SpaceX News

[WLJ]

This was posted last night

Chris Bergin - NSF
@NASASpaceflight
NASA and the Department of Defense are monitoring a potential collision that might occur between NASA's TIMED spacecraft and Russia's Cosmos 2221 satellite shortly.

And from the tracking at the link it was a too close for comfort near miss

https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1762722158109679939

[WLJ]

 Rocket Lab pushing for first Neutron launch in 2024
https://spacenews.com/rocket-lab-pushing-for-first-neutron-launch-in-2024/

The underlined concerns me a bit for a launch in 2024 but we'll see

“Right now, we have a schedule that closes for a launch by the end of the year,” Peter Beck, chief executive of Rocket Lab, said of Neutron. “But, we’ve got a lot of testing to get through.”

In the call, he outlined the progress the company was making on various components of Neutron, such as avionics and structures, as well as construction of Neutron’s launch pad, Launch Complex 3 on Wallops Island, Virginia. However, the company has yet to start hot-fire tests of the Archimedes engine that will power Neutron.

Beck said Rocket Lab was completing a test stand for Archimedes at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, allowing it “to support an engine by the end of March,” but did not disclose when the company expected to start firing the engine on the stand.

[WLJ]

S28 ready to stack

[WLJ]

S28 sitting at the chops sticks.
S29 rolled out last night to the test stand.

[WLJ]

Came across this rather interesting site on the web
Especially like the deep dive into the Soviet Luna Program and the N1 and it's launches

Home page  https://www.russianspaceweb.com/index.html

Focus on the Soviet Lunar Program https://www.russianspaceweb.com/spacecraft_manned_lunar.html

The N1 https://www.russianspaceweb.com/n1.html

Many people like comparing Starship, particularity the booster due to it's somewhat similar engine layout, to the N1

[WLJ]

Not sure what SpX has planned.
S28 is stacked on B10 on the OLM while S29 is parked next to the OLM.

[WLJ]

S29 is now on the test/sub-orbital mount
Not sure what was going on. Maybe S29 made a run for the OLM hoping to get on.

S28: HA-HA

[cordex]

S29 is now on the test/sub-orbital mount
Not sure what was going on. Maybe S29 made a run for the OLM hoping to get on.

S28: HA-HA

Surprise third stage!

[WLJ]

S29 looks a little penguin looking up at S28 in that photo. "I want to fly too"

[WLJ]

[WLJ]

SpaceX Falcon 9 Launches SpaceX Crew-8 to the ISS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t8hBUhqPfs

They're playing the NASA traditional card game while suited up game right now

[AZRedhawk44]

Doesn't bode well for HLS/Starship and its unmanned demo flight.

[WLJ]

SpaceX Falcon 9 Launches SpaceX Crew-8 to the ISS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t8hBUhqPfs

They're playing the NASA traditional card game while suited up game right now

Weather scrub which was fine for me since I fell asleep way earlier than normal

SpaceX
@SpaceX
Standing down from tonight's launch of Crew-8 due to elevated winds in Dragon's ascent corridor. Now targeting Sunday, March 3 for liftoff
7:52 PM · Mar 2, 2024
·
699.1K

New NSF place holder for tonight's try.
Launch 20:53

SpaceX Falcon 9 Launches SpaceX Crew-8 to the ISS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ289PotNhc

Edit: Forgot to add launch window is at 22:53 EST

[WLJ]

AA says industry insiders claim BO is on the verge of buying up ULA and thinks this would be bad for the industry and be the death of Vulcan.
I don't know what I think about this yet although I would hate to see ULA get swallowed up.

Bad for NASA! Bad for Spaceflight! If Blue Origin buys ULA, only Jeff Bezos will win!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHEsCcrlPTc

[WLJ]

 Live

SpaceX Performs Third Attempt of B10/S28 Wet Dress Rehearsal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1Eg_FltUZk

[WLJ]

SpaceX
@SpaceX
Starship completed its rehearsal for launch, loading more than 10 million pounds of propellant on Starship and Super Heavy and taking the flight-like countdown to T-10 seconds

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1764697392128156144/photo/3

[BobR]

It must have been a very slow news day yesterday. I caught the launch to ISS live on Fox News last night. I can't remember the last time they (or any news outlet) covered a launch. I don't go looking but I normally end up watching on you tube or in the case of a Starlink launch out of Vandenberg I go outside.

bob

[WLJ]

Wow, just wow

https://twitter.com/dwisecinema/status/1764750615966539898

[dogmush]

Doesn't bode well for HLS/Starship and its unmanned demo flight.

It's SpaceX.  The first one will fall over, then blow up.  It's almost tradition at this point.

[WLJ]

It's SpaceX.  The first one will fall over, then blow up.  It's almost tradition at this point.

Elon: That was cool, NEXT!

[WLJ]

Coming along
Wonder how long before they get this going for the general public

Elon Musk
@elonmusk
SpaceX just achieved peak download speed of 17Mb/s from satellite direct to unmodified Samsung Android phone

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1764032892663906313

[WLJ]

SpX targeting March 14 for flight 3
Launch window opens at 07:30 CST

 

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1765037578343121372

[AZRedhawk44]

AA says industry insiders claim BO is on the verge of buying up ULA and thinks this would be bad for the industry and be the death of Vulcan.
I don't know what I think about this yet although I would hate to see ULA get swallowed up.

Bad for NASA! Bad for Spaceflight! If Blue Origin buys ULA, only Jeff Bezos will win!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHEsCcrlPTc

BO buying ULA will guarantee that Amazon won't get Project Kuiper delivered to orbit, will guarantee that Vulcan never flies again, and that RocketLab's Neutron gets the lesser share of NSS launch contracts and SpaceX gets the greater share, where it used to be ULA getting the greater and SpaceX getting the lesser.

Hell, it would probably ground the remaining Atlas V rockets.

BO needs to shut the f up and worry about their own rocket and lists of unfinished projects.

On a positive note, it would signal the final death of Northrop Grumman space division, Boeing and LockMart space devisions, and Aerojet-Rocketdyne space divisions.  All it's going to take is one more NewSpace player able to match even half the aggressiveness as SpaceX, getting things rolling.  RocketLab/Neutron is that player.  I just don't see the DOD, NSA and Space Force trusting ULA run by BO.

[WLJ]

Aiming for the Indian Ocean this time

https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-3

The third flight test of Starship could launch as soon as March 14, pending regulatory approval.

A live webcast of the flight test will begin about 30 minutes before liftoff, which you can watch here and on X @SpaceX. As is the case with all developmental testing, the schedule is dynamic and likely to change, so be sure to stay tuned to our X account for updates.

Starship’s second flight test achieved a number of major milestones and provided invaluable data to continue rapidly developing Starship. Each of these flight tests continue to be just that: a test. They aren’t occurring in a lab or on a test stand, but are putting flight hardware in a flight environment to maximize learning.

The third flight test aims to build on what we’ve learned from previous flights while attempting a number of ambitious objectives, 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. This new flight path enables us to attempt new techniques like in-space engine burns while maximizing public safety.

This rapid iterative development approach has been the basis for all of SpaceX’s major innovative advancements, including Falcon, Dragon, and Starlink. Recursive improvement is essential as we work to build a fully reusable transportation system capable of carrying both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, help humanity return to the Moon, and ultimately travel to Mars and beyond.

[WLJ]

SpaceX Tests Ship 29 in Preparation for the Fourth Starship Flight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyyjtAfBNLA