Technically, the range of any antenna is unlimited. The issue is signal to noise ratio increases very rapidly with distance, and that effectively limits the range.

That said, I am not sure how they're going to make this work since Starlink satellites are at an altitude of 300+ miles. The only thing I can think of is having dozens or hundreds of satellites in the constellation all picking up the same weak signal somehow makes up for it. I guess most of the distance is also empty space as opposed to trees, buildings, horizon, etc here on the ground, so you also always have a very clean line of sight as well.

Wow, @hazegrayart does it again, with an imagining of Starship hot staging. Even has the SpaceXers and crowd reacting on the audio.

Multiview full vid: https://t.co/hM30ERLUp0 pic.twitter.com/dO8tFyCq7q

— Chris Bergin - NSF (@NASASpaceflight) July 4, 2023

Launch of the last Ariane 5 rocket set to go in under 14 mins....

I've been doodling again

The central part of the water deluge steel plate system is now being lowered into place over the new concrete surface! https://t.co/e3xbqPnwZ5 https://t.co/vH9ifAbFQO pic.twitter.com/bDAxzrX41O

— Chris Bergin - NSF (@NASASpaceflight) July 5, 2023

Some speculation that is pretty much a good swag:



Long twitter thread showing some of the OLM stuff/changes;

If you haven’t seen my previous thread I HIGHLY recommend checking it out first. It has a lot of details that I either won’t mention here or will expand on or correct and it might be confusing without any context. 2/nhttps://t.co/RMOGUduk2F

— Ryan Hansen Space (@RyanHansenSpace) July 7, 2023

I can't read it but the WSJ has a piece about SpaceX 'de facto monopoly' as a launch provider out today.

The Saturn and Neptune pictures are absolutely stunning. They're all great but those two are really something.

SPMT’s are currently under B10 for rollout later tonight pic.twitter.com/g0G0fC0b27

— RGV Aerial Photography (@RGVaerialphotos) July 7, 2023

I'm curious how much testing they'll do on the deluge plate.

What is there really to test, though, without a huge rocket firing above it? Sure, shooting a lot of water makes sense, but the test is really when the booster fires, right?



My uneducated guess would be that they do fire it up for a static fire with 10 or so raptors firing for a few seconds once. What they really don't want to do is have to disassemble, re-engineer and rebuild the whole thing before launching again after some static fires/tests, now.

Incredible view from the International Space Station w/ the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked 😳 pic.twitter.com/fZ3xrziRfL

— Latest in space (@latestinspace) July 8, 2023

I wonder if Elon is ever going to take a ride on a Dragon? They've got a pretty good safety record. Or is he waiting for a Mars trip?

TexAgs91 said:

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I wonder if Elon is ever going to take a ride on a Dragon? They've got a pretty good safety record. Or is he waiting for a Mars trip?

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Board of directors probably forbids it.

They'll probably do a quick water test to ensure that the pumps generate enough head (basically a verification of the system head curve), but that's just speculation based on what I've seen in other industries.

Starlink Launch!

https://www.youtube.com/live/UytWKGvbIFs

16th landing of the booster I saw originally launch at Demo-2!

India to launch Chandrayaan 3 moon lander and rover on July 14. Slightly different than the last mission, as they now have an orbiter and don't need another one. This mission will attempt a successful landing.

https://www.space.com/india-stacks-chandrayaan-3-moon-mission-rocket-photos

A Blue Origin rocket engine exploded during testing last month, CNBC has learned. https://t.co/xb2Mvu8kjq

— NBC4 Washington (@nbcwashington) July 11, 2023

And ULA execs I'm sure we're thrilled to hear if this.

LOL, SpaceX lands the same rocket on land 16 times in a row and Bozos is still exploding rockets on land. Give Elon the first Trillionaire award please!

Between the 5 companies, he's nailed it. Space, Electric, Boring, Twitter, Nueralink.

Premium said:

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LOL, SpaceX lands the same rocket on land 16 times in a row and Bozos is still exploding rockets on land. Give Elon the first Trillionaire award please!

Between the 5 companies, he's nailed it. Space, Electric, Boring, Twitter, Nueralink.

