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New thread for the BFR booster and the BFS spaceship now renamed - Super Heavy and Starship Thread 1.... (Interplanetary Transport System) Updated CGI pending. FAA application for test flights pending. FCC application for test flights... Description of tests (duration: 24 months)
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TWIRL 111: SpaceX dominates the flight schedule with Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches
zikalify posted a topic in Front Page News
TWIRL 111: SpaceX dominates the flight schedule with Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches by Paul Hill We have three launches coming up next week, there are two Falcon 9 launches planned and one Falcon Heavy launch. Each of the launches will be viewable by visiting SpaceX’s website. You can find out the details of each of these missions below. Also, be sure to check the recap section for launches you may have missed this week. Now let's crack on with This Week in Rocket Launches #111. Tuesday, April 25 The first launch we have next week is a Falcon 9 from SpaceX. This will be a run-of-the-mill Starlink satellite launch to help boost the broadband satellite constellation. There’s a little bit of confusion about the number of satellites being sent up on this mission, but it could be 46 satellites. Similar to other Starlink satellites, these will be coated with anti-reflective coatings to lessen disruption to astronomers. The mission will launch between 1:02 p.m. and 2:48 p.m. UTC from Vandenberg AFB in California. It will be viewable on SpaceX’s website. Wednesday, April 26 The day after the Falcon 9 launch, SpaceX will send up a Falcon Heavy carrying the ViaSat 3 Americas, Arcturus, and G-Space 1 communications satellites to orbit. The Falcon Heavy is a derivative of the Falcon 9 but has two side boosters which should make it a bit more interesting to watch. Apparently, all of the boosters and the centre core in this mission will be expended. Once in orbit, ViaSat 3 will provide broadband services. The launch will take place at 11:29 p.m. UTC and the launch window will stay open for an hour. It will take off from Florida this time. To view the launch, just head over to SpaceX’s website. Friday, April 28 Lastly, we have another SpaceX Falcon 9 launch from Space Launch Complex 40 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The mission will take off at 9:12 p.m. UTC carrying two O3b mPOWER broadband satellites into a Medium Earth Orbit for SES. This mission too will be streamed by SpaceX. Recap The first launch we got last week was the Long March 4B caring the FengYun-3G satellite from the Juiquan Satellite Launch Centre in China. The satellite is will provide services for weather forecasting, disaster prevention and mitigation, climate change response, and ecological conservation. Next up we saw the launch of a Falcon 9 carrying 21 Starlink satellites into a low Earth orbit. The third launch was the big launch of the week that you’ve probably already seen, SpaceX’s launch of Starship atop the Super Heavy booster. If you’ve not watched the launch yet, keep your eyes peeled for the great shot of the thrusters underneath the rocket while it’s flying. The final launch was a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from India. It was carrying the TeLEOS-2 and Lumelite-4 satellites. That’s all we have for you this week, be sure to check in next time! -
Starship performs stunning launch before exploding at an altitude of 30 Km
zikalify posted a topic in Front Page News
Starship performs stunning launch before exploding at an altitude of 30 Km by Paul Hill After a several-year wait, SpaceX finally launched its interplanetary rocket Starship atop the Super Heavy booster. The rocket is a massive 5,000 tonnes and for a few seconds after 30 of the 33 raptor engines ignited, the rocket did not move. Eventually, it began its slow ascension. The rocket managed to reach an altitude of 39 Km before SpaceX attempted a flip and the detaching of the Super Heavy booster. This is where things went awry. As the rocket performed the flips, it lost about 9 Km in altitude before going up in a fiery blaze, thus ending the mission. SpaceX has many failures like this but it usually does a good job of taking note of what happened and rectifying the issue – after all, it’s private money on the line and not an endless stream of tax revenue. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk congratulated his team on the “exciting test launch of Starship” and said there will be another test launch in just another couple of months. Congrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship! Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months. pic.twitter.com/gswdFut1dK — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 20, 2023 If you don’t normally follow this type of news, SpaceX wants to build a rocket that can ferry people back and forth to the Moon and Mars. In a trailer video from several years ago, Starship was also demonstrated as a fancy airplane that could transport people around the Earth in a much quicker time than any jet. It’s unclear if Earth-to-Earth transportation is still on the table in 2023, however. -
TWIRL 110: SpaceX will launch its Super Heavy rocket carrying Starship
zikalify posted a topic in Front Page News
TWIRL 110: SpaceX will launch its Super Heavy rocket carrying Starship by Paul Hill We have a big week coming up with SpaceX preparing to launch its Super Heavy rocket in its first suborbital flight. It will be carrying Starship which is expected to do a lap of the planet before splashing down in the sea near Hawaii. The company is also planning a Falcon Heavy and a Falcon 9 launch. Sunday, April 16 The first launch this week will be a Long March 4C taking off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre at 1:36 a.m. UTC. It will be carrying the Fengyun 3G meteorological satellite to a polar orbit. Like other Chinese launches, there may not be live footage of this launch but there should be a recap video next week. Monday, April 17 With any luck, SpaceX will be able to launch its Super Heavy rocket in its first suborbital test flight on Monday. The launch window is between 12:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. UTC and it’ll take off from Orbital Launch Pad 1 at the Starbase in Texas. The Super Heavy rocket will be carrying a Starship prototype and the mission will see SpaceX attempt one full orbit of the planet. Afterwards, Starship will perform a re-entry and splashdown near Hawaii. You can check out SpaceX’s website at the designated time to watch the launch. Tuesday, April 18 Just a day later and SpaceX will be