Richard Lawler
The Starship won’t attempt an in-flight engine relight this time.
We’ve skipped over one planned element of this test flight, as the Starship 28 prototype continues on its way toward a planned splashdown.
Image: SpaceX
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Archives for March 2024
Richard Lawler
Propellant transfer demo completed.
SpaceX finished another test for this Starship flight and ended internal views from the flight. As the live broadcast continues, it has gone in and out as the vehicle continues to barrel roll in space on its way to a planned splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
Image: SpaceX
Richard Lawler
Now Starship is in a “coast phase.”
The next milestone for this flight test is a planned in-space relight of the Raptor engines, which is scheduled for 40:46 into the flight, or a about 18 minutes from now.
Richard Lawler
SpaceX says the Super Heavy booster “fell a little short” of its planned relight control.
On the stream, we watched the return of the Super Heavy booster rocket after separation, which seemed to have partial success on some of its planned maneuvers as it came back to Earth. The commentators noted it “feel a little short,” of the plan, but didn’t go into detail.
Richard Lawler
Starship flight test three is under way.
The vehicle took off successfully and is now heading toward the “Hot-staging (Starship Raptor ignition and stage separation).”
Richard Lawler
SpaceX’s Starship reentry plans.
As we wait to see if the Starship will launch, SpaceX posted this clip showing what the splashdown could be like.
Richard Lawler
Where is the Starship supposed to go?
If everything works out as planned, the Starship will attempt an in-space relight of its Raptor engines and eventually splash down in the Indian Ocean, as shown in this animation.
Jess Weatherbed
SpaceX readies its third Starship rocket test flight: watch the launch here.
After the first two Starship tests went up in flames, SpaceX says it’s now attempting “a number of ambitious objectives” for today’s targeted 9:25AM ET launch, including:
The successful ascent burn of both stages, opening and closing Starship’s payload door, a propellant transfer demonstration during the upper stage’s coast phase, the first ever re-light of a Raptor engine while in space, and a controlled reentry of Starship. It will also fly a new trajectory, with Starship targeted to splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
Richard Lawler
SpaceX’s projected Starship launch time keeps moving.
If SpaceX attempts another Starship launch this morning, it now says the launch could happen about an hour and a half into the planned 110-minute launch window that started at 8AM ET.
An update from SpaceX said it is “go for propellant load,” and the launch is targeting 9:25AM ET. An official livestream has not started yet, but the folks at Spaceflight Now are broadcasting live with cameras set up near the Boca Chica, TX, launch site.
Update March 14th, 8:26AM ET: Updated launch timing (again) from SpaceX.
Jess Weatherbed
Japan’s Space One rocket goes up in smoke.
The solid-fueled “Kairos” rocket carrying an experimental government satellite exploded just seconds after launching on Wednesday. The Space One startup had hoped to become the first private Japanese company to put a satellite into orbit.
‘The rocket terminated the flight after judging that the achievement of its mission would be difficult,’ company president Masakazu Toyoda said at a news conference.
Quentyn Kennemer
One small step for man, one potential nuclear step for mankind’s future on the Moon.
Space.com points out this recent announcement that China and Russia are considering putting a nuclear reactor on the Moon by 2035, linked to their plans for a joint lunar outpost.
Roscosmos CEO Yury Borisov says they’re readying technology that could carry out the mission autonomously — an ambitious statement considering it couldn’t quite nail an attempted lunar landing last August.
Wes Davis
Stratolaunch, still in the game, pulls off a powered hypersonic test flight.
This is the first successful powered flight of its reusable Talon-A TA-1 autonomous hypersonic plane, which it announced yesterday “reached high supersonic speeds approaching Mach 5” during the test.
The TA-1 launched from Roc, its massive twin-fuselage plane that recently flew with the TA-1, attached and fully-fueled for the first time. Eventually, the company hopes to launch space planes from the 385-foot-wide flier.
Jess Weatherbed
House Democrats are looking into Russia’s alleged Starlink use.
The Washington Post reports that Jamie Raskin and Robert Garcia sent a letter to SpaceX on Wednesday night, expressing concern that the company “may not have appropriate guardrails and policies in place” to prevent Russia from illegally acquiring Starlink terminals.
Ukraine claims that Russia has deployed the terminals in occupied areas of eastern Ukraine. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says, “To the best of our knowledge, no Starlinks have been sold directly or indirectly to Russia.”
Democrats probe Musk’s SpaceX, examining Russia’s alleged Starlink use
[The Washington Post]