SpaceX

[DiZed]

ссылку искать лень - но я тоже помню что это было произнесено, подтверждаю; кажется твит маска после презентации

[cross-track]

Alex_II написал:
Cybertruck

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1197627433970589696

[tnt22]

https://spaceflightnow.com/2019/12/20/spacex-poised-to-accelerate-launch-cadence-with-series-of-starlink-missions/

SpaceX poised to accelerate launch cadence with series of Starlink missions
December 20, 2019 | Stephen Clark


File photo of a Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral's Complex 40 launch pad. Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX teams across the United States are readying for what the company's chief operating officer predicts will be a record number of launches in 2020.

Before the end of January, SpaceX aims to perform four Falcon 9 launches fr om Florida's Space Coast — three for the company's Starlink broadband network, and a crucial in-flight abort test for the Crew Dragon spacecraft no earlier than Jan. 11.

SpaceX has performed its final launch of 2019, finishing the year with 13 missions — 11 using the "single-stick" Falcon 9 and two employing the Falcon Heavy with three booster core connected together. All 13 of the missions were successful.

The company accomplished 21 launches in 2018, and 18 in 2017.

That adds up to 52 successful missions in a row — one of the longest-running success streaks in the global launch industry — since a Falcon 9 rocket exploded on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral during final preparations for a pre-flight test-firing in September 2016, damaging the launch complex and destroying an Israeli communications satellite.

Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX's president and chief operating officer, said the company is poised to launch a lot more rockets next year.

"I think in 2020 we'll do more, and that's because of Starlink," she said in a roundtable discussion with reporters earlier this month. "I think we will have 14 or 15 non-Starlink launches, and then we'll fly Starlink as often as we can.

"I need second stages to be built a little bit faster, but we would probably shoot for 35 to 38 missions next year," Shotwell said.

Every Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch needs a new second stage produced at SpaceX's factory in Hawthorne, California. But many of SpaceX's launches utilize reused first stage boosters. That eases pressure on production teams, SpaceX officials said.

The company says it plans to build around 10 new Falcon 9 first stages in Hawthorne next year. That's down from around 16 to 18 new first stages that SpaceX manufactured a couple of years ago. The reduction in the booster build rate has allowed SpaceX to reassign engineers and technicians to other roles within the company, officials said.

The Crew Dragon's abort test in January will utilize a Falcon 9 rocket launched from pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Around a minute-and-a-half after launch, the Falcon 9's Merlin first stage engines will shut down, and the Crew Dragon capsule will fire its SuperDraco abort thrusters to fire away from the top of the launch vehicle.

The high-altitude escape exercise will prove the capsule's ability to safely carry its astronaut passengers away from an in-flight rocket failure before NASA clears the Crew Dragon to carry humans later in 2020. The Crew Dragon will parachute to a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean off Florida's east coast, wh ere SpaceX teams will retrieve it and return it to port.

NASA is paying SpaceX more than $3 billion to develop, build and fly Crew Dragon spaceships to ferry crews to and from the International Space Station.

The in-flight abort test was previously scheduled for late December, then Jan. 4. The new target launch date of Jan. 11 is pending approval from the U.S. Air Force's Eastern Range, according to NASA.

The Crew Dragon spacecraft SpaceX is preparing for the high-altitude abort test completed a series of engine hotfire tests on a stand at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in November. The test-firings verified SpaceX's fix for a valve issue that caused the explosion of a Crew Dragon capsule during a similar hotfire test in April.

Shotwell estimated the explosion of the Crew Dragon capsule in April alone caused three to four months of delay in SpaceX's commercial crew program.

Up to 180 Starlink satellites will be launched on the next three Falcon 9 missions dedicated to building out a fleet orbiting relay stations for SpaceX's planned global Internet service.

The next launch, scheduled for Jan. 3 at approximately 10:20 p.m. EST (0320 GMT on Jan. 4) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Complex 40 launch pad, will add around 60 satellites to the 120 spacecraft SpaceX has shot into orbit on two previous Falcon 9 missions in May and in November.

SpaceX plans to operate the initial block of 1,584 Starlink satellites in orbits 341 miles (550 kilometers) above Earth. The company, founded by billionaire Elon Musk, has regulatory approval from the Federal Communications Commission to eventually field a fleet of up to 12,000 small Starlink broadband stations.

