SpaceX News

[Jim147]

He should try some CH3NO2 in the next one.

[WLJ]

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1726386449170501783

[WLJ]

B9/S25 are like "We're outta here!"

https://twitter.com/i/status/1726666641826857261

I'm in awe at how stable it is going up

[WLJ]

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1727054554947268685

[AZRedhawk44]

33 engines working in unison to create a single mach diamond effect.  That's impressive.

[WLJ]

[AZRedhawk44]

Looks like Jeff has a tube.  No word on the 7 engines supposed to be on the bottom, with the landing leg machinery and avionics.



Evidently NASA has booked a Class D mission to Mars on New Glenn, scheduled for early August of 2024.  Class D are the most tolerant of failure, and failure to hit the launch window will result in a 26 month delay to the mission.

[WLJ]

Meanwhile

· SpaceX's 89th launch of the year and the 10th launch of the month (this matches record)
  · 256th Falcon orbital launch since Amos 6, F9's 276th orbital flight.
  · SpaceX's 157th launch from SLC-40

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1Y8PIci1O0

[dogmush]

Looks like Jeff has a tube.  No word on the 7 engines supposed to be on the bottom, with the landing leg machinery and avionics.



Evidently NASA has booked a Class D mission to Mars on New Glenn, scheduled for early August of 2024.  Class D are the most tolerant of failure, and failure to hit the launch window will result in a 26 month delay to the mission.

Have any BE-4's even flown yet?  I'm tracking the first Vulcan launch should be the moon mission this Dec, but are there any other vehicles using a BE-4?  Mars in 9 months seems optimistic for an engine that only leaves the ground when it explodes.

[RocketMan]

Bezos has had that tube for a year or two judging by all the pictures I have seen of it over time.

[WLJ]

Have any BE-4's even flown yet? 

Nope and BO has been pretty tight lipped about any testing. Last test I remember seeing anything on it failed a year or so ago. Seen zip since.

You can watch SpX's engine testing live all day long https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOmmvhDQ2HM
They'll often fire 2 to 5 engines a day

[WLJ]

Bezos has had that tube for a year or two judging by all the pictures I have seen of it over time.

Think maybe that was this mockup https://twitter.com/Blobifi/status/1729296404886299010

[RocketMan]

Think maybe that was this mockup https://twitter.com/Blobifi/status/1729296404886299010

That's what they want you to think.      

[RocketMan]

Have any BE-4's even flown yet?

Yes, but only in bits and pieces a short distance from the test stand.

[WLJ]

Think maybe that was this mockup https://twitter.com/Blobifi/status/1729296404886299010

That's what they want you to think.      

The world's biggest fleshlight for the world's biggest.......nevermind, I'm walking, no running, away from that.

[WLJ]

Yes, but only in bits and pieces a short distance from the test stand.

To be fair there are 72 Raptors in the gulf and 6 in the Atlantic right now.

[dogmush]

SpaceX has thrown more engines in the ocean then Blue Origin has manufactured.   

[RocketMan]

To be fair there are 72 Raptors in the gulf and 6 in the Atlantic right now.

Yes, and they all flew there under power, thus proving the point.

[WLJ]

Yes, and they all flew there under power, thus proving the point.

Most of them at least 

[dogmush]

Jokes aside:  SpaceX has gotten us used to blowing a few rockets up before you put anything important on them and expect them to work.  What are we thinking the odds of the first Vulcan, with the first flight rated BE-4s getting that little lander all the way to the moon next month are?  Does ULA have that thing dialed in?

[MechAg94]

And with the improvements from all those failures, SpaceX has their normal boosters working very reliably.  Because they know there are some design problems you won't find until you try to use them.  I appreciate that they are not quite as failure-phobic as other outfits. 

[WLJ]

Founded
BO - Sept 2000
SpX - March 2002

Objects place in LEO and beyond.
BO - 0
SpX - > 5,000 

[WLJ]

  Does ULA have that thing dialed in?

Guess we'll find out next month.....maybe. I'm not holding my breath

[WLJ]

To be fair there are 72 Raptors in the gulf and 6 in the Atlantic right now.

SpaceX has thrown more engines in the ocean then Blue Origin has manufactured.   

And the total $ of these 78 Raptors was less than one, ONE!, NASA produced tax payer founded RS-25

[AZRedhawk44]

And the total $ of these 78 Raptors was less than one, ONE!, NASA produced tax payer founded RS-25

I rather doubt that.

Musk has aimed for an aspirational cost of $500k per engine, but those first 78 certainly did not all reach that cost threshold.  Even then, the market value of the Raptor as an engine is far higher than its cost... and the market value of an RS-25 is far higher than its cost.

You cannot compare cost of an object to the market price (however convoluted by government procurement) of another.