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. SpaceX is currently testing
their Starship Booster and Starship Vehicle 25 at Boca
Chica Starbase, Texas, and they've achieved a new milestone
by conducting static fire tests for both stages of its Starship
rocket system on the same day. This comes as the year ends for
SpaceX with a remarkable 96 space missions, and is now
gearing up for an important third orbital test flight of the
Starship, potentially including a payload deployment.
This is kind of a new thing so Starship, which is notable for
being the world's largest rocket, so its upper and its
first stages tested separately. And in a rare occurrence, SpaceX
carried out static fire tests for both the first stage Super
Heavy booster and the upper stage Starship rocket on the
same day. And while the specifics of the
engine tests are not fully disclosed, it's understood that
at least one engine on the Starship second stage was fired.
This stage is also integral to NASA's Artemis program for
landing astronauts on the Moon, heightening the importance of
these tests. Now detailed observations of the
second stage testing revealed that the ignition of the single
stage Raptor engine was particular test demonstration of
a flight like startup which is essential for in space burns.
Now, such specific testing is critical in assessing the
Starship's capabilities for actual space missions,
especially considering the precision required for in space
maneuvers and burns. And this test as to the
speculations about Starship's upcoming test flight, which may
include launching A payload into space and demonstrate Spacex's
focus on replicating real time mission conditions in its tests
now, the Starship program began all the way back in 2020.
It's actually longer ago that like 2016 actually started this
thing. But down at Boca Chica it's
around 2020 and it's been marked with rapid progress and
development and testing. And over the years, the company
has introduced new Raptor engines, upgraded a super heavy
booster, improve the launchpad water deluge system, and
streamline its whole production process.
And these advancements show that SpaceX is ready to go for the
Artemis 3 mission. The manufacturing process is
critical for Spacex's strategy to realize its ambitious goals
with Starship. Elon Musk has emphasized the
necessity of producing at least 100 Starships annually to
support the company's Mars colonizations plans.
A super heavy booster is designed to return to the launch
site within minutes of the launch, but the second stage
Starship takes considerably longer, necessitating a higher
production rate of starships Now to manage the expected launch
frequency, SpaceX is also expanding its infrastructure by
constructing a second launch site in Texas.
The success of today's static fire test is a huge step towards
the upcoming third flight test, and this next phase will involve
comprehensive evaluations including full stack
integration, ship and booster inspections, pad checks and any
necessary repairs to the spacecraft.
And Elon Musk recently announced via X, formerly known as
Twitter, the completion of a static fire test of the Flight 3
Super Heavy booster. Now these tests are critical to
verify the functionality of the entire system, encompassing
ground equipment, vehicle engines in both external and
internal plumbing. Now responding to a user on X,
Musk highlighted the operational efficiency of the Super heavy
booster, noting its rapid turn around time.
He said as it returns in about 6 minutes and can theoretically be
ready for reflight in about an hour, he's showing that the
booster has the potential for frequent reuse.
They would fly it back to Boca Chica Starbase, Texas, refurbish
the booster, do any sort of upgrades, make sure it works,
and then either fly it the same day or fly it within the next
few days or the week. So we're going to be seeing
boosters being reused, I believe, possibly by the end of
2024. Now Musk's vision for Space XS
production capabilities extends beyond the current targets.
He envisions raising the production of starships to 300
per year, far exceeding the initial goal of 100 Now.
This increase is vital to accommodate the longer orbital
and reuse cycles of the Starship compared to the booster.
If they do end up catching the booster first, the Starship
possibly will always land in the Pacific Ocean for a while, and
if they can catch the Starship booster, they can reuse those
things. So 300 starships per year seems
about right, and starship's longer orbit and ground track
alignment requirements mean it's reuse frequency might be limited
to just once a day. Now the ship needs to complete
at least one orbit, but often several to have the ground track
line back up with the launch site, so reuse may only be
daily. He wants starships to launch
like airplanes do frequently on the hour, and it seems like
they're going to be able to do that if they have 300 star
ships. Now these developments really
suggest that SpaceX will focus more on increasing the
production of starships than the Super heavy boosters.
The strategy aligns with a different operational and reuse
dynamics of the two components of the Starship, and the
significance of these tests cannot be understated as they
represent crucial steps in space.
XS journey towards more advanced and frequent space missions.
The successful static fire tests are important indicators of the
starship's readiness for more complex missions, including
potential payload deployments. Spacex's plans for the Starship
extend beyond lunar missions to the company envisions using the
rocket system for interplanetary travel, particularly for
missions to Mars. The company's focus on rapid
testing and development reflects its commitment to maintaining a
leading position in the space industry as well.
This is about business, and Spacex's ability to conduct
multiple significant tests in a single day shows that they have
the expertise in the robustness of technical infrastructure so
they can continue building starships faster and faster.
But looking ahead, Spacex's next steps will be closely monitored.
The upcoming third orbital test flight of the Starship is
particularly anticipated as it may include the first attempt to
deploy a payload into space, possibly Starlinks, a key
capability for future missions, and with each successful test
and development, SpaceX moves closer to realizing its vision
of interplanetary travel and potentially changing the course
of human space exploration. The company continues to set new
standards in space technology and exploration, and the success
of these static fire tests marks a step forward, a huge step
forward for the IFT 3 flight, possibly early next year.
We have a stream on our Space News Pod channel on YouTube,
youtube.com/space News Pod. If you want to watch the live
stream of Starship with my commentary, please go there and
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