It's literally next to state highway 4, as long as you're on the other side of the road they don't care. Even if they did care it's public property. There are two sites, the manufacturing site and the launch site, they're about a mile apart.

You are literally within a few hundred yards of the Rio Grande also, it took forever to get there but I was glad I got to visit while it was relatively quiet.

Starlink 14 success on Oct 24, but one appears to have failed (1914)

https://spacenews.com/spacex-reaches-100-successful-launches-with-starlink-mission/

[url=https://spacenews.com/spacex-reaches-100-successful-launches-with-starlink-mission/][/url]

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The launch was the third Starlink mission in less than two weeks, after Falcon 9 launches Oct. 6 and Oct. 18 that each carried 60 Starlink satellites into orbit. The company has now launched 895 Starlink satellites, 55 of which have reentered either because of passive orbital decay or by being actively deorbited.

SpaceX has boasted in filings with the Federal Communications Commission of the high reliability of the Starlink satellites. That included an Oct. 15 filing about an ex parte meeting between SpaceX and FCC staff where the company noted "the successful launch and operation of nearly 300 additional satellites without a failure" since an earlier report filed with the FCC.

That streak, though, may have been broken on the previous launch. Satellite observers noted that one of the satellites on the Oct. 18 launch, identified as Starlink-1819, was not raising its orbit like the other 59. Tracking data showed that satellite's orbit was instead decaying, suggesting it had malfunctioned.

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Quote:

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The recent surge in Starlink launches is taking place as two other Falcon 9 missions remain on hold. The last-second scrub of a Falcon 9 launch of a GPS 3 satellite Oct. 2 has yet to be rescheduled, and the investigation into the gas generator problem that caused the scrub led NASA to postpone the Falcon 9 launch of the Crew-1 commercial crew mission, which had been scheduled for Oct. 31.

The Crew-1 launch remains on hold. In a series of tweets Oct. 21, Kathy Lueders, NASA associate administrator for human exploration and operations, said investigators were making "good progress" on understanding the engine issue, but that they were not ready to report the cause of the problem.

She did note that SpaceX will replace one Merlin engine on both the booster that will be used for the Crew-1 mission and the booster for the launch of the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich ocean science satellite, scheduled for Nov. 10 from Vandenberg Air Force Base. The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich launch remains on schedule for that launch even with the engine swap, she said.

The earliest Crew-1 would launch is mid-November, Lueders said. "We will want a few days between Sentinel-6 and Crew-1 to complete data reviews and check performance. Most importantly, we will fly all our missions when we are ready."

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TexAgs91 said:

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SpaceX launched their 100th orbital mission last week.

- 56 successful Falcon 9 landings
- 41 flights used a refurbished / reflown first stage
- 90% of flights in 2020 used a refurbished / reflown first stage
- Averaging a launch every 16 days in 2020

Insert: Ron Paul "It's Happening" dot Gif

Remarkably, Elon has said he wants 48 launches in 2021. Almost one per week.

Made a massive panorama of Starship SN8, you can download it here.

Sorry, I meant 1819. It just...didn't make it.

My blog post about going out to Boca Chica with lots of pics: https://andystravelblog.boardingarea.com/2020/10/27/elon-musk-spacex-texas-starship/

Nice blog, Andy!

Starlink Beta is now open (I don't think for Texas).

Quote:

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The initial Starlink service is called "Better Than Nothing Beta," according to multiple screenshots of an email, CNBC reported.

Joining the public beta test costs $99 a month on top of a $499 upfront cost for the ground equipment, which includes a user terminal to connect to the satellites, a mounting tripod and a Wi-Fi router.

"Under Starlink's Better Than Nothing Beta program, initial service is targeted for the U.S. and Canada in 2020, rapidly expanding to near global coverage of the populated world by 2021," SpaceX said in the description of its Starlink mobile app.

SpaceX earlier this month announced a partnership with Microsoft to connect the tech giant's Azure cloud computing network to the Starlink network. SpaceX and Microsoft in recent months have been testing the software needed to connect Starlink and Azure. The partnership is especially key to Microsoft's new mobile data centers, which the company said are designed "for customers who need cloud computing capabilities in hybrid or challenging environments, including remote areas."

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https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2020/10/27/SpaceX-launches-public-beta-test-of-Starlink-Internet-service/2971603815156/

A few updates (ArsTechnica); problem found/fixed in aborted Falcon9 launch.

