SpaceX will try satellite deployment on next Starship test
- Reference: 1736166614
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/01/06/spacex_starship_test/
- Source link:
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has already given the company the [1]green light for the operation, and SpaceX last week [2]outlined the changes made to the rocket as well as what it hopes to achieve.
The Starship portion of the launch system will feature new avionics and the propellant volume will be increased 25 percent. The forward flaps of the vehicle have also been moved and made smaller to reduce the system's exposure to heating during reentry and simplify things. There are new thermal protection tiles and a backup layer to handle missing or damaged tiles.
[3]
It's all aimed at improving the vehicle's performance and enabling it to fly longer missions, although, as with previous test flights, the trajectory of Starship will be suborbital.
[4]
[5]
SpaceX also plans to perform a deployment during the journey, and Starship will carry a payload of ten Starlink simulators – similar in size and weight to next-generation Starlink satellites. The payload will be on the same suborbital trajectory as Starship and splash down in the Indian Ocean.
Finally, Starship will feature updates focused on a future return to the launch site and catch. Non-structural catch fittings will be added to test thermal performance, and a significant number of tiles will be removed "to stress-test vulnerable areas across the vehicle" alongside tests of alternative materials to protect the craft during re-entry.
[6]Will 2025 be the year satellite-to-smartphone services truly take off?
[7]Stranded in space: Starliner crew to remain in orbit even longer as SpaceX faces delays
[8]SpaceX rocketeers get fresh FAA license for next Starship launch
[9]Trump wants SpaceX customer Jared Isaacman as next NASA boss
As for the Super Heavy Booster, SpaceX would like to catch it on its return, although warned that the booster would be ditched if any issues were detected. SpaceX blamed launch damage to sensors on the tower chopsticks for the offshore diversion of the last test flight, but said improvements had been made to "increase reliability for booster catch."
One of the Raptor engines used by the Super Heavy Booster would also be a unit from the fifth flight test of the system onwards.
[10]
SpaceX said: "This new year will be transformational for Starship, with the goal of bringing reuse of the entire system online and flying increasingly ambitious missions as we iterate towards being able to send humans and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, and Mars."
Or perhaps less of the Moon bit. Company boss Elon Musk [11]described the Moon as "a distraction" in a post on X last week. His Christmas gift for NASA was to [12]call the architecture of the agency's Artemis program "extremely inefficient" and a "jobs-maximizing program, not a results-maximizing program."
[13]NASA needs Starship to land the first humans on the Moon since the days of the Apollo program. The Register contacted the agency for its reaction to Musk's comments and will update this piece should there be a response. ®
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[1] https://www.theregister.com/2024/12/18/faa_issues_a_license_for/
[2] https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-7
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Z3wMNR54Ytz0ztFCF7XtUgAAABA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z3wMNR54Ytz0ztFCF7XtUgAAABA&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/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Z3wMNR54Ytz0ztFCF7XtUgAAABA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/02/satellite_phone_services_starlink/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/12/19/spacex_delayed_boeing_crew/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/12/18/faa_issues_a_license_for/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2024/12/04/trump_nasa_boss/
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z3wMNR54Ytz0ztFCF7XtUgAAABA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1875023335891026324
[12] https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1871997501970235656
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2021/04/16/nasa_spacex_moon/
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Was launching a Tesla as a "pay"load a results maximising program?
It was
an awareness maximising program i.e. (free) advertising.
Re: It was
They did offer to carry a "real" payload, but there were no takers and if you have to carry a "mass simulator" why not make it iconic instead of just a lump of steel?
As ever
Excitement guaranteed.
Be good to see the deployment test and the catch point tests...
Suborbital
It's the 7th-flight and still doesn't go to orbit ... I think Starship is the only rocket that doesn't even attempt to go to orbit, it just pops up and down. What do they learn by now ?
Re: Suborbital
They learn about the difficult bits: launch, separation, relighting and landing
Re: Suborbital
Not going into orbit has been a feature, not a bug for ships 1 to 6. Should a problem occur that renders the vehicle uncontrollable, then there is close to zero chance of having a huge hulk of hardware left in uncontrollable orbit. The amount of delta-v required to convert flight 6 to orbital flight was very small, and most likely available in the tanks when the engines were shut down.