SpaceX confirmed Thursday that it plans a Falcon 9/Starlink launch in late January from pad 40. The upd ate followed similar announcements from SpaceX on the schedule for two preceding Starlink missions in late December and mid-January, both also from Complex 40.

The late December launch has been delayed to Jan. 3.

Shotwell had predicted SpaceX would perform more than 13 launches in 2019, but some of the missions were delayed.

"I think the only ones we delayed are a couple of Starlinks, and then crew," Shotwell said. "For the first time, we're waiting for our customers, which is a much happier place for us to be."

Shotwell's forecast of SpaceX's 2020 launch manifest presumes the company can launch a Starlink mission as often as twice per month, each with up to 60 satellites.

"Production on Starlink is going really well," she said earlier this month in a meeting with reporters at SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorne, California. "I think the next flight (se t) was shipped to the Cape. We build roughly seven satellites ... Starting into the new year, you should see a mission every two-to-three weeks from us. We will hold a Starlink mission for a customer launch. But that should be roughly the cadence."

The flat-panel Starlink satellites, built at a SpaceX facility in Redmond, Washington, fill the volume of the Falcon 9's payload fairing. Each satellite weighs around 573 pounds, or 260 kilograms, and the Starlink craft stacked together form the heaviest payload SpaceX has ever launched.

Highlights of SpaceX's planned 2020 launch schedule include the Crew Dragon's first mission with astronauts, scheduled as soon as the first quarter of the year. NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will fly aboard the Crew Dragon to the International Space Station after launching on a Falcon 9 rocket from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

In late 2020, SpaceX plans to launch its fourth Falcon Heavy rocket from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center with a U.S. Air Force payload. For that mission, designated AFSPC-44, the Falcon Heavy will target a high-altitude circular geosynchronous orbit more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) above Earth.

SpaceX also plans to launch two Dragon cargo missions from Cape Canaveral to the space station in 2020 — in March and August — and two Air Force GPS navigation satellites are slated to ride Falcon 9 rockets into orbit from Florida's Space Coast in March and July.

An Argentinian radar observation satellite named SAOCOM 1B is scheduled for launch in March from Cape Canaveral on top of a Falcon 9 rocket. That mission, targeting a polar sun-synchronous orbit, was moved from Vandenberg Air Force Base and will be the first polar orbit launch from Florida since 1960.

SpaceX launches at Vandenberg will resume in November 2020, when a joint U.S.-European oceanography satellite named Sentinel 6A will lift off from the California launch base on a Falcon 9 rocket.

[zandr]

http://novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/news/40816/

Пусковой манифест компании SpaceX
Компания SpaceX обнародовала пусковой манифест на 2020 год. Если планы удастся реализовать, то следующий год будет рекордным для "детища" Илона Маска.

В манифесте заявлены старты 36 ракет Falcon-9 и Falcon Heavy.

В наступающем году компания SpaceX намерена активно заниматься развертываем своей системы Starlink. Две трети заявленных пусков (24 старта) будут проведены именно с этой целью. В ходе каждого из них на орбиту будут доставляться по 60 спутников. То есть только эта спутниковая группировка должна пополниться 1440 космическими аппаратами.

От 3 до 5 стартов планируется провести по программам запуска пилотируемого и грузового кораблей Dragon.

Остальные пуски будут проведены в интересах правительственных ведомств США и коммерческих заказчиков. Правда, в манифесте отмечается, что рынок геостационарных коммуникационных спутников в настоящее время стагнирует. Поэтому и количество заказчиков у SpaceX, как и у других поставщиков пусковых услуг, в настоящее время упало.

Маловероятно, что компании SpaceX удастся выдержать такой напряженный график. Но даже если удастся сделать это частично, для Илона Маска это будет существенный шаг вперед.
А.Ж.

[Старый]

zandr написал:
 http://novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/news/40816/
 

Пусковой манифест компании SpaceX
Компания SpaceX обнародовала пусковой манифест на 2020 год. Если планы удастся реализовать, то следующий год будет рекордным для "детища" Илона Маска.
В манифесте заявлены старты 36 ракет Falcon-9 и Falcon Heavy.

Итак, Маск обещает водиночку покрыть весь Роскосмос. 
Интрига года: чем ответит Дмитрий Олегович? Сколько запусков пообещает он? 

