Starship troopers!

I wonder what kind of defense mechanisms the starship will have?

You know the skinnies will be throwing RPG's at it.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/pentagon-wants-elon-musk-to-drop-soldiers-into-conflict-from-space_4550780.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=rantingly


The Pentagon is collaborating with Elon Musk's company SpaceX to investigate the possibility of using the company's rockets to drop troops and equipment into global flashpoints.

Viper16jr said:

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Starship troopers!

I wonder what kind of defense mechanisms the starship will have?

You know the skinnies will be throwing RPG's at it.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/pentagon-wants-elon-musk-to-drop-soldiers-into-conflict-from-space_4550780.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=rantingly


The Pentagon is collaborating with Elon Musk's company SpaceX to investigate the possibility of using the company's rockets to drop troops and equipment into global flashpoints.

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Aside from the incredible risk of the starship to enemy fire, this is a no brainer. Go anywhere in an hour tops? I bet the Pentagon suddenly figures out how to mitigate the risk to turtles

Space-Track confirms the presence of four secret payloads on the Globalstar Falcon 9 launch - USA 328 to USA 331, catalog 52889 to 52892, orbital data not available. One piece of debris, probably a Starlink-style tension rod? pic.twitter.com/vmsRehFLKT

— Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) June 20, 2022

Speculation is these four mystery payloads are modified Starlink satellites being used by the DoD.

Elon has serious deals in play with the US Military, which is probably why he feels untouchable right now and has no reservations about getting involved in political discourse.

The European rocket, Ariane 6, that's supposed to "compete" with SpaceX's Falcon 9 has been delayed again - into 2023. They only have five more flights of the Ariane 5 left.

Also chuckle at Bezos using the European rockets to launch his Project Kuiper satellite Internet constellation.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/06/europes-major-new-rocket-the-ariane-6-is-delayed-again/

Quote:

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. . .
Europe's much-anticipated next-generation rocket, which has a roughly comparable lift capacity to SpaceX's Falcon 9 booster, was originally due to launch before the end of 2020.

The Ariane 6 rocket has subsequently been delayed a few times, but before this week the European Space Agency had been holding to a debut launch date before the end of this year. However, during a BBC interview on Monday, European Space Agency Director General Josef Aschbacher said the rocket would not fly until sometime in 2023.
. . .
The source said an issue with the "cryogenic connection system" had been a critical item requiring a lot of focus for development efforts and a driver of delays. However, that test was recently completed, with the cryogenic lines carrying liquefied hydrogen and oxygen to the Ariane 6 rocket right up until liftoff, demonstrating a successful release at the correct moment.

Due to development issues, other critical tests have been long-delayed as well, such as a hot-fire test of the rocket's second stage, which features a single Vinci engine. The official said he expected the second stage test to occur soon at Lampoldshausen, Germany.
. . .
The official declined to provide a new, specific launch target for Ariane 6's debut flight. (A separate source has told Ars the working date is no earlier than April 2023). The new launch target is expected to be revealed on July 13 during a joint news conference with European space officials.

The Ariane 6 program's management has also been streamlined, the official said. Development of the rocket has been funded by the European Space Agency, with Ariane Group as the primary contractor. The goal of reconfiguring the project's management is both to ensure the smoothest path to orbit, as well as prepare to "ramp up" production for the vehicle. So far, development of the Ariane 6 rocket has cost about 3.8 billion euros (US $4 billion).
. . .
Two events within the last few months have substantially increased demand for the Ariane 6 vehicle, even as the vehicle has faced more delays.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February led the European Space Agency to sever ties with the Russian space program for its use of the Soyuz rocket. This meant that European institutional payloads, such as the Galileo and Copernicus satellites, had to find other rides to space. (Europe's current mainstay rocket, the Ariane 5, has just five more flights left before it is retired in favor of the Ariane 6.) Instead of flying on the Russian-built Soyuz, most of these payloads are now waiting for the Ariane 6 to come online.
. . .
The second change was a blockbuster commercial order from Amazon, which purchased 18 flights of the Ariane 6 in its more powerful "64" version, with four solid-rocket boosters. Amazon needs to launch the majority of its Project Kuiper satellite Internet constellation in the next five years, so its commercial order likely has a limited lifespanwhich probably can be rescinded if the Ariane 6 cannot fly frequently enough.