launching its Falcon Heavy rocket, this time carrying the ViaSat 3 Americas, Arcturus, and G-Space 1 communications satellites into orbit. The ViaSat satellite will provide broadband communications from a geostationary orbit. This flight is due for take-off from 11:29 p.m. UTC in Florida and should be available on the SpaceX website as well. Wednesday, April 19 Completing a hat trick, SpaceX will perform its third launch of the week. This time is a Falcon 9 carrying several Starlink internet-beaming satellites to orbit. To help keep the cost of launches down, SpaceX typically lands the first stage of the rocket so that it can be reused in the future. Additionally, Starlink satellites now go to space with anti-reflective coatings to minimize disruption to astronomers. This mission will take off at 1:33 p.m. UTC from Cape Canaveral. Saturday, April 22 Finally, on Saturday, India will launch its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) to launch the TeLEOS 2 SAR satellite for AgilSpace Singapore. This satellite will perform Earth observation tasks. It will take off at 9:00 a.m. from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. Recap The first launch this week was an Ariane 5 rocket carrying the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) mission. You can see footage of the launch below. The final launch was a Falcon 9 rocket performing the Transporter-7 mission, a rideshare that delivers 51 payloads into space for various entities. That’s all we have this week, be sure to check in next time. -
TWIRL 71: CAPSTONE mission to try again for launch after delay
zikalify posted a topic in Front Page News
TWIRL 71: CAPSTONE mission to try again for launch after delay by Paul Hill Rocket Lab is set to launch NASA’s CAPSTONE mission following a delay. We’ve also got a whole range of launches due in this busy week. One launch, still marked with No Earlier Than, is the launch of SpaceX’s Super Heavy rocket topped with Starship. As this mission has no confirmed launch window as of writing, there’s a good chance it won’t launch at all this week. Monday, June 27 The first launch of the week is Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket carrying NASA’s CAPSTONE CubeSat mission to the Moon. As we explained last week, this CubeSat will be testing the orbit for the planned Lunar Gateway space station. CAPSTONE is considered a support mission of the Artemis program which seeks to put people back on the Moon. The mission will take off at 9:50 a.m. UTC and will be streamed on the Rocket Lab website. The second and final launch taking place on Monday is a Long March CZ-4C rocket carrying the Kongjian Xinjishu Shiyan and Chuangxin 15 satellites into orbit. This mission is set to launch at 3:45 p.m. UTC from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and we will probably have to wait for recorded footage of this launch. Tuesday, June 28 The only launch we have on Tuesday is SpaceX’s Falcon 9 carrying the SES 22 communications satellite. This satellite is a C-band-only comms satellite built by Thales Alenia. The launch is due at 9:04 p.m. UTC and can be streamed on SpaceX’s website. Thursday, June 30 On Thursday, we have a bit of a bonanza of launches going on. The first is an Atlas V carrying an experimental early warning satellite for the U.S. Space Force. The mission will take off from Cape Canaveral at an unknown time. To learn more about the mission, check out the mission profile below: The second launch on Thursday is Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket which will air-launch from a Boeing 747 called Cosmic Girl. It will be carrying payloads for the U.S. Department of Defense as part of the DoD’s Space Test Program. The satellites are experimental in nature and will demonstrate various technologies. The launch is due between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. UTC and may be streamed through Virgin Orbit’s official channels. The final launch is India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) which will be carrying an Earth observation satellite and two others for Singapore. This mission is due to take off at 12:30 p.m. UTC. Friday, July 1 There are seven missions listed as No Earlier Than for Friday but because most of them probably won’t launch we’ll just highlight the most interesting – SpaceX’s Super Heavy rocket carrying a Starship prototype. The aim is to have the mission go around the Earth once before re-entry and splashdown near Hawaii. It will definitely be an amazing launch when it does take place given that the Super Heavy rocket is the most powerful rocket in the world – bigger even than Saturn V which got astronauts to the Moon. Recap The first launch we got last week was South Korea’s Nuri rocket performing a test flight. Next, we got an Ariane 5 launching the MEASAT-3d and GSAT-24. Finally, a Chinese Long March-2D carried the Yaogan-35 02 satellites to orbit. That’s all we have this time, be sure to check in next week! -
Elon Musk confirms first SpaceX ocean spaceport is under construction
Stergios Georgopoulos posted a topic in Front Page News
Elon Musk confirms first SpaceX ocean spaceport is under construction by Stergios Georgopoulos Last year, SpaceX announced plans to build floating spaceports for space travel and hypersonic flights around the Earth. The floating launchpads, built on refurbished oil platforms, will serve as a launch and landing platform for the Starship rocket, a spacecraft that the company intends to use to fly astronauts to the Moon, as well as for the exploration and habitation of Mars in the coming years. On Sunday, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted that Deimos, the first of the two platforms, is under construction and is expected to become operational next year. Both launchpads, the other one being Phobos, are named after Mars’ moons. The tweet was in response to a fan, who shared a rendered concept image of the offshore spaceport. Ocean spaceport Deimos is under construction for launch next year https://t.co/WJQka399c7 — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 30, 2021 Earlier this month, the company performed a successful soft landing of the latest iteration of Starship, dubbed SN15, for the first time. Previous tests of older prototypes all saw the spacecraft blow up at landing and had varying degrees of success. -
SpaceX's Starship performs successful soft landing for the first time [Update]
zikalify posted a topic in Front Page News
