totm nov 2023 SpaceX Discussion Thread

[RCgothic]

Or maybe they broke something on the Raptor and need to swap it out:

Edit: NVM, #18 was the one installed in SN4 for the tests. Thought it was still at the factory after the photos of the 3 engines a few weeks back.

Edited May 8, 2020 by RCgothic

[CatastrophicFailure]

13 minutes ago, RCgothic said:

Maybe having done the engine tests the wanted to get done and with SN5 close behind they're going to see if they can increase the proof pressure. Last time they acheive the minimum for engine operation, but human flight needs more like 8bar.

I think sooner or later they’ll have to test to failure, if only so they can know exactly what their margins are. Design might need to gel more first, but with SN5 coming along so quickly it might just lap SN4 and leave it surplus. 
 

Also: (re: Starlink beta testing)

Well, at least statistically my chances of being in an early test group just went up. 
 

[RCgothic]

 

At this rate we're going to have to start seeing a lot of Raptor engines in quick succession. SN5 is what, 3 weeks behind? If that holds for SN6 and SN7 we'll need about 4 raptors a month. And then superheavy needs 31, although it probably won't fly with that many to begin with...

Edited May 8, 2020 by RCgothic

[RealKerbal3x]

32 minutes ago, RCgothic said:

If that holds for SN6 and SN7 we'll need about 4 raptors a month.

So about 12 times as fast as Aerojet Rocketdyne is meant to be producing RS-25s for SLS?

[sh1pman]

1 hour ago, RCgothic said:

 

 

What kind of fly rate will they need to have to drop the cost to $1.5M/flight? It sure sounds great but where to find so many payloads?  

[RealKerbal3x]

5 minutes ago, sh1pman said:

What kind of fly rate will they need to have to drop the cost to $1.5M/flight? It sure sounds great but where to find so many payloads?  

Starlink. They've got literally thousands of satellites to get into LEO.

[sh1pman]

Just now, RealKerbal3x said:

Starlink. They've got literally thousands of satellites to get into LEO.

Sure, but if one launch can lift ~500 Starlink sats to orbit, that’s still not a lot of launches. I think they expect to open the market for some really big projects in space, like Moon bases or ring stations that require absurd amounts of material to build. But who will fund those?

[zolotiyeruki]

27 minutes ago, sh1pman said:

Sure, but if one launch can lift ~500 Starlink sats to orbit, that’s still not a lot of launches. I think they expect to open the market for some really big projects in space, like Moon bases or ring stations that require absurd amounts of material to build. But who will fund those?

With full reuse, SpaceX won't need any really big payloads.  As stated repeatedly in the recent discussion, they'll be able to use SH/SS for just about any payload heavier than a few tons, and still make a profit.  Beyond Starlink, they'll be able to service the entire existing launch market with SS/SH.

[Lukaszenko]

43 minutes ago, sh1pman said:

What kind of fly rate will they need to have to drop the cost to $1.5M/flight? It sure sounds great but where to find so many payloads?  

Hell, for $1.5M/ flight, I wouldn't be surprised if some of us chipped in and bought one or two.  

[Rakaydos]

At 500 starlinks a flight, that's still 60 flights every 5 years for the full constellation, if I recall correctly. One flight a month baseline load, while also supporting other missions, can justify plenty of reuse.

[sh1pman]

So, to build this thing in orbit (10 million tons) they’d need 67k launches for ~$100B total. That’s not unreasonable, DoD budget is ~$700B a year. 

Edited May 8, 2020 by sh1pman

[magnemoe]

33 minutes ago, sh1pman said:

So, to build this thing in orbit (10 million tons) they’d need 67k launches for ~$100B total. That’s not unreasonable, DoD budget is ~$700B a year. 

Stuff like that will require asteroid or moon mining. 
Something like the station in the 2001 movie could be build with starship.   

[sh1pman]

33 minutes ago, magnemoe said:

Stuff like that will require asteroid or moon mining. 

Probably best to mine rock on the Moon and send materials to space via mass driver. But industry on the Moon would need to be set up first.

[RCgothic]

 

Definitely another pressure test.

[Flavio hc16]

1 hour ago, RCgothic said:

 

Definitely another pressure test.

let's see if it goes boom

[RCgothic]

SpaceX fleet performing the job of the coastguard:

 

Edited May 8, 2020 by RCgothic

[CatastrophicFailure]

33 minutes ago, RCgothic said:

SpaveX fleet performing the job of the coastguard:

So, they get a nice fee and he’s now part of their space program, right? 

[mikegarrison]

41 minutes ago, RCgothic said:

performing the job of the coastguard

Well, kind of, but it is the duty of any boater to rescue people if they can.

Quote

Article 11 of the Brussels Convention provides: “Every master is bound, so far as he can do so without serious danger to his vessel, her crew and passengers, to render assistance to everybody, even though an enemy, found at sea in danger of being lost.”

 

Edited May 8, 2020 by mikegarrison

[Wjolcz]

11 hours ago, sh1pman said:

What kind of fly rate will they need to have to drop the cost to $1.5M/flight? It sure sounds great but where to find so many payloads?  

By sheer statistics: if you have have 100 people on Earth and only 1% wants and can afford to go to space and/or build something up there then that's one person. If you have 8 billion people on Earth and only a fraction of the 1% who can afford that wants to do it, then... that's more than one person.

If you can build it cheaply enough, they will come. If you can build it cheaply enough for almost everybody to use it then there's a good chance almost everybody will use it.

And there are plenty of military projects that can be done with this. And those camo guys seem to happily throw money at almost everything, even if it's hypothetical pseudo science.

[Codraroll]

I just realized that the captains of the fairing recovery vessels have the completely opposite job of naval commanders:

Every now and then, under certain circumstances, a state or non-state actor may find it upon themselves to launch rockets into the atmosphere. The rockets shed stages as they go. Very high up, pieces separate from the tip of the rocket and fall back to earth. The job of the captains is to know precisely where those bits are going to fall down, and to ensure that their ship is placed directly where the impact happens.

Edited May 9, 2020 by Codraroll

[RCgothic]

Based on closures this is the plan:

 

[mikegarrison]

5 hours ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

So, they get a nice fee and he’s now part of their space program, right? 

I can't believe that it took me five hours to get this joke.

[Nightside]

7 hours ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

So, they get a nice fee and he’s now part of their space program, right? 

Sorry you fell off your boat, want to test a moon rocket?

[kerbiloid]

5 hours ago, Codraroll said:

The job of the captains is to know precisely where those bits are going to fall down, and to ensure that their ship is placed directly where the impact happens.

Just wait a little, amateurs will be doing it for insurance payment.

 

[RCgothic]

Whatever test they performed last night, seems like SN4 survived it.

Gaseous nitrogen proof-test it seems:

 

Edited May 9, 2020 by RCgothic