Hey everybody, welcome back to the Elon Musk Podcast.
This is a show where we discuss the critical Crossroads, The
Shape, SpaceX, Tesla X, The Boring Company, and Neuralink,
and I'm your host, Will Walden. If you want uninterrupted
episodes of the Elon Musk podcast, please go to
clubelon.supercast.com to find out how there's a link in the
show notes. So Elon Musk recently shared
insights into the second full scale Starship test flight,
which ended unexpectedly, and the starship's upper stage
exploded due to a fire ignited during the venting of liquid
oxygen propellant. Musk clarified this.
He said the reason that it actually didn't quite make it to
orbit was we vented the liquid oxygen, and the liquid oxygen
ultimately led to a fire and an explosion.
Now looking ahead, SpaceX has set very ambitious targets for
the next Starship Test objectives include reactivating
the Raptor engines in space, conducting an in flight
propellant transfer and also operating the payload Bay door
potentially as early as February of 2024.
Now the in flight propellant transfer is possibly for an
upcoming NASA Artemis mission. The payload door is for Starlink
satellite deployment and reigniting.
The Raptor engines in space propels the Starship spacecraft
all the way to Kauai near Hawaii and that's where it will splash
down in the ocean now. Meanwhile, the Falcon 9 and the
Falcon Heavy rockets remain in Spacex's operations and these
rockets will continue their service into the late twenty 20s
and possibly beyond 20-30 carrying satellites, cargo and
also astronauts. Now significant enhancements are
planned for the Falcon series. Musk aims to certify Falcon
first stage boosters for up to 40 flights and reduced turn
around times for launchpads to under 24 hours.
And a key event for SpaceX has the launch of the private
mission to the International Space Station.
With four individuals on board, this mission, facilitated in
collaboration with Axiom Space, is a huge step for commercial
Space Flight. Now funded by Axiom Space
itself. This mission represents the
third group of paying passengers to the International Space
Station. Axiom Space, aspiring to build
its own space station similar to the International Space Station,
is using these missions as fundamental experiences now.
The mission faced A slight delay for additional pre launch
checks, particularly focusing on the Parachute Systems Energy
Modulator. Once resolved, SpaceX confirmed
readiness for the rescheduled launch and during their two week
stay at the ISS, the crew will engage in around 30 experiments
encompassing microgravity research, technological
administrations and educational activities.
The mission, dubbed AX3, saw the crew Dragon spacecraft freedom
making its third journey to space.
Leading the crew was Axioms chief astronaut Michael Losav
Allegra, accompanied by three international astronauts.
Now there's a Turkish astronaut on board, and this mission
represents the commencement of an expansive space exploration
journey, he said. This Space Flight is not a
destination, but it's a journey. This is just the beginning of
our journey for a long growing space journey in our future.
And Spacex's collaboration with Axiom Space led to the
successful launch of the AX 3 mission to the International
Space Station. The Falcon 9's rocket launch
from Kennedy Space Center was a key moment in this partnership
and the missions delay was partly attributed to issues with
parachute strap known as Energy Modulators detected during the
CRS 29 Cargo Dragon mission. These were rectified in time for
the AX3 launch. Now following a smooth docking
process, the AX3 crew commenced their scientific and technical
word inside of the International Space Station and their two week
tenure will contribute significantly to ongoing Space
Research. AX3 plays a vital role in Axiom
Space's long term vision of establishing commercial modules
on the ISS, eventually transitioning into a stand alone
commercial space station post ISS retirement.
The diverse crew of AXE 3, representing various European
governments, highlights the increased international
collaboration in space missions as well.
This includes astronauts from Italy, Turkey, and Sweden.
In alignment with NASA's broader strategy, Private astronauts
missions like AX3 are instrumental in the development
of commercial space habitats, which is a key focus of NASA as
they pivot to lunar and eventually to Mars missions.
The repeated use of these Falcon 9 boosters and the Crew Dragon
spacecraft in the AX 3 mission shows that SpaceX is committed
to sustainability and reusability in space travel.
That's their mantra. They have to reuse every single
booster and possibly every single upper stage, and that's
what they're working for with the Starship system now.
All of the Axiom 3 astronauts successfully docked at the ISS
at 5:42 AM Eastern Time on January 20th, 2024.
This is achieved as Dragon seamlessly docked to the space
station orbiting approximately 262 miles above the Pacific
Ocean West of South Africa, or, sorry, South America.
Now, this successful docking is a significant achievement for
both SpaceX Axiom Space and for the International Space flight
community. The precision and the
coordination demonstrating this operation show the advanced
capabilities of space XS technology and the growing
potential of commercial space missions.
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