Nope. Launch goal for starship is tomorrow morning, around 7am.

Separately, I do think asteroid mining for 'rare earth metals' (and water) etc. is nearer-term than some have speculated. This may seem absurd, and is dependent on evolving deep space self-replicating/assembling robots (Von Neumann probes/machines) etc., but I find it highly likely over the coming 10+ years.

SpaceX' AI and Martian goals are very directly tied to this interest.

Now to get the government on board with the rapid iteration part.

Starship stacked for flight. This is another chance to put Starship in a true flight environment, maximizing how much we learn.

Rapid iterative development is essential as we work to build a fully reusable launch system capable of carrying satellites, payloads, crew, and cargo… pic.twitter.com/Gkx7lKYVuz

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 16, 2023

Ahh, tomorrow. Damn, I thought it was Friday.

Tomorrow IS Friday.

Bregxit said:

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Kenneth_2003 said:

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Tomorrow IS Friday.

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He thought TODAY was Friday.

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This

Lol, ok a friend elsewhere was thinking today was Wednesday and I was starting to question my own understanding of what day it is today!

aTm2004 said:

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So…no launch this morning?

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The Starship launch window opens at 7am tomorrow morning

eta: oops, I didn't see there's a page 304

The song for tomorrow is:

Pushed according to a buddy with some inside connections. Was fixing to head to Mansfield and boat over to watch in am.

aTm2004 said:

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So…no launch this morning

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It's scheduled for tomorrow....

slammerag said:

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Pushed according to a buddy with some inside connections. Was fixing to head to Mansfield and boat over to watch in am.

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You mean pushed from Friday to later?

ABL Space Systems is also getting things lined up for their second launch. Their launch 1 failure investigation concluded and they've got the go ahead for launch 2. They haven't announced a date yet, but hopefully within the next 3 months.

slammerag said:

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Pushed according to a buddy with some inside connections. Was fixing to head to Mansfield and boat over to watch in am.

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Hmmm, a procession of things one does not wish to see heading to the pad!https://t.co/e3xbqPnwZ5 pic.twitter.com/DUdoMTNMT6

— Chris Bergin - NSF (@NASASpaceflight) November 16, 2023

Looks like a destack

Bregxit said:

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Kenneth_2003 said:

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Tomorrow IS Friday.

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He thought TODAY was Friday.

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Working for the weekend!

Pushed to different date. I will update if I hear different

Starship isn't launching Friday. SpaceX pushed their livestream start time on X to Saturday. pic.twitter.com/CJSTNgT0xO

— Chris Bergin - NSF (@NASASpaceflight) November 16, 2023

Ok, Elon speaks...

We need to replace a grid fin actuator, so launch is postponed to Saturday

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 16, 2023

Bregxit said:

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Kenneth_2003 said:

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Tomorrow IS Friday.

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He thought TODAY was Friday.

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Come on. We've all done it

TexAgs91 said:

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Ok, Elon speaks...

We need to replace a grid fin actuator, so launch is postponed to Saturday

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 16, 2023

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Saturday? They can't launch on Saturday due to local agreements that they won't mess with weekend fishing and beaching.

Did that change?

They can do it a few times per year IIRC

Correct. For some reason the number 5 is sticking out in my mind…

Coming up is....

Starship Saturday! pic.twitter.com/NmBiD85ATu

— Quark Burger (@quarkburger) November 16, 2023

Hopefully to orbit this time

Maximus_Meridius said:

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Correct. For some reason the number 5 is sticking out in my mind…

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It's 5 but only between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Outside of those dates they aren't limited but I'm sure the quiet part of that agreement is to take it easy on weekend activities.

20 minute window on Sat. So if it doesn't go the first time, it will be a scrub.

SpaceX is targeting a TWENTY MINUTE launch window for Starship Flight-2 on November 18. pic.twitter.com/LLfNiVkq8O

— Toby Li (@tobyliiiiiiiiii) November 16, 2023

Fightin_Aggie said:

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Bregxit said:

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Kenneth_2003 said:

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Tomorrow IS Friday.

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He thought TODAY was Friday.

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Come on. We've all done it

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I was straightening out Ken, not 2004. I lose track of days all the time...the consequence of having work teams in eight time zones from here to Malaysia. I constantly have to ask what day it is.

Odds of a scrub? About to take my family down from H Town.

Premium said:

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Odds of a scrub? About to take my family down from H Town.

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Dunno but a 20 minute window is tiny.

PJYoung said:

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Premium said:

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Odds of a scrub? About to take my family down from H Town.

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Dunno but a 20 minute window is tiny.

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Is that begging for a scrub?

I would play it by ear and be prepared to stay over til Sunday for sure since in all likelihood if it scrubs they will try again Sunday.

I would pay attention to the @NASASpaceflight accounts on Twitter and livestreams on Youtube for updates.

Since I'm only an hour away I'll probably check on it in the middle of the night and hit the road by 4:30a if it's on Saturday morning but I wouldn't put the odds of a launch at much more than 50/50.

Premium said:

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PJYoung said:

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Premium said:

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Odds of a scrub? About to take my family down from H Town.

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Dunno but a 20 minute window is tiny.

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Is that begging for a scrub?

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After being fueled it can't launch much more than 20 minutes after the window opens anyways from what I hear.

What time does the window open Saturday?

Because of the Aggie Saturday game I can't make it.. anytime next week would be great !

YellowPot_97 said:

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What time does the window open Saturday?

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Saturday 7a

And the stream is saying that if they do fuel the starship for Saturday then that would take out a Sunday attempt. I'm not 100% on that tho.

And they're worried about the weather Monday-Wednesday but I'm not exactly sure why. looking at wind shear #s which also aren't great right now for Sunday.

Thursday - Monday would be shut down for the Thanksgiving holiday due to the roads unable to be closed.

Once it's fueled, it takes 2-3 days to unload and refuel it

TexAgs91 said:

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Once it's fueled, it takes 2-3 days to unload and refuel it

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That's not what causes the 2-3 day delay. They can safe the vehicle in about 4-5 hours after a complete propellant load. The delay is caused by the need to replenish the orbital tank farm with some liquid oxygen and mostly liquid nitrogen.

They cannot avoid boiling off about 25% of the liquid oxygen because they vent a lot of it during transfer and engine chill. They use liquid nitrogen to recondense the liquid oxygen and methane using kettle boilers. The coolant loop is open cycle that vents to atmosphere after the heat exchanger. They also use the liquid nitrogen to purge the propellant lines.

They reclaim all of the methane that doesn't leak, they reclaim all the liquid oxygen which doesn't vent, but they cannot reclaim ANY of the liquid nitrogen.

So it take a couple of days to truck in all the liquid nitrogen and LOX.