Latest / Elon Musk Podcast / SpaceX Preps for most important flight

Transcript

SpaceX Preps for most important flight · Elon Musk Podcast

• 0:00
  Will Spacex's fifth Starship test flight be the first
• 0:03
  successful launch and return to launch site for a booster?
• 0:07
  And as preparations ramp up at Starbase, significant milestones
• 0:10
  have been achieved, suggesting a promising trajectory for this
• 0:13
  next test flight. Activities at Starbase are
• 0:16
  intensifying as the 5th Starship flight draws nearer.
• 0:20
  Major work has been completed on Launchpad B and Ship 30 has
• 0:23
  completed a second static fire with full stack testing on the
• 0:27
  close horizon. On July 15th, Booster 12
• 0:30
  successfully fired all 33 engines and a full duration
• 0:34
  static fire test at Launchpad A, and the booster was then removed
• 0:38
  from the orbital launch mount on July 16th and returned to Mega
• 0:41
  Bay One. Meanwhile, a hot stage ring
• 0:44
  entered Mega Bay 2, believed to be for finalizing Booster 12.
• 0:50
  Now, the hot stage ring is a crucial component believed to
• 0:52
  finalize Booster 12 before SpaceX gives it a thorough
• 0:55
  review and integrates it with Ship 30.
• 0:58
  Preparations are ongoing at Launchpad A for Booster 12's
• 1:01
  return to launch site landing with upgrades to the chopstick
• 1:04
  arm actuators to protect the booster during landing, and
• 1:08
  significant developments have also occurred at Starship
• 1:10
  Launchpad B in the past two weeks. 2 modules or modules 2-3
• 1:16
  and four have been stacked and concrete has been poured to
• 1:19
  stabilize the tower base. The 5th and 6th modules are at
• 1:23
  the launch site awaiting integration now.
• 1:27
  According to a recent FAA document, the tower at Launchpad
• 1:30
  B could be completed by August 15th, though it's more likely to
• 1:33
  be finished towards the end of August.
• 1:35
  A new, larger version of the orbital launch mount, or the
• 1:38
  OLM, has also appeared in FAA Environmental Assessment
• 1:41
  documentation. There is an increased likelihood
• 1:43
  of a flame trench being built under the new OLM as piles
• 1:47
  continue to be driven into the ground.
• 1:50
  Now deliveries to the Sanchez site continue with Launchpad B
• 1:54
  shortened chopsticks arriving on July 17th and the chopstick
• 1:57
  carriage on July 18th. Now Module 7-8 and nine of the
• 2:02
  tower are receiving preliminary upgrades.
• 2:05
  At the Sanchez site, the CC88 OO crane will need reconfiguration
• 2:11
  after stacking the 6th tower section to reach the intended
• 2:15
  final height of the new tower. Now at the production site, 3
• 2:19
  Raptor C level engines and three Raptor vacuum engines we're seen
• 2:24
  heading into Mega Bay 2 for installation on Ship 31.
• 2:28
  Now ship 31 has since moved into the high Bay taking ship 30s old
• 2:32
  spot at the tile integration station.
• 2:35
  Now ship 31 is receiving a heat shield similar to ship 30s with
• 2:40
  a focus on enhancing Starship survivability through orbit.
• 2:43
  And Ship 32 is confirmed to be a test article and it won't fly
• 2:48
  with the first black two Starship expected to fly on the
• 2:50
  7th flight. Ship 33, the first Block 2
• 2:54
  Starship is under construction in the high Bay, featuring new
• 2:58
  Leeward flaps, updated tiles around the nose cone, and a
• 3:01
  smaller heat shield tile on the flaps.
• 3:04
  Now the payload Bay is shrunk, adding about 300 tons of
• 3:07
  propellant space, but still offers around 500 cubic meters
• 3:11
  of usable space. Now the Starlink dispenser
• 3:14
  payload Bay door has been installed on Ship 33, which has
• 3:18
  seen moved from the highway to Mega Bay 2, and the F section of
• 3:23
  Booster 15 has also moved into Mega Bay one featuring extra
• 3:27
  composite overwrapping pressure vessels or COPV to help with
• 3:31
  booster landing. Now there's another test article
• 3:34
  too, Test tank 16, and it was rolled out to Massey's and
• 3:37
  placed on the test stand on July 19th and it did a cryogenic
• 3:40
  testing on July 25th and then it was moved into the Star factory.
• 3:45
  It's unclear if further testing is going to occur or is
• 3:48
  necessary in the future. Now, Ship 30 completed major
• 3:52
  test operations after a successful heat shield upgrade.
• 3:55
  On July 19th, it was lifted onto a static fire stand and moved to
• 3:59
  Massey's for a final firing due to a Raptor vacuum engine
• 4:03
  removal. On July 26th, Ship 30
• 4:06
  successfully static fired all six engines.
• 4:10
  Now the upgraded heat shield on Ship 30 performed well with no