SpaceX's Starship performs successful soft landing for the first time [Update] by Paul Hill SpaceX has successfully landed its Starship craft that it plans to use to fly astronauts to the Moon later in the decade. The Starship SN15 which flew on this test is the first Starship craft to make a successful soft landing after descending from an altitude of 10 km. Previous tests all saw the various Starship iterations blow up at landing and had varying degrees of success. The launch today took off around 5:24 p.m. CDT (10:24 p.m. UTC) from Boca Chica in Texas. The main goal of the mission was to perform a successful soft landing which SpaceX did manage to pull off. With all that said, a fire did break out near the base of the ship and it was promptly doused with water before it eventually went out. SpaceX will definitely need to get this sorted out in future missions as fires can cause an explosion, as happened with Starship SN10 back in March. Following the landing of Starship, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took to what is presumably his favourite social media site, Twitter, to report that Starship’s landing was nominal – in other words, everything went to plan. Starship landing nominal! — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 5, 2021 At the end of April, Reuters reported that the Federal Aviation Administration had authorised three launches of Starship – the one that just occurred, SN15; SN16; and SN17. It’s not clear yet when the next two launches are going to take off but we should see them in a relatively short time. We’ll be watching to see whether SpaceX truly has perfected the landing and whether it can stop fires from breaking out on the landing pad. Update: Elon Musk has said that SpaceX may try to re-fly Starship SN15, following its successful landing. Might try to refly SN15 soon — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 7, 2021 -
TWIRL 11: SpaceX to launch 60 Starlink satellites and maybe Starship SN15
zikalify posted a topic in Front Page News
TWIRL 11: SpaceX to launch 60 Starlink satellites and maybe Starship SN15 by Paul Hill Background image via SpaceX We’ve got a pretty quiet week in terms of rocket launches this week. SpaceX will try to launch its Starlink 25 mission, we may see Virgin Galactic launch its VSS Unity rocketplane, and a Long March rocket will put three satellites into orbit to carry out possible SIGINT work. We may also see SpaceX launch its Starship SN15 this week as a launch was scrubbed on Friday. Tuesday, May 4 On Tuesday, we’ve got just one launch from SpaceX who will be launching its Starlink 25 mission. This mission will send 60 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit where they’ll beam internet connectivity back down to the planet. The satellites will be taken into space atop SpaceX’s trusty Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket which has reliably sent hundreds of Starlink satellites to space. If you’d like to watch the launch, head over to SpaceX’s website at 7:01 p.m. UTC on Tuesday. Wednesday, May 5 May 5 will be the first date that we could see the launch of the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo-class VSS Unity. It’s really important to point out that this launch is marked as no earlier than which means the launch could take place after Wednesday. If the flight does go ahead, VSS Unity will launch from a VMS EVE carrier aircraft and fly to the edge of space. It will carry payloads as part of the NASA flight opportunities program that will generate revenue for Virgin Galactic. Friday, May 7 The final flight of the week will launch from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China. A Long March CZ-2C rocket will launch three satellites that have been designated as Yaogan 30 Group 08. The satellites will perform electromagnetic detection and perform other technical tests but to what ends is unknown. It’s speculated that the satellites could be being used for signals intelligence work. No live stream will show this launch but post-launch videos could appear on YouTube afterwards. Starship SN15 The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have said that SN15's 10 kilometer test flight is now NET Monday (5/3/2021) SN15's orignal launch attempt was scrubbed on Friday the 30th after unfavourable weather did not allow the flight to occur. pic.twitter.com/MXuoAUloRv — SpaceXBocaChica (@SpaceXBocaChica) May 1, 2021 We could see SpaceX launch its Starship SN15 from Monday onwards following its flight last Friday that was scrubbed due to bad weather. SpaceX has still not performed a smooth landing of a Starship vehicle to date but NASA recently selected SpaceX’s Starship to land the next Americans on the Moon; this should motivate the firm to nail the landing process. -
NASA chooses SpaceX to land next Americans on the Moon by Paul Hill NASA has awarded a $2.89 billion contract to SpaceX to continue developing a commercial human lander that will deliver the next two American astronauts to the lunar surface. Under current plans, the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft will take astronauts to Lunar orbit where two of the up to four crew members would transfer to SpaceX’s human lander. Kathy Lueders, NASA’s associate administrator for Human Explorations and Operations Mission Directorate, said: “With this award, NASA and our partners will complete the first crewed demonstration mission to the surface of the Moon in the 21st century as the agency takes a step forward for women’s equality and long-term deep space exploration. This critical step puts humanity on a path to sustainable lunar exploration and keeps our eyes on missions farther into the solar system, including Mars.” You’re probably already familiar with SpaceX’s human landing system, it’s the Starship which the firm has recently been smashing into the ground as it attempts to perfect the landing sequence. The latest Starship test is expected next week where it will hopefully achieve a landing with the newfound financial motivation from NASA. For those wondering whether the private sector can meet the rigorous NASA requirements, the space agency has confirmed that SpaceX has been working closely with NASA experts to ensure the lander design meets NASA’s performance requirements and human spaceflight standards. The standards range from engineering, safety, health, and medical technical areas. The first mission to the Moon's surface by NASA is its Artemis 3 mission which is expected in 2024 but it could still be delayed. Artemis 3 will be preceded by Artemis 1 expected in November 2021 and Artemis 2 planned for August 2023. Artemis 1 will be an uncrewed lunar orbital test flight while Artemis 2 will send a crewed mission to lunar orbit. NASA has big plans for the Moon in this decade. It wants to carry out several lunar surface missions and build a space station in orbit around the Moon for easier access to the lunar surface.
