUB: SN5 testing is done for the day.

“A turbopump spin start valve didn’t open, triggering an automatic abort.”

 -@elonmusk

See y’all tomorrow!

[Cyber Liberty]

 

[Elderberry]

That's what testing's all about.

I used to think that there was nothing more boring than a successful test. But I was testing computer systems, not rockets.

[Elderberry]

SN5 is being fueled again.


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[Elderberry]

10 minute Siren 5 minutes ago  T - ~4 minutes

[Elderberry]

Lift-Off!!

[Elderberry]

It landed standing!!!

[kevindavis007]

It landed standing!!!

Damn I missed it. We are one step closer to Mars.

[Elderberry]

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[Idiot]

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CRAP...why did you have to post this stuff...lol.  I viewed it on Youtube on my office computer and didn't get a thing done...lol.  All your fault...lol.  It was sooooo cooool to watch though.  Tiny little legs...amazing it was even able to land on them.

[Elderberry]

Another hop video

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[Elderberry]

SpaceX's Starship Program Gathers Momentum | SpaceX in the News

 spaceXcentric

131K subscribers

SpaceX's Starship Program Gathers Momentum | SpaceX in the News Episode 106. Today we heat things up by starting off with the most recent Starship updates available. Then debrief the now completed Demo-2 mission, as well as this morning's Starlink launch. Then finish with today's Honorable Mention.


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[Elderberry]

SpaceX Boca Chica - The first ever Starship Post Flight Processing Flow
1,218 views
•Aug 8, 2020

A full video showing how the SpaceX teams took care of Starship SN5 following her hop on to the landing pad. This is the first time - for Starship - that there's been a post-flight processing flow.


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[Elderberry]

SpaceX Starship Updates – How did SN5 do? – Super Heavy: How to fit 31 Raptor Engines

•Aug 7, 2020


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[Idiot]

SpaceX Starship Updates – How did SN5 do? – Super Heavy: How to fit 31 Raptor Engines

•Aug 7, 2020


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Thanks for posting this.

[Elderberry]

SpaceX reveals plans for a Texas spaceport resort in new job ad

Techcrunch by Darrell Etherington 8/10/2020

https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/10/spacex-reveals-plans-for-a-texas-spaceport-resort-in-new-job-ad/

SpaceX has big plans for its Boca Chica, Texas site – where it’s currently building and testing Starship, the company’s next-generation passenger and cargo spacecraft. A new job posting spotted by CNBC’s Micheal Sheetz seeks a “Resort Development Manager” to be based out of Brownsville, the nearest neighboring town to the small Boca Chica area where SpaceX has built out its existing test and development site.

The job posting seeks a manger to “oversee the development of SpaceX’s first resort from inception to completion,” with the ultimate aim of turning Boca Chica into a “21st century Spaceport.” That would include overseeing the entire design and construction process, as well as getting all necessary work permits and regulatory approvals, and completing the ultimate build of the facility.

SpaceX has provided some concept designs of what its ideal spaceports might look like, and CEO Elon Musk shared his intent to build floating spaceports for both interstellar and point-to-point Earth travel back in June, when the company announced it was seeking Offshore Operations Engineers, also to be located in Brownsville.

More at link.

[Elderberry]

SpaceX Boca Chica Launch Schedule:

SPadre
@SpacePadreIsle


SN6 - Encore

SN7 - Walk the plank

SN5 -  You know what to do

SN8 - Fly my pretty!

http://twitter.com/i/status/1293348232286920709

[Elderberry]

SpaceX Starship prototypes swap places for next hop test

TESLARATI by Eric Ralph 8/11/2020

https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-starship-swap-sn5-sn6-next-hop-test/

SpaceX is swapping two almost identical Starships to allow for the first flight-proven prototype to be repaired while wasting no time preparing for the next Starship hop test.

Known as Starships serial number 5 and 6 (SN5/SN6), the twin prototypes were built more or less simultaneously and completed within a few weeks of each other. Due to a number of delays largely unrelated to Starship SN5 itself, the rocket’s test campaign suffered several weeks of delays, giving SpaceX’s production team plenty of time to complete sister ship SN6 well before it was needed. For a time, it wasn’t even clear if SN6 had a future, given comments made by CEO Elon Musk that the next full-scale prototype – Starship SN8 – would be a significant upgrade, potentially making SN6 redundant.

However, on August 3rd, SN5 stunned with what appeared to be an almost flawless Starship hop debut. The success confirmed that the design – while likely outdated upon SN8’s arrival – was still more than satisfactory for low-altitude, low-velocity flight tests. In the afterglow of a milestone ~18 months in the making, Musk almost immediately revealed that SpaceX’s next goal was to perform hop test after hop test until Starship flight operations are more or less routine. Today’s transport operations mean that that multi-hop test campaign could be right around the corner.

SN7 will be new alloy test tank taken to burst pressure. SN8 will have body flaps & nosecone.

In line with additional information conveyed by Musk a few days after SN5’s hop debut, SpaceX has transported Starship SN5 back to nearby production facilities and quite literally traded places with Starship SN6 in a vertical assembly hangar.

    We’ll do several short hops to smooth out launch process, then go high altitude with body flaps

More at link.