---

Elon is an incredibly smart man, his intelligence is off
The charts even compared to other wealthy wealthy people

Yeah, it's not a good look, though at this point in the program some engine test failures would be expected:

Quote:

---

During a firing on June 30 at a West Texas facility of Jeff Bezos' space company, a BE-4 engine detonated about 10 seconds into the test, according to several people familiar with the matter. Those people described having seen video of a dramatic explosion that destroyed the engine and heavily damaged the test stand infrastructure.

The people spoke to CNBC on the condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic matters.
The engine that exploded was expected to finish testing in July. It was then scheduled to ship to Blue Origin's customer United Launch Alliance for use on ULA's second Vulcan rocket launch, those people said.

A Blue Origin spokesperson, in a statement to CNBC on Tuesday, confirmed the company "ran into an issue while testing Vulcan's Flight Engine 3."

"No personnel were injured and we are currently assessing root cause," Blue Origin said, adding "we already have proximate cause and are working on remedial actions."

---

This was to go on the flight with the SNC Dreamchaser launch, and I guess it's a good thing this happened on the test stand vs. 2,000 or so feet off the launch tower.

nortex97 said:

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Yeah, it's not a good look, though at this point in the program some engine test failures would be expected:

Quote:

---

During a firing on June 30 at a West Texas facility of Jeff Bezos' space company, a BE-4 engine detonated about 10 seconds into the test, according to several people familiar with the matter. Those people described having seen video of a dramatic explosion that destroyed the engine and heavily damaged the test stand infrastructure.

The people spoke to CNBC on the condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic matters.
The engine that exploded was expected to finish testing in July. It was then scheduled to ship to Blue Origin's customer United Launch Alliance for use on ULA's second Vulcan rocket launch, those people said.

A Blue Origin spokesperson, in a statement to CNBC on Tuesday, confirmed the company "ran into an issue while testing Vulcan's Flight Engine 3."

"No personnel were injured and we are currently assessing root cause," Blue Origin said, adding "we already have proximate cause and are working on remedial actions."

---

This was to go on the flight with the SNC Dreamchaser launch, and I guess it's a good thing this happened on the test stand vs. 2,000 or so feet off the launch tower.

---

https://www.space.com/blue-origin-be-4-rocket-engine-explosion

It was during acceptance testing, which is why they do acceptance testing. Obviously not ideal, especially compared to the testing reliability of SpaceX engines (something like 1600 Raptor tests?!?!).

I have no idea what cadence they are cranking out BE-4 engines, but I know it's nowhere near SpaceX. If one engine fails and that affects many other programs, then that's a huge logistics issue for sure.

And if they can't find the root cause of the failure, that's also a huge issue. Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

The moon it hot! Shout-out to Intuitive Machines going to for two launches this year while working in multiple proposals for future commercial and NASA programs. It's a great time to be part of the Space Race 2.0.

I'm glad we went with SpaceX Falcon vs. ULA or other rockets. IM-1 is being prepped for launch and it will be an exciting day in just a few months.

https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/07/here-come-the-moon-landing-missions-probably/

They used a fully expendable Falcon Heavy to get this up there, only to find the reflector isn't deploying. https://t.co/Ou6OijQOEA

— Scott Manley (@DJSnM) July 12, 2023

NASAg03 said:

---

nortex97 said:

---

Yeah, it's not a good look, though at this point in the program some engine test failures would be expected:

Quote:

---

During a firing on June 30 at a West Texas facility of Jeff Bezos' space company, a BE-4 engine detonated about 10 seconds into the test, according to several people familiar with the matter. Those people described having seen video of a dramatic explosion that destroyed the engine and heavily damaged the test stand infrastructure.

The people spoke to CNBC on the condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic matters.
The engine that exploded was expected to finish testing in July. It was then scheduled to ship to Blue Origin's customer United Launch Alliance for use on ULA's second Vulcan rocket launch, those people said.

A Blue Origin spokesperson, in a statement to CNBC on Tuesday, confirmed the company "ran into an issue while testing Vulcan's Flight Engine 3."

"No personnel were injured and we are currently assessing root cause," Blue Origin said, adding "we already have proximate cause and are working on remedial actions."

---

This was to go on the flight with the SNC Dreamchaser launch, and I guess it's a good thing this happened on the test stand vs. 2,000 or so feet off the launch tower.