[Paleopulo]

Старый написал:
 

zandr написал:
  http://novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/news/40816/  
 

Пусковой манифест компании SpaceX
Компания SpaceX обнародовала пусковой манифест на 2020 год. Если планы удастся реализовать, то следующий год будет рекордным для "детища" Илона Маска.
В манифесте заявлены старты 36 ракет Falcon-9 и Falcon Heavy.

Итак, Маск обещает водиночку покрыть весь Роскосмос.
Интрига года: чем ответит Дмитрий Олегович? Сколько запусков пообещает он?  

Уже озвучивали - около 50. Если половину запустят - повезет.

[Старый]

Paleopulo написал:
 Уже озвучивали - около 50. Если половину запустят - повезет.

Кто озвучил?  :oops: Почему я пропустил?  :oops: 

[zandr]

Первым переврал РИА в заголовке:
https://ria.ru/20191228/1562981095.html

"Роскосмос" осуществит около 50 космических пусков в 2020 году
МОСКВА, 28 дек - РИА Новости. Роскосмос планирует выполнить почти в два раза больше космических пусков в следующем году, чем было осуществлено в 2019 году.
В 2019 году Россия провела 25 космических пусков: 13 с космодрома Байконур, восемь - с Плесецка, один - с Восточного и три - с Куру.
"В честь праздника немного приоткроем космические карты - на следующий год намечено почти в два раза больше космических пусков, чем было в 2019 году", - сказал ведущий Василий Кучушев в ходе трансляции на YouTube-канале "Роскосмос-ТВ"...

Первоисточник:

[Чебурашка]

Но опять эти гады из УанУэб подведуть.
Или вообще обанкротятся на зло Роскосмосу.   

[Старый]

Чебурашка написал:
Но опять эти гады из УанУэб подведуть.
Или вообще обанкротятся на зло Роскосмосу.    

А фигляр Маск свои спутники будет тысячами запускать назло Роскосмосу. А Роскосмос даже Протоны Гонцами грузить не сможет.

[V.B.]

zandr написал:
 http://novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/news/40816/
 

Пусковой манифест компании SpaceX
Компания SpaceX обнародовала пусковой манифест на 2020 год.

Фейк ньюс! Никакого манифеста SpaceX не обнародовала!

[Alex-DX]

Манифест не манифест,а в январе по плану 3 старта по 60 старлинков общей массой 46800 кг...

[triage]

Alex-DX написал:
Манифест не манифест,а в январе по плану 3 старта ...

а где можно увидеть официальное заявление?

[Alex-DX]

triage написал:
 а где можно увидеть официальное заявление?

земля слухами полнится
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=48981.0

[tnt22]

https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/01/03/spacex-drawing-up-plans-for-mobile-gantry-at-launch-pad-39a/

SpaceX drawing up plans for mobile gantry at launch pad 39A
January 3, 2020 / Stephen Clark


A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket stands at launch pad 39A before liftoff in June 2019 on the STP-2 mission for the U.S. Air Force. Credit: SpaceX

With construction already underway at Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39A on facilities for SpaceX's next-generation Starship vehicle, another new fixture could soon rise at the seaside launch complex to satisfy U.S. military requirements to vertically integrate sensitive top secret spy satellites with Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.

SpaceX is finalizing plans to build the new moveable tower at pad 39A, company officials said. Its function will be similar to mobile gantries in use at other launch pads, such as service towers used by United Launch Alliance at the company's Delta 4 launch pads at Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

The tower will surround Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets at pad 39A, shielding the vehicles from storms and high winds and providing a controlled environment for ground crews to hoist heavy satellites and mount them on top of the launch vehicles in a vertical configuration.

SpaceX currently installs satellites, already cocooned inside their payload shrouds, onto Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets horizontally inside hangars near the company's launch pads. But some of thee U.S. government's most sensitive intelligence-gathering satellites, some of which come with billion-dollar or higher price tags, are designed to be mounted on their launch vehicles vertically.

SpaceX officials said the vertical integration capability is required for participants in the National Security Space Launch Phase 2 Launch Service Procurement. The U.S. Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center — now part of the U.S. Space Force — released a request for proposals for the Phase 2 Launch Service Procurement last May.

The military plans to sel ect two companies later this year to launch the Pentagon's most critical satellite missions from 2022 through 2026. The military's incumbent National Security Space Launch providers — United Launch Alliance and SpaceX — are competing for the lucrative contracts with newcomers Northrop Grumman and Blue Origin for the Phase 2 contracts.

