Latest / Elon Musk Podcast / SpaceX Starship Flight 9 Update - IFT9 News and Technical Information

Transcript

SpaceX Starship Flight 9 Update - IFT9 News and Technical Information · Elon Musk Podcast

• 0:00
  SpaceX Starship Flight 9 is a focused engineering
• 0:03
  demonstration designed to validate key systems critical
• 0:07
  for long term vehicle reliability, reusability and
• 0:11
  operational cadence. Now this mission leverages a
• 0:15
  unique test profile and incorporate substantial hardware
• 0:19
  and software upgrades across both the Super Heavy booster,
• 0:22
  which is Booster 14 and Starship upper stage with a Ship 35 with
• 0:27
  the primary goal of gathering high fidelity flight data on
• 0:31
  core vehicle functions. Now let's begin with the core
• 0:35
  vehicle configuration. Flight 9 utilizes Super Heavy 14
• 0:39
  and Starship 35. This will be the first time a
• 0:43
  Super Heavy booster is reflown and of the 33 Raptor engines
• 0:47
  installed on the booster 29 are flight proven from previous
• 0:52
  missions. Several of these engines are
• 0:54
  embarking on their third operational cycle.
• 0:58
  The explicit engineering goal here is to validate the
• 1:02
  durability and the performance of Raptor engines through
• 1:06
  repeated launch, shutdown, refurbishment and relaunch.
• 1:11
  Now the data gathered on engine wear, refurbishment time and
• 1:16
  post flight inspection will directly inform maintenance
• 1:19
  protocols and long term cost models for fleet operations for
• 1:24
  SpaceX. Now on the propulsion side,
• 1:27
  booster 14 engine gimbal systems have been further refined for
• 1:31
  this flight to reduce vibrational coupling and
• 1:34
  resonance during throttle transitions.
• 1:37
  The boosters plumbing and propellant feed systems have
• 1:40
  been re engineered to address combustion instability and also
• 1:46
  pressure fluctuation issues which were observed in prior
• 1:50
  flights. Now SpaceX is specifically
• 1:52
  monitoring for transient pressure spikes, cavitation, and
• 1:56
  flow separation events, all of which have the potential to
• 2:00
  cascade into engine out scenarios if not properly
• 2:04
  mitigated. Let's move up to the upper stage
• 2:07
  ship 35, which incorporates a suite of structural and thermal
• 2:11
  protection upgrades. The heat shield now uses a
• 2:14
  revised tile mounting system with improved gap fillers.
• 2:19
  This is a direct response to the uneven heat loads and tile
• 2:23
  detachment incidents we saw in earlier flights.
• 2:26
  The new system is designed to accommodate differential thermal
• 2:30
  expansion and dynamic pressure loads during ascent and also
• 2:35
  during re entry. They also reinforced that F
• 2:38
  fuselage and reposition the aerodynamic control surfaces of
• 2:43
  the ship. The flaps are smaller, thinner
• 2:45
  and mounted closer to the nose, which should provide improved
• 2:49
  control authority during descent and also reduce thermal exposure
• 2:54
  to critical surfaces. Now a major focus for this
• 2:57
  flight is avionics. For the first time, Starship is
• 3:02
  flying with a Tripoli redundant flight computer system.
• 3:05
  This architecture means three different computers process all
• 3:10
  critical flight inputs in parallel, allowing for real time
• 3:15
  cross checks and system reconfiguration in the event of
• 3:19
  a single point failure. The flight software stack has
• 3:22
  been rewritten to leverage this redundancy, incorporating
• 3:26
  hardened protocols for error detection, isolation, and
• 3:29
  recovery. And they're aiming to
• 3:31
  demonstrate that a single hardware or software fault will
• 3:34
  not propagate through the system or compromise mission safety at
• 3:39
  all. This is foundational for future
• 3:42
  crude missions and for meeting regulatory requirements for
• 3:46
  human spaceflight. The telemetry and sensor
• 3:49
  networks have also been overhauled.
• 3:51
  They are now collecting high frequency, high integrity data
• 3:54
  from structural joints, pressure critical interfaces and all
• 3:58
