PJYoung said:

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You're not going to wear the colors of the country you're invading unless you're against the invasion.

Like this Russian conscripts mother painting her fingernails blue and yellow at an antiwar protest in Moscow.

You rarely hear from mothers of Russian soldiers. This lady came up to us at an anti-war protest in Moscow, desperate for the safety of her 22 yr old son. She told us there were only 10 men left in his regiment. If there are voices Putin fears, it’s these pic.twitter.com/CNAY3gK0uj

— James Longman (@JamesAALongman) March 17, 2022

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Putin doesn't fear those voices until they arm themselves, gather in large groups, and start trying to get to him.

Kindly request let's please stick with space related stuff. We have other threads, plenty of them, about Putin/Ukraine etc.

Now, this little tidbit about the Ukrainian folks using starlink connections to basically tie in artillery targeting from a drone is interesting; I'm not sure this has been done before, outside perhaps some US SOCOM folks in Afghanistan etc.;

Quote:

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Over the past fortnight supporters from across Europe have been sending drone parts and other equipment, including 3D printers that can be used to build explosive devices and repair damaged devices. British citizens have responded to the call and are in the process of creating a direct supply stream to Ukraine.

Drone specialists have built a Nato-standard intelligence system capable of monitoring the movements of Russians and co-ordinating precise air attacks against their positions (Charlie Parker writes). Delta, created by the Ukrainian air reconnaissance unit Aerorozvidka, pulls together information from satellites, sensors on the battlefield, drone reconnaissance, radio interceptions and interviews with people in occupied territory.

It allows on-screen tracking of military movement in the conflict zone, showing data on an interactive map that military leaders can use for "situational awareness" and planning. Leaders of the unit have been using the system to co-ordinate bombing runs with drones against Russian targets, including tank convoys.

"We have an in-house team of military software developers who follow a Nato standard to develop our situational awareness system," an Aerorozvidka leader told The Times. He added: "Based on the information we task our 50 teams in the field to either hit the targets identified or provide additional reconnaissance to some special parameters. Or to provide artillery with their eyes they do the co-ordination of artillery fire."

Because of power cuts and internet connection problems in parts of Ukraine as a result of Russian attacks, Aerorozvidka has turned to alternative methods.

Its most sophisticated drones are connected using Starlink, a system donated by Elon Musk that uses satellites in a low orbit to enable "high data rate" activities. "We use Starlink equipment and connect the drone team with our artillery team," the officer said.

"If we use a drone with thermal vision at night, the drone must connect through Starlink to the artillery guy and create target acquisition." Delta proved so successful against Russia in Crimea that Ukrainian officers have been trained by Nato to use it alongside western-style battlefield command and control techniques. The system is helping to transform how units detect and respond to changes on the battlefield.

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As has been stated upthread, mobile roaming/portability mode has been enabled in Ukraine. Long term, SpaceX aspires to make pretty good money selling this kind of stuff to airlines etc.

Toward other (starlink) news; spacex just launched their heaviest payload yet on a tired F9 booster.

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SpaceX Falcon 9 booster B1051 has become the company's 'fleet leader' after acing its 12th orbital-class launch and landing a new record for the rocket family.

After a roughly 90-minute weather delay, Falcon 9 lifted off without issue around 12:48 am EST, March 19th. Booster B1051 touched down on drone ship Just Read The Instructions (JRTI) about nine minutes later, followed by the successful deployment of 53 Starlink V1.5 satellites just over an hour after launch. Starlink 4-12 was SpaceX's 11th successful launch in the first 11 weeks of 2022. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says that Starlink 4-12 was also the heaviest payload ever launched by Falcon 9, weighing in around 16.25 metric tons or ~35,800 pounds.

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That payload includes the mounting rack/deployment stuff, so the individual satellites must weigh on the order of 300kg or 650 or so pounds, with the laser interlink gear.

My apologies if I'm the one that started a derail. Wasn't my intent - I just wanted to pass along the funny that even out here on the farm, where people would least expect it, we have a a connection to the Russian space program and at times rely on it (for additional sat coverage).

Oh no worries, just a request, I don't really mind and am not a thread guardian or anything!

Gotta love them flying their heaviest payload ever on a booster that had previously been to space 11 times. What a legendary rocket design.

Let's get this back in track. Y'all are missing some good milestones for SpaceX.

1. Another successful launch. 12th launch for the B1051 rocket.

That's the record! Falcon 9 B1051 lands for the 12th time!

