SpaceX

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https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1792629142141177890

Elon Musk
@elonmusk
Starship Flight 4 in about 2 weeks.

Primary goal is getting through max reentry heating.

Worth noting that no one has ever succeeded in creating a fully reusable heat shield. Shuttle required >6 months of rework.

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Elon Musk
@elonmusk
SpaceX might exceed 90% of all Earth payload to orbit later this year.

Once Starship is launching at high rate, probably >99%. Has to be or we can’t build a city on Mars or base on moon.

We file almost no patents, so nothing stopping competition from copying us.

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1792689139470704718

[raklian]

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SpaceX
@SpaceX
The fourth flight test of Starship could launch as soon as June 5, pending regulatory approval

http://spacex.com/launches/missi

https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1794000049858597253

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SpaceX Fixing Starship to Reach Rapid Reusability
May 24, 2024 by Brian Wang
https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2024/05/s ... ility.html

SpaceX will try to launch on June 5, 2024 if they get FAA approval. Elon and SpaceX are communicating the June 5th date as if the FAA is close to giving the launch license.
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Here is what has been learned and fixed after the third flight.

Super Heavy Booster:
• Second successful ascent.
• Initiated boostback burn; 13 engines started successfully, but six shut down early due to filter blockage.
• Attempted landing burn with only seven engines starting; contact lost at 462 meters altitude.

Identified issue: Filter blockage in liquid oxygen supply.
• Fix: Adding hardware in oxygen tanks for better filtration which will increase startup reliability of Raptor engines.

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Mechazilla Booster Catch Attempt on the Next SpaceX Starship Flight
June 6, 2024 by Brian Wang

Elon says the next SpaceX Starship flight will likely attempt a Mechazilla launch tower catch of the booster.


If successful this would mean saving 33 of the 39 engines for a Starship Superheavy. This would mean getting to the reusability level of the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy.

There will be no FAA delay to get this licensed for the next launch. This likely happens in July.

There has been a successful simulated booster landing with the soft landing in the water on this last launch.

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2024/06/m ... light.html

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SpaceX Starship Factory Will Build One Starship Every Day
June 9, 2024 by Brian Wang

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2024/06/s ... y-day.html
“We have Ships and Super Heavy boosters built and either ready to launch or in testing for the next several flights with more coming off of the production line as SpaceX’s Starfactory continues to grow,” Jessie Anderson, SpaceX’s Falcon Structures Manufacturing Engineering Manager, said during SpaceX’s livestream of the Starship flight test Thursday.


“The latest phase of the factory currently under construction will come online this summer, giving us several 100,000 more square feet of space.”

The facility is part of SpaceX’s Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, one of the first-ever commercial spaceports in the world devoted to a single vehicle; in this case, Starship. Once completed, SpaceX goal for the facility will be to create one Starship megarocket every day at Starfactory.

SpaceX Starship version 2 will start production this summer.

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99 SpaceX Raptor Engines Before New Mass Production of Thousands
June 24, 2024 by Brian Wang

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2024/06/9 ... sands.html
Elon Musk showed Everyday Astronaut the SpaceX Starbase and rocket factories. SpaceX has a new Raptor engine that will be a couple hundred pounds lighter without a heat shield. It will have built in cooling channels. This is the version of the Raptor engine which wil be produced by the thousands. The Texas Starbase will eventually be able to produce one hundred Starships and Boosters per year. This will need about 4000 Raptor engines per year. There will eventually be other SpaceX facilities that will enable about one thousand Starships and boosters per year. This will need 40,000 Raptor engines per year.