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TWIRL 9: SpaceX Crew-2 Dragon to take astronauts to ISS, NASA to try Mars Helicopter
zikalify posted a topic in Front Page News
TWIRL 9: SpaceX Crew-2 Dragon to take astronauts to ISS, NASA to try Mars Helicopter by Paul Hill Background image by NASA This week is panning out to be quite dramatic with NASA set to test its Mars Helicopter and SpaceX taking astronauts to the ISS on its Crew Dragon spacecraft. In addition to those events, SpaceX is also expected to launch the Starship SN-15 mission which will see the firm attempt to land the craft following NASA’s decision to pick Starship as the human landing system for its missions to the Moon from 2024. Monday, April 19 There are no rocket launches listed for Monday, however, Elon Musk did put out a tweet explaining that SpaceX is aiming to launch Starship SN-15 this week, therefore, Monday is the earliest time we will see the launch. This is the first Starship launch since NASA chose the vehicle for its human landing system on the Artemis missions so SpaceX should have a bit more motivation to get the landing right this time around. Aiming to launch next week — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 15, 2021 While this series is called This Week in Rocket Launches, it’s probably worth mentioning that NASA is looking to fly the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter from Monday at 3:30 a.m. EDT (12:30 a.m. PDT). Data from the autonomous flight will take time to get back to Earth and a live stream is due to start at 6:15 a.m. EDT (3:15 a.m. PDT). If the flight takes place, NASA will hold a briefing at 2 p.m. EDT (11 a.m. PDT) to apprise us of how the mission went. Tuesday, April 20 There’s only one event set for Tuesday and that is ExPace’s planned launch of the Kuaizhou KZ-1A with the Jilin Gaofen 2D satellite (Jilin 28) aboard. We’ve spoken several times about this launch in older issues of TWIRL but briefly, this satellite will capture high-resolution full-colour images from 535 km and will work within the Jilin 1 constellation that’s already in orbit. Thursday, April 22 Thursday will be one of the most interesting days of the week with SpaceX carrying out the Crew-2 Dragon mission which will carry NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough, Megan McArthur, ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet, and JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide to the international space station. This Dragon capsule is named Endeavour after the Space Shuttle and was the first of the dragon capsules to carry a crew. Interestingly, the ISS only got new arrivals two weeks ago so when the four new astronauts arrive there will 11 people on-board which is the highest number that has ever been on the space station at once, though, it’s not the highest number of people that have been in space at one time. Luckily for those on board, four of the astronauts will be departing on the SpaceX Crew-1 on April 28 bringing the ISS crew size to 7. Sunday, April 25 On Sunday there will be two missions. Roscosmos is looking to launch the Resurs-P 4 satellite from Baikonur atop a Soyuz 2.1b rocket and OneWeb will have 36 of its satellites put into orbit by a Starsem-owned Soyuz 2.1b rocket. The Resurs-P satellite will conduct Earth observation for Russian government agencies while the OneWeb satellites will make up a constellation providing internet for people on Earth and flying in planes. -
Learn to Code by Making Games in this Unity Bundle for only $39.99
News Staff posted a topic in Front Page News
Learn to Code by Making Games in this Unity Bundle for only $39.99 by Steven Parker Today's highlighted deal comes via our Online Courses section of the Neowin Deals store, where you can save 97% off this Complete Learn to Code by Making Games in Unity Bundle. Battle Royale, Starship, Shooter, and more — build your own games with 141 hours of content on coding and machine learning in Construct 3 and Unity. This deal consists of the following courses: Make Games Without Coding in Construct 3 for Beginners This 6-Level Course Will Take You from Newbie to Pro at Making Your Own Computer Games Anyone Can Make a Video Game! Build a Battle Royale with Unity and Blender! Design & Develop a Full-On Battle Royal System and Environment from Scratch Unity Machine Learning with Python Build a Unity Game That Uses Artificial Intelligence to Control Players The Secret to Smoother Gameplay with Unity AI Make a Spaceship Game with Artificial Intelligence & C# Make a Starship Unity Game Powered by Artificial Intelligence Create Cutting-Edge, 3D Pathfinding Games Using C# & NavMesh Artificial Intelligence Learn Unity Artificial Intelligence by Making a Tank Game Use the AI Algorithm to Make a 2D Game in Unity Make a Mega Dude Action Shooter Game in Unity with Pixel Art Build a Game from Scratch in Unity with Pixel Art in MagicaVoxel & Photoshop Build The Legend of Zenda Game in Unity and Blender Get an Introduction to Game Development & Design Through Building a Classic Good to know Length of time users can access this course: lifetime Certification of completion included Updates included Redemption deadline: redeem your code within 30 days of purchase For a full description, specs, and instructor info, click here. Here's the deal: This Complete Learn to Code by Making Games in Unity Bundle normally costs* $1,600, but you can pick it up for just $39.99 for a limited time - that represents a saving of $1,560.01 (97%) off. Get this deal, or learn more about it See all discounted Online Courses. This is a time-limited offer. Get $1 credit for every $25 spent · Give $10, Get $10 · 10% off for first-time buyers. Not for you? That's OK, there are other deals on offer you can check out here. Enter giveaways: Polycade Home Arcade | $5K in cash | $10K in Crypto Ivacy VPN - 5 year subscription for just $1 per month NordVPN - 2 year subscription at up to 68% off Private Internet Access VPN - subscriptions at up to 71% off Unlocator VPN or SmartDNS - unblock Geoblock with 7-day free trial Neowin Store for our preferred partners. Subscribe to Neowin - for $14 a year, or $28 a year for Ad-Free experience Disable Sponsored posts · Neowin Deals · Free eBooks · Neowin Store Disclosure: This is a StackCommerce deal or giveaway in partnership with Neowin; an account at StackCommerce is required to participate in any deals or giveaways. For a full description of StackCommerce's privacy guidelines, go here. Neowin benefits from shared revenue of each sale made through our branded deals site, and it all goes toward the running costs. -
Starship SN11 explodes as SpaceX tries low-visibility landing
zikalify posted a topic in Front Page News
