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SpaceX Starship

AgitatedPancake said:
I definitely agree on the rockets. Their success rate is less than 50% currently

The cameras though, I have to give them props honestly. Until the last couple years, it's been pretty rare for new small launchers to put effort into providing this kind of commentary and coverage. They actually partner with NASASpaceflight to set up the boradcast as well as bring all of the ground cameras, tracking software. So while there's room to improve, the fact that we have this much at all is pretty new. I'm sure they'll improve as time goes on though. The onboard cameras are an interesting tradeoff though, because they only have a certain amount of total bandwidth on the rocket as it flies, so they have to split that between telemetry and video coverage. More bandwidth is the easy answer, but the mass penalties are high on smallsat launches (a couple ounces change mean a whole lot less when the payload is multiple tons on big rockets, versus hundreds of pounds on small rockets)
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I just read only 2 out of 7 since Sept 2020 have been successful.
 
TOMS97ZJ said:
I just read only 2 out of 7 since Sept 2020 have been successful.
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I wasn't sure when I made that post, but I read the same afterwards. Pretty rough number. New launchers are kinda expected to fail two or three right off the bat as they learn their system, but usually get pretty reliable after their first success. Unfortunately for Astra, while their first few failures were understandable, they've been backing up recent successes with more failures which is more concerning
 
AgitatedPancake said:
I wasn't sure when I made that post, but I read the same afterwards. Pretty rough number. New launchers are kinda expected to fail two or three right off the bat as they learn their system, but usually get pretty reliable after their first success. Unfortunately for Astra, while their first few failures were understandable, they've been backing up recent successes with more failures which is more concerning
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Makes spaceX look that much more impressive.

Awesome on all fronts trying but they are next level.
 
TOMS97ZJ said:
Makes spaceX look that much more impressive.

Awesome on all fronts trying but they are next level.
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I thought about asking if the booster landing was successful, then I realized it probably
"worked as designed"!
 
Hah yeah, the boosters are disposable. At least they are only a couple million versus the couple billion that will be thrown away with SLS (along with some awesome heritage reusable turned disposable shuttle hardware :frown:). Astra's business model is trying to make them as cheap as possible by manufacturing in high volumes compared to going down the reuse path like SpaceX.

But they REALLY need to get this system dialed in. This failed launch was the first of 3 "Tropics" launches for NASA. This is kind of a "high risk, high reward" mission for NASA, one of their ways of supporting/funding up and coming new launchers with "cheaper" satellites/projects so they know that not all will probably make it to orbit. Each launch has two satellites onboard, for a total of potentially 6. From what I read yesterday, they need a minimum of 4/6 sats up and functional for the Tropics project to succeed. Which means Astra NEEDS to have the next two launches work. I don't actually know, but looking at their stock prices...how many more hits can they take before the money dries up (especially if a NASA project fails)?

Update on NASA's TROPICS-1 Mission

Their stock peaked around $15 in Q4 of last year after going public, and has been a rough ride downhill since then. Stocks have already tanked today, currently at $1.55 per share.

Astra Stock - After LV0010.png






 
Do you know what the status of the rocket is now? Is it in an orbit or did the malfunction spin it out of orbit and into space?
 
Fuzzydog said:
Do you know what the status of the rocket is now? Is it in an orbit or did the malfunction spin it out of orbit and into space?
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Burned up somewhere around the African coast without making a single orbit. Shutting down and tumbling a minute early meant is was massively short of where it needed to be to even complete a few orbits.
 
Fuzzydog said:
Do you know what the status of the rocket is now? Is it in an orbit or did the malfunction spin it out of orbit and into space?
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The engine on the second stage shut down about a minute early and sent the rocket into a tumble, not reaching orbit

Here's their CEO:



And here's a clip of the moment of failure:



EDIT - And here's a projected potential path:

 
Gravity - it isn't just a good idea, it's a law!

