Stook02ss
Member
I tend to agree. I do think they could have launched a month ago, but I don't think it was something they were really planning on doing. If all they wanted was to send up a far less refined version of B4 and SN20, they probably could have. They are pretty good at 'getting it done'. I just don't think it was ever something they were desperate to do, that the delays didn't really set them back. Instead they've been able to further refine B4 and SN20, bringing them both up to a much more polished spec, as well as largely finish the launch infrastructure.I think that just as with Berlin GF the Starship delays have nothing to do with paperwork and govt agencies- SpaceX is not ready. Rather EM is displaying a worrisome trend of insinuating regulators are to blame for delays when in fact it his own companies not being ready. Frankly this is beginning to bug me and eventually it is going to bite back. Especially for a entities completely dependent on the good graces of this government and who could never have hoped to achieve what he is doing in either company without the support of the governments, Federal, State, and Local.
The other sign that they never really intended on a 2021 launch was the NASA document that was shared last year that talked about NASA observing SpaceX's Starship during reentry. That's right... NASA published a document that said they would be flying an aircraft in the Pacific in MARCH 2022 to observe Starship as it reenters from what we assume would be its maiden flight. Let that sink in..... lol. I'm pretty sure March was always the realistic plan.