Landed on SpaceX Drone Ship "Just Read The Instructions". pic.twitter.com/5j8xh5H33G

— Chris Bergin - NSF (@NASASpaceflight) March 19, 2022

2. Full stack propellant load.

Starship full stack propellant load testing at Starbase pic.twitter.com/CFW7E51qdI

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 18, 2022

3. SpaceX Pron.

Starlink satellites with laser links 🛰️ @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/HZQtqaoaG7

— Pranay Pathole (@PPathole) March 19, 2022

nortex97 said:

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Oh no worries, just a request, I don't really mind and am not a thread guardian or anything!

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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FOJ-y8CXsAMjTYU?format=jpg&name=small

In 2008 @elonmusk had to make a choice to either save Tesla or SpaceXpic.twitter.com/qF1IkN6VG7

— Pranay Pathole (@PPathole) March 20, 2022

will25u said:

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In 2008 @elonmusk had to make a choice to either save Tesla or SpaceXpic.twitter.com/qF1IkN6VG7

— Pranay Pathole (@PPathole) March 20, 2022

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And this is the guy some say mooches off of government handouts.

More speculation here, but if you're bemoaning the delay, you probably needn't. SpaceX is not yet ready to launch a fully stacked Starship, and probably won't be until the second half of 2022. So a few more weeks, even a month or two, probably doesn't matter in the big picture.

— Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) March 21, 2022

LOL.

Чушь какая) Спейс не способен делать то, что делал наш Фрегат. OneWeb обречен, несмотря на Ваши разгоряченные от аплодисментов ладошки. Чему Вы радуетесь? Демагогии удава с курицей, что им повезло встретиться на узкой тропинке? )))
Мне жаль OneWeb, но они сами виноваты

— РОГОЗИН (@Rogozin) March 21, 2022

(If translation doesn't come thru; Russians are pissed/dismissive of spacex being unable to do what they did on their 'frigate' (Soyuz).

Translation from Google Translate:

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What nonsense) SpaceX is not able to do what our Frigate did. OneWeb is doomed, despite your warm hands from the applause. What are you happy about? Demagoguery of a boa constrictor with a chicken, that they were lucky to meet on a narrow path? )))

I'm sorry OneWeb, but they are to blame

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.@QuiltyAnalytics found that U.S. space companies are poised to benefit from Russia cutting itself off from much of the global space industry, with SpaceX "the clear winner" in the launch market -- exemplified this morning by OneWeb's new deal:https://t.co/uP8nXd1S3u

— Michael Sheetz (@thesheetztweetz) March 21, 2022

First Starship orbital flight will be with Raptor 2 engines, as they are much more capable & reliable. 230 ton or ~500k lb thrust at sea level.

We’ll have 39 flightworthy engines built by next month, then another month to integrate, so hopefully May for orbital flight test.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 21, 2022

So that's the death knell for Ship 20 and Booster 4. Those are Raptor 1 engines, and it's pretty unlikely that you can just swap between the two. Maybe Booster 7 and ship 24?

I wonder if they'll do a suborbital test, since they already have the engines mounted. Maybe another ship flip test.

Pretty astounding that a single Starship launch has the potential to put 20% of the current annual launch mass into orbit.

I really hope to make it to Boca Chica for that first launch, whenever it happens. It's going to be a game changer.

Sounded like they were doing a test at McGregor this morning. It rattles the windows at the ranch.

👇Great shots here https://t.co/ZTR2deaMfa

— Erc X (@ErcXspace) March 21, 2022

I'm excited about what non-orbital launch tests they can now perform with ship 4/20. Basically it's "who cares if it blows up now?"

TexAgs91 said:

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Translation from Google Translate:

Quote:

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What nonsense) SpaceX is not able to do what our Frigate did. OneWeb is doomed, despite your warm hands from the applause. What are you happy about? Demagoguery of a boa constrictor with a chicken, that they were lucky to meet on a narrow path? )))

I'm sorry OneWeb, but they are to blame

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Next drone ship should be named, "Rogozin, go **** yourself."

I don't think BN4/S20 will wind up launching at all. If the engines aren't giving pertinent/good data on an orbital launch (wrong configuration/changed thrust puck/tanks changed), and there's no re-entry data possibility, I really doubt they risk a RUD at/near the tower.

The more I think about it you're probably correct. The flight profile and vehicle configuration would be completely different with new engines.

I think they might get some reentry data for the heat shield.

420 was gonna go out blazing, I was sure of it. Now it's probably going to be a boring uneventful test flight of 7/24 or whatever stupid number it is

ABATTBQ11 said:

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TexAgs91 said:

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Translation from Google Translate:

Quote:

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What nonsense) SpaceX is not able to do what our Frigate did. OneWeb is doomed, despite your warm hands from the applause. What are you happy about? Demagoguery of a boa constrictor with a chicken, that they were lucky to meet on a narrow path? )))

I'm sorry OneWeb, but they are to blame

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Next drone ship should be named, "Rogozin, go **** yourself."

