Premium said:

---

---

Mine has shipped!

TexAgs91 said:

---

I wish I could buy stock in SpaceX

---

Just imagine what that'll look like when we're all carrying around Starlink enabled phones

My suspicion when they do equity placements they're in the $100,000,000 minimum. Not many private investors can pull together that amount of coin, and I'm guessing the private equity helps that can do that (in a single investment) aren't plentiful.

Whenever they do IPO it will shatter records.

I thought starlink was rumored to have an IPO at some point?

Kenneth_2003 said:

---

My suspicion when they do equity placements they're in the $100,000,000 minimum. Not many private investors can pull together that amount of coin, and I'm guessing the private equity helps that can do that (in a single investment) aren't plentiful.

Whenever they do IPO it will shatter records.

---

Private equity world is wild from what I know, but also somewhat more structured than I'd imagined. Basically, there are outfits that specialize in various areas of investment sizes. SpaceX is at the top tier, and the folks who do that are…not amateurs by any means.

They aren't struggling to raise capital privately, is my point. If anything, it's almost absurdly easy for them at this time, imho. The payoff to the equity/investors is going to be magnificent the longer it holds out for an IPO, the only risk is that they refuse to spin SpaceX off from Starlink (or vice versa). It's real tough to see the mars goals as cash flow positive in the next 20 years.

Kenneth_2003 said:

---

My suspicion when they do equity placements they're in the $100,000,000 minimum. Not many private investors can pull together that amount of coin, and I'm guessing the private equity helps that can do that (in a single investment) aren't plentiful.

Whenever they do IPO it will shatter records.

---

To stay private they have to have fewer than something like 500 total investors so it really restricts the minimum investment value.

There is an immense amount of dry powder out there in the investment world because of the high interest rates and lower issuance figures right now. SpaceX won't have to worry about being undersubscribed for any offering any time soon, even at minimums like that.

Interesting that less than 5 years ago, all the "experts" truly believed that spacex wouldn't be able to maintain profitability, and that they would be charging three times or more current launch costs to even survive.

Looks like that was a umm... "bold prediction"

nortex97 said:

---

They are working on their copy of Starship, but I am skeptical about the full flow staged combustion methelox engine they are trying to test, akin to a Raptor in some respects. They also probably need/want to have SpaceX work out the kinks/problems in the starship design before advancing with their own models stealing the technology

---

FIFY

I wouldn't take issue with that at all. Part of the intrigue for me with whatever copy they put out there is what they do with launching it and reusability.

Assuming the real one works, it's still a massive rocket and I am not sure it makes practical sense for them to deal with losing a dozen or more from their 'regular' launch sites trying to fly it back over populated areas. They launch from central/western China because originally they wanted to hide their space activities from overflight/spies etc. Communists don't care about their subjects obviously but it would cause a big embarrassment.

FH is supposed to launch this am I think around 7:30, fyi. It's not every day a spaceplane is launched on a Falcon Heavy (X-37)!

Meanwhile, at historic LC-39A: #SpaceX is lifting #FalconHeavy back to a vertical position in advance of a launch attempt NET tomorrow at 8:14 PM Eastern.

PGO for tomorrow’s window is 7️⃣0️⃣%. #USSF52https://t.co/0bU2sBXKqj pic.twitter.com/6CCcjO2YJS

— Tyler Gray (@TylerG1998) December 10, 2023

Next up booster is apparently going to roll to the OLT perhaps today.

It looks like the build-up to the third flight of Starship will ramp up soon, with a rollout (assuming Ship 28, but it could be Booster 10) on Sunday.

Remember, both vehicles have been cryo-tested at Masseys already. They could do another at the launch site, but they could also… pic.twitter.com/26gAJHfvf4

— Chris Bergin - NSF (@NASASpaceflight) December 8, 2023

They already added baffles or whatever they needed to fix the fuel sloshing in the booster? (assuming that's what killed it?) And they already fixed whatever killed Starship?

TexAgs91 said:

---

They already added baffles or whatever they needed to fix the fuel sloshing in the booster? (assuming that's what killed it?) And they already fixed whatever killed Starship?

---

It's possible they fixed things before flight. Remember these are months old and I think the IFT-2 hardware was built before IFT-1. They obviously improved for the second test but there's some things that you can only do during manufacturing.