Quote:

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Two of the rocket's nine first-stage engines ignited early during the early-October launch attempt, and this triggered an automatic abort of the engines. (Had the abort not triggered, it is likely that nothing bad would have occurred, but Koenigsmann said that under certain extreme scenarios, rattling from an early ignition may cause significant damage to the Merlin engines.)

Replicating the issue

SpaceX technicians removed the two engines and shipped them from Florida to the company's test site in McGregor, Texas, where they were able to replicate the problem. They found that a relief valve within the gas generatora tiny rocket within the engine that starts up and powers its machinerywas clogged with a masking lacquer akin to nail polish. They were able to show that removing the lacquer from the vent hole allowed the engines to start up normally.

This lacquer is applied during an anodizing process to treat aluminum components of the gas generator. It is supposed to be subsequently removed, but in the case of these two engines, a tiny amount of the material had been trapped within a bore hole less than 2mm across.

"So it was a really great find in that sense and allowed us to fix something that is very subtle but can have obviously some negative impact on the engine operation," Koenigsmann said.

After this, SpaceX inspected other engines across its fleet (the company inspected new boosters only, as Falcon 9 first stages that have already flown are not subject to this issue). SpaceX found that two of the engines on the Falcon 9 rocket that will be used for the Crew-1 launch also had this problem. Those two engines are now being swapped out for new Merlins.

The new plan

If all goes to plan, SpaceX will launch two new Falcon 9 first stages before Crew 1: the GPS III mission on November 4, and the Sentinel-6 mission for NASA on November 10. Provided those launches go well, NASA will likely stick to the November 14 date for the Crew-1 mission that will send NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker, along with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency mission specialist Soichi Noguchi, to the International Space Station. Their Crew Dragon would rendezvous with the space station about 8.5 hours after launching at 7:49pm EST (00:49 UTC on November 15).

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The Oct 2 scrubbed GPS launch went off finally on Nov 5 from the cape...

https://www.space.com/spacex-launches-gps-sv04-navigation-satellite-space-force

Sorry, this is a video I meant to include earlier: good, though hour long, explanation/details on starship/super heavy etc.

Big week, hopefully it'll fly!

This is from the 1953 book "Mars Project" by Werner Von Braun


The 2nd paragraph says
"The government of Mars consisted of ten men. At its head was a man who was elected by the entire population for five years and whom the Martians called Elon."

LOL, good catch.

Static fire of SN8 supposed to happen this evening; it's fueled up, but it won't leave the ground (unless things go really wrong).

big flight today with four astronauts.

Just over an hour from launch now. Think this is another instantaneous launch window. So any delay, next window is on the 18th.

Successful launch and landing of the first stage. Very cool stuff SpaceX is doing.

A size comparison...

And that's just the second stage! The full Starship stack will be as tall as the tallest building on South Padre.

I had a friend visiting from out of town over the weekend and we took a drive to Boca Chica to see the SN8 before its 15km flight. If anyone is visiting SPI with their family or kids, it's well worth the effort to drive around the ship channel and to take a look at the facility. You are almost within arms reach of the guys working on Starships.

This is at the Spaceport, down the road from the launchpad.


This is the launchpad facility. It is about 5-600 yards from Boca Chica beach.



This is taken at Boca Chica Village (a small community of homes) right at the Spaceport, looking back toward the launchpad/beach.



These were taken Sunday. That Starship is set for a 15km hop to include a belly flop and glide as soon as it clears its tests. If/when it augers in, they are already assembling one or two more to replace it in the Spaceport high bay facility.

Have they ever publicly released who the designers/chief engineers behind the starship are?

Elon Musk is the chief engineer, Thomas Mueller has been with the company since the beginning and was through most of his career the chief designer/propulsion expert/CTO.

Musk has a degree in physics from Penn and before he dropped out of Stanford he enrolled as a PhD student in applied physics and material sciences. He's also a rabid self teacher like Bill Gates. People like that can pretty much learn anything they need to that they have an interest in.

notex said:

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Have they ever publicly released who the designers/chief engineers behind the starship are?

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I think the way it works is Musk has an idea in his head and tells his engineers to make it work.

I kinda doubt it/respectfully disagree. He definitely employs some bright folks. You don't blast into both cars and space launch industries just being a stubborn idea guy (note: I still think he's crazy).

Good news, SN8 issues seem easily fixable.

If the implication of that post was that he doesn't understand the systems or the needs of the designs and just says "go figure it out yourself" then I think that's an absolutely underestimate of Elon Musk's knowledge. I think he had very good understanding of the systems and the physics and engineering challenges that have to be solved. Obviously Elon is not solving every problem that arises or even most, but he's the director.