[Elderberry]

SpaceX vs. Blue Origin: Elon Musk responds to Starship size comparison

Inverse by Mike Brown 8/14/2020

https://www.inverse.com/innovation/spacex-vs-blue-origin-elon-musk-responds-to-starship-size-comparison

How big will the SpaceX Starship internal cabin be? Thanks to a new illustration, we have a slightly clearer idea.

A size comparison shared on Twitter Friday has caught the attention of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. The image, produced by Georgia Tech industrial designer Ken Kirtland IV, shows six rocket fairings with a person inside to demonstrate their sheer scale. The image shows a United Launch Alliance Vulcan fairing in both standard and extended variants, a Blue Origin New Glenn fairing, and three SpaceX fairings. The SpaceX fairings cover the current Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy fairing, an extended variant for the Falcon Heavy, and the nosecone used on the upcoming Starship.

Responding to the size comparison, Musk explained:

    "Starship fairing will actually have more height than shown here. Dome will be flatter & more of tip is accessible. Usable volume ~1000 cubic meters."

The image helps put into perspective the sheer scale of the project currently being undertaken at SpaceX. The company is developing the Starship at its Boca Chica facility in Texas. The fully-reusable ship stands around 400 feet tall when paired with the Super Heavy booster, and is capable of transporting over 150 tons or 100 people into space at a time. SpaceX plans to use the ship to establish a human city on Mars by 2050.

The ambitious ship requires an ambitious fairing. The company is aiming to offer up to 1,000 cubic meters of volume. That should result in pressurized cabin space of comparable size to an Airbus A380. Musk has explained before his plans to offer cabins for two to three people, using each side of the room more effectively due to the nature of zero gravity.

More at link.

[Elderberry]

Starship SN6 successful cryogenic test (1)  Mr. Best 8/16/2020


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[Elderberry]

SpaceX Boca Chica - Introducing Starship SN9, while SN8 is flipped

NASA Spaceflight 8/15/2020

Two new SpaceX Starships are being assembled in Boca Chica with SN8's Aft Section flipped while SN9 made its first public appearance in the form of its Common Dome.


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[Elderberry]

SN6 begins test campaign as future Starships hatch plans for SpaceX’s next leap

NASA Spaceflight by Chris Bergin August 16, 2020

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2020/08/sn6-campaign-future-starships-hatch-next-leap/

Following the successful test of Starship SN5 during its 150-meter hop just a week ago, the next Starship (SN6) is preparing to repeat the test in the coming days. With a potential tag-team – or hop-team – role for SN5 and SN6, a roadmap is starting to form ahead of the more ambitious tests that will involve Starships SN8 and SN9 – both of which are already under various stages of construction at SpaceX Boca Chica.

With the incredible build and test cadence continuing at SpaceX’s facility in South Texas, a “hot-swap” in the Mid Bay was required after SN5 rolled back from the launch site, following what was the first successful hop of a Starship test vehicle.

With SN6 already assembled in the Mid Bay and waiting patiently for her turn at testing, the two prototypes swapped places, allowing SN5 to take SN6’s slot in the bay, while the latter rolled to the vacated test mount at the launch site.

Starship SN6 – a near-twin to SN5 – is currently pushing through a pre-hop test sequence that includes proof-testing ahead of a Static Fire test, laying the path toward its own 150-meter hop.

SpaceX CEO and Chief Designer Elon Musk recently noted there will be numerous hops to refine the launch sequence, providing useful data ahead of the next major milestones that will see a future Starship launch as high as 20 kilometers.

This could result in SN5 and SN6 tag-teaming over the coming weeks, each replaying their 150-meter hops under the power of a single Raptor engine.

More at link.

[Elderberry]

Why SpaceX’s Starship will fall like a skydiver and not fly like an airplane

 Everyday Astronaut  10/16/2018

Ever since SpaceX tweeted this photo on September 13th, 2018, a lot of people fear the BFR is slowly turning into the space shuttle. Quoting ever growing wings and a giant heat shield covering the belly of the ship… so how is this any different than the Space Shuttle?


Today we’ll to cover three topics. First, we’ll compare the reentry of the space shuttle to the reentry of the BFS and show how they differ. Then we’ll explain what control surfaces allow the BFS to perform this reentry, and then we’ll compare the thermal protection systems of the Shuttle and the BFS.


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[Elderberry]

Upcoming Space Mission To Test Purdue-Developed Drag Sail Pulling Rocket Back To Earth

WBIW by Kayla Wiles 8/20/2020

http://www.wbiw.com/2020/08/20/upcoming-space-mission-to-test-purdue-developed-drag-sail-pulling-rocket-back-to-earth/

A rocket is going up into space with a drag sail. The goal? For the drag sail to bring the rocket back to Earth, preventing it from becoming like the thousands of pieces of space junk in Earth’s lower orbit.

The drag sail, developed by Purdue University engineers, will be on board a Firefly Aerospace rocket expected to launch in November from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

This sail and six other “Dedicated Research and Education Accelerator Mission” (DREAM) payloads are flying on Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha launch, the first flight for the launch vehicle company.

Purdue spacecraft laboratory engineer Anthony Cofer works in a vacuum chamber where he tested the drag sail’s motor and controller. (Purdue University photo/Mark Simons)

“High-value orbits around Earth are getting congested,” said David Spencer, a Purdue adjunct associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics and the mission manager for the Mars Sample Return Campaign at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

More at link.

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