Not just SpaceX

If they really didn't have a State permit for the second stage static fire, they'll likely be stalled for more months as the EPA gets involved, but given their slow and steady approach, I'm thinking it's got to be fake.

It played during the 43m 30s mark of this Starship 5 flight test video:

https://youtu.be/1vWLQ-QtKQ0?si=VUqpZri3Lgmm1OHh

Welcome to the monthly questions and discussion thread! Drop in to ask and answer any questions related to SpaceX or spaceflight in general, or just for a chat to discuss SpaceX's exciting progress. If you have a question that is likely to generate open discussion or speculation, you can also submit it to the subreddit as a text post.

If your question is about space, astrophysics or astronomy then the r/Space questions thread may be a better fit.

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It's almost certain that we are gonna go to mars. Whether that is a small reasearch station or full million people settlement is yet to be seen.

Spacex has the technology to do so.

Spacex has the money to do so, thanks to starlink.

Spacex has the leadership to do so, thanks to Elon Musk. I mean no one would have been crazy enough to land rockets on chopsticks until Elon made it his demand and his team made it happen.

Edited out the wrong info

And to think that we were this close to spacex being bankrupt. At best we would have boing starliner and whatever.

It's crazy to think about.

Does anyone know if it's possible to know which Falcon 9 mission is currently visible on LC 39A on Google Maps satellite view? Is seems to be a Dragon there, but there have been many of those in 2024. The label just says 2024 imagery by Maxar, but no specific date. I'm just really curious to know which booster/spacecraft is that. Cheers.

https://preview.redd.it/sv1imy09i3yd1.png?width=2360&format=png&auto=webp&s=2451f658d831c1fb97d3e7c985cb50531894509d

Let's assume spacex has 3 operational starship pads. As both booster and ship are produced at boca, and are really hard to be transported horizontally - will launching them in one place and catching in the other be a viable transportation option? I get it with the ship. They can orbit it, deorbit and catch on a tower, let's say on a cape.

But what about the booster? I've heard that it is effectively a SSTO vehicle if launched with no starship on top. Will we see point2point launches of booster only? With like a aerodynamic shield on or something? Possibly reentry burn as the speed might be too high?

Seems reasonable and probably lot simpler and cheaper than transporting such a massive thing any other way and cheaper than making a new factory

This is my starship drawing so far. I’m not very talented when it comes to drawing, but I think it looks cool.

If the starship is gonna carry many big satellites and even space station module (like the haven 2 core module) and deploy it into orbit, how will the payload door look like? The pez dispenser is way too small and the starship cant have a traditional nosecone opening because the landing propellant is there.

Ariane 5 had a unique to my knowledge feature of being able to ride share massive 3 to 4 meter diameter satellites using a payload adapter that allowed 2 of them to fly together. Starship is close to nearly double the size of Ariane 5 in faring diameter.

Do you think starship will employ such a unique feature in the future to further reduce payload cost and provide a unique advantage for flying SpaceX?

Obviously such a adapter will ultimately be disposable which goes against the whole fully reusable indea and if starship delivers its promises it should make cargo to space so cheap it wouldn't matter. Obviously it's too early to say for sure if this will happen but regardless what do you think?

https://preview.redd.it/6d9gewxcmrxd1.jpg?width=680&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c9bec08935a77605455a698a1fe75cc43b9400ac

Huge milestone, SpaceX caught Booster Heavy. We know how NASA Feels, and us fans… what about their competitors? Did anyone even congratulate SpaceX on this historic achievement? Or are they just quiet and mums the word?

BO? ULA? ArianeSpace? What about their competitors ESA they have been pretty prickly over SpaceX, and Starlink…

Edit: as always Reddit comes in clutch where Google fails. I Google with “Reddit” at the end b/c Google sucks and reddits search engine sucks. 🤣🤣

When it comes to Falcon 9, the landing procedure seems pretty "easy" in terms of positioning. You have GPS for horizontal positioning within 1m (which is enough to hit the droneship pretty accurately) and radar altimeters for vertical positioning with precision within a few inches above locally flat ground. But here's where Starship seems so impressive to me. It's not the size. Not the concept. Is how they get the relative positioning. GPS can be accurate enough for tenths of inches of precision, but not always, especially on a vibrating can of metal undergoing many G's of deceleration, and since you're catching the booster above the launchpad, you can't use radar altimeters for vertical positioning because of the different attitudes and the measuring that can get either the ground or part of the launch mount as reference for altitude. So... how the hell are they doing it? How are they getting the exact position of the booster (that they're providing the guidance software with) relative to the tower during catch? And how is the tower getting the position of the ship? What type of measuring system can detect that relative position within single-digit millimeters and relay everything with single-digits milliseconds latency with such a high reliability?

So I was wondering, when Moon and eventually Mars stations are being estabilshed, one concern is always the available energy there (especially Mars where solar energy is weak and much is needed for refueling Starship with the Sabatier process). One solution might be using small nuclear reactors. But that poses its own problems, like what happens when a rocket carrying the reactor and its fuel RUDs during launch, scattering radioactive material in the atmosphere? Would it be feasible and safer launching the fuel seperately on Crew Dragon or similar vehicles with a launch escape system, protecting the fuel even if the rocket fails? Or is that still too risky? What are your thoughts?

Sorry if this is redundant