ULA is seeking an anchor customer for the company's new Vulcan Centaur rocket, scheduled to debut in 2021, while Northrop Grumman is developing the OmegA booster and Blue Origin is working an orbital-class rocket named the New Glenn. The new launch vehicles proposed by ULA, Northrop Grumman and Blue Origin have not yet flown.

The winning companies will share rights to launch roughly 30 Pentagon space missions over a five-year period starting in 2022.

SpaceX submitted a proposal to use the company's Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets — made by combining three Falcon 9 first stage cores — to launch the military's communications, navigation, early warning and reconnaissance satellites.

Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX's president and chief operating officer, said the company did not propose to use the company's next-generation Super Heavy and Starship vehicles to deliver the Pentagon's payloads to orbit.

"It's Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, no Starship," Shotwell said last month. "We bid to meet every requirement. The only modifications we need are an extended fairing on the Falcon Heavy, and we are going to have to build a vertical integration capability. But we are basically flying the rockets that they need.

"There are more data requirements they're asking for, some additional inspection, some additional stuff that's new to Phase 2," she said. "I believe some of the reference orbits have slightly more mass to each orbit. But Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy are beasts as they are."


The appearance and function of SpaceX's mobile gantry will be similar to the mobile service tower at United Launch Alliance's Delta 4 launch pad at Cape Canaveral (seen here). Credit: ULA

An artist's illustration of the new mobile gantry at pad 39A seen by Spaceflight Now indicates it will stand taller than the launch pad's fixed service structure. Like other elements of the pad, the mobile tower — likely standing some 30 stories tall — will be covered in black and white cladding.

SpaceX did not release an artist's concept of the mobile gantry for publication, and officials did not say when construction will begin on the new rocket enclosure. The build-up of the structure will have to be scheduled around launch operations at pad 39A, including crew missions to the International Space Station that will take off from the same site.

The mobile tower will be positioned on the north side of the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch mount at pad 39A, opposite the new Starship launch facility under construction on the southeast side of the pad.

SpaceX will continue to assemble the rockets inside a hangar near the southern perimeter of the historic launch pad, which NASA previously used Apollo moon missions and space shuttle flights.

After rolling the rockets up the ramp to the launch pad, SpaceX crews will raise the launchers vertical and then move the mobile gantry into place around the vehicles. If payloads needs to be mounted vertically, ground teams will hoist the satellites using cranes and bolt them on top of their rockets.

"It comes up and kind of circles around," Shotwell said. "It's got to be out there during a Category 5 hurricane, fully enclosed. The whole rocket has to be encapsulated. It's got huge hurricane clamps on it that clamp it to the ground."

The gantry will move away from the rocket before launch.

Shotwell said SpaceX could also build a similar gantry at its launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the primary U.S. launch site for polar orbit missions.

"If it ends up being required at Vandenberg, we will put one in at Vandenberg," Shotwell said. "It depends on the mission manifest that they have."

The other change SpaceX must introduce to meet the Phase 2 Launch Service Procurement requirement is a larger payload envelope on top of its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.

The clamshell-like payload fairing currently flown by SpaceX measures around 17 feet (5.2 meters) in diameter, with a height of about 43 feet (13.1 meters). The U.S. government's biggest spy satellites, such as those with huge Earth-pointing telescopes, won't fit inside SpaceX's current fairing.

The class of large intelligence-gathering satellites that require vertical integration and an enlarged fairing currently fly on ULA's Delta 4-Heavy rocket.

An official familiar with SpaceX's bid for the Phase 2 Launch Service Procurement said the company proposed flying a larger fairing, with a width of 17.7 feet (5.4 meters) and a height of around 61 feet (18.6 meters), to satisfy the military's payload shroud requirement for spacecraft that require the extra room.

The official said SpaceX is considering two options for the larger fairing.

One possibility is for SpaceX to purchase the fairing hardware from RUAG Space, a Swiss company the produces 5.4-meter fairings for ULA's Atlas 5 and Vulcan rockets, and Arianespace's Ariane 5 and Ariane 6 launchers.

ULA and Arianespace are rivals of SpaceX in the launch business, and ULA has reportedly blocked the sale of a new, lower-weight, less expensive 5.4-meter fairing it has partnered with RUAG to produce at the Atlas and Vulcan rocket factory in Decatur, Alabama.