I was thinking that a rocket travelling 6500 m/s away from Earth, 540 km above earth would have been free of the pull of Earth's gravity. Ah, but now I also realize that it wasn't going directly away from Earth or those altitude numbers would have been going up a lot faster.

Too bad though and hopefully they can sort it out

Now to decide if the stock is worth picking up with some play money.....
 
Fuzzydog said:
Gravity - it isn't just a good idea, it's a law!

I was thinking that a rocket travelling 6500 m/s away from Earth, 540 km above earth would have been free of the pull of Earth's gravity. Ah, but now I also realize that it wasn't going directly away from Earth or those altitude numbers would have been going up a lot faster.

Too bad though and hopefully they can sort it out

Now to decide if the stock is worth picking up with some play money.....
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Hahaha yeah gravity is a bitch :lmao:

Average orbital velocity for LEO (Low Earth Orbit) is aroung 17,000mph, or 7,800 m/s. Anything below that, it's coming back down one way or the other haha. And to escape earths gravitational pull completely, you need to be travelling around 11,200 m/s. As funny as it is, I like to think of gravity like a tetherball. If you put sideways energy into the ball, it'll spin in balanced circles around the pole ("earth") for quite a while. If you launch the ball straight away from the pole, it's coming crashing straight back into the pole as it succumbs to gravity.

I have to admit, the game Kerbal Space Program taught me more about orbital mechanics than I ever knew there was. Honestly for anyone who likes this stuff and sandbox engineering / educational games, definitely give it a try. Super steep learning curve, but it's an absolute blast.

As far as the stock, It's definitely straight up gambling versus an investment, but it has potential. It'll fluctuate in the meantime, but I would guess that the day of (or day after) the next launch, it'll have another 20-50% swing in one direction or the other depending on the result of the launch. If they succeed with both of the next tropics launches, I could see that being a pivotal spike in price. But at the same time, their record is 2/7 right now, so you're playing the odds and your belief in their engineering. Of course I'm just speculating from the outside, so don't take what I say with any confidence haha
 
Wooooo! The FAA process is finally complete, the red tape is behind them.. The result is a "mitigated FONSI". Mitigated Finding Of No Significant Impact. Basically the best case scenario. They're allowed to proceed with everything as planned, with just small mitigating measures for the surrounding environment essentially just be good stewards with a couple specific focuses).

Now that this is behind them, they can apply for proper orbital launch licenses like every regular launch from any other standard launch site. So once they test fire the booster and probably the ship, they could theoretically apply for a launch license in the coming weeks.

"The FAA published the Final Programmatic Environmental Assessment (Final PEA) and Mitigated Finding of No Significant Impact/Record of Decision (Mitigated FONSI/ROD) for the SpaceX Starship/Super Heavy Launch Vehicle Program at the SpaceX Boca Chica Launch Site in Cameron County, Texas (PEA) on June 13, 2022. The documentation is available for download below. "

https://www.faa.gov/space/stakeholder_engagement/spacex_starship
 
I've been out of town, but caught that launch at the airport. Awesome flight, and I didn't know it was the first-13th flight of a booster ahead of time. And the uninterrupted video coverage was excellent! I hope that's a continuing theme at this point, it seems to be.

Todays launch of Sarah-1 from Vandenberg went flawless as well, so they are 2 for 3 this weekend, also with a clean RTLS land landing and uninterrupted video feed. The third flight is tonight I believe, fingers crossed!




The SLS is gearing up to start its next WDR attempts soon too. The testing "starts" tonight, but the tanking and official countdown are in two days

And because it's Saturday, Marcus House has another solid space news video as always:

 
Nasa’s SLS is undergoing the next attempted Wet Dress Rehersal (WDR) today. Fully filling the propellant tanks, and proceeding through the entire countdown until seconds before what would be a launch. It sounds like there have been a few quirks so far this morning resulting in a hold, but they got the go ahead to proceed with tanking just a few minutes ago. The whole process winds down in around 7 hours, I really want to see them nail it this time!

