SpaceX 2024

[brovane]

Successful with propellant transfer, PEZ door opened and closed and Starship made it into it's planned orbit. A lot of big wins today despite the loss of the vehicles during recovery testing.

SpaceX was founded 22 - years ago today.

28ju5rxep7d21.jpg

[kdahm]

Looks like they lost Starship at almost the very end. Dammit so much.

Mike

Not wonderful, but unlike the Artemis or the SLS or the Starliner, the purpose of the tests is to fail in new and interesting ways. They'll probably be ready to launch again in 2-3 months, at the most.

[jemhouston]

Looks like they lost Starship at almost the very end. Dammit so much.

Mike

Not wonderful, but unlike the Artemis or the SLS or the Starliner, the purpose of the tests is to fail in new and interesting ways. They'll probably be ready to launch again in 2-3 months, at the most.

Another thing is, they expect them to fail in new and interesting ways and expect it. They're not afraid of failure.

[Calder]

Looks like they lost Starship at almost the very end. Dammit so much.

Mike

Not wonderful, but unlike the Artemis or the SLS or the Starliner, the purpose of the tests is to fail in new and interesting ways. They'll probably be ready to launch again in 2-3 months, at the most.

Another thing is, they expect them to fail in new and interesting ways and expect it. They're not afraid of failure.

That might be the single biggest reason Space-X has been so successful and why their development cycle has been so much faster and so much cheaper than everyone else's. You can learn so much more by actually running a full scale test that is allowed to fail. Hardware by comparison is incredibly cheap vs the time wasted to make a perfect vehicle that works the first time you test it.

[Calder]

Successful with propellant transfer, PEZ door opened and closed and Starship made it into it's planned orbit. A lot of big wins today despite the loss of the vehicles during recovery testing.

SpaceX was founded 22 - years ago today.

28ju5rxep7d21.jpg

#7 Dancing machine, Business magnet.

I have to admit I do enjoy his sense of humor.

[Rocket J Squrriel]

i think this is the biggest single object we've put in space that isn't a conglomeration of smaller bits like the ISS.

It probably broke the mass record but not the sheer size record. That would belong to Skylab. With Skylab they put the lab and the second stage into orbit. They later separated and the 2nd stage made an uncontrolled entry months later.

This link has lots of nice info: https://www.drewexmachina.com/2022/07/3 ... as-skylab/

[Rocket J Squrriel]

i think this is the biggest single object we've put in space that isn't a conglomeration of smaller bits like the ISS.

It probably broke the mass record but probably tied with Skylab. With Skylab they put the lab and the second stage into orbit. They later separated and the 2nd stage made an uncontrolled entry months later.

This link has lots of nice info: https://www.drewexmachina.com/2022/07/3 ... as-skylab/

[Rocket J Squrriel]

i think this is the biggest single object we've put in space that isn't a conglomeration of smaller bits like the ISS.

It probably broke the mass record but probably tied with Skylab for the sheer size. With Skylab they put the lab and the second stage into orbit. They later separated and the 2nd stage made an uncontrolled entry months later.

This link has lots of nice info: https://www.drewexmachina.com/2022/07/3 ... as-skylab/

[brovane]

Mach Diamonds never gets old.
Who would have thought that 22 years later SpaceX is actually testing launch and landing hardware that is capable of putting humans on Mars.

GIt7LweaoAAuxtY.jpg

GIt7MzibIAAFOq9.jpg

[Micael]

Exclusive: Musk's SpaceX is building spy satellite network for US intelligence agency, sources say

Joey Roulette
March 16, 20244:22 PM GMT+1Updated 6 hours ago
SpaceX headquarters is shown in Hawthorne, California.
SpaceX headquarters is shown in Hawthorne, California, U.S. September 19, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) - SpaceX is building a network of hundreds of spy satellites under a classified contract with a U.S. intelligence agency, five sources familiar with the program said, demonstrating deepening ties between billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's space company and national security agencies.

The network is being built by SpaceX's Starshield business unit under a $1.8 billion contract signed in 2021 with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), an intelligence agency that manages spy satellites, the sources said.

