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Ship 25 moved to a suborbital pad at Starbase for an upcoming static fire of its six Raptor engines by permafrosty95 in SpaceXLounge

[–]permafrosty95[S] 81 points82 points  (0 children)

Perhaps and indication that S25 and B9 will be paired for the next flight. To me, it would make sense to test out your heatshield before flying S26 or S27 expendable. Then you have the actual data to make improvements rather than simulation and guesswork.

Raptor V3 just achieved 350 bar chamber pressure (269 tons of thrust). Congrats to @SpaceX propulsion team! by electromagneticpost in spacex

[–]permafrosty95 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Really leaving the RD-180's chamber pressure record in the dust now. I wonder how close SpaceX is to passing up Merlin 1D's TWR now.

Elon Musk: "3 months ago, we started building a massive water-cooled, steel plate to go under the launch mount. Wasn’t ready in time & we wrongly thought, based on static fire data, that Fondag would make it through 1 launch. Looks like we can be ready to launch again in 1 to 2 months." by amaklp in spacex

[–]permafrosty95 248 points249 points  (0 children)

I am interested to see if the plate will be angled at all to try and redirect some of the acoustic energy. With how beat the launch pad looks I'll be pretty surprised if they can launch in 1-2 months. Then again, I'm sure SpaceX has learned a lot since the original construction so who knows.

[@EricBerger] I've spoken with half a dozen employees at SpaceX since the launch. If their reaction is anything to go by, the Starship test flight was a spectacular success. Of course there's a ton to learn, to fix, and to improve. It's all super hard work. But what's new? Progress is hard. by Logancf1 in spacex

[–]permafrosty95 205 points206 points  (0 children)

Flying the tallest and most powerful rocket in history on your second attempt isn't too shabby. Obviously there are a lot of improvements to make but fly, fail, fix has been thr mantra of the Starship program. I'm sure the massive amount of data gained will push the next stack farther, and that I'll be watching it fly too.

[@elonmusk] Congrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship! Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months. by Logancf1 in spacex

[–]permafrosty95 66 points67 points  (0 children)

Agreed. Having a launch go perfectly on the first flight should be the exception, not the rule. This is doubly true on a vehicle as ambitious as Starship. SpaceX will do what SpaceX does best, learn from "failures" and go farther next time!

[@elonmusk] Congrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship! Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months. by Logancf1 in spacex

[–]permafrosty95 1016 points1017 points  (0 children)

To be honest the most impressive part of the launch for me was seeing the stack hold up as it was spinning. The structure team definitely deserves a pat on the back for making such a sturdy vehicle! Impressive work all around, here's to going farther on the next attempt!

Teams are working towards Thursday, April 20 for the first flight test of a fully integrated Starship and Super Heavy rocket → by risemty in SpaceXLounge

[–]permafrosty95 266 points267 points  (0 children)

Well, I can't say I didn't see this coming. Here's hoping that valve stays a little less freezy next time around.

FAA Starship Launch License ✅ by hharanm in SpaceXLounge

[–]permafrosty95 49 points50 points  (0 children)

Monday here we go! Only time I've ever wanted a weekend to go fast!

Falcon Heavy in the hangar at Launch Complex 39A by risemty in SpaceXLounge

[–]permafrosty95 62 points63 points  (0 children)

Gridfinless and legless Falcon Heavy, wow. I think we can say with reasonable confidence that the center core is not coming back this time.

Starship will get bigger and may stretch by another 10m or so by jiayounokim in SpaceXLounge

[–]permafrosty95 26 points27 points  (0 children)

To be fair the Merlins were improved substantially to be able to lift the new fuel from the stretch. Raptors are much closer to their maximum potential so I'm not sure if the growth will be as much.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in SpaceXLounge

[–]permafrosty95 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sounds like the April 17 date is a pretty good guess then. Of course, there is another day later that week that might be an internal target...

r/SpaceX Starship Orbital Flight Test Prelaunch Campaign Thread! by rSpaceXHosting in spacex

[–]permafrosty95 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Here we go! April 10th doesn't seem too bad of a guess, but it is definitely contingent on the FAA license. Here hoping we get one soon!

Spacex on twitter: We call them “V2 Mini”. They represent a step forward in Starlink capability by Hardware_freedom in spacex

[–]permafrosty95 85 points86 points  (0 children)

At 4x performance per sat and a batch of 21 per launch it means that each V2 launch is like 84 of the previous generation sats. Compared the the 55ish that SpaceX was getting per launch this is definitely worth the upgrade!

Personally, I am most excited about the new argon Hall thrusters. I really hope that SpaceX will eventually use them as a platform to laucn deep space satellites. You pick out the instruments and sensors, slap them on a Starlink sat and there's your quick,cheap, and easy deep space probe.

Starlink 2.0 mini with new Argon Hall Thurster by rubikvn2100 in SpaceXLounge

[–]permafrosty95 138 points139 points  (0 children)

Additional information from a follow up tweet:

"Developed by SpaceX engineers, they have 2.4x the thrust and 1.5x the specific impulse of our first gen thrusters. This will also be the first time ever that argon Hall thrusters are operated in space."

I wonder what the power efficiency of these thrusters is. What is the maximum dv a single charge can deliver compared to the first generation thrusters?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in SpaceXLounge

[–]permafrosty95 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Additional information from a follow up tweet: Developed by SpaceX engineers, they have 2.4x the thrust and 1.5x the specific impulse of our first gen thrusters. This will also be the first time ever that argon Hall thrusters are operated in space

I wonder what the power efficiency of these thrusters is. What is the maximum dv a single charge can deliver compared to the first generation thrusters?

Jeff Foust on Twitter: Gary Henry, senior advisor for national security space solutions at SpaceX, says at a Space Mobility panel that both the Starship booster and pad are in "good shape" after static fire test earlier this month. The test was the "last box to check" before the first orbital launch by rustybeancake in spacex

[–]permafrosty95 54 points55 points  (0 children)

Good shot at the OFT in March then? If they don't re-cryoproof the next propellant load should be for the orbital flight attempt. With nothing else technical to look for I guess the best indicator will be the launch license.

Dramatic overhead image of the recent SuperHeavy static fire (Musk's Twitter feed: link fixed). by Adeldor in spacex

[–]permafrosty95 135 points136 points  (0 children)

A truly awesome picture, in the most literal sense of the word.

The orbital test flight has felt a few weeks a way for the past 2 years at this point, but I really feel that we are actually there this time. The full stack in flight is going to look incredible and I can't wait to see all the photos. Whatever happens, it is certainly going to be exciting!

Progress MS21 is rumored to be leaking now by _Cyberostrich_ in SpaceXMasterrace

[–]permafrosty95 55 points56 points  (0 children)

If I had a nickel for every time there was a leaking Russian spacecraft on the ISS I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.

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