Starship SN11 explodes as SpaceX tries low-visibility landing by Paul Hill Images via SpaceX The Starship SN11 mission was supposed to be the mission where SpaceX fixed the errors from the Starship SN10 mission and performed a flawless landing, instead, the company went for a landing attempt in low-visibility conditions and the rocket ended up failing for an as yet unconfirmed reason. The official live feed went dead five minutes and 49 seconds into launch but third-party feeds managed to capture the explosion. Headphone warning! Our last views of #Starship #SN11's flight, now with sound! That's a big boom. More on the @NASASpaceflight livestream: https://t.co/PbgTUl6KGY pic.twitter.com/3BZD3uOpIc — Brady Kenniston (@TheFavoritist) March 30, 2021 According to Elon Musk, it looks as though there were some problems with engine 2 and that "something significant" happened after the landing burn but it's not clear what until more investigations have been carried out. Looks like engine 2 had issues on ascent & didn’t reach operating chamber pressure during landing burn, but, in theory, it wasn’t needed. Something significant happened shortly after landing burn start. Should know what it was once we can examine the bits later today. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 30, 2021 SN11 was the firm’s fourth attempt at landing the rocket after flying to an altitude of 10 km. The mission was delayed twice in total, first last Friday and then yesterday. The second delay was caused by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) after its inspector was unable to reach the launch site in time. Had the mission been delayed today, the firm would have had to have waited until Friday before it could get the go-ahead to launch. It also had several hours left today before the launch window closed so it could have waited to see whether the fog cleared but ultimately it decided to take the risk of launching. SpaceX had concerns that if it had waited, winds could have picked up making a launch unviable. SN15 rolls to launch pad in a few days. It has hundreds of design improvements across structures, avionics/software & engine. Hopefully, one of those improvements covers this problem. If not, then retrofit will add a few more days. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 30, 2021 It’s unclear when SpaceX will be conducting its next Starship launch but we should probably expect it in the next few weeks if the previous launches are anything to go by. The firm really does need to nail the landing process soon as it wants to try out the rocket on orbital and lunar flights in the coming months and years. Be sure to follow This Week in Rocket Launches for any updates on the Starship-front. -
TWIRL 5: Starship SN11 could launch sometime this week by Paul Hill Welcome to the fifth instalment of This Week in Rocket Launches, this week has a packed schedule thanks to a few launch delays and a possible Starship SN11 launch by SpaceX. Glavkosmos will attempt to launch the Korean CAS500 satellite, Rocket Lab could finally launch the BlackSky Global 7 satellite, SpaceX has several missions penciled in, OneWeb wants to launch several internet satellites, India and a Chinese firm are looking at launches too. The first launches of the week, on Monday, will be from Glavkosmos and possibly Rocket Lab. The Glavkosmos mission will take the Compact Advanced Satellite 500 (CAS500) into orbit along with Astroscale’s ELSA-d debris removal demonstration mission. The launch was scrubbed from last week but hopefully, it can get off the launch pad tomorrow. You can find a live stream on YouTube. Rocket Lab’s ‘They Go Up So Fast’ mission has been a possibility for several weeks now. The launch could take off early this week from New Zealand but it’s not definite. The mission consists of an Electron rocket launching a BlackSky Global satellite alongside several other satellites. The BlackSky satellite constellation is made up of 1-metre resolution Earth observation microsatellites that are useful for ground observation. If Rocket Lab’s mission goes ahead, you can find a live stream on its website. Starship SN11 is almost on the launch stand at SpaceX Boca Chica. 🔥🚀🔥@NASASpaceflight pic.twitter.com/OzOhHJnSa0 — Mary (@BocaChicaGal) March 8, 2021 Wednesday is the earliest time we’ll see the launch of SpaceX’s Starship SN11, according to the Neowin forums. SpaceX wants to do a static fire test at the start of the week and if all goes according to plan, it can attempt a launch on Wednesday or Thursday. SpaceX was almost able to do a successful landing of its Starship SN10 rocket earlier this month but it ultimately exploded due to a fire. All of the SpaceX flights this week will be live-streamed and shared on the SpaceX website. On Wednesday, SpaceX will also be trying again with its Falcon 9 B5 rocket to launch a batch of Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. This mission was mentioned in TWIRL 4 but was delayed. As the end goal, SpaceX wants to have 30,000 Starlink satellites in orbit around the Earth to beam internet connectivity down to those in areas that are hard to connect. The firm also has a separate Starlink mission to launch the day after. On Thursday, India will launch its EOS 3 satellite that is designed to provide continuous remote sensing observations over India from a geostationary orbit. It will be taken into space using India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), which has received several modifications that are being used for the first time. Also on Thursday, China’s state-run ExPace will launch a Kuaizhou KZ-10 rocket with the Jilin Gaofen 2D satellite (Jilin 28). The 230kg satellite will be used to take full-colour images from a 535km-high operational orbit to complement other satellites that are already in orbit as part of the commercial Jilin 1 constellation. The final launch of the week will be a Soyuz 2.1b which will carry 36 OneWeb internet communication satellites. The satellites will go into a near-polar orbit at an altitude of 450km. OneWeb, which is now owned by the British government, announced plans earlier in the week to help deliver Wi-Fi to aeroplanes from its satellites; those being launched this week will contribute to connecting those planes to the net.
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TWIRL 4: Firefly Aerospace Alpha rocket set for maiden flight
zikalify posted a topic in Front Page News
TWIRL 4: Firefly Aerospace Alpha rocket set for maiden flight by Paul Hill In the coming week, it's expected that there will be around five rocket launches from the likes of Firefly Aerospace, SpaceX, Rocket Lab, and Glavkosmos. The most interesting launch will be that of the Firefly Aerospace Alpha rocket which is making its maiden flight from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket, which we have been saying will launch for the last two weeks, still hasn’t launched yet but could do on Monday. Firefly Alpha The first launch of Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket will be carrying commercial payloads for Benchmark Space Systems and AstroGrams. The mission will also deploy a Spinnaker 3 dragsail prototype. In its first launch, the Alpha rocket will carry several projects from the Dedicated Research and Education Accelerator Mission (DREAM) programme which gives students and small companies a way to put their payloads in space. The rocket has been delayed several times since late 2019 so hopefully, it can perform the flight on Monday as planned. If it does get it off the ground it will fly a ‘dogleg’ inclination which is considered to be a safer option, protecting those near to the base, at the expense of more fuel being used. Also on Monday, Rocket Lab could launch its Electron rocket carrying the Blacksky Global 7 satellite and SpaceX is expected to send up a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket carrying the SXM 8 radio broadcasting satellite for SiriusXM’s digital audio radio service (DARS). The SXM 8 will carry a large unfurlable antenna reflector which permits radio broadcasts to be sent back down to Earth without the need for a large dish receiver on the ground. It will be replacing the XM 4 satellite and has a lifespan of 15 years. On Saturday next week, another Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket will take off, this time carrying 60 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. Whereas Rocket Lab has been continually delaying its latest planned launch, SpaceX is in fact bringing this launch forward. It was initially planned to take place sometime in the second quarter. The final launch of the week comes from Glavkosmos, a Roscosmos subsidiary, which is flying a Soyuz 2.1a rocket with a Fregat upper stage carrying two Korean CAS500 (Compact Advanced Satellite 500) satellites. These are designed for the observation of Earth and were built by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute. The Soyuz rocket will also be taking several other satellites into orbit as well as Astroscale’s ELSA-d active debris removal demo mission. Finally, SpaceX’s Starship SN11 could launch soon but we do not know when. If you’d like to follow all the latest developments on this front, be sure to check out the Neowin forum thread which is updated regularly by the Neowin community. -