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Honestly, Musk has made himself functionally irreplaceable. If you shut spacex down, the US only has a handful of launches before they're completely out of anything bigger than a ton or so going to orbit. Manned flight has 7 shots period.

Kind of a scary thought

Ag_of_08 said:

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Honestly, Musk has made himself functionally irreplaceable. If you shut spacex down, the US only has a handful of launches before they're completely out of anything bigger than a ton or so going to orbit. Manned flight has 7 shots period.

Kind of a scary thought

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SpaceX has become functionally irreplaceable because NASA has become dysfunctional and unable to accomplish anything. Also, the army of paper work soldiers with the FAA and EPA and other regulatory bodies have zero incentive to give approval to private launch providers.

On the other hand, NROL, space force and the rest have a HUGE incentive.... in that they're so dependent they can't afford to lose them at all.

I'm wondering when or if Musk will finally play that card to stop the regulatory roadblocks

Ag_of_08 said:

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On the other hand, NROL, space force and the rest have a HUGE incentive.... in that they're so dependent they can't afford to lose them at all.

I'm wondering when or if Musk will finally play that card to stop the regulatory roadblocks

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When he is ready to launch

Super Heavy Booster 7 is on the orbital launch mount after being lifted by the chopsticks overnight. This was the first time the chopsticks have ever lifted a Super Heavy Booster.

5:44 am 6/24/22https://t.co/lqMPEMdyvz pic.twitter.com/dsI0Tweh9w

— Starship Gazer (@StarshipGazer) June 24, 2022

I still believe they would have launched a raptor 1 powered vehicle if they'd have gotten the chance.

I'm not saying it would have been a wise decision.... I'm pretty sure it would have have surpassed the N1 in more than just size and engine count, but I think he'd have tried it.

Hello from interstellar space! 👋 While I’ve been quiet on here the last few weeks, my engineering team has been hard at work. First, they’re still investigating my telemetry data - but don’t worry, I’m still able to receive and execute commands from Earth.

— NASA Voyager (@NASAVoyager) June 23, 2022

While our power budgets will continue to get tighter, our team thinks we can continue to do science for at least another five years. I might get to celebrate my 50th launch anniversary or even operate into the 2030s!

— NASA Voyager (@NASAVoyager) June 23, 2022

will25u said:

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Timelapse of SpaceX lifting the world's most powerful rocket booster with Chopsticks for the first time.https://t.co/9tCZafcbaB pic.twitter.com/2q6KSEWz00

— Michael Baylor (@nextspaceflight) June 24, 2022

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Have we seen that the chopsticks have treads or something on top that is able to rotate the booster?

They do not. The booster is held up by relatively tiny pins that connect to the chopsticks, it's not being caught by the gridfins.

Malachi Constant said:

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Space-Track confirms the presence of four secret payloads on the Globalstar Falcon 9 launch - USA 328 to USA 331, catalog 52889 to 52892, orbital data not available. One piece of debris, probably a Starlink-style tension rod? pic.twitter.com/vmsRehFLKT

— Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) June 20, 2022

Speculation is these four mystery payloads are modified Starlink satellites being used by the DoD.

Elon has serious deals in play with the US Military, which is probably why he feels untouchable right now and has no reservations about getting involved in political discourse.

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I suspect the military/NSA would pay for the entire Starlink constellation if they they could piggy back some SigInt capabilities on each satellite.

That said, I think Elon is smart enough not to do this.

Good video about the lack of 'dissimilar redundancy' for SLS.

He has a nice presentation but gets many things wrong such as loitering at ISS until a Starship ferry flight returns from ISS.