Re: Suborbital
"The amount of delta-v required to convert flight 6 to orbital flight was very small"
Technical nitpick: The trajectory _IS_ orbital. It's just that perigee is well inside the atmosphere, with obvious results for continued flight, if things stop working
All that's needed is a circularisation burn to remedy that issue...
Re: Suborbital
Ask Blue Origin about their New Shepard...
They apparently make a lot of dough from people willing to pay to just pop up and down.
Re: Suborbital
In a rocket that doesn't even go to space.
Jeff's BO is a bigger con than crypto.
Important
I believe the Moon is still important as a destination. You don't want to leave the Chinese to squat and claim larger and larger pieces of it.
This may not align with Elon's plan of a multi-planetary civilization, but it's important for geopolitical reasons.
Re: Important
Is there a treaty governing how much land can be claimed with each landing? Is it like national waters, 12 miles around the ships landing site etc?
If Musk was to make the endeavour privately, could he claim a portion of the moon upon landing? Or even Mars.
Re: Important
There is an Outer Space Treaty. It says that nobody can claim any part of the Moon as territory. The same goes for everything else that's not Earth. I think everyone who plays in space signed it, but feel free to correct me.
Of course, the main reason everyone has so far respected it is that claiming extraterrestial territory is, at the moment, pretty much pointless.
If we get to the point where extraterrestial territory is actually useful, I expect the Outer Space Treaty to get jettisoned out an airlock PDQ. If we're very lucky, it'll get replaced by another treaty that's designed around the new situation. If we're not, it'll get replaced by a wide variety of fun & games that will inspire book and movie plots for centuries to come.
Re: Important
It's also much closer to Earth in terms of flight-time (as opposed to delta-v, I believe the delta-v for Mars isn't a lot larger than for the moon). Therefore it'd be easier to set up research bases on the moon (in the vein of Antartic research stations) with personnel rotations to build up experience with operating for extended periods on foreign bodies. If there are problems, help is only a few days flight-time away (plus whatever the launch-prep time is) rather than the 9+ months away it'd be on Mars.
So I do think the moon is a reasonable goal from a 'training grounds' perspective.
Re: Important
I think it's reasonable to assume he is aware of geopolitical reasons given his recent hobby of jumping 'two booted' into western countries national politics.
Given that he appears to have gained significant influence over US politics he seems to believe he can achieve it elsewhere.
The reason why? I can only assume it feeds into his grand vision regarding Mars. I can't see that there is no ulterior motive for this. Like him or not, he is too smart for there not to be a specific driver behind it.
Re: Important
I guess he's entitled to his opinion just like all those outside the US who have or still do criticise & insult DJT.
He certainly got TTK's attention judging by his response today. Winding up politicians should be an international sport anyway to keep them on their toes.
As for the CCP, I'm half expecting a large red CCP flag to cover much of the face of the moon before I pop my clogs.
Re: Important
"Winding up politicians should be an international sport anyway to keep them on their toes."
Absolutely! It's part of the job. Having Trump and Musk running the USA is going to be explosive as they both seem to have wet tissue paper for skin!
Re: Important
The moon is likely to prove one of the absolute toughest places to try and establish a presence, vastly more difficult than an asteroid or mars despite the proximity - all thanks to that dust
Apollo's Lunar surface suits were _destroyed_ by the dust in a matter of hours. Both joints and the fabric itself proved susceptible to its abrasiveness - and then there's the issue of silicosis to consider in humans tracking it in from outdoors. There's billions being spent on trying to engineer something that will work - reliably - for extended periods
I used to care more
Then Musk turned into a prick and so it's all a bit meh
Re: I used to care more
I presume the professionals at Space X feel the same. These people are good at what they do despite being associated with HIM.
Don't care, don't want to know
unless BOTH Trump and Musk are on board with a one-way ticket to Mars.
Then the world would be a much safer and better place.
"Or perhaps less of the Moon bit. Company boss Elon Musk described the Moon as "a distraction" in a post on X last week. His Christmas gift for NASA was to call the architecture of the agency's Artemis program "extremely inefficient" and a "jobs-maximizing program, not a results-maximizing program.""
Well, I can't say he's wrong about that. But not, perhaps, the most sensible thing for him to say of spaceX's biggest customer. Unless, of course, he knows something we don't.