Space X

Good article from Eric Berger on todays launch...

Ohh my thoughts exactly when they all cheered for the explosion.

I wish there was a way to watch these launches without audience participation.

Quite a few negatives being portrayed in the media today about the launch attempt, but I guess that was always going to be the case.

But in my uneducated opinion, I think their was far more positives to take from it.

First of all they managed to get this massive rocket off the ground and clear the OLM successfully, which was their foremost priority.

Starship reached Max Q and not only that, when it did start to go out of control doing loops all over the place, some how it still held together, and did so until the FTS was activated, not sure how it managed to stay in one piece until then.

Ok so there was significant damage to the area around the OLM and ground equipment. However their can be no doubt now that something needs to be done about this, I think some kind of flame diversion is looking like a must now.

The booster and starship was destroyed but the next iterations replacing them already have significant upgrades, if they can sort out some of the reliability issues with these raptor engines, along with something like a flame diversion system to stop debris flying up damaging the engines, then I think there is every reason to be optimistic about the next few launch attempts.

The only big negative for me now, I think we could be in for quite a long wait until there is another launch attempt, despite musk saying its in a few months.

Yeah, that OLM damage is probably the biggest negative mark out of this test. There’s not only the crater itself and it’s undermining if the mount, but also where all that material ended up. The high speed projectiles filmed hitting the various YouTubers remote cameras and cloud of dust falling on the nearby towns would not be welcome by their neighbours at the Cape!

it’s very possible that the bulk of the problems on the vehicle itself were down to flying debris and that if they solve that, they have a working booster. But it might take a significant OLM redesign, we’ll see if this BF Metal Plate cuts it

SpaceX just posted a vid on Twitter of the launch, Elon replied underneath, looking like maybe August for next launch attempt

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1662251874936934400

@elonmusk

Major launchpad upgrades should be complete in about a month, then another month of rocket testing on pad, then flight 2 of Starship

2:05 AM · May 27, 2023

Just seen this from Chris Bergin (not affiliated to NASA) quote tweeting a now deleted Elon Musk tweet, so....

A couple of comments underneath:

Full pressure deluge test, looks pretty impressive, will it be enough?

Assuming that they get the Super Heavy rocket to work, will they ever launch it from Cape Kennedy?

Ya was all going full steam ahead, then the first flight test and the launch pad and they seemed to think ' oh ya lets see if the design actually works in Bocca before building a second one ' :)

I had heard, raising the OLM table, some beefing up of the draw works for the tower were being considered and im sure other quality of life things. There is probably some legal thing where they have to be seen doing something while 'renting/long term renting the pad'

Lastly they are in constant comms with NASA, so they might be waiting on input there or NASA might just want proof the stage zero system works first. It's spacex, like a child seeing a shiny thing.

thats Friday through till Wednesday, 15:10 to 18:50 Irish time each day

Hopefully they don't blow the place up again and the launch cadence increases from now on.

Well this obviously never happened. Any idea when the next launch window is?