I suspect one of the issues they are dealing with is they aren't getting much advantage from rapid testing. They are making units but can't test them at nearly the pace they did before.

Regarding the boosters... Probably not. They're going to soft land then anyway until they truly learn to fly them and none of the current inventory will be reused.

My guess is they'll use various techniques to manage vehicle accelerations until a variant gets to the head of the line with header tanks.

I've also wondered if footer takes would be better than header tanks to minimize/eliminate fluid hammer in the down comer.

Edit... They need to get the ship into orbit and reentry. Landing isnt the priority yet

Yes, and to decay's question I really don't know. My suspicion is not much is real different mechanically/structurally on the booster. They don't really care what happens once stage separation happens, so if they can change some throttle/pump settings to somehow keep it in one piece after the spin, great. If not, oh well, real goal is to get the 2nd stage to Hawaii and test re-entry at this point.

Plus, making it off the pad (barely, the first time) is great, but it's not exactly a proven system. They don't want to wait for an improved version (V2) for the upper stage, or lower one to keep testing the rocket, and stage 0 alike. Really, the April launch already had so many design differences with IFT2 it was practically a different system entirely, and IFT2 to IFT3 can just help gather a lot more data. I do hope they know more than I do as to why the upper stage broke up near orbit on IFT2.

The other thing is that what they really don't want is a radical change again (as with IFT1 and 2) where a breakup/risk on/near the pad leads to a huge FAA/Fish and Wildlife etc. delay before any IFT4. Tweak what is working so the bureaucrats don't' stop you from trying new stuff, basically. Don't harm any squirrels/pigeons etc.

You're living the dream and making Aggies proud!

Good luck!

In other news, one of our competitors hitched themselves to ULA's success and their launch is getting delayed. Even if they launched on Christmas, they would have taken a month to land and our attempt would be first. But now the launches will be closer in time, and their landing will be well after ours.

JAXA is going to attempt a landing around the same time as us on Jan 19 though. Busy month for the moon!

#VulcanRocket WDR update: Vehicle performed well. Ground system had a couple of (routine) issues, (being corrected). Ran the timeline long so we didn't quite finish. I'd like a FULL WDR before our first flight, so XMAS eve is likely out. Next Peregrine window is 8 Jan.

— Tory Bruno (@torybruno) December 10, 2023

I thought spacex blew up the 2nd stage when it didn't meet the speed/altitude?

I don't think it Just broke up.

Broke up or FTS I think Scott Manley was into something with his observation of increased O2 usage towards the end of flight. It wasn't just a trajectory issue.

Scrubbed

jkag89 said:

---

Scrubbed

---

SCRUB...#SpaceX just postponed the FH launch for tonight until tomorrow night @ 8:13pm. Starlink still scheduled for tonight. #NASA https://t.co/VLBLkMbnX3

— Greg Scott (@GregScott_photo) December 12, 2023

Night time/dusk FH launch would be epic, again.

What's the word, are these SpaceX scrubs, weather, or client/cargo?

https://myrgv.com/local-news/2023/12/12/starbase-general-manager-discusses-future-plans-at-invite-only-brownsville-event/

Confirmation that the 2nd stage auto destructed.

Also that SpaceX has pivoted and will use Boca as a main launching facility for Starship. I know last year Elon had said they would use Boca mostly for testing.

Not sure telling the locals that BC is going to be the 'premier operational center for starship' is a commitment to more launches vs. Canaveral long term.

The infrastructure around BC just won't support the type of high-pace cadence they want to get to, imho.

Yeah I guess we will see.

I do wonder what it will look like in 5 years considering where they were 5 years ago.

By buying Twitter, Elon Musk kicked a hornets nest with the Democrats and is now getting hammered by a good chunk of our Federal Government. Add the FCC going after Starlink now.

President Biden stood at a White House podium & stated that Elon Musk “is worth being looked at.”

When asked "How?", President Biden responded “There’s a lot of ways.”

There certainly are. The DOJ, FAA, FTC, NLRB, SDNY, & FWS have all taken action.

The FCC now joins them.

— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) December 13, 2023

A corrupt system will never fix itself.