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SpaceX Conducts 2 HUGE Tests for Starship · Elon Musk Podcast

• 0:01
  Hey everybody, welcome back to the Elon Musk Podcast.
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  This is a show where we discuss the critical Crossroads, The
• 0:08
  Shape, SpaceX, Tesla X, The Boring Company, and Neuralink,
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  and I'm your host, Will Walden. SpaceX is currently testing
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  their Starship Booster and Starship Vehicle 25 at Boca
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  Chica Starbase, Texas, and they've achieved a new milestone
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  by conducting static fire tests for both stages of its Starship
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  rocket system on the same day. This comes as the year ends for
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  SpaceX with a remarkable 96 space missions, and is now
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  gearing up for an important third orbital test flight of the
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  Starship, potentially including a payload deployment.
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  This is kind of a new thing so Starship, which is notable for
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  being the world's largest rocket, so its upper and its
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  first stages tested separately. And in a rare occurrence, SpaceX
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  carried out static fire tests for both the first stage Super
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  Heavy booster and the upper stage Starship rocket on the
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  same day. And while the specifics of the
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  engine tests are not fully disclosed, it's understood that
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  at least one engine on the Starship second stage was fired.
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  This stage is also integral to NASA's Artemis program for
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  landing astronauts on the Moon, heightening the importance of
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  these tests. Now detailed observations of the
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  second stage testing revealed that the ignition of the single
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  stage Raptor engine was particular test demonstration of
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  a flight like startup which is essential for in space burns.
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  Now, such specific testing is critical in assessing the
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  Starship's capabilities for actual space missions,
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  especially considering the precision required for in space
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  maneuvers and burns. And this test as to the
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  speculations about Starship's upcoming test flight, which may
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  include launching A payload into space and demonstrate Spacex's
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  focus on replicating real time mission conditions in its tests
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  now, the Starship program began all the way back in 2020.
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  It's actually longer ago that like 2016 actually started this
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  thing. But down at Boca Chica it's
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  around 2020 and it's been marked with rapid progress and
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  development and testing. And over the years, the company
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  has introduced new Raptor engines, upgraded a super heavy
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  booster, improve the launchpad water deluge system, and
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  streamline its whole production process.
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  And these advancements show that SpaceX is ready to go for the
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  Artemis 3 mission. The manufacturing process is
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  critical for Spacex's strategy to realize its ambitious goals
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  with Starship. Elon Musk has emphasized the
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  necessity of producing at least 100 Starships annually to
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  support the company's Mars colonizations plans.
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  A super heavy booster is designed to return to the launch
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  site within minutes of the launch, but the second stage
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  Starship takes considerably longer, necessitating a higher
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  production rate of starships Now to manage the expected launch
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  frequency, SpaceX is also expanding its infrastructure by
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  constructing a second launch site in Texas.
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  The success of today's static fire test is a huge step towards
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  the upcoming third flight test, and this next phase will involve
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  comprehensive evaluations including full stack
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  integration, ship and booster inspections, pad checks and any
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  necessary repairs to the spacecraft.
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  And Elon Musk recently announced via X, formerly known as
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  Twitter, the completion of a static fire test of the Flight 3
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  Super Heavy booster. Now these tests are critical to
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  verify the functionality of the entire system, encompassing
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  ground equipment, vehicle engines in both external and
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  internal plumbing. Now responding to a user on X,
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  Musk highlighted the operational efficiency of the Super heavy
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  booster, noting its rapid turn around time.
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  He said as it returns in about 6 minutes and can theoretically be
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  ready for reflight in about an hour, he's showing that the
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  booster has the potential for frequent reuse.
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  They would fly it back to Boca Chica Starbase, Texas, refurbish
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  the booster, do any sort of upgrades, make sure it works,
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  and then either fly it the same day or fly it within the next
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  few days or the week. So we're going to be seeing
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  boosters being reused, I believe, possibly by the end of
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  2024. Now Musk's vision for Space XS
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  production capabilities extends beyond the current targets.
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  He envisions raising the production of starships to 300
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  per year, far exceeding the initial goal of 100 Now.
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  This increase is vital to accommodate the longer orbital
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  and reuse cycles of the Starship compared to the booster.
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  If they do end up catching the booster first, the Starship
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  possibly will always land in the Pacific Ocean for a while, and
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  if they can catch the Starship booster, they can reuse those
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  things. So 300 starships per year seems
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  about right, and starship's longer orbit and ground track
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  alignment requirements mean it's reuse frequency might be limited
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  to just once a day. Now the ship needs to complete
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  at least one orbit, but often several to have the ground track
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  line back up with the launch site, so reuse may only be
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  daily. He wants starships to launch
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  like airplanes do frequently on the hour, and it seems like
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  they're going to be able to do that if they have 300 star
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  ships. Now these developments really
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  suggest that SpaceX will focus more on increasing the
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  production of starships than the Super heavy boosters.
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  The strategy aligns with a different operational and reuse
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  dynamics of the two components of the Starship, and the
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  significance of these tests cannot be understated as they
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  represent crucial steps in space.
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  XS journey towards more advanced and frequent space missions.
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  The successful static fire tests are important indicators of the
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  starship's readiness for more complex missions, including
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  potential payload deployments. Spacex's plans for the Starship
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  extend beyond lunar missions to the company envisions using the
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  rocket system for interplanetary travel, particularly for
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  missions to Mars. The company's focus on rapid
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  testing and development reflects its commitment to maintaining a
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  leading position in the space industry as well.
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  This is about business, and Spacex's ability to conduct
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  multiple significant tests in a single day shows that they have
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  the expertise in the robustness of technical infrastructure so
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  they can continue building starships faster and faster.
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  But looking ahead, Spacex's next steps will be closely monitored.
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  The upcoming third orbital test flight of the Starship is
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  particularly anticipated as it may include the first attempt to
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  deploy a payload into space, possibly Starlinks, a key
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  capability for future missions, and with each successful test
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  and development, SpaceX moves closer to realizing its vision
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  of interplanetary travel and potentially changing the course
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  of human space exploration. The company continues to set new
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  standards in space technology and exploration, and the success
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  of these static fire tests marks a step forward, a huge step
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  forward for the IFT 3 flight, possibly early next year.
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  We have a stream on our Space News Pod channel on YouTube,
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  youtube.com/space News Pod. If you want to watch the live
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  stream of Starship with my commentary, please go there and
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  subscribe and help us out. Hey, thank you so much for
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  listening today. I really do appreciate your
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  support. If you could take a second and
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  hit the subscribe or the follow button on whatever podcast
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  appreciate it. It helps out the show
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  tremendously and you'll never miss an episode and each episode
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  is about 10 minutes or less to get you caught up quickly.
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  And please, if you want to support the show even more, go
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  to Atreoncom, Stage Zero, and please take care of yourselves
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  and each other and I'll see you tomorrow.