Lack of thrust and an ad hoc solution to SN8's explosion led to Starship SN10's fiery ending
Ather Fawaz posted a topic in Front Page News
Lack of thrust and an ad hoc solution to SN8's explosion led to Starship SN10's fiery ending by Ather Fawaz Less than a week ago, SpaceX almost succeeded in completing a flawless test flight for the Starship SN10. And things were looking up until a few moments after a successful ascent and touchdown back to earth. Just like the SN8 and SN9 predecessors before it, SN10 too met a fiery, explosive ending. It was unclear why the rocket exploded, especially after it had touched down and remained stationary for close to a minute. SpaceX founder and CEO, Elon Musk, has now cleared up some confusion on that front. Musk tweeted that "the SN10 engine was low on thrust due (probably) to partial helium ingestion from the fuel header tank." And that the prototype plummeted towards the earth at an impact velocity of 10m/s that crushed some legs and parts of the skirt. SN10 engine was low on thrust due (probably) to partial helium ingestion from fuel header tank. Impact of 10m/s crushed legs & part of skirt. Multiple fixes in work for SN11. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 9, 2021 As spotted by Engadget, Chris Bergin of NASA Spaceflight pointed out that the helium ingestion was caused by the pressurization system that was added to the CH4 tank to prevent what caused the SN8 to explode. Musk replied to Bergin stating that this was a reasonable point, and that "...if autogenous pressurization had been used, CH4 bubbles would most likely have reverted to liquid. Helium in header was used to prevent ullage collapse from slosh, which happened in prior flight. My fault for approving. Sounded good at the time." Fair point. If autogenous pressurization had been used, CH4 bubbles would most likely have reverted to liquid. Helium in header was used to prevent ullage collapse from slosh, which happened in prior flight. My fault for approving. Sounded good at the time. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 9, 2021 Despite this, the SN10's touchdown represents a big step forward for the Starship program and SpaceX at large. The firm was quick on bringing the next prototype, the SN11, to the stand at Boca Chica, preparing for its test flight sometime later. As Austin Barnard photographed, the team of engineers on-site inspected every landing leg of the SN11. SpaceX hopes that the insight gained from its predecessors, including the SN10, will be used to do away with past mistakes and progress towards a successful test flight for the SN11. -
SpaceX almost lands Starship successfully on the third attempt
zikalify posted a topic in Front Page News
SpaceX almost lands Starship successfully on the third attempt by Paul Hill SpaceX has gotten closer to landing Starship SN10 succesfuilly after two failures with SN8 and SN9 in December and January respectively. While the Starship did manage a landing this time, a fire broke out which spread to the propellant leading to a massive explosion destroying the rocket around 8 minutes after landing. Oof. SN10 has decided to join SN8 and SN9. Still a great advancement with the landing. ➡️https://t.co/bOsEo1u0u0 pic.twitter.com/RiXV6e3u04 — Chris B - NSF (@NASASpaceflight) March 3, 2021 Today’s mission looked uncertain for a while, initially, it was due to take off several hours ago but SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted out to say that the launch was aborted to adjust the thrust limit which he described as “slightly conservative”. After recycling the propellant, the rocket was set for another launch attempt which it carried out successfully. Launch abort on slightly conservative high thrust limit. Increasing thrust limit & recycling propellant for another flight attempt today. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 3, 2021 Today’s mission brings SpaceX one step closer to getting humans to Mars. In the future, Starship with use two stages - the first is a booster stage called Super Heavy and the upper stage is called Starship. Super Heavy will be used to take off from Earth but when taking off from the Moon and Mars, only the upper stage will be needed. During the tests, Starship has been using three Raptor engines but it’s intended that six will be used in the future. With Starship set to be used for human transportation in a couple of years, it will undergo more testing until the company can get the landing right. It will also have to be trialled using the six Raptor engines at some point and launching atop the Super Heavy booster. If you missed the test, you can watch it in full above and If you want to know when SpaceX has an upcoming Starship launch, be sure to read This Week in Rocket Launches, a new weekly series posted each weekend detailing all the missions that are planned for the coming week. -
TWIRL 2: SpaceX's Starship SN10 could take flight by Paul Hill Things are a little quieter this week on the space launch front compared with last week. This week we can expect to see Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket launch a Blacksky Global satellite among others, Iran’s Pars 1 satellite is set to make another launch attempt, and SpaceX is expected to launch the successor to Starship SN9 which exploded several weeks ago. The first launch of the week is due on Monday from New Zealand where Rocket Lab will launch an Electron rocket carrying Blacksky Global satellite and several CubeSats dubbed Centauri 3, Gunsmoke-J, M2 (A/B), Myriota 7, and Veery Hatchling. The firm has decided to call the mission “They Go Up So Fast” - something which is actually true thanks to the rocket weighing just 12,500 kg. On the day of launch, Rocket Lab will publish a live stream on its website. Next up, again on Monday, is Iran’s Simorgh rocket which will deliver the Pars 1 satellite into orbit. The mission was originally scheduled for last Thursday but it appears to have been pushed back. The rocket will launch from the Imam Khomeini Space Launch Center in Semnan. The satellite is equipped with remote-sensing technologies which will monitor the country’s agricultural lands, forests and lakes, and monitor any damage from fires and floods that may happen in the future. Finally, we’ve got SpaceX’s Starship SN10 which is due for a test launch, possibly in the coming days. This is not a launch to space and is just a test so there’s no fixed schedule but it could happen as soon as tomorrow. In this test launch, we will be keenly watching to see whether the company can finally pull off the landing which it has failed to do with SN8 and SN9 which have launched since December. The NASASpaceFlight YouTube channel and SpaceX’s official YouTube channel will cover the event when it finally happens but don’t be surprised if it gets scrubbed several times. That’s all for the first week of March but the month ahead is packed with launches every week so be on the lookout for future This Week in Rocket Launches posts over the coming weekends.
