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SpaceX Ramping up for next Starship flight! · 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,
• 0:13
  and I'm your host, Will Walden. If you want uninterrupted
• 0:17
  episodes of the Elon Musk podcast, please go to
• 0:20
  clubelon.supercast.com to find out how there's a link in the
• 0:26
  show notes SpaceX is advancing towards the third flight
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  readiness of its Starship, having positioned both the
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  Booster 10 and Ship 28 at the launchpad, signaling
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  preparations for an upcoming wet dress rehearsal, or AWDR.
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  This step is crucial for the company as it aims for a
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  Starship to reach orbital capabilities.
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  Now the process began with Booster 10 being transported to
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  the launch site of February 8th and mounted later that evening.
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  Subsequently, Ship 28 was moved toward the launchpad during the
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  night of February 10th and placed a top Booster 10 in the
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  early hours of February 11th. Now, despite the delay, SpaceX
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  succeeded in assembling the full stack within a time frame of
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  less than 56 hours, demonstrating that they're very
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  efficient and it's required for the planned increase in Starship
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  launches in the future. Now, modifications were noted on
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  Booster 10 while it was housed in the Mega Bay, particularly at
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  the base of the liquid oxygen tank of the locks tank where new
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  Weld lines were observed, likely for the addition of slosh
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  baffles designed to stabilize the liquid propellant.
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  Now, these changes might be in response to the issues
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  encountered with Booster 9, although SpaceX has not
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  officially commented on the cause of that incident.
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  Now, the upcoming schedule includes 3 Rd. closures from
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  February 12th to February 14th, each from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM
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  CST, during which SpaceX plans to conduct both a partial and a
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  full wet dress rehearsal with Booster 10 and also Ship 28.
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  Now the WDRA standard procedure in spaceflight involves loading
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  the rocket with propellants and executing a complete launch
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  countdown without actually igniting the engines, followed
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  by a complete DE tanking of the full vehicle.
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  Now for previous flights, SpaceX has successfully completed wet
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  dress rehearsals, incorporating various upgrades to the tank
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  farm that could potentially reduce propellant loading time
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  significantly and post wet dress rehearsal.
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  The feature actions for this particular stack remaining
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  uncertain, with some necessary installations and adjustments
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  pending, including the possible reinstallation of stiffener
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  rings for static fire tests of the Raptor vacuum engines and
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  unexpected destacking of Ship 28 occurred on February 12th though
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  due to concerns with the ship clamps necessitating repairs
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  before restacking the ship for the wet dress rehearsal, tests
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  and enhancements have been made to the orbital launchpad or the
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  OLP in anticipation for Flight 3, including the removal of
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  scaffolding and alignment rigs and the addition of protective
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  shielding to prevent concrete erosion.
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  Now the FAA, the Federal Aviation Administration has yet
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  to close the MISHAP investigation from OFT to the
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  last flight of Starship, which is a prerequisite for the
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  license modification for Starship's next flight.
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  And looking forward to Flight 3, though, SpaceX is preparing the
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  next booster, Booster 11 and Ship 29 for Flight 4, with
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  indications that Booster 11 May already have its engines
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  installed, poised for a static fire test, hopefully soon.
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  Now, Ship 28 is also in the process of receiving its
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  engines, the recent activities observed at Megaby 2 suggesting
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  that the vehicle is nearing readiness for flight.
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  Now for Flight 5, preparations are underway with Booster 12 and
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  Ship 30, with the former being equipped with engines and the
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  latter being prepped for eventual assembly and testing.
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  Now, Flight 6 updates include the completion of Booster 13
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  stacking and the ongoing heat shield work on Ship 31,
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  highlighting the continuous progress in Spacex's Starship
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  program. The progress towards Flight 3's
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  launch readiness, marked by the full stack at the pad, and the
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  planned wetdress rehearsal, show that SpaceX is ready for flight
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  soon, hopefully within three weeks.
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  As Elon Musk has just said, and with the FAA pending approval
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  and the completion of necessary testing and modifications,
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  SpaceX is steadily progressing towards the imminent launch of
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  Flight 3. Hey, thank you so much for
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  listening today. I really do appreciate your
• 4:36
  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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  platform that you're listening on right now, I'd greatly
• 4:43
  appreciate it. It helps out the show
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  tremendously and you'll never miss an episode, and each
• 4:48
  episode is about 10 minutes or less to get you caught up
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  quickly. And please, if you want to
• 4:54
  support the show even more, go to patreon.com/stage Zero and
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  please take care of yourselves and each other.
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  I'll see you tomorrow.