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Starship Launch Success and Next Steps for SpaceX · Elon Musk Podcast

• 0:00
  Hi everybody, welcome back to the show.
• 0:03
  Today we're going to do our final episode of Starship Week
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  for the Starship IFT 2 launch. I'm your host, Will Walden and
• 0:12
  this rocket, the Starship rocket experienced A partial success in
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  a dramatic failure during its latest test flight.
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  The spacecraft, which is designed for deep space
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  missions, managed to launch and separate from its Super Heavy
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  booster, but ultimately ended in an explosion.
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  In the first phase of the flight, the Super Heavy booster
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  successfully ignited all 33 Raptor engines, feat that has
• 0:35
  been challenging even in ground tests.
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  However, after the Starship spacecraft separated and
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  continued its ascent, the booster unexpectedly exploded.
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  The Starship reached an impressive altitude near the
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  edge of space before encountering issues that led to
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  the loss of signal and the activation of its self destruct
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  mechanism. Now, this incident is a reminder
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  of the complexities of this gigantic rocket, especially with
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  new in these untested tech. Now, the FAA has already
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  announced an investigation into this mishap.
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  Now let's explore this event a little bit more.
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  Now let's talk about the flight. The recent SpaceX Starship
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  launch marked another huge step in the company's pursuit of
• 1:15
  space exploration. The launch saw the Starship
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  spacecraft lift off with a super heavy booster, achieving a
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  successful separation. Unfortunately, the booster
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  exploded post separation, a set back that overshadowed the
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  partial success of this whole flight.
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  But it's the complete success in my mind.
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  SpaceX aimed to push the spacecraft to near orbital
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  velocities. This is a huge milestone for
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  them, and it's for the future of their deep space missions.
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  And despite reaching a significant altitude, the
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  spacecraft ultimately lost contract and triggered its self
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  destruct mechanism, a safety measure to prevent it from
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  veering off course and hurting people and property.
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  Now John Insprucker, we call him Daddy over here with the the
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  SpaceX fan club over here who's an aerospace engineer, explained
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  the late activation of the flight termination system.
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  He works at SpaceX, which occurred over the Gulf of Mexico
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  and this incident highlights the inherent risks in testing
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  advanced rocket technology. SpaceX statement emphasized the
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  learning approach, underscoring that each test, regardless of
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  its outcome, contributes to improving Starships reliability.
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  And the FAA's involvement with a statement confirming no injuries
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  or damage to public property sets the stage for a little bit
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  of more of a thorough investigation into this and
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  they'll just be uncovering the root cause of this incident.
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  But the FAA swift response to Space XS Starship test flight
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  It's an important aspect of the ongoing development of the
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  Starship. Their statement confirmed the
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  occurrence of a mishap, which resulted in the loss of the
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  Starship vehicle, but thankfully reported no injuries or damage
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  to public property. The agency's role is crucial in
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  ensuring that such ambitious aerospace endeavors adhere to
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  safety standards and regulations.
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  They have initiated A mishap investigation to determine the
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  specific causes of Starship's failure, and I'm assuming that
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  once they figure out what the causes were, they will make sure
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  that SpaceX addresses those concerns for the IFT 3 launch,
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  which will be coming up probably in the first quarter of next
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  year. The FAA's investigation is
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  standard procedure following such events, aiming to provide
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  insights that can prevent future incidents.
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  The decision on whether the Starship Super Heavy vehicle can
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  return to flight will depend on the findings of this
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  investigation and their assessment of Spacex's measures
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  to ensure public safety. And the duration of the
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  investigation is uncertain. As previous inquiries had taken
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  several months, this one might be a little bit less time, and
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  this process demonstrates the FAA's commitment to overseeing
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  the safety of aerospace developments.
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  Now we have to talk about the hot staging.
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  This is a new part of the Starship IFT 2.
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  SpaceX Starship test flight brought attention to the complex
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  process of what they call hot staging.
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  This is the technique used during the Rockets launch.
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  This method of first for SpaceX on Saturday is part of the stage
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  separation process. Unlike the pneumatic pushers
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  used in the Falcon 9 rocket, Starship separation involved
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  igniting its engines to detach from the Super heavy booster.
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  So the top part ignites the engines while it's still
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  attached to the bottom part. And this aggressive separation
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  approach, referred to as separation by blunt force
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  trauma, was identified as the riskiest part of the flight by
• 4:29
  Elon Musk. An explosion of a super heavy
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  booster post hot staging was an unexpected outcome, indicating
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  the challenges of this new technique.
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  Although SpaceX was prepared for the possibility of the booster
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  not surviving, they actually didn't expect it to survive.
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  They expected to splash down in the Gulf of Mexico and
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  disintegrate, and the actual event provided valuable data for
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  future improvements of hot staging and the booster flip
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  back maneuver. Now the goal was to reignite the
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  Super heavy engines for a controlled landing, a plan that
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  went kind of awry. Kate Tai, senior manager at
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  SpaceX, acknowledged the dynamic nature of hot staging and its
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  potential risks, and this incident underscores.
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  After the tumultuous hot staging, the Starship spacecraft
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  continued its ascent, though showcasing that SpaceX is on the
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  ball. With their engineering
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  capabilities, Mission Control erupted into cheers.
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  The Starship near the end of its engine burn, seemingly on course
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  for Earth's orbit. However, the situation took a
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  turn when SpaceX lost video signal with the spacecraft,
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  followed by the loss of data. And usually when you lose data
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  from a spacecraft, something pretty bad happened.
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  Now this indicated the Starship was not performing as planned,
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  leading to the activation of its Flight Termination System in the
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  spacecraft journey, which was intended to complete nearly a
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  full orbit around Earth. The splashdown near Hawaii was
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  cut a little bit short, and this abrupt end to the test flight
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  highlights the unpredictable nature of starships and
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  especially with these new technologies.
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  And since this is only the 2nd test flight, it's going to get
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  better every single time. The early termination of the
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  flight, while disappointing, is a part of the iterative process
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  of testing and learning and rocket development.
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  The recent Starship incident bears a resemblance to the first
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  launch attempt in April, sort of, but a super heavy booster
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  experienced engine failures leading to an out of control
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  spiral and activation of the self destruct feature.
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  These repeated mishaps demonstrates the challenges that
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  SpaceX faces in developing such a complex and massive rocket
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  system. However, the company's approach
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  to rocket development is notably different from traditional
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  methods. SpaceX embraces learning
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  opportunities presented by these gigantic fireballs in the sky,
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  and they're kind of mishaps, and they use them to enhance their
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  designs and strategies going forward.
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  The rebuilding and upgrading of the launch site in the Starship
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  systems following the April mishap, their philosophy of
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  learning through flying and testing, as opposed to relying
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  solely on ground simulations and models, has been a key aspect of
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  the rapid development cycle. This approach, while sometimes
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  leading to dynamic failures, is instrumental in Spacex's pursuit
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  of breakthroughs in space technology.
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  I want to say thank you so much for listening to the show today.
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  Today's discussion highlighted the complexities and the
• 7:08
  challenges in Spacex's journey to advanced space exploration
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  technology. The recent Starship test flight,
• 7:14
  while not fully successful, provided valuable insights for
• 7:17
  Spacex's ongoing development, and as investigations continue,
• 7:20
  we look forward to understanding more about this important event
• 7:23
  in space travel. Remember to hit the subscribe or
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  tremendously. Every episode of our podcast is
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• 7:35
  up with all the latest of space travel, SpaceX, and Elon Musk.
• 7:40
  So please take care of yourselves and each other and
• 7:43
  I'll see you tomorrow.