• 4:14
  tiles believed to have fallen off during the test.
• 4:16
  Ship 30 was then moved back to the production site and later to
• 4:19
  Sanchez, awaiting finalization and roll out of Booster 12 for
• 4:22
  full stack testing before the next launch.
• 4:25
  Now the goal for the final Black One ships is to perfect the heat
• 4:29
  shield and ensure Starship can actually survive re entry.
• 4:33
  Efforts to improve Ship 30's heat shield are aimed at
• 4:35
  gathering re entry data to be used in the Block 2 vehicles and
• 4:38
  also Block 3, leading to a more complete design.
• 4:42
  Now. Full stack testing is expected
• 4:43
  to begin soon with the 5th flight and the first RTLS
• 4:47
  landing of a Super Heavy booster possibly less than a month away.
• 4:51
  The ambitious test marks a critical step in Spacex's
• 4:54
  development of a reusable launch vehicle, and they're making
• 4:57
  final preparations for the 5th and most challenging Starship
• 5:01
  flight yet. Unlike previous flights aiming
• 5:03
  for sea splashdowns, they will attempt a landing back on the
• 5:06
  launchpad using the Mecca Zilla tower equipped with chopsticks.
• 5:11
  And Starship is the heaviest and most powerful rocket ever flown,
• 5:15
  intended to be a rapidly reusable vehicle for large
• 5:18
  payloads. Successfully test flighting over
• 5:21
  the past two years, and it's progressively moved towards that
• 5:24
  goal. Now NASA has contracted SpaceX
• 5:28
  to develop a lunar Lander variant of Starship for
• 5:31
  astronaut missions to the Moon, expected sometime after late
• 5:35
  July or late 2026. We don't know exactly when, but
• 5:39
  Elon Musk's ultimate vision is to use Starship to land humans
• 5:43
  on Mars. Now, Flight 5 aims to catch
• 5:47
  Starship Super Heavy Booster on the launchpad for the first
• 5:49
  time. The tower will attempt to grab
• 5:51
  the booster with his chopsticks and secure it, allowing it to be
• 5:55
  slowly lowered down to the ground.
• 5:57
  Now, previous flights saw significant progress, with the
• 6:00
  4th flight achieving a virtual landing at sea to simulate a
• 6:03
  Mechazilla catch. The upcoming flight builds on
• 6:06
  that success and the data from that, with Musk indicating a 50%
• 6:10
  chance of a successful Mechazilla catch.
• 6:12
  That's usually his thing, 50% Now the official launch date is
• 6:17
  not yet set, but a full duration test burn of the Rockets first
• 6:21
  stage on July 15th indicates readiness.
• 6:24
  Elon hinted at early August launch but that's not going to
• 6:27
  happen. More than likely sometime in
• 6:30
  September, possibly later in previous test flights.
• 6:33
  And that's because the FAA previous test flights
• 6:35
  demonstrated various levels of success with each providing
• 6:38
  valuable data for new improvements.
• 6:40
  And the 4th flight restore bit and completed soft splashdowns.
• 6:43
  The Starship for entry caused some heat damage, now addressed
• 6:47
  with new heat tile designs, and any issues during this next
• 6:51
  launch will provide critical data for refining future designs
• 6:55
  and processes. The iterative approach allows
• 6:58
  rapid progress with each test flight, making even partial
• 7:02
  successes valuable for the development of this gigantic
• 7:06
  rocket. Now this is the riskiest flight
• 7:09
  yet, as catching the booster at the launchpad involves potential
• 7:12
  hazards to both the craft and ground hardware.
• 7:15
  Despite the risks, the test will significantly advance Spacex's
• 7:19
  goal of a fully reusable rocket system.
• 7:22
  Now, if you'd like Spaceflight, please take a second and hit the
• 7:26
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• 7:31
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• 7:40
  I do it all the time. I subscribe to 1 Space Flight
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• 7:47
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• 7:52
  Flight news, including SpaceX, NASA and all of their
• 7:56
  spaceflight. So please take a second hit the
• 7:58
  subscribe and like button and also leave a comment down below
• 8:01
  if you think the next flight of Starship will be completely
• 8:05
  successful. Will they land it?
• 8:08
  Re return to the launch site is the major milestone for this
• 8:14
  launch. I know that Cathy Leaders, the
• 8:18
  basically the boss of Starbase has said they might not attempt
• 8:21
  it this time, but I don't know. Let me know what you think in
• 8:25
  the comments down below. Take care and I will see you in
• 8:28
  the next one.