Author Topic: SpaceX, Blue Origin, Virigin Galactic and other Private Space Companies Thread  (Read 92767 times)

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Online Cyber Liberty

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Weather looks crappy.....
For unvaccinated, we are looking at a winter of severe illness and death — if you’re unvaccinated — for themselves, their families, and the hospitals they’ll soon overwhelm. Sloe Joe Biteme 12/16
I will NOT comply.
 
Castillo del Cyber Autonomous Zone ~~~~~>                          :dontfeed:

Offline Idiot

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Weather looks crappy.....
They launched in the fog last time...this is nothing...LOLOLOLOL.

Online Cyber Liberty

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They launched in the fog last time...this is nothing...LOLOLOLOL.

I thought that was stupid at the time. :shrug:
For unvaccinated, we are looking at a winter of severe illness and death — if you’re unvaccinated — for themselves, their families, and the hospitals they’ll soon overwhelm. Sloe Joe Biteme 12/16
I will NOT comply.
 
Castillo del Cyber Autonomous Zone ~~~~~>                          :dontfeed:

Offline Idiot

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I thought that was stupid at the time. :shrug:
Appears they've scrubbed for the day.  Try again next week.

Online Elderberry

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LIVE: Starship SN15 Flight Test

 What about it!?

SpaceX launches Starship SN15 out of Boca Chica Texas for the next high altitude flight test. This is Starship #5 to try and stick the landing at the south Texas launch site without an RUD in preparation for a Mars colony.

SpaceX and Elon Musk are testing out new ways to make the Starship landing more predictable! Starship #15 does things different though! With hundreds of upgrades to hard & software including brand new Raptor engines, it is the most advanced and promising candidate yet!

Will it finally survive the landing? Let's find out!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqxufHawMdk

Online Cyber Liberty

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The sky looks overcast, again.
For unvaccinated, we are looking at a winter of severe illness and death — if you’re unvaccinated — for themselves, their families, and the hospitals they’ll soon overwhelm. Sloe Joe Biteme 12/16
I will NOT comply.
 
Castillo del Cyber Autonomous Zone ~~~~~>                          :dontfeed:

Online Elderberry

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Fueling has started.

Online Elderberry

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Nailed the Landing!!!!!!
« Last Edit: May 05, 2021, 10:51:23 pm by Elderberry »

Online Elderberry

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SpaceX Starship SN15 soars through clouds, nails landing!

 VideoFromSpace

SpaceX's Starship SN15 prototype flew to an altitude of 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) and landed about 6 minutes after liftoff on May 5, 2021. It launched from SpaceX's Boca Chica, Texas facility.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unKvMC3Y1kI

Offline Idiot

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SpaceX Starship SN15 soars through clouds, nails landing!

 VideoFromSpace

SpaceX's Starship SN15 prototype flew to an altitude of 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) and landed about 6 minutes after liftoff on May 5, 2021. It launched from SpaceX's Boca Chica, Texas facility.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unKvMC3Y1kI
:beer: :beer: :beer:

Online GtHawk

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Nailed the Landing!!!!!!
Awsome, Bezos and the others must be pissed! :silly:

Offline thackney

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Awesome
Life is fragile, handle with prayer

Online Elderberry

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Starship SN15 | Medium Altitude Test Flight

Everyday Astronaut 5/6/2021

Lift Off Time   May 05, 2021 – 22:24:10 UTC | 17:24:10 CDT

Mission Name   Medium Altitude Test Flight

Launch Provider

(What rocket company launched it?)   SpaceX

Customer

(Who paid for this?)   SpaceX

Rocket   Starship SN15

Launch Location   Sub-orbital Test Stand A, Starbase, Texas, United States

Payload mass   There was no payload on this test flight

Where did the satellites go?   There was no payload on this test flight

Did they attempt to recover the first stage?   Yes. However, in the Super Heavy/Starship stack this will be the second stage and will also be recovered.

Where did the first stage land?   On the edge of the landing pad about 360 meters (~1,000 feet) from Test Stand A, Starbase, Texas, United States

Did they attempt to recover the fairings?   There are no fairings on Starship

Were these fairings new?   There are no fairings on Starship

How was the weather?   Low cloud layer provided minimal visibility.

This was the:   – 1st successful landing of a Starship prototype

– 1st flight of SN15

– 4th flight of a Starship prototype to 10 km

– 7th flight of a Starship prototype (excluding three Starhopper hops)

– 5th flight of Starship with a nosecone and aerodynamic control surfaces

Where to watch   Official replay

Everyday Astronaut replay

Live updates on the exact events leading up to and during launch on launch day

How did it go?

For the first time ever, SpaceX has successfully landed a Starship prototype on the landing pad approximately 360 meters (~1,000 feet) from the launch mount. SN15 traveled up to an altitude of about 10 km, shutting down each Raptor one by one on ascent. The vehicle then performed the belly flop maneuver as it fell back down towards Earth’s surface. Just above the landing pad, Starship flipped from horizontal to vertical igniting two engines. During it’s landing burn, the vehicle scrubbed off its remaining vertical velocity and performed a soft touchdown on the pad.