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We read the instructions... broomstick catcher!

What the hell does fregat do that falcon 9 can't? 8.3t to GTO vs 3.2t on the 2.1b/fregat. It's also vastly cheaper per ton, and the falcon upperstage is capable of GSO delivery.....

Just paint One Broomstick and a price tag with the launch price on the booster.

https://spacenews.com/spacex-severs-ties-with-spaceflight/?fbclid=IwAR1qSJwVxVe80UldTLx4nzNSvci7yENd5OO4aEM04cV2UvIf-Qa1aQQ7Ois

Quote:

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SAN FRANCISCO SpaceX is severing ties with launch services company Spaceflight Inc. after years of working closely together, a move that surprised Spaceflight executives.

In an email sent to companies that send satellites to orbit on its popular small satellite rideshare missions, the "SpaceX Rideshare Team" said SpaceX "will no longer be flying or working with Spaceflight Industries after the currently manifested missions. We look forward to reliably launching all customers currently on our manifest and growing our relationships with new operators as well."

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nortex97 said:

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👇Great shots here https://t.co/ZTR2deaMfa

— Erc X (@ErcXspace) March 21, 2022

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Oh cool... a Pez Dispenser

munch96 said:

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https://spacenews.com/spacex-severs-ties-with-spaceflight/?fbclid=IwAR1qSJwVxVe80UldTLx4nzNSvci7yENd5OO4aEM04cV2UvIf-Qa1aQQ7Ois

Quote:

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SAN FRANCISCO SpaceX is severing ties with launch services company Spaceflight Inc. after years of working closely together, a move that surprised Spaceflight executives.

In an email sent to companies that send satellites to orbit on its popular small satellite rideshare missions, the "SpaceX Rideshare Team" said SpaceX "will no longer be flying or working with Spaceflight Industries after the currently manifested missions. We look forward to reliably launching all customers currently on our manifest and growing our relationships with new operators as well."

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So it sounds like there's some corpo-speak CYA in there by Spaceflight Inc. The article points out at least two mentioned issues - a leak, and environmental testing - that SpaceX was concerned about regarding Spaceflight's deployment vehicle.

Considering that SpaceX is supposed to have fired them via a text, you'd assume diligence was performed ahead of time or there'd be contractual issues. They're being pretty tight-lipped while Spaceflight is speaking very openly. But I kinda get the impression they're being coy about why they actually got fired, especially if they were previously very close to SpaceX.

Just my take anyway.

Have to agree, and I can see two separate but equally financially important factors gor why spacex was justified.

First, from a purely financial perspective, the fact they have a spacecraft having serious mechanical issues that endangers both starlink( which is already fighting cost and development schedule issues because starship is being hamstrung so SLS can fly first), AND their customer payloads that they obviously planned to keep using is an issue. Elon is not risk averse, but his, and Shotwell's risks have always been calculated and taken when they NEEDED to be.

Second, he can't afford anymore bad press and bull**** from a lost spacecraft or environmental issues. The EPA and FAA already hate him, political pressure is mounting against him because he pisses off the democrats AND Republicans that profit from ULA and the big aerospace mafia, they can't afford to lose a mission for stupid and avoidable reasons.

SFi is playing dumb here, I'm hoping someone from spacex comes out today and shuts them down.

Kenneth_2003 said:

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ABATTBQ11 said:

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TexAgs91 said:

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Translation from Google Translate:

Quote:

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What nonsense) SpaceX is not able to do what our Frigate did. OneWeb is doomed, despite your warm hands from the applause. What are you happy about? Demagoguery of a boa constrictor with a chicken, that they were lucky to meet on a narrow path? )))

I'm sorry OneWeb, but they are to blame

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Next drone ship should be named, "Rogozin, go **** yourself."

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We read the instructions... broomstick catcher!

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"Dustpan"

Not sure who is really right/wrong here, but I can imagine this involves something they said/how they handled it ticking Elon off. They also notably 'dominate' this space but there are other options, which SpaceX is continuing to support for rideshare providers, apparently.

Possibly, Elon/spacex just decided they were sloppy in selecting/figuring out how there was a design flaw that could have jeopardized other missions too. He's kind of a jerk to work for I hear and I bet when he learned of that, got upset.

Right, wrong or indifferent this is a blip on the radar; SpaceX has so much demand now thanks to the Russians they can be selective when they want to regarding rideshare partnerships.

Eventually, it will be interesting how Rocketlab develops Neutron and ride share partnerships etc. That's the real competition vs. F9, if starship doesn't hit it's audacious goals by 2024. SpaceX has an opportunity though to ramp up F9 launches/production and really lock in a launch calendar through that time period, however, over the next 6 months, as One Web has shown.