SpaceX Starship - Integrated Flight Test #2 - Starbase TX - Including Post Launch Dissection

[ecarfan]

Somewhat overly dramatic analysis but probably fundamentally accurate. FAA launch license could come very soon, but no way to know if/when SpaceX has applied for a revised license now that the mishap investigation has been closed. Please watch the video before commenting on what I just wrote. Thanks.

 

[scaesare]

Elon tweeted "Starship is ready to launch". As Elon said it, it should be assigned no significance at all.

I'm waiting for temporary flight restrictions to be posted. They only seem to pop up when there's a real chance of something happening. We've already had two notices to mariners that proved to be false alarms. The TFRs show up very close to the start of the launch window. I don't recall the timing for the first launch, but they may come out at pretty much the same time as the launch license. Both come from the FAA.

Right now, there are no space operations TFRs in effect for the Brownsville area (other than the one that covers Starbase itself).

Maybe the SpaceX kids are just a little overeager

 

[DarkandStormy]

https://x.com/StarshipGazer/status/1702076954868916397

 

[Grendal]

 

[ecarfan]

Wow. It’s as if every SpaceX employee at Star Base is telling the FAA, “We’re ready, let’s go!”.

I wonder if Elon is in that picture. Maybe all the way in the back, center, in black, with hands in the air? Nope, don’t think so.

 

[JB47394]

https://x.com/StarshipGazer/status/1702076954868916397

From Reuters:

"We're working well with them and have been in good discussions. Teams are working together and I think we're optimistic sometime next month," acting FAA Administrator Polly Trottenberg told reporters on the sidelines of a conference.

SpaceX would still need a separate environmental approval from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service before a launch. Trottenberg did not say how long that might take.

The article continues on with the usual "FAA investigated and gave SpaceX 63 things to do" nonsense.

But it looks like it could be another month. If the EPA isn't happy, perhaps longer.

 

[scaesare]

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Wow. It’s as if every SpaceX employee at Star Base is telling the FAA, “We’re ready, let’s go!”.

I wonder if Elon is in that picture. Maybe all the way in the back, center, in black, with hands in the air? Nope, don’t think so.

I was looking for a guy in a striped sweater and hat, but I didn't see him.

 

[ecarfan]

S25 has been destacked. NSF commentators say that this was expected to happen before the launch to work on the FTS but it does not mean that the launch is imminent since regulatory approval has yet to be granted and their could be other reasons for the destacking. Kathy Luders at SpaceX said there are other things they need to do with S25 before the launch but she wasn’t specific.

 

[DarkandStormy]

https://twitter.com/joroulette/status/1702789621447295037?s=20

 

[Electroman]

https://twitter.com/joroulette/status/1702789621447295037?s=20

Hmmm we are looking at mid 2024 maybe? I am sure the snails need to be rehabilitated.

 

[JB47394]

Hmmm we are looking at mid 2024 maybe? I am sure the snails need to be rehabilitated.

Sea turtles, ocelots, and two species of birds. If they're delayed a long time, I'd be annoyed because that's the hand of rabid environmentalism at work. If they're delayed a couple weeks, it seems like a good balance between the needs of industry and the need to not turn our country into a toxic waste dump (which was where we were headed before the EPA was formed).

 

[mongo]

Hmmm we are looking at mid 2024 maybe? I am sure the snails need to be rehabilitated.


View attachment 974183

Original PEA covered deluge, I don't expect them to need additional reviews.

 

[Buckminster]

Somebody needs to help Elon through his FAA anger management. Pre-emptively would be ideal.

 

[DarkandStormy]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1703861545942327768

 

[ecarfan]

That is going to make Elon crazy. Oh wait…

 

[Electroman]

April 2024

 

[scaesare]

When I read this yesterday, I wanted to reply, but there was no "Informative, but Extremely Frustrating" emoji...

I wonder if there is any deliberate foot-dragging going on due to Elon's polarizing personality and approach, or if it's all just typical speed of gov't bureaucracy....

 

[ecarfan]

When the Fish & Wildlife Service says it does not have enough information yet, one wonders if the fault lies with SpaceX or with the federal bureaucracy or both.

 

[ecarfan]

I know that ITF-2 is likely many weeks if not several months away, but with the recent move by SpaceX (meaning Elon) to only livestream launches on X I am beginning to wonder if that will mean only those who are willing to pay will be able to watch. Which would be really annoying and a case of Elon shooting himself in the foot, if that is the way things turn out.

The Guardian reports: Elon Musk says Twitter, now X, could charge all users subscription fees​

“It’s the only way I can think of to combat vast armies of bots,” explained Musk. “Because a bot costs a fraction of a penny — call it a tenth of a penny — but even if it has to pay…a few dollars or something, the effective cost of bots is very high,” he said. Plus, every time a bot creator wanted to make another bot, they would need another new payment method.”

I do not want to pay X to watch SpaceX launches. Launch livestreams are positive publicity for SpaceX, particularly Starship launches.