Shortly after landing, there was a small fire coming out from underneath the skirt. The water hoses located at the edges of the landing pad then turned on and extinguished the fire. Shortly after the fire was put out, Starship was safed. This concludes a nominal flight and landing of a Starship prototype for SpaceX.
Starship SN15 Flight Profile

Similarly to the previous prototypes, SN15 flew up to an altitude of around 10 kilometers (~6.2 miles) before performing its belly flop maneuver and falling back down towards the landing pad. Starship intentionally shut down its three Raptor engines during ascent and later reignite them during the flip maneuver. Under the power of its Raptor engines, it flipped from horizontal to vertical on two engines and landed on the landing pad. Below is a table of each event from SN15’s flight.

More: https://everydayastronaut.com/starship-sn15-medium-altitude-test-flight/


Offline thackney

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Starship SN15. All legs are damaged and SpaceX needs upgrading immediately. Before the second launch


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXNH-hOSuXc
Life is fragile, handle with prayer

Offline Idiot

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Starship SN15. All legs are damaged and SpaceX needs upgrading immediately. Before the second launch


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXNH-hOSuXc
The legs are designed to absorb the energy and crush....Just put on some new legs...no problem.

Offline thackney

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The legs are designed to absorb the energy and crush....Just put on some new legs...no problem.

I believe Elon Musk had previously said the design of theses will change.  The video shows some nice views of the legs; that is the reason I shared it.
Life is fragile, handle with prayer

Online Elderberry

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Elon Musk says SpaceX might refly Starship after historic landing

Teslarati  By Eric Ralph 5/7/2021

https://www.teslarati.com/elon-musk-spacex-to-refly-starship-sn15

Quote
Update: CEO Elon Musk says that SpaceX “might try to refly SN15 soon” after it became the first Starship to ace a high-altitude launch and survive the landing. In other words, SpaceX might be about to kick off what’s bound to be a long and fruitful future of Starship reusability.

    Might try to refly SN15 soon
    — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 7, 2021

Less than six months after high-altitude flight testing began, SpaceX has successfully landed a full-size Starship prototype in one piece, giving the company its first real opportunity to inspect a flown vehicle with flaps, a nose, and three Raptor engines.

That spectacular success will simultaneously give SpaceX a wealth of data from any onboard cameras and data recorders, as well as the physical condition of Starship itself – including three Raptor engines with several minutes of flight time. While SpaceX likely already managed to determine a great deal from over-the-air telemetry and wreckage taken from Starships SN8 through SN11, it now has a virtually unharmed, full-scale, full-fidelity prototype to truly compare and contrast with more theoretical engineering and flight performance models.

Perhaps most importantly, though, SN15’s success also raises the question: what’s next for SpaceX and its Starship program?

The reality is that things could go any number of directions depending on Starship SN15’s condition and just how successful SpaceX determines the flight really was. If Starship SN15 and its tanks, flaps, and Raptors are all in impeccable condition, it’s not impossible to imagine that SpaceX could do what it did after Starship SN8’s near-total success and scrap Starship prototypes SN17, SN18, and SN19 before work really begins. While unlikely, SN15 could even fly a second time in that scenario.

Starship SN16 is already more or less complete could easily be ready to roll to the launch pad within the next week. Odds are good that SpaceX will use SN16 to (hopefully) replicate Starship SN15’s spectacular success and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the vehicle’s current design has fixed the issues that doomed SN8 through SN11. With SpaceX’s Starship program, though, just about anything is possible – especially at a point that CEO Elon Musk appears to be seriously considering a giant tower with arms as a replacement for landing legs.

Online Elderberry

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SpaceX Starship SN15 has Landed! - Launch and Landing in 4K Slowmo

 Cosmic Perspective

SpaceX Starship has landed! Re-live SN15's historic flight and first landing on Cinco de Mayo from Starbase South Texas. Witness slow-motion footage of launch and landing from our cameras up-close to the launchpad. Subscribe for the upcoming SN15 mini-documentary release, in production now.

Huge thanks to team @Everyday Astronaut   and Gene and Rachael of @SPadre   for making all this possible. Special thanks to Cooper Hime at Aperture Cinematics for some amazing behind the scenes captured during remote video camera setup (https://twitter.com/Cooper_Hime). Gene helped capture the excitement from the public beach at Isla Blanca and Micah crushed the remote robot cam control into the clouds.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_9FZDnCaoU

Online Elderberry

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Virgin Galactic VSS Unity Test Flight LIVE Watch Party - SPCE Week in Review

 SPCE Week in Review

Join r/VirginGalactic and The Spaceport Discord Server as we monitor progress of Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity's Rocket Powered Test Flight from Spaceport America on Saturday, May 22nd 2021.

