Robert Clark’s Post

Despite the dramatic end, SpaceX's recent Starship test flight showcased several significant achievements. 💥🚀 The successful ignition and full-duration burn of all 33 Raptor engines marked a milestone for the Super Heavy Booster. 🔥 The separation between the Starship upper stage and Super Heavy proceeded smoothly, demonstrating a new hot staging technique for vehicles of this scale. Additionally, the upper stage reached impressive altitudes and speeds, almost completing its planned burn. 💨 Even though telemetry was lost near the end, the team executed a safe command destruct, showcasing robust safety protocols. 📡 Despite the setbacks, these successes highlight progress and valuable data for space exploration. 📈 #SpaceX #Starship #spaceexploration #spacetech

SpaceX's new Raptor 3 engine delivers groundbreaking performance improvements with a simpler design, setting a new standard in rocket technology. 🚀 Raptor 3 offers 51% more thrust than the first-generation engine, enhancing spaceflight capabilities. ⚙️ Simplified design reduces weight and external complexity, making the engine more efficient. 🔥 Integral cooling circuits eliminate the need for a heat shield, even during reentry. 🔧 Despite simplifications, servicing Raptor 3 is more challenging due to welded components. 🌑 Designed to support Starship's ambitious missions with increased reliability and reduced risk. 🛠️ Production pace improvements ensure a steady supply of engines for future launches. #SpaceX #RocketTechnology #Innovation 💡 Raptor 3 weighs significantly less than its predecessors, improving fuel efficiency. 📉 Weight reduction lowers the overall cost of space missions, making exploration more feasible. 🎯 Starship's capability to conduct more frequent test flights is enhanced by the new engine. 🌐 Integral cooling circuits throughout the engine's parts increase durability and performance. 🔍 Focus on eliminating bolted joints addresses previous issues with hot gas leaks and engine fires. https://lnkd.in/gCnPBXzK

SpaceX's recent Starship test flight pushed boundaries, achieving key milestones like a full-duration burn and first-ever reentry. But as we all know in the engineering world, the path to innovation rarely goes smoothly. Here's the takeaway: Success rarely happens on the first try. It's about analyzing failures, iterating, and pushing forward with relentless determination. This is the spirit that fuels progress in any field! #SpaceX #Starship #Innovation #NeverGiveUp https://lnkd.in/gmmKgdvb

If you need a content creator, here's an example of content we produce: an article about the third flight test of #SpaceX's Super Heavy rocket and #Starship prototypes. #SpaceMission #SuperHeavy https://lnkd.in/dX8CZGCT

🤔 Is The Future Super-Heavy? Launch companies race to catch up with SpaceX. With a profitable satellite business and an operational super-heavy launcher, SpaceX might further solidify its market dominance. We've witnessed two test flights of Starship, but even considering SpaceX’s rapid pace, it's unrealistic to expect Starship to be commercially operational for several years. By 'commercially operational,' I mean available and flying regularly, similar to Falcon 9. ⏳ However, it's a ticking clock. It’s time to catch up. If no other company is able to match or exceed the capabilities of the Falcon 9 before the Starship is operational, the moat could become too deep. The upcoming Vulcan Centaur, yet to be launched, costs about 2 - 3 times more per kilogram compared to Falcon 9. While this is acceptable for ULA’s government contracts, the broader market requires more competitive options. 👉 This is where Blue Origin with its New Glenn could make a difference. Blue Origin aims to offer twice the payload capacity at half the price per kilogram compared to Falcon 9. If they achieve similar cadence and reliability, it could be a real “Falcon 9 killer”. However, New Glenn is in a completely different league to Starship, which will have an absurdly high payload capacity (150 metric tonnes to LEO) at an absurdly low price of a few hundred dollars per kilogram. While Neutron, New Glenn, and Vulcan represent iterative advances in space launch technology, Starship is poised to be a revolutionary leap, potentially driving unprecedented growth in the space industry. But that’s a story for another time.