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SpaceX's Starship SN9 ends short flight with fiery crash by Paul Hill SpaceX has carried out a flight of its Starship SN9 rocket from Boca Chica, Texas today only to have it crash as it attempted to land. It was a similar flight to that carried out by Starship SN8 which reached an altitude of 12.5 kilometres before attempting to land back on the ground - which it failed at too. If you'd like to participate in the discussion about this launch, be sure to check out the associated forum thread. The launch on Tuesday afternoon followed a number of flight scrubs last week but with good visibility and wind conditions, SN9 was able to take off. To watch the flight, check out the video below from SpaceX. The other Starship you can see in the video is SN10, the next rocket the company will use to test with, hopefully they get the landing right next time. SpaceX's Starship will eventually be made up of two stages - a booster stage called Super Heavy and the upper stage also called Starship, which was tested today. The upper stage will be able to take off from the Moon and Mars when it goes there in future missions but to take off from the Earth, SpaceX will use the Super Heavy booster. In typical SpaceX fashion, the firm has made it so that both of these stages can land back on the ground after taking off, saving the company lots of money and time. The use of sea-based droneships also gives SpaceX a lot of flexibility in terms of future launches. As things stand now, SpaceX has another nine upper stage Starships in production and two Super Heavy boosters. By 2022, the company hopes to send a cargo mission to Mars using Starship and by 2024 have people go to Mars in the spacecraft.
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"Mars, here we come!!" exclaims Elon Musk despite explosive ending to Starship's test flight
Ather Fawaz posted a topic in Front Page News
"Mars, here we come!!" exclaims Elon Musk despite explosive ending to Starship's test flight by Ather Fawaz Image via Trevor Mahlmann (YouTube) The Starship initiative by SpaceX is meant to make spaceflights to Mars a reality. After a scrubbed launch yesterday courtesy of an auto-abort procedure in the Starship's Raptor engines, once again, SpaceX geared up for a re-run of the test a few hours back. This time, Starship SN8 successfully took flight from its test site in Boca Chica, Texas. A trimmed version of the complete event is embedded below from Trevor Mahlmann's YouTube channel. Compared to the scrubbed launch, things went better on this one, but not entirely. The gargantuan 160-feet tall rocket, propelled by three Raptor engines, took flight, and intended to rise to a height of 41,000 ft (12,500 m). SpaceX founder Elon Musk called the ascent a success, but it's not clear whether the rocket reached its intended altitude. Nevertheless, after reaching its highest point, the rocket began its journey back to its earthly test site. Image via Trevor Mahlmann (YouTube) The SN8 prototype performed a spectacular mid-air flipping maneuver to set itself on course to land vertically back to the earth—a feat we've all grown accustomed to seeing with SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket. The SN8 executed the landing flip successfully, and SpaceX tweeted a closer look at the event as it happened. Impressively, SpaceX claimed that by doing so, the SN8 became the largest spacecraft to perform a landing maneuver of this sort. Starship landing flip maneuver pic.twitter.com/QuD9HwZ9CX — SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 10, 2020 But as the rocket prepared to touch down and its boosters tried to slow down its descent to cushion the landing, the rocket's fuel header tank pressure got low. This caused the "touchdown velocity to be high & RUD," during the landing burn, Musk tweeted. Unfortunately, this meant that upon touchdown, the Starship SN8 prototype exploded into flames. Image via SpaceX Livestream Notwithstanding the fiery, unfortunate event right at the final few moments, SpaceX and Musk hailed the test as a success. For the company, "SN8 did great! Even reaching apogee would’ve been great, so controlling all way to putting the crater in the right spot was epic!!" Musk tweeted, "We got all the data we needed. Congrats SpaceX team hell yeah!!", he continued; before following up with another tweet exclaiming "Mars, here we come!!" -
SpaceX reveals further details for its spaceport in Texas
Ather Fawaz posted a topic in Front Page News
SpaceX reveals further details for its spaceport in Texas by Ather Fawaz Image via SpaceX(Twitter) Back in June, we received confirmation from SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk that the company is building a floating spaceport for space travel and hypersonic flights around the Earth. The floating spaceport would be built from refurbished oil platforms, will house a hyperloop for transportation to and from the land, and will be based in Boca Chica, Texas. Now, we have more details about the project. As spotted by Michael Sheetz (@thesheetztweetz) from CNBC, a new job posting by SpaceX for a 'Resort Development Manager' at Brownsville, Texas, deems the future spaceport at the Boca Chica Village in Texas as a "21st-century Spaceport” and the company’s first resort. Before enlisting the key responsibilities expected of a resort development manager, the company states: SpaceX is committed to developing revolutionary space technology, with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets. Boca Chica Village is our latest launch site dedicated to Starship, our next generation launch vehicle. SpaceX is committed to developing this town into a 21st century Spaceport. We are looking for a talented Resort Development Manager to oversee the development of SpaceX's first resort from inception to completion. Judging from this and the fact that Starship is now the major focal point of SpaceX's efforts, development and construction for the spaceport have picked up the pace. Just recently, the SN5 prototype for Starship completed a liftoff and landing sequence as part of a test. Though Musk stated that it will be at least a further two to three years before any complete test flights commence. -
Starship SN7 prototype 'pops' during a cryogenic pressure test to failure
Ather Fawaz posted a topic in Front Page News
Starship SN7 prototype 'pops' during a cryogenic pressure test to failure by Ather Fawaz Image via NASASpaceFlight (livestream) Starship development has picked up pace in recent weeks. On Tuesday, June 23, SpaceX took the SN7 prototype's fuel tank for yet another test run. This time, it was the cryogenic pressure test to failure in Boca Chica, Texas (via Space.com). The test began by filling the fuel tank with super-chilled liquid nitrogen to check whether the tank can hold the propellant for an actual launch. The fuel tank was tested beyond its limit before it gave way and 'popped' quite dramatically. Soon, thick, white nitrogen plumes covered the test site along with whatever remained of the fuel tank. This was the second cryogenic pressure test to failure for the SN7 prototype. After the first test run, the spacecraft was repaired for further testing. Moreover, unlike the SN4 prototype that exploded on the test site on May 30 due to a leak, the SN7 was intentionally put through more pressure than it was built to withstand so that vital data can be gathered for the development of Starship. This month has been quite eventful for the Starship initiative at SpaceX. First, the founder and CEO of the company notified employees to consider the Starship project as the top priority in the foreseeable future. We then received confirmation that the company was building floating spaceports for the Starship's raison d'être—space travel and hypersonic flights. However, the first test flights for the rocket are not expected before a couple of years at least. -
