Starship News

[sd455dan]

Booster 19 static fire test

Looking Good for a May Launch

 

[otlski]

Booster 19 static fire test

Looking Good for a May Launch

This was the first time SX went to 100% throttle during a booster static fire. And they did it with 33 Raptor V3 engines to boot. It is the most powerful booster ever made.

Some ground support infrastructure repair is needed as a result though.

 

[IXLR8]

I see they have updated launch to NET 19-May.

 

[sd455dan]

I see they have updated launch to NET 19-May.

Yes, Getting exciting!

What About It WAI ( youtube channel) had a big expose on All of the changes in the entire Starship program, amazing how many already integrated solutions and improvements have been implemented.

 

[IXLR8]

I often watch WAI for updates. Speaking of updates, the launch has been moved to NET 21-May 6:30pm. Not sure the reason for the move.

 

[otlski]

The wet dress rehearsal slipped from today, the 19th, to tomorrow. It seems to be just a simple matter of the burn down list was extensive and launch for tomorrow was overly optimistic.

Also, a possible fatality at Starbase. IDK if that impacted timelines.

 

[ruffdog]

Also, a possible fatality at Starbase. IDK if that impacted timelines.

More on the death:

MSN

 

[sd455dan]

 

[IXLR8]

Launch updated to NET 22-May @ 6:30 pm EDT.
Found this note for yesterdays delay-
'Scrubbed May 21 due to “the hydraulic pin holding the tower arm in place” being unable to retract.'
Also noted that the last 2 'dummy' starlink satellites they are going to launch are 'live' in the sense they will take images of the heat tiles on the ship after they are deployed and relay the images back.

 

[IXLR8]

Successful flight, with only a few glitches. One of the main raptor engines on the booster quit shortly after lift off. Then one of the vacuum engine on the ship quit shortly after being lit. This lead to deciding not to do an in space relight of one of the engines. Dummy starlink satellites launched with no issues, faster than before. Haven't seen any video from the last two that were to take images of the ship. Rest of flight to splashdown looked good.

 

[otlski]

Apparently, the booster flipped the wrong way after separation. Possibly connected, several engines shutdown; some sporadicly relit. The boost-back burn failed to execute properly. Investigation pending...

Overall this flight test appeared better than it actually was. This does not seem untoward because many of the past failures looked worse than they actually turned out to be.

 

[BravoXray]

I'll bet without the landing burn, the booster made a big splash when it hit the water!

 

[ruffdog]

Do they collect the parts from the bottom of the sea after they crash land?

 

[sd455dan]

Sounds like the booster may have tried to decouple early before the detach sequence was fully complete. From the video looked like the ship had to course correct right then. Not what has happened in previous separations. Things went quicker than the last launches.

I am sure they got lots of data on the all new V3.

On parts collection they have retrieved engines and other parts in the past.

 

[sd455dan]

YIKES!

Blue Origin's New Glen explodes on the launch pad during an engine test.
No injuries reported so far, hopefully stays that way.
Major damage to the launch facility.
The BE4 engines are also used in ULA's Vulcan rockets, they will likely be grounded as well, until it is verified as to what was the root cause of this explosion.

Angry Astros take on the failure:

 

[BravoXray]

A very violent unscheduled rapid disassembly!

I'll bet that event showed up on some seismometers quite a distance away from the cape.