Latest / Elon Musk Podcast / SpaceX sets Monday Starship launch for repeat full-mission test

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SpaceX sets Monday Starship launch for repeat full-mission test · Elon Musk Podcast

• 0:01
  Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the Elon Musk
• 0:04
  Podcast. This is a show where we discuss
• 0:07
  the critical crossroads that shape SpaceX, Tesla X, The
• 0:11
  Boring Company and Neurolink. I'm your host, Will Walden.
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  SpaceX plans to launch the next Starship test flight on Monday
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  morning from Starbase in Texas, setting up a moment that could
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  lock in real momentum for the world's most powerful rocket.
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  The company set a 100 minute window that opens at 8:00 AM
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  Eastern and expects a familiar flight profile with stage
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  separation, long coast operations, and dual
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  splashdowns. The mission carries a simple
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  measure of progress that carries heavyweight across the program.
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  And can SpaceX prove that the last full mission success was
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  repeatable under similar conditions?
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  Now this flight, known as Starship Flight 11, follows a
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  profile that prioritizes data over recovery.
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  Super Heavy will lift Starship separate at high altitude and
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  target a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.
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  The upper stage will perform a deorbit burn, endure hypersonic
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  re entry, and aim for a splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
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  SpaceX will collect high rate telemetry throughout ascent,
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  descent and entry heating to validate guidance, thermal
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  protection and engine control under flight loads.
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  The vehicle includes a round of refinements that respond to the
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  previous missions, hotspots and stress points.
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  Engineers tightened heat shield tile fin, added insulation
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  around key joints and flaps, and adjusted venting that affects
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  boundary layer stability. Teams also tweak descent
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  software to manage angle of attack, role authority, and G
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  loading with finer control. These details matter because
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  small changes to heating or attitude can decide whether a
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  ship survives peak heating intact.
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  The booster carries its own set of goals that Dr. reusability
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  forward Super Heavy must deliver a clean separation, complete
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  engine relights, and hold the steady attitude on descent.
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  Plan calls for a soft splashdown that proves thoughtful control,
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  grid fin authority, and ignition timing.
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  Success here moves SpaceX closer to controlled returns that
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  preserve hardware for inspection and future recovery attempts.
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  Now the upper stage. Let's talk about this.
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  It must perform a precise deorbit burn and then hold the
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  reentry corridor with very tight margins.
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  The ship will face temperatures about 2600°F and dynamic
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  pressure that can expose weak links in tiles and seams.
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  Now we're going to be watching this for flap articulation,
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  health, actuator temperatures, and sensor performance as the
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  plasma sheath builds, and the goal as a stable splashdown with
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  intact structures and clean data from start to finish.
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  The FAA license covers this flight profile and defines the
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  safety guard rails for both splash down zones.
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  The authorization confirms that SpaceX met environmental and
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  range safety requirements after earlier rounds of review, and
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  regulators approved hazard corridors and flight termination
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  criteria that protect coastal areas and shipping lands.
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  It's up to the FAA to determine when SpaceX can launch now.
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  NASA needs Starship to mature into a dependable system because
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  Artemis relies on it for human landings.
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  The HLS of the Human Landing System variant must prove long
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  duration on orbit operations, cryogenic propellant transfer,
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  and precision landing before any people get on board.
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  Each Starship test that completes its plans lowers
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  mission risk and tightens program schedules.
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  A failure on any of these core objectives wood forest new
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  mitigations and also stretch timelines further.
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  Now SpaceX ties Starship's progress to its commercial road
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  map for Starlink and Heavy payloads.
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  The company wants to launch larger Starlink batches, enable
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  bigger satellites, and cut per kilogram costs.
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  And a stable Starship flight cadence will let SpaceX offload
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  missions from Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy and reduce pressure
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  on those fleets. Customers benefit when mass to
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  orbit rises and lead times fall and prices get lower.
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  Now the national security community tracks Starship as a
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  potential heavy lift option with unique mission profiles, and
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  this test is important for them. The payload base size and thrust
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  margin opened room for larger spacecraft, multi manifest
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  deployments and rapid schedule recovery after delays.
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  Now the system also supports point to point cargo experiments
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  on Earth that need a high thrust trajectories and fast turn
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  around like this. Upcoming flight and reliable
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  splashdowns and clean telemetry will inform how those concepts
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  move from paper to actual planning of flights.
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  Starbase operations have set the stage for this launch.
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  Through steady ground upgrades, crews expanded the water deluge
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  system, reinforce the orbital launch mount, and refined
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  propellant plumbing to stabilize tanking.
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  The team validated the flight termination system and completed
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  preflight checks that included static fire and wet dress data.
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  These steps reduce pad risk and shorten the path between
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  flights. So after this flight we go on to
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  flight 12 and 1314 and 15 much faster than before.
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  The team will evaluate the winds, the upper level shear and
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  sea states at the splashdown zones before committing to
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  tanking of the ship, and the booster controllers will enforce
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  strict rules for engine performance, valve behavior, and
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  avionics health with clear cut offs and parameters drift.
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  A scrub still delivers value because it refines ground
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  procedures and spotlights issues before engines light.
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  And they could possibly have a scrub.
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  SpaceX plans to stream the launch with odd vehicle Camrys
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  and live telemetry overlays like normal.
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  Stay tuned here because we will have more information as the
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  flight time happens. Now I want to know your ideas
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  about Starship. Do you think it's a good idea to
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  continue testing this variant of Starship, considering that it's
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  not the same variant that will be going to the moon?
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  What do you think SpaceX should start focusing on the HLS human
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  landing system version of Starship that doesn't have a
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  heat shield. It doesn't come back in the
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  atmosphere. It launches to the moon and it
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  stays there. It takes people from moon orbit
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  to the surface of the moon back to moon orbit.
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  It's kind of like a bus at that point or a taxi or something
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  going back and forth from the moon surface to orbit.
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  Hey, thank you so much for listening today.
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  I really do appreciate your support.
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  yourselves and each other. And I'll see you tomorrow.