SpaceX is planning to build floating spaceports for space travel and hypersonic flights
Ather Fawaz posted a topic in Front Page News
SpaceX is planning to build floating spaceports for space travel and hypersonic flights by Ather Fawaz SpaceX is on quite a roll this year. After successfully completing the Dragon's first crewed flight to the International Space Station, the firm deployed 58 more Starlink satellites just a few days back. Now, the company has shifted gears back to its Starship initiative, which is slated to be SpaceX's top priority henceforth. After a scoop from SpaceXFleet stated that SpaceX is recruiting Offshore Operations Engineers in Brownsville, Elon Musk confirmed that the company is building a floating spaceport for space travel and hypersonic flights around the Earth. He further added that these spaceports will be refurbished oil platforms complete with a hyperloop for transportation to and from the land. SpaceX is building floating, superheavy-class spaceports for Mars, moon & hypersonic travel around Earth https://t.co/zLJjz43hKw — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 16, 2020 The spaceport is intended for the Starship rocket, which is set to be SpaceX's go-to rocket for the exploration and habitation of Mars in the coming years. The recruitment location, Brownsville, is also near the Boca Chica test site where the company is currently testing the rocket's prototypes. While a floating spaceport has been linked to the Starship project for quite some time now, this is the first time that we've had signs of something tangible supporting the rumors. However, Musk noted that the first Earth-to-Earth flights still need substantial groundwork. He gave a window of at least two to three years before test flights for the same commence. -
Elon Musk urges SpaceX to consider Starship as the top priority
Ather Fawaz posted a topic in Front Page News
Elon Musk urges SpaceX to consider Starship as the top priority by Ather Fawaz After successfully completing Crew Dragon's maiden manned flight to the International Space Station, SpaceX now wants to shift gears and prioritize other projects. As picked up by CNBC, the founder and CEO of SpaceX, Elon Musk, wrote a company-wide email urging employees to primarily focus on the Starship initiative henceforth. Musk asked his employees to consider devoting "significant time” to accelerate progress "dramatically and immediately" on the project. “Please consider the top SpaceX priority (apart from anything that could reduce Dragon return risk) to be Starship,” he stated in the email. Since day one, the Starship project has been SpaceX's bold initiative to make space travel and the inhabitation of other planets a tangible reality. While we are beyond Musk's initial planned window to put the iconic stainless steel rocket in orbit, that is not to say that the company has not been working on the project at all. Back in April, SpaceX released a user guide for the Starship rocket encapsulating its various configurations, and claimed that the project is "expected to allow for space-based activities that have not been possible since the retirement of the Space Shuttle and Space Transportation System or have never been possible before." Furthermore, SpaceX is regularly carrying out test runs of Starship's various prototypes. On May 30, despite the SN4 prototype's explosion on the test stand, preparations for testing the SN5 prototype at Boca Chica, Texas, are already underway. -
SpaceX's Starship SN4 prototype explodes on the test stand
Ather Fawaz posted a topic in Front Page News
SpaceX's Starship SN4 prototype explodes on the test stand by Ather Fawaz Starship MK1 Prototype. Image via The Verge With all eyes set on Crew Dragon's maiden manned flight to the International Space Station (ISS), elsewhere, SpaceX is continuing work on Starship in tandem. But things quickly went south after the static fire test for the Raptor engine of the Starship SN4 prototype on Friday in Boca Chica, Texas. This was the fifth static fire test of this engine on this prototype vehicle. However, this time, after successfully completing its static fire test, the SN4 prototype exploded on the test stand. The video embedded below shows a short clip of the explosion along with its aftermath. The explosion occurred around 1:49 PM local time, under the two-minute mark after the static fire test. Eric Berger, the Senior Space Editor at Ars Technica tweeted that the cause of the explosion was 'some type of uncontrolled leak'. There appears to be significant damage to the test site as well. Image via SPadre (Twitter) While this is a setback to SpaceX and the Starship initiative, the company is already working on assembling its SN5 prototype on a launch stand nearby in Boca Chica. Testing should resume shortly once all prerequisites are set in place. Considering Elon Musk's bold plans for the program, the Starship program has picked up pace in recent months. The firm also published a short guide for the rocket back in April detailing its various configurations. As stated before, in Florida, the Crew Dragon is preparing for its historic flight to the ISS with astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on board. If the weather is benign, the spacecraft is slated to launch atop the Falcon 9 rocket at 03:22 PM EDT on Saturday. This is the second launch window that SpaceX has at its disposal after the Wednesday launch had to be scrubbed due to unfavorable conditions. Should Saturday's launch also run into similar issues, a third launch window is available on Sunday. You may check out our coverage of the Crew Dragon here. -
SpaceX unveils a Users Guide for its Starship rocket by Ather Fawaz SpaceX just released a Users Guide for its giant Starship rocket. The document provides a terse overview of the rocket that is designed to transport people, payloads, satellites, and cargo to a variety of orbits and Earth, Lunar, or Martian landing sites. After giving a brief overview of SpaceX and the program itself, the guide goes through payload configurations and mechanical interfaces. A comparison is drawn between crewed and uncrewed configurations. Specifically, Starship, in its current configuration, is able to "transport up to 100 people from Earth into LEO and on to the Moon and Mars." Alongside these, the guide also dabbles in the specifics apropos Acoustics, Environments, Payload Separation and Cargo Configurations. Further, the guide states that Starship is "expected to allow for space-based activities that have not been possible since the retirement of the Space Shuttle and Space Transportation System or have never been possible before." One detail that is missing, however, is cost. How much a ticket to space onboard Starship will cost is still a question mark. Lastly, SpaceX stated that it is open to suggestions and the conceptualization of new ideas. So for anyone who wants to chime in, they may send an email to the company at sales@spacex.com.