🚀 Do you know why Static fire test is done for a Rocket engine before launch❓ 1️⃣ What is a Static Fire test? A static fire test is a critical pre-launch procedure where a rocket's engines are ignited while the vehicle is securely anchored to the launch pad. This allows engineers to thoroughly test the rocket's systems, ensure the engines are functioning properly and make any necessary adjustments before attempting an actual rocket launch. 2️⃣ Why a Static Fire test? Static fire test are essential step in the development and qualification of new launch vehicles. They help identify and resolve potential issues early in the process, reducing the risk of failure during the liftoff. ☄ The video in this post shows the recent static fire test of SpaceX's Flight 5 Super Heavy Booster. The successful completion of this static fire test is a significant milestone for the company and a clear demonstration of their engineering excellence. video credits: SpaceX #space #test #mission #rockets #science #mars #SpaceX

Unwritten, but the key message from the article - $10/kg to orbit: Musk claimed that the future Starship 3 would cost less to launch than SpaceX’s original rocket, the Falcon 1 small launch vehicle, which had a price of about $10 million, because of full reusability. He estimated the Starship cost per launch could fall to as low as $2 million to $3 million. “These are sort of unthinkable numbers,” he said. “Nobody ever thought this was possible. But we’re not breaking any physics to achieve this.” With the increase payload capacity of 200 tons that was announced, this works out to $10/kg. A 99% cost drop from today. Yes, a 99% savings. Cost is different than price. SpaceX will need to charge more to pay for R&D. But there is a lot of room to drop the price of access to #space. In orbit, energy is abundant and usable mass is scarce. Starship is on track to change that. Space based solar power (#SBSP) is a technology poised to build on take advantage of that change. Their claims on costs are credible - see the comments below for quantified examples. Virtus Solis Technologies #deeptech #hardtech #spacetech

#CTPcraft won't ever have engines 'blowing up' on the launch pad as there will be no fuel to ignite. For the #investors and #capital out there... just think how much money is lost on EACH lost launch that 'goes up' in this manner... while being lost during the launch stages. (https://lnkd.in/egthBjj4) You want to talk about '#risk' and '#riskmitigation' where it applies to #futurespace? These issues will NOT be issues with #CTPcraft based spacecraft. Thus 'CTP' launches will be safer for crews and passengers than any form of propulsion systems presently in use. (https://lnkd.in/gGKGdiQx) (https://lnkd.in/eCyWZ2j7) #newspace #newspaceeconomy #spacecapital #safety

MALFUNCTION OF STARSHIP AFTS AGAIN? From the first images it seems that the rocket flight termination ordnance was not initiated by the AFTS (Automated Flight Termination System) software following trajectory deviation but from the initial structural collapse during spinning and tumbling. https://lnkd.in/eqFipced The failure of the 2nd Starship has a huge potential impact. "Starship is essential to both SpaceX’s and NASA’s future. SpaceX is counting on Starship to be able to launch payloads such as full-sized V2 Starlink satellites. The company is currently launching smaller versions of those satellites on Falcon 9 rockets, but the more capable V2 Starlink satellites are designed for Starship".

Payload lauds Starship's cost-effective manufacturing as a "revolution in rocketry," foreseeing SpaceX's trajectory leading to slashing the price of a fully reusable Starship flight to under $10 million. Starship remains largely in the developmental phase, with Payload estimating that SpaceX currently outlays approximately $90 million to construct a fully assembled Starship rocket, primarily due to the substantial costs associated with its 39 Raptor engines & labor. In terms of recovering research & development expenses, the report underscores that as the frequency of Starship launches increases, SpaceX can progressively lower the per-launch cost by spreading fixed costs across multiple missions. According to Payload, when considering full reusability, Starship's economic model begins to resemble that of commercial airlines. A significant component in driving down the cost per Starship rocket is expected to be the reduction in manufacturing expenses for Raptor engines. Payload estimates that the overall R&D investment for Starship will reach approximately $10 billion, with around $5 billion already expended by the conclusion of 2024. It's emphasized that this analysis concentrates on cost rather than price, as SpaceX is anticipated to charge customers more than the potential marginal cost of $10 million per flight to recuperate the capital invested in advancing the Starship program. #starship #spacex