---

https://www.space.com/blue-origin-be-4-rocket-engine-explosion

It was during acceptance testing, which is why they do acceptance testing. Obviously not ideal, especially compared to the testing reliability of SpaceX engines (something like 1600 Raptor tests?!?!).

I have no idea what cadence they are cranking out BE-4 engines, but I know it's nowhere near SpaceX. If one engine fails and that affects many other programs, then that's a huge logistics issue for sure.

And if they can't find the root cause of the failure, that's also a huge issue. Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

---

Just an FYI, SpaceX has blown up a lot of Raptor engines. However, I have no idea about if Raptor flight engines were destroyed during acceptance testing.

Cheezy, but it's an update. Not a fan of "new" Metallica, but the song is fitting.

will25u said:

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They used a fully expendable Falcon Heavy to get this up there, only to find the reflector isn't deploying. https://t.co/Ou6OijQOEA

— Scott Manley (@DJSnM) July 12, 2023

---

"Industry publication SpaceIntelReport noted that, if the satellite is lost, Viasat may trigger a $420 million claim. A space insurance underwriter described the situation to CNBC as a "market changing event" for the sector."

This decision was ultimately made by Mike Griffin, then NASA administrator, nearly two decades ago. And Ken is correct. It was a huge misstep that added about 10 years to NASA's efforts to return to the Moon. If China gets there first, this is the root cause. https://t.co/kPIY1yP6cq

— Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) July 13, 2023

The mobile launcher was originally supposed to cost $383 million. If this funding goes through it will push the money allocated to date above $1 billion, and construction has yet to really begin. Insane, really.

— Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) July 13, 2023

I want us to be an interplanetary species/see folks on the moon at least again too, but man, this SLS program is such a beating to cheer for, or even smirk at. It reminds me of hoping Fran or RC would put it all together in big games consistently.

JUST IN: Elon Musk’s SpaceX nears $150 billion valuation after secondary share sale

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) July 13, 2023

The amount of money for literally no results vs what SpaceX has done is mind boggling. Beyond inexcusable.

On Tuesday this week, our Houston team completed our first full-vehicle checkout with cryogenic propellant load, integrated flight systems, and a 17sec hot fire of our methalox main engine. Just a few more details to close out before integration onto a SpaceX Falcon 9 and launch this baby!



https://www.intuitivemachines.com/post/nova-c-lunar-lander-passes-complete-spacecraft-test-run

bmks270 said:

---

NASAg03 said:

---

nortex97 said:

---

Yeah, it's not a good look, though at this point in the program some engine test failures would be expected:

Quote:

---

During a firing on June 30 at a West Texas facility of Jeff Bezos' space company, a BE-4 engine detonated about 10 seconds into the test, according to several people familiar with the matter. Those people described having seen video of a dramatic explosion that destroyed the engine and heavily damaged the test stand infrastructure.

The people spoke to CNBC on the condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic matters.
The engine that exploded was expected to finish testing in July. It was then scheduled to ship to Blue Origin's customer United Launch Alliance for use on ULA's second Vulcan rocket launch, those people said.

A Blue Origin spokesperson, in a statement to CNBC on Tuesday, confirmed the company "ran into an issue while testing Vulcan's Flight Engine 3."

"No personnel were injured and we are currently assessing root cause," Blue Origin said, adding "we already have proximate cause and are working on remedial actions."

---

This was to go on the flight with the SNC Dreamchaser launch, and I guess it's a good thing this happened on the test stand vs. 2,000 or so feet off the launch tower.

---

https://www.space.com/blue-origin-be-4-rocket-engine-explosion

It was during acceptance testing, which is why they do acceptance testing. Obviously not ideal, especially compared to the testing reliability of SpaceX engines (something like 1600 Raptor tests?!?!).

I have no idea what cadence they are cranking out BE-4 engines, but I know it's nowhere near SpaceX. If one engine fails and that affects many other programs, then that's a huge logistics issue for sure.

And if they can't find the root cause of the failure, that's also a huge issue. Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

---

Just an FYI, SpaceX has blown up a lot of Raptor engines. However, I have no idea about if Raptor flight engines were destroyed during acceptance testing.

---

What % of flight rated raptor 2 engines have blown up on the test stand? We're not talking about developmental testing engines, we're talking about final acceptance testing before deployment.