SpaceX Starship struts its stack to show it has the right stuff
- Reference: 1628331968
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/08/07/spacex_starship_stacked/
- Source link:
On Friday, rival billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX Starship made a show of its size.
SpaceX stacked its [1]Starship SN20 upper-stage atop the company's Super Heavy booster at its facility in Boca Chica, Texas, to test the fit of the two components that together made the largest rocket ever built.
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At 120 meters (394 feet), the Starship launch system surpassed NASA's [3]Saturn V , which stood 111 meters (363 feet) and last flew in 1973.
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The company's stacking test, which lasted about an hour, is a prelude to plans to launch Starship on its first orbital flight, envisioned as a 90 minute trip from Starbase (Boca Chica) into space and back to a powered, targeted soft ocean landing off the northwest coast of the Hawaiian island of Kauai.
The Super Heavy booster, scheduled to separate about three minutes into the journey, should see its shorter eight-minute flight end in a splashdown about 20 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico.
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Eventually, SpaceX intends to recover both vehicles through controlled touchdowns on land or at sea.
Starship on the orbital launch pad [7]pic.twitter.com/7p02cgNnUA — SpaceX (@SpaceX) [8]August 6, 2021
The test flight, [9]submitted to the FCC for approval, has yet to be scheduled. There's an additional FAA environmental review that must be completed and there are further technical milestones.
Currently, SpaceX's Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Dragon systems provide service for NASA and US Defense missions, and commercial operations. Its Starship system is intended to provide lifts into Earth orbit and to the Moon and Mars – for up to 100 people at once or 100 tons of cargo.
Last week, on July 26, Blue Origin published [10]an open letter to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson calling for the US space agency to undertake a more competitive bidding process before bestowing contracts.
Three days earlier, NASA [11]awarded SpaceX a $178m launch services contract for its October 2024 mission to study Jupiter's moon Europa. But that's insignificant compared to the $2.9bn contract that NASA awarded to SpaceX in April – Elon Musk's company got tapped to build the the Human Landing System (HLS) for NASA's Artemis program, which aspires to bring astronauts back to the Moon in 2024.
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Shortly thereafter, Blue Origin and defense biz Dynetics filed objections to the HLS contract with the US Government Accountability Office. That led to the suspension and review of NASA's decision. But a week ago, the GAO [13]denied the challenge and let NASA's HLS contract remain with SpaceX.
Shape and size matter in rocketry but funding matters more. ®
Get our [14]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/bootnotes&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YQ6uM4S4iJ2ZVLZAlfAR4AAAAM8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/rocketpark/saturn_v.html
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/bootnotes&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YQ6uM4S4iJ2ZVLZAlfAR4AAAAM8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/bootnotes&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YQ6uM4S4iJ2ZVLZAlfAR4AAAAM8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/bootnotes&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YQ6uM4S4iJ2ZVLZAlfAR4AAAAM8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://t.co/7p02cgNnUA
[8] https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1423700328717840385?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[9] https://apps.fcc.gov/els/GetAtt.html?id=273481&x=
[10] https://www.blueorigin.com/news/open-letter-to-administrator-nelson
[11] https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-awards-launch-services-contract-for-europa-clipper-mission
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/bootnotes&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YQ6uM4S4iJ2ZVLZAlfAR4AAAAM8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-statement-on-gao-ruling-regarding-human-landing-system-protest
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
I would want a reeaally long peice of blue touch paper if it was me lighting it.
Going back to the Bezos and Dynetics complaints, do they honestly expect the world to hang around while they play catch up?
I can't decide whether it is jealousy, arrogance or ignorance that drives the complainers.
"Mine is bigger than yours"
The most important question is has anyone dubbed the video of them stacking the big rocket with the "Thunderbirds" music? Even the stills look like something out of Derek Meddings' wildest dreams!
Re: "Mine is bigger than yours"
Yes, sort of, I video with Thunderbirds music was done months ago.
Re: "Mine is bigger than yours"
Blue Danube might be good as well....
Only 20 years late...
Re: "Mine is bigger than yours"
the stills look like something out of Derek Meddings' wildest dreams!
The top right and bottom left pictures do have a "Meccano and washing-up-liquid bottle" vibe to them, Meddings would be proud.
Re: "Mine is bigger than yours"
I think your title pretty much nailed it. While there were some engineering reasons for building the stack, I do have to wonder how much of Musk's ego was in this as it did seem be a bit of willy waving.
Finally, the future has arrived
You look at those pictures and your inner kid goes, "Oh wow!"
Re: Finally, the future has arrived
Your inner kid is quite restrained it seems. :D
Hundreds of tons of CO2 produced by every launch, for what? So some billionaires can satisfy their egos.
Hundreds of tons of CO2 produced by every launch
Yup. And the total, global annual launch industry produces about as much carbon dioxide as 1 day's operation of Heathrow or JFK International. Or fewer than 100,000 cars.
for what? So some billionaires can satisfy their egos.
That was the moral panic last month involving a suborbital race between Bezos and Branson. SpaceX's Starship is addressing market interest from (at least) NASA, who sees the StarShip as worth a $2.9 billion investment.
Musk might be personally weird and have his own motives, but SpaceX isn't just a vanity project for him. Just glance at the Falcon 9 launch manifests: they're not filled with ego gestures, they're carrying payloads for paying customers.
The combustion of Methane and Oxygen (which is what the Raptor engines burn) is primarily as follows:
CH₄ + 2O₂ → CO₂ + 2H₂O
There are other pollutants released of course - most notably Nitrous Oxides from burning the surrounding air - in a typical rocket engine, but burning Methane is still a lot cleaner than, say, Kerosene.
Looking ahead Methane can be produced through various methods, but most notably by the reaction:
CO₂ + 4H₂ → CH₄ + 2H₂O
SpaceX are planning on utilising renewable energy sources to produce the above as part of their goal to be carbon neutral.
"most notably Nitrous Oxides from burning the surrounding air"
Rockets don't burn the surrounding air. They bring their own oxidizer with them
They do travel through the air though, and they are quite hot at one end. Some of it probably does get at least a little bit singed on the way past. ;)
Taxes
If you compare how much tax big corporations paid in the UK versus how much tax workers paid, there is no wonder why companies can send their bosses to space and you can't even buy a sensible bike without having to make tough decisions (should I buy a bike and repair broken oven next month? or maybe replace dates pots and pans? Then you have to take money from the pot you had for air conditioning and feeling bad for having to postpone it till next year again).
Some food for thought...
Re: Taxes
Yes.... mainly: "What does this have to do with Space X?"
"100 people at once or 100 tons of cargo"
Clearly aimed at the American market then.
Re: "100 people at once or 100 tons of cargo"
Unfortunately people have this tendency to want to breathe and eat and have something better than the floor to lie on during the high-g bits of the trip. The mass needed for an individual and their support works out at around a ton as a rule of thumb.
I think I'm going to be able to hear that thing from here* when they light it
*Australia