  major avionics nodes. The communication stacks has
• 4:02
  been rebuilt with more resilient hardware and software with the
• 4:06
  explicit goal of eliminating data dropouts and ensuring
• 4:10
  complete mission data capture from launch through recovery.
• 4:15
  Now this will give us a much higher resolution view of
• 4:18
  vehicle performance, particularly during dynamic
• 4:22
  events such as stage separation and also re entry.
• 4:26
  Propellant management in ship 35 has been upgraded with larger
• 4:29
  main tanks now sub tank systems and internal baffles and the
• 4:34
  feed lines have been reoriented to counteract sloshing and also
• 4:39
  bubble formation which are known to compromise engine restart
• 4:43
  reliability and thrust balance during coast and relay phases.
• 4:48
  SpaceX engineers are continuing to use autogenous
• 4:51
  pressurization, cycling gaseous methane and oxygen from the main
• 4:55
  tanks back into the system to maintain tank pressure and
• 4:59
  reduce reliance on high pressure helium or nitrogen.
• 5:03
  And stage separation is another area where they implemented
• 5:07
  changes. The mechanism now uses altered
• 5:11
  bolt placement, stronger structural interfaces and a
• 5:14
  modified pusher plate. Now the intent is to produce a
• 5:18
  cleaner, more reliable disengagement between the
• 5:21
  booster and the upper stage. This reduces the risk of
• 5:25
  collision and damage and ensures proper timing for upper stage
• 5:29
  ignition and also booster return trajectory.
• 5:33
  The flight plan for Flight 9 is designed to isolate and evaluate
• 5:37
  these upgrades. Under operational conditions.
• 5:40
  The booster will not attempt the tower catch.
• 5:43
  Instead it'll perform a controlled splashdown in the
• 5:46
  Gulf of Mexico. This allows SpaceX to focus on
• 5:49
  in flight vehicle behavior and landing stability without
• 5:53
  introducing the additional variables of ground based
• 5:56
  recovery. Ship 35 will also perform a
• 5:59
  controlled descent and splashdown, with data collection
• 6:03
  focused on validating the performance of the upgraded heat
• 6:07
  shield, the structural reinforcements and avionic
• 6:11
  systems through reentry on the ground.
• 6:13
  Star bases infrastructure has been upgraded to support the new
• 6:18
  vehicles as well. The water deluge system under
• 6:21
  the launchpad has been expanded to absorb the increased thermal
• 6:25
  and also acoustic loads from 33 Raptor engines firing
• 6:29
  simultaneously. Now the tank farm now features
• 6:33
  improved cryogenic storage and transfer systems to support
• 6:37
  rapid vehicle turn around and minimize the propellant boil off
• 6:41
  for these flights. From an engineering perspective,
• 6:44
  the objectives for Flight 9 are to validate the durability of
• 6:48
  reused Raptor engines, demonstrate the reliability of
• 6:52
  the New Tripoli redundant avionics and also flight
• 6:56
  software. Now they're also going to assess
• 6:58
  the performance of the upgraded heat shield and aerodynamic
• 7:01
  surfaces, test the new propellant management systems,
• 7:05
  and evaluate the redesigned stage separation mechanism.
• 7:09
  Every piece of flight data will be used to refine the vehicle
• 7:13
  design, inform future hardware iterations, and support the case
• 7:17
  for operational and eventually crude missions.
• 7:21
  So let me know down in the comments what you think about
• 7:23
  Starship's Flight 9. Do you think they're going to be
• 7:26
  successful in landing the booster in the Gulf of Mexico or
• 7:30
  do you think there's going to be some sort of incident with the
• 7:33
  upper stage like there has been in the past?
• 7:35
  Let me know in the comments down below.
• 7:37
  And also while you're down there, hit the thumbs up button.
• 7:40
  Helps with engagement. And also subscribe to the show.
• 7:43
  You'll get more Starship content like this, not just from me, but
• 7:46
  from other Starship creators on YouTube.
• 7:50
  Thanks so much, everybody. Take care of yourselves and each
• 7:52
  other and I'll see you in the next one.