The plans show the extent of SpaceX's involvement in U.S. intelligence and military projects and illustrate a deeper Pentagon investment into vast, low-Earth orbiting satellite systems aimed at supporting ground forces.

If successful, the sources said the program would significantly advance the ability of the U.S. government and military to quickly spot potential targets almost anywhere on the globe.

Advertisement · Scroll to continue
The contract signals growing trust by the intelligence establishment of a company whose owner has clashed with the Biden administration and sparked controversy over the use of Starlink satellite connectivity in the Ukraine war, the sources said.
The Wall Street Journal reported in February the existence of a $1.8 billion classified Starshield contract with an unknown intelligence agency without detailing the purposes of the program.
Advertisement · Scroll to continue
Reuters reporting discloses for the first time that the SpaceX contract is for a powerful new spy system with hundreds of satellites bearing Earth-imaging capabilities that can operate as a swarm in low orbits, and that the spy agency that Musk's company is working with is the NRO.

Reuters was unable to determine when the new network of satellites would come online and could not establish what other companies are part of the program with their own contracts.

Advertisement · Scroll to continue
SpaceX, the world's largest satellite operator, did not respond to several requests for comment about the contract, its role in it and details on satellite launches. The Pentagon referred a request for comment to the NRO and SpaceX.

In a statement the NRO acknowledged its mission to develop a sophisticated satellite system and its partnerships with other government agencies, companies, research institutions and nations, but declined to comment on Reuters' findings about the extent of SpaceX’s involvement in the effort.

Advertisement · Scroll to continue
"The National Reconnaissance Office is developing the most capable, diverse, and resilient space-based intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance system the world has ever seen," a spokesperson said.

The satellites can track targets on the ground and share that data with U.S. intelligence and military officials, the sources said. In principle, that would enable the U.S. government to quickly capture continuous imagery of activities on the ground nearly anywhere on the globe, aiding intelligence and military operations, they added.

Roughly a dozen prototypes have been launched since 2020, among other satellites on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets, three of the sources said.

A U.S. government database of objects in orbit shows several SpaceX missions having deployed satellites that neither the company nor the government have ever acknowledged. Two sources confirmed those to be prototypes for the Starshield network.

All the sources asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to discuss the U.S. government program.

The Pentagon is already a big SpaceX customer, using its Falcon 9 rockets to launch military payloads into space. Starshield's first prototype satellite, launched in 2020, was part of a separate, roughly $200 million contract that helped position SpaceX for the subsequent $1.8 billion award, one of the sources said.

The planned Starshield network is separate from Starlink, SpaceX's growing commercial broadband constellation that has about 5,500 satellites in space to provide near-global internet to consumers, companies and government agencies.

The classified constellation of spy satellites represents one of the U.S. government’s most sought-after capabilities in space because it is designed to offer the most persistent, pervasive and rapid coverage of activities on Earth.

"No one can hide," one of the sources said of the system’s potential capability, when describing the network's reach.

Musk, also the founder and CEO of Tesla (TSLA.O) and owner of social media company X, has driven innovation in space but has caused frustration among some officials in the Biden administration because of his past control of Starlink in Ukraine, where Kyiv’s military uses it for secure communications in the conflict with Russia. That authority over Starlink in a war zone by Musk, and not the U.S. military, created tension between him and the US government.
A series of Reuters’ stories has detailed how Musk's manufacturing operations, including at SpaceX, have harmed consumers and workers.
The Starshield network is part of intensifying competition between the U.S. and its rivals to become the dominant military power in space, in part by expanding spy satellite systems away from bulky, expensive spacecraft at higher orbits. Instead a vast, low-orbiting network can provide quicker and near-constant imaging of the Earth.

China also plans to start building its own satellite constellations, and the Pentagon has warned of space weapon threats from Russia, which could be capable of disabling entire satellite networks.
Starshield aims to be more resilient to attacks from sophisticated space powers.

The network is also intended to greatly expand the U.S. government's remote-sensing capabilities and will consist of large satellites with imaging sensors, as well as a greater number of relay satellites that pass the imaging data and other communications across the network using inter-satellite lasers, two of the sources said.