 
Well, WDR #4 went mostly alright-ish. They had some issues crop up along the way, and had a leak on a hydrogen quick disconnect line that threw a wrench in the plans a bit. But they were able to get the first and second stages fully tankes with both hydrogen and liquid oxygen, and brought the count all the way down to T-29 seconds after inputting some data to mask the leak from the main computers that would otherwise stop the count much earlier. They wanted to get down to T-9 seconds so there were a couple objectives left on the table. We should know in the next couple days if they satisfied enough requirements to move forward, or if they will be going for a WDR #5 to dial it in and perfect the process. So far people are guessing there will be a #5, but it’s just speculation until we hear official word.


In Starship news, Booster #7 (which is fully completed and ready to rock) is expected to roll out from the production high bay out to the launch pad in the coming days. And if all goes well, is expected to be lifted onto the launch pad via the chopsticks which will be the first time they’ve lifted a booster with them. That will be sweet, and should be followed up by static firing of the engines starting with one or two at a time and potentially ramping up into a full 33 engine static fire which will be a sight to behold.

And just because the community of 3d artists that are following along are absolutely incredible, check this rendering out. This is the most accurate visualization of the chopsticks catching the ship that I’ve seen yet.

 
ESA is launching one of their Ariane 5's for the first time in a while today. Stream goes live in just under 50 minutes, I believe the launch is in a bit under 2 hours. This is the same rocket that launched the JWST, always cool to see. IIRC, these things have a pretty solid thrust to weight ratio, so they jump off the pad pretty fast

 
I'm still in a bit of a haze bouncing back from the 'rona, but trying to keep up with what's goin on when I have energy

NASA decided no 5th WDR needed for SLS, they got enough data to satisfy their requirements. This came to the surprise of some in the general public, but the theory is that when they roll it out for the actual launch (has one more planned trip back to the VAB for final launch preparations), they can do leak testing leading up to the launch attempt. Speculation is launch in the September-ish timeframe.

And Starship Booster #7 is currently rolling out to the launch pad. Not sure when stacking operations will happen, but this next week should be cool.



And it has all 33 engines installed

 
Also I've mentioned these guys a few times, but Relativity Space is really gearing up for the first launch with their 3d printed (continuously welded) rocket the Terran 1.

At the beginning of the month the first stage of their first rocket arrived at their Florida assembly building:





Then just a couple days ago, the second stage arrived as well:





 
This little guy rolled out to the pad yesterday:





And the 250 ton behemoth got lifted onto the Orbital Launch Mount (OLM) last night via the chopsticks with a full compliment of 33 Raptor 2 engines onboard



And notices are coming out that if all goes well they'll be doing static fires sometime in the monday-wednesday timeframe

 
The first step of a pretty ambitious plan had a small beginning today. Here is a link with the full story,

www.theverge.com

A tiny NASA spacecraft launches to test out a new orbit around the Moon

CAPSTONE is paving the way for the future of NASA’s lunar exploration
www.theverge.com www.theverge.com

here's the cliff notes:

NASA contracted Rocket Labs to send a microwave size satellite to the moon, to test the orbit they want to use for their future moon-orbiting space station.
It is an unconventional trip - the satellite (with a booster) is currently orbiting about 165km above earth. It will gradually elongate this orbit, using its booster and earth gravity to accelerate to 11km/second before shooting off into space, way past the moon before coming back to park in a moon orbit that comes as close as 1000 miles to the moon, and as far as 43500 miles. This orbit supposedly will use less fuel to maintain, as it uses the gravity of the earth moon and sun. Arrival at the moon will be in Nov, then it orbits for about 6 months,then they crash it into the moon.
 
Hell yeah, solid bump. Rocket Lab launched Capstone from New Zealand this morning. Sounds like the launch went smooth, and the first burns of the Photon (the small boost stage) went well.



EDIT - and a quick visualizer of the orbit, also described by Sceeps infographic

 
The narrator does a great job of explaining what happens from here on starting at about 1:17:45
 
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