There's Steve Jobs leaders that have a great eye and understanding of what needs to be done as far as the final product and experience, but couldn't do it themselves if they tried.

There's Bill Gates leaders that understand the technicals of what need to be done, could do it themselves, but delegate the tasks.

Elon is far more the latter than the former. If you don't believe that then you haven't listened to him much or you haven't listened to his employees speak about him. Gates does not like Elon and Elon does not like Gates, but Gates acknowledges that Elon is more engineer than conductor like Jobs. Go listen to Thomas Mueller (Merlin engine designer) discuss Musk's leadership style and how he's the decision maker on the direction the engineering goes.

Absente lumine

hph6203 said:

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If the implication of that post was that he doesn't understand the systems or the needs of the designs and just says "go figure it out yourself" then I think that's an absolutely underestimate of Elon Musk's knowledge. I think he had very good understanding of the systems and the physics and engineering challenges that have to be solved. Obviously Elon is not solving every problem that arises or even most, but he's the director.

There's Steve Jobs leaders that have a great eye and understanding of what needs to be done as far as the final product and experience, but couldn't do it themselves if they tried.

There's Bill Gates leaders that understand the technicals of what need to be done, could do it themselves, but delegate the tasks.

Elon is far more the latter than the former. If you don't believe that then you haven't listened to him much or you haven't listened to his employees speak about him. Gates does not like Elon and Elon does not like Gates, but Gates acknowledges that Elon is more engineer than conductor like Jobs. Go listen to Thomas Mueller (Merlin engine designer) discuss Musk's leadership style and how he's the decision maker on the direction the engineering goes.

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Sorry I am not sure how you reached that conclusion as to my personal opinion of Elon Musk's management style etc. It's not really a debate I'd take with your position, but would note that going back at least to Andrew Carnegie great American industrial leaders have had a terrific ability to hire/manage the right people.

Ultimately, martyte likely caused the pneumatic failure, and it's not a vehicle design issue that was found in the Starship near-loss.



Launch today for an F9 around 11:15 CST.

Was talking about the post you replied to.

Looks like December 2nd is the date for SpaceX's SN8 prototype to launch up to about 9 miles. They will do a static fire again today. Musk places the odds of a successful launch and landing at 1 in 3.

Also this from Teslarati:
"On November 25th, Starship SN9 (featuring "small improvements") was stacked to its full 50-meter (~165 ft) height. If SN8 is destroyed during testing, SN9 will likely be ready to roll to the launch site almost as soon as the dust settles.

Meanwhile, Starship SN10 is likely just 7-10 days away from a similar nosecone stacking milestone, and Starship SN11's tank section is just one stack away from completion, likely putting it less than two weeks behind SN10. In other words, insofar as speed is a priority and each prototype is anywhere close to as cheap as Starship's majority-steel bill of materials might suggest, SpaceX is building Starships so quickly that it almost doesn't make sense to spend more than a few weeks working through bugs on any single suborbital ship."


Starship SN9 was stacked to its full height on November 25th and should be structurally complete in a matter of days.

They've identified parts all the way through sn15 on site if I'm not mistaken.

I think he's way more confident about it launching than he is about it landing. I'm curious if they've ever even done a Raptor relight test, I haven't heard of one.

TexAgs91 said:

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Looks like December 2nd is the date for SpaceX's SN8 prototype to launch up to about 9 miles. They will do a static fire again today. Musk places the odds of a successful launch and landing at 1 in 3.

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I love the rapid build/test and "fail fast" mentality, but I sure would hope for at least a 50/50 chance of success before I push the big red launch button.

bthotugigem05 said:

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I think he's way more confident about it launching than he is about it landing. I'm curious if they've ever even done a Raptor relight test, I haven't heard of one.

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The static fire is today. Not sure what time. Hopefully all the cheap heat shielding underneath is fixed/won't blast back up into it today.

The first few flight articles are really expected to crash and burn. Heck, folks should go back and look at the comical video Musk narrated showing all of the Falcon crashes before they got that one right.

This one is exponentially harder than that because it is to return from orbit (no one recovers second stages), then flip about 150 degrees (capsules don't have to do this, and the space shuttle of course just coasted down a runway for a mile and a half), swing back about 30 degrees, and then sit vertically on what is again a tiny window/pad for the size of the vehicle/rocket.

It has to do all of those maneuvers at the last second because...even throttled back (outer rockets) it will have more thrust than it's weight (like the F9) so it has to cut out the engines just as it hits zero MPH a few inches over the pad.