SpaceX makes history with three launches in close order.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/06/rocket-report-spacex-steamroller-rolls-on-russian-rocket-workers-are-idled/

Quote:

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. . .
SpaceX steamroller rolls on. SpaceX hauled a Globalstar communications satellite into orbit early Sunday from Cape Canaveral, pulling off the third Falcon 9 rocket flight in 36 hours. This is the fastest sequence of three missions by any commercial launch company in history, Spaceflight Now reports. The trifecta of Falcon 9 missions began at 16:09 UTC Friday with the launch of 53 Starlink Internet satellites from the Kennedy Space Center. That mission set a record with the 13th flight of a reusable Falcon booster, which returned to land on one of SpaceX's drone ships in the Atlantic.

That's a lot of launches ... SpaceX teams at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California launched another Falcon 9 rocket at 14:19 UTC Saturday with the German military's SARah 1 radar reconnaissance satellite. The Falcon booster used on the SARah 1 descended back to Vandenberg for an onshore landing. The launches marked the 158th, 159th, and 160th flights of a Falcon 9 rocket overall, and the 24th, 25th, and 26th Falcon 9 missions this year, tying the 26-launch tally SpaceX achieved in the entire year of 2020. SpaceX is on pace to surpass the 31-launch markits total from last yearby the end of July. (submitted by EllPeaTea and Ken the Bin)
. . .

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They typically slow down mid-late summer quite a bit though.

Looks like SpaceX is testing with the can crusher today. Note the ice forming on the sides.

The first parts of the Chopstick system that will be used to catch and stack Starship were spotted at SpaceX's Roberts Road facility.

Video and Photos from @spacecoast_stve and @julia_bergeron

📺https://t.co/w0ZzAoBpIh pic.twitter.com/zJOqOFJtIG

— Patrick Colquhoun (@Patrick_Colqu) June 28, 2022

The 3rd tower segment of #SpaceX ´s OLIT 2.0 at the Cape has been delivered to LC-39A and is ready for stacking.

First parts of the OLM have also been spotted. pic.twitter.com/Il1sZlyYcq

— Lolomatico_3D (@Lolomatico3d) June 28, 2022

More BE-4 tweets from Blue are a good sign. Would be very encouraging if they provided some updates on New Glenn past the pathfinder we've seen in vids.

Of course, flight BE-4s are first required for customer ULA and its Vulcan rocket. https://t.co/jXFe62RXYe

— Chris Bergin - NSF (@NASASpaceflight) June 29, 2022

Man, this thread is starting to lose interest I guess. Interesting news from a regulatory standpoint as this could/will likely drive a surge in revenue over the next few years for SpaceX; starlink approved for cars/planes/boats etc.

Quote:

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WASHINGTON The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Thursday authorized Elon Musk's SpaceX to use its Starlink satellite internet network with moving vehicles, green-lighting the company's plan to expand broadband offerings to commercial airlines, shipping vessels and trucks.

Starlink, a fast-growing constellation of internet-beaming satellites in orbit, has long sought to grow its customer base from individual broadband users in rural, internet-poor locations to enterprise customers in the potentially lucrative automotive, shipping and airline sectors.

"Authorizing a new class of terminals for SpaceX's satellite system will expand the range of broadband capabilities to meet the growing user demands that now require connectivity while on the move," the FCC said in its authorization published Thursday, echoing plans outlined in SpaceX's request for the approval early last year.

SpaceX has steadily launched some 2,700 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit since 2019 and has amassed hundreds of thousands of subscribers, including many who pay $110 a month for broadband internet using $599 self-install terminal kits.

The Hawthorne, California-based space company has focused heavily in recent years on courting airlines around Starlink for in-flight WiFi, having inked its first such deals in recent months with Hawaiian Airlines and semi-private jet service JSX.

"We're obsessive about the passenger experience," Jonathan Hofeller, Starlink's commercial sales chief, said at an aviation conference earlier this month. "We're going to be on planes here very shortly, so hopefully passengers are wowed by the experience."

