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Musk commenting on their goals for Starship V4
Stretch goal for Starship V4 is 300 tons of thrust per engine with 33 engines, so 10,000 tons of total thrust. That is 3 times the power of the Saturn V Moon rocket. |
The numbers involved in rocketry are astonishing. 10,000 tons to lift 200.
No way is this a direct comparison of course but at that ratio a 747-400 would be able to carry a total load of about 20 pax with baggage... |
Yeah, but the Starship, once in orbit, will be able to carry its its payload for a few million miles at over 17000mph without refuelling….. ;)
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NEWS: Elon Musk has announced that @SpaceX's next Starship launch will happen in 6 weeks (early March).
This will be the first launch of Starship version 3, including the debut of the Raptor V3 engine: . • Almost 2x the thrust of Raptor 1, • Costs 4x less, • Much lighter. Will save 2,425 lbs of weight per engine, or 94,575 lbs (42.9 metric tons) per launch, • No heat shield, • Optimized for manufacturability. |
Essentially a new vehicle - gong to be very exciting to watch!
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Originally Posted by ORAC
(Post 12026923)
Yeah, but the Starship, once in orbit, will be able to carry its its payload for a few million miles at over 17000mph without refuelling….. ;)
it travelled: 4006 million miles which makes a fuel (RP1) efficiency of: 31795 MPG :8 source: https://www.whereisroadster.com/ |
VideoUp close with Booster 19 rolling out to Massey's test site tonight for initial pressure and cryo proof testing in preparation for Starship test flight
12. 2/1/26 |
FAA SAFO re: Airspace Management with respect to Space Launch Activities
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SpaceX has completed a partial cryogenic proof test of Super Heavy Booster 19 at its Massey's test site near Starbase, Texas. Engineers rolled the booster out from production just two days earlier. The successful test now allows preparations to shift toward static fire testing. |
VideoBooster 19 venting today during day 4 of cryogenic proof testing.
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Booster 19 is returning to megabay 1 tonight after finishing cryogenic pressure and proof testing at Starbase Masseys test site over the past week.
Booster 19 will be inspected and have Raptor 3 engines and grid fins installed before rolling out to the new pad 2 for static fire testing. |
The entire Starbase pad 2 water deluge system including the top deck was tested for the first time today.
Videos…. |
Getting close....
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ElonStarship V3 SN1 headed for ground tests. I am highly confident that the V3 design will achieve full reusability.
Should note that SpaceX will only try to catch the ship with the tower after two perfect soft landings in the ocean. The risk of the ship breaking up over land needs to be very low. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....8ef62490c.jpeg |
Video
Several views of Starship 39 during a 3rd night of cryogenic proof testing in preparation for upcoming Starship test flight 12. |
Road closures have been posted closing Boca Chica beach and Hwy 4 for potential Booster 19 static fire testing. If so, this will be the first static fire testing from the new Starbase pad 2 and first Version 3 booster static fire with 33 new Raptor 3 engines.
https://www.starbase.texas.gov/beach-road-access |
Cryotesting complete, first V3 flight within a month.
Does seem a long time since the last flight, hopefully the tempo will pick up quickly this year. Ship 39 cryoproof operations complete, the first campaign with a next generation Starship V3. Across several days, engineers tested the vehicle’s redesigned propellant system and its structural strength, including squeeze tests to mimic the forces of future ship catches. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....02e119d9c.jpeg |
Videos
Super Heavy B19 rolling to pad ahead of first V3 static fire. Starship Flight 12: Booster 19 rollout to Pad 2 for Static Fire testing. It has Raptor 3's, if not the full set of 33. |
It’s incredible to see how much has changed since that first Falcon 9 landing 5 years ago. What SpaceX is doing in Boca Chica is a fascinating case study for anyone interested in Safety Management Systems (SMS).
Traditional aviation safety is built on 'Preservation'—preventing any failure at all costs. SpaceX, however, uses an 'Iterative Failure' model. From an SRM perspective, they aren't ignoring risks; they are simply moving the 'Acceptable Level of Safety' (ALoS) boundary. They treat a prototype explosion not as a safety breach, but as a high-speed data collection event. The real challenge for the industry moving forward will be: how do we integrate this kind of 'Rapid Prototyping' safety culture into traditional operations without compromising public safety? The data they are gathering on structural resilience and engine reliability under extreme stress is going to rewrite the textbooks on 'Machine' factors in the 5M framework. |
Originally Posted by srm.dashboard
(Post 12050093)
Traditional aviation safety is built on 'Preservation'—preventing any failure at all costs. SpaceX, however, uses an 'Iterative Failure' model. From an SRM perspective, they aren't ignoring risks; they are simply moving the 'Acceptable Level of Safety' (ALoS) boundary. They treat a prototype explosion not as a safety breach, but as a high-speed data collection event.
The real challenge for the industry moving forward will be: how do we integrate this kind of 'Rapid Prototyping' safety culture into traditional operations without compromising public safety? The data they are gathering on structural resilience and engine reliability under extreme stress is going to rewrite the textbooks on 'Machine' factors in the 5M framework. I didn't know this at the time, but the failure rate of the Atlas booster during the 4 manned Mercury-Atlas launches was still ~33%. Those astronauts really did have 'The Right Stuff'... |
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