The NRO includes personnel from the U.S. Space Force and CIA and provides classified satellite imagery for the Pentagon and other intelligence agencies.

The spy satellites will house sensors provided by another company, three of the sources said.

[jemhouston]

Correct me if I'm wrong but if they're on StarLink satellites, couldn't the pictures be considered unclassified? That way they could get sent out faster.

[brovane]

Correct me if I'm wrong but if they're on StarLink satellites, couldn't the pictures be considered unclassified? That way they could get sent out faster.

Really depends on how the government wants to classify it. The US government has a commercial imaging contract with for example Planet Labs and these images would be unclassified since they are taken by satellites not owned or operated by the US government. The question would be who has ownership of Star shield satellites? When SpaceX is launching Starlink satellites 20+ at a time, there could be a couple of satellites with the same bus as Starlink that are actually Starshield satellites or Sats owned by the US government. It is a interesting concept which probably gives the Russians and Chinese nightmares that the US government is slipping in spy satellites into Starlink launches and nobody would really know. With the Starlink sats, SpaceX is mass producing satellites at a fraction of the cost of previous satellites and it would taken much money for the US government to have there own constellation mixed in with Starlink satellites.

[kdahm]

That's what I was thinking. Same mass, same casing, different interior. They only have to be slipped into the Starlink launch packages. If they're set up so that the bus health checks report everything is fine, there are only a few people at SpaceX that would have to know. The form factor isn't well suited to optical stuff, but electronics would be great.

Also, reading the allegations carefully, it's just saying that the NRO is using SpaceX and their Falcon9 rockets to launch. Which is a no-brainer. Atlas launched 9 times in 2022/2023. Electron launched 18 times. Falcon and Falcon Heavy launched 96 times in 2023 alone. If something US is going to orbit, it's pretty much going on a Falcon.

[kdahm]

Fourth test flight of Starship is scheduled for tomorrow, at 7:00 CDT. The plan is for the Booster to do a softsplashdown in the Gulf of Mexico and for the Starship to do a proper re-entry in the Indian Ocean. Little in-flight special events are scheduled for Starship, like a Raptor relight. If everything goes well, we should be entertained by the massive rocket behaving as it should and getting closer to opening up space. If things don't go well, we should be entertained by either one or two explosive RUDs. It's a winning chance either way.

The FAA has also issued the launch license with some contingency unexpected events included. If the heat shield fails, if the Starship Raptor doesn't relight, or if the Starship flaps don't control it properly, they can just shrug and try again. No need for a months-long investigation and documentation of mitigation measures before another launch license is issued.

80 years ago on that date at the same time, the German defenders from Werfer-Regiment 84 abandoned the Pointe du Hoc battery.

[Marko Dash]

coming through reentry now, and stable as a rock. views are astounding.

edit: and then the front fin melted

edit2: and was apparently still functional and did a landing burn and splashdown.

[kdahm]

coming through reentry now, and stable as a rock. views are astounding.

edit: and then the front fin melted

edit2: and was apparently still functional and did a landing burn and splashdown.

A really excellent test flight. The Booster performed almost perfectly on what we saw and stuck the landing.

The Starship made it all the way to water landing. The velocity display was stuck at 9 km/hr and the engine display didn't light up, but there was verbal callouts that the landing burn took place. Continuous camera footage through the reentry, even with the camera lens cracking.

I thought it was a rear fin that burned through, but that was an incredible display of resiliency. Big chunks of the fin missing, structure exposed (at 15000 kmh!) and the thing still worked and had control authority to the end. That's the kind of data that you can't get by doing ten years of number crunching and one perfect flight.

BZ to the SpaceX team.

[jemhouston]

Videos at link https://hotair.com/david-strom/2024/06/ ... l-n3789751

Found at PJ Media

[brovane]

Got Plasma?

GPbBPF1aAAA2sJ8.jpg

[jemhouston]

Musk

If you want a detailed explanation of why I switched Starship from carbon fiber to stainless steel

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/179893774 ... F652160%2F

[Micael]

This was a massive step forward, soon they’ll have a fully usable Starship, and that will place humanity in a new era of utilization and exploration of space. Most welcome.