Posted on 04/21/2022 11:07:46 AM PDT by Paul R.
SpaceX is targeting Thursday, April 21 for a Falcon 9 launch of 53 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The instantaneous launch window is at 1:51 p.m. ET, or 17:51 UTC, and a backup opportunity is available on Friday, April 22.
The first stage booster supporting this mission previously launched GPS III-3, Turksat-5A, Transporter 2, and eight Starlink missions. Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage will return to Earth and land on the Just Read the Instructions droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
The FAA and the EPA have more or less shut Starship down by delaying permits to use the Texas launch location and to launch. There have been no updates on the SpaceX YouTube Channel on Starship for 8 months.
Musk’s talk was about how he might be able to get around these deliberate roadblocks before SpaceX goes bankrupt - due to the failure to Rapid Prototype on which the entire StarShip financial structure is based. tarship only develops if it can launch rapidly - Rapid Prototyping, else it stagnates and begins to lose money big time.
The Starship has been ready to fly since Dec of last year. Starship was originally scheduled to fly in late Jan or early Feb, but then the Feds delayed the permits - more or less indefinitely as there has been to permits issued either to launch or to use the Texas location to launch. There still has been no launch permit issued for the Cape either.
Musk should ... launch from Mexico
—
He’s been building a sea-going barge, but it has to be inspected by the Coast Guard, declared stable and seaworthy before he can launch and take it outside US waters.
Mexico is run by drug cartels and so that would be a really dumb idea.
You don't really keep up to date do you?
Read this. From December last year. Musk doesn't need FAA to launch Starship from Boca Chica anymore. He can launch from 39A in Florida.:
“SpaceX starts building Starship launch pad in Florida | Space
space.com
› spacex-building-starship-launch-pad-florida
7 December 2021 - SpaceX has started building a pad for its Starship Mars rocket at Launch Complex 39A, part of NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Elon Musk announced on Friday (Dec. 3”
https://www.space.com/spacex-building-starship-launch-pad-florida
There have been no updates on the SpaceX YouTube Channel on Starship for 8 months.
From CNET, Feb 11, 2022 and almost everywhere else.:
SpaceX Starship event: Elon Musk talks Mars missions and more in megarocket update
What more you got?
“There is also a hint that the Feds and the Intel agencies see Musk as a potential threat to national security for advocating free speech”
You clearly did NOT listen to that Musk presentation.
Chuckle.
And SpaceX, owned by the world's richest man by far, is NOT going bankrupt.
No, it would not be a dumb idea.
Our country is run by cartels of many kinds - that’s what’s screwed up the launch schedule.
The land right across the border is uninhabited, not towns nearby. Get a land grant from mexico, and the USA can pound sand on “you cannot launch without our approval crap”
PIF the FAA is doing a review and has pushed back on the date several time, has many thousand of comments, without spacex dragon no astro’s would be going to the station. boeing still has not flowen starliner again, artemis needs starship to land on the moon, please put down the crack pipe
You got old articles to prove to you are not up to date and are now once again trolling. Isn’t trolling the Ruso-Ukraine articles enough of a day’s work for you?
Pushing back the date was the point of the original comment. The other SpaceX missions have nothing to do with Starship.
Dragon is not part of the subject which is Starship.
Artemis needs the SLS to work first. Who cares about Boingboing?
dont know where you are getting your info, but for up to date info you need to go the nasaspaceflight.com, they have all the inside info.
According to this source, around 2300. Some may not be presently operational.
It is not really a threat to national security, unless you count a threat to the ruling class as a threat to national security.
For the vast majority of the planet, using the above metric, free speech is a threat to the ruling class.
Now I’m jealous!!! What distance?
I'm not sure on that one. It seems like I saw an article about SpaceX not building many more - but, that may have changed due to the whole situation with Russia.
As the crow flies.......about 30 miles to KSC
That was Dragons, not Falcon 9’s. Totally different space craft.
Looks like their booster production facility was designed to build 40 per year. However they've apparently "only" ever produced about 18 per year. Though the source only cited data up through 2016 or 2018 so who knows. Apparently they currently have 14 active Blk 5 boosters. They must have slowed production some because they haven't retired or lost any in quite a while.
Musk said SpaceX's goal is 52 launches this year (2022). If they can get "just" 12 flights (as demonstrated) from a booster, they would only need 5 new boosters to support that (not counting available lifetime on existing boosters). Though they probably have enough remaining launches on existing boosters to support that.
I think the Space Force recently okay'd starting to use "flight proven" boosters for some of their payloads. I believe NASA is still requiring their crew launches to be on new boosters. So there will still be new ones coming into inventory.
With boosters lasting through at least 12 launches and 14 on hand... I wonder if simply finding storage space for them is becoming a problem? Someplace down in FL or out in CA is probably starting to look like a used rocket lot. ;-)
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