We'll follow along with Virgin Galactic's test flight update tweets, and provide any available video sources as they come up!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_mfhX7kb14

Offline jaymaron

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SpaceX has the world's lowest launch cost at $2300, and they lead the world for material launched to orbit.

SpaceX pioneered the methane engine, which has a higher exhaust speed (3.7 km/s) than traditional
kerosene engines (3.1 km/s). The SpaceX methane engine also has a mighty thrust/weight of 200, the highest
of any rocket. This means fewer engines are needed, saving on cost.

SpaceX pioneered recycling the engines in the first rocket. The engines are 35%
of the rocket cost and hence worth saving.

SpaceX once teamed up with Stratolaunch to do air launch, but then SpaceX backed out. Stratolaunch has yet to
produce a working launch platform.

Payload launched in 2020, in tons.

America  SpaceX     286
China    CNSA       242
America  NASA       103
Russia   Roscosmos   80
Europe   ESA         27
Japan    JAXA         8
America  Orbital      7
India    ISRO         2
Canada   CSA          1
America  Rocket Lab    .7
America  Blue Origin  0
America  Stratolaunch 0

SpaceX pioneered the methane engine, which has a higher exhaust speed than
traditional kerosene engines.  SpaceX methane engines also have a mighty
power/mass ratio than kerosene engines, and they're cheaper than the
competition's engines.

The fuel with the highest exhaust speed is hyrogen, but you can't use it for the first stage because hydrogen's
density is too low. Also, hydrogen is a challenge because it has to be cooled to 20 Kelvin to liquefy. The
exhaust speed for various fuels is, in km/s:

Hydrogen + Oxygen    4.4
Methane  + Oxygen    3.7
Kerosene + Oxygen    3.1
Solid fuel           2.7

For the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, the engines are 35% of the cost and are hence worth saving.
SpaceX pioneered recycling the first rocket stage. For a Falcon 9 rocket,

Payload to LEO      = 22800  kg
Launch cost         =    52  Million $
Launch cost/kg      =  2280  $/kg
Number of engines   =     9
Cost per engine     =    .2  Million $
Total engine cost   =    18  Million $
Engine cost fraction=   .35

Historically, transport is a big deal. Railroads opened up the American frontier and there was a race to
build rail lines. The future will see a race to launch material to orbit. The timeline of transport is:

1499      Sea route connecting Europe to India discovered, by going around Africa (Vasco da Gama)
1838      Steam-powered ships
1869      Transcontinental railroad
1887      Gasoline cars are first commercialized (Karl Benz)
1903      First aircraft built by the Wright Brothers
1955      Fission thermal rocket developed
1962      First communications satellite
1969      Man on the moon

Article on astronautics: https://www.jaymaron.com/astronautics.html
SpaceX: https://www.jaymaron.com/astronautics.html#spacex



Online Elderberry

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Welcome Aboard @jaymaron !!!

Some very interesting information. I took a quick look at your links. I'll definitely go back and spend more time there.

I am a true fan of SpaceX. When I worked at JSC several of my co-workers worked with SpaceX. Me, not so much. My oldest son though works for SpaceX at Boca Chica on building ground equipment. I definitely plan to go over to Boca Chica to watch a launch. It would be a blast to watch the upcoming Orbital Launch.

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Welcome  to TBR @jaymaron

Great first post!
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Offline DB

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Nice info @jaymaron.

Online Elderberry

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SpaceX’s first flight-proven Starship rolled back to factory for likely retirement

TESLARATI  By Eric Ralph 5/27/2021

Quote
While SpaceX has spent the better part of three weeks inspecting the first flight-proven Starship to survive a high-altitude launch and landing, the company appears to have decided to retire the rocket instead of flying it again.

On May 25th, four days after Starship serial number 15 (SN15) was reinstalled on one of SpaceX’s two suborbital launch mounts, a crane was attached to its nose and a transporter staged beside it. One day later, the historic Starship prototype was lifted off of Mount B, installed on that transporter, and rolled away from the launch pad and back towards SpaceX’s Boca Chica, Texas Starship factory.

The day after Starship SN15 was reinstalled on a launch mount, giving SpaceX unrestricted access to its aft, all three of the rocket’s flight-proven Raptor engines – the first of their kind to survive the flight profile intact – were removed. Given the significant value of tearing down and inspecting the first flight-proven high-altitude Raptors, that removal was likely guaranteed regardless of the future of SN15, though it certainly left the Starship at a crossroads

    — Mary (@BocaChicaGal) May 21, 2021

    I wish I may, I wish I might,
    See SN15 return to flight.
    But regardless of her raptors’ fate,
    She’ll always be the first flopper that landed… and that’s just darn great.

Online Elderberry

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GAME OVER! Blue Origin Is A Complete Failure?!

 Tech Space


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnKrh1xeLyQ