SpaceX, under an earlier experimental FCC license, has been testing aircraft-tailored Starlink terminals on Gulfstream jets and U.S. military aircraft.

Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX, has previously said that the types of vehicles Starlink was expected to be used with pursuant to Thursday's authorization were aircraft, ships, large trucks and RVs. Musk, also the CEO of electric car maker Tesla Inc, had said he didn't see "connecting Tesla cars to Starlink, as our terminal is much too big."

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#starlink 2022-07-04 status report: 2069 in service, 2654 total ever launched, 222 re-entered, 115 ground stations. See https://t.co/Xmk6C0mUWt pic.twitter.com/XLrB8AYtxv

— satellitemap.space (@starlink_map) July 4, 2022

Quote:

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The US regulator made the decision today despite objections from companies like Dish Network that fear the roving Starlink access will cause interference problems with their own services.

The FCC pointed to the public benefits. "Authorizing a new class of terminals for SpaceX's satellite system will expand the range of broadband capabilities to meet the growing user demands that now require connectivity while on the move, whether driving an RV across the country, moving a freighter from Europe to a US port, or while on a domestic or international flight," wrote FCC International Bureau Chief Thomas Sullivan in the filing(Opens in a new window). (CNBC was first to report(Opens in a new window) the news.)

The regulator also dismissed concerns about the Starlink dishes causing moving interference as speculative or resulting in minimal impact. However, the FCC is imposing conditions on the decision. SpaceX "must accept any interference received from both current and future services authorized in the bandeven if such interference causes undesirable operations," Sullivan wrote. In addition, the company must avoid causing harmful interference when operating Starlink dishes in motion.

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It's crazy that 10 years has moved launches from being almost unseen, and rare enough to cause some excitement, to being so common that even hard-core space needs don't watch them live regularly!

S24 has arrived at the launch site. 🤩🚀

⁦@NASASpaceflight⁩ pic.twitter.com/SvgDqKyCe8

— Mary (@BocaChicaGal) July 5, 2022

Booster static fire widely anticipated for this week.

nortex97 said:

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S24 has arrived at the launch site. 🤩🚀

⁦@NASASpaceflight⁩ pic.twitter.com/SvgDqKyCe8

— Mary (@BocaChicaGal) July 5, 2022

Booster static fire widely anticipated for this week.

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All the engines?!

Short answer; no, probably starting with just a few engines, and slowly working up to that.



Longer answer: They haven't even really fully fueled it with...anything but nitrogen/lox yet. They are apparently only slowly completing 25 and 8 (booster/starship), likely anticipating that some damage/re-design might be needed from lessons from 24 and 7 doing full fueling/static fires.

Again, for posterity/notes, those 33 raptor 2's on super heavy's booster phase are capable of 17+ million pounds of thrust when lit, twice what the Saturn V's F1's put out, and a lot more than the 8.8 million SLS will attempt to take off with. A 'smooth' round of static firing for all of them is almost impossible to imagine: stuff's gonna go wrong. I'm not real sure they can even keep it locked in place if it all fires up briefly.

33 Raptor engines installed on the Booster, 6 on the Ship pic.twitter.com/l7K6rH96qa

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 2, 2022

As SpaceX gets closer to the Starship orbital launch attempt, the FAA says in a statement to the Post that it “will make a license determination only after SpaceX provides all outstanding information and the agency can fully analyze it.”

— Christian Davenport (@wapodavenport) July 6, 2022

PJYoung said:

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As SpaceX gets closer to the Starship orbital launch attempt, the FAA says in a statement to the Post that it “will make a license determination only after SpaceX provides all outstanding information and the agency can fully analyze it.”

— Christian Davenport (@wapodavenport) July 6, 2022

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"analyze it"...

That sounds like a looooong time

Pad is clear and tank farm is starting up

Curious for JRTI to get back to port, haven't seen any pictures of the booster landing from this morning.