RUAG's other current fairing production line in Switzerland supplies 5.4-meter payload shrouds based on a previous design for Atlas 5 and Ariane 5 rockets. The availability of the older fairing model to SpaceX remains uncertain.


A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is seeing rolling up the ramp to pad 39A. SpaceX is drawing up plans for a mobile tower on the north side fo the launch mount at pad 39A, and the new gantry would be built near the far right of this image. Credit: SpaceX

Tory Bruno, ULA's CEO, said last year the ULA and RUAG spent "many millions of dollars" designing an improved fairing for the Vulcan rocket. The shroud will also be compatible with ULA's Atlas 5 rocket, which the Vulcan Centaur will eventually replace.

"Our partnership with RUAG is not exclusive beyond ULA's actual intellectual property," Bruno wrote in a post on Reddit. "RUAG remains a supplier to Ariane. They are free to design and build new fairings for others, as well.

"This is a great example of the benefits of competition," he wrote. "Companies innovate, invest their own money, improve performance and lower costs in order to do better in the marketplace.

"Obviously, we hope to recover the money we spent by having improved future Vulcan sales as a result."

If SpaceX is unable to purchase the bigger fairings from RUAG for the handful of missions expected to require them, the company could opt to produce the payload shrouds in-house, according to an official familiar with SpaceX's planning.

The Phase 2 Launch Service Procurement is the most recent round in a multi-phase Air Force-led program to reintroduce competition to the military's launch contracting, and end the Pentagon's reliance on Russian-made rocket engines, which power the first stage of ULA's Atlas 5 rocket.

The Air Force in 2016 awarded rocket engine development contracts to several companies, including SpaceX, ULA, and Orbital ATK, now part of Northrop Grumman.

In 2018, the Air Force awarded contracts with a combined maximum value of some $2.2 billion to ULA, Northrop Grumman and Blue Origin to develop launch system prototypes.

Shotwell said SpaceX changed its strategy after being passed over by the Air Force in 2018.

"Sometimes we learn," she said.

SpaceX filed a lawsuit last year protesting the Air Force's selection of three other companies over SpaceX, arguing it unfairly forced SpaceX to self-fund infrastructure projects to support the Phase 2 requirements, presumably including the vertical rocket enclosure at pad 39A.

The Air Force says the Phase 2 Launch Service Procurement is a fully open competition.

Blue Origin won a protest decision from the Government Accountability Office in November, ruling that the Air Force's evaluation criteria — which stated military officials should pick two proposals that, "when combined," offered the best value to the government — was not reasonable. The Air Force said it would move to remove the language from the evaluation criteria, and evaluate bids on their own.

"I can't predict how they will decide this," Shotwell said. "I think we're in a good position. We met all their requirements We think we put in a competitive bid. And we're flying the rockets that we bid, now, with lots of heritage on the rockets that we bid."

"ULA, for sure, has some advantages. They've been processing and flying these national security space payloads. So at least they have that experience, even if they don't have a rocket," Shotwell said. "So they have an advantage over the other two competitors. But I don't know. I have no idea how this is going to go. I really don't."


In this satellite image from July 2019, SpaceX's rocket transporter structure and the fixed umbilical tower are seen at launch pad 39A. The new mobile gantry would be located just north of the launch mount, near the center bottom of this image, and then retract away fr om rockets before liftoff. Credit: Maxar Technologies

Even if SpaceX does not win a Phase 2 Launch Service Procurement contract, Shotwell said the company's launch business is in good shape.

"One of the reasons why we look for commercial, civil, international and national security space payloads is to make sure that our business is strong regardless of the bumps in the road in the various market sectors," she said. "It would be a very unhappy day at the company (if we don't win), for sure, but we will survive. Absolutely. We have a large business base, and it's not just launching national security space payloads."

[tnt22]

 SpaceXFleet Updates‏ @SpaceXFleet 14 мин. назад

Presenting the Class of 2020. #SpaceXFleet

[Apollo13]

https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/epzayc/german_raumzeit_podcast_with_hans_koenigsmann/

Summary below


I think it is very worthwhile to listen to Hans speaking here if one understands German. The discussion seems to be aimed at an audience with technical knowledge, but which is not necessarily familiar with SpaceX or rocket science in general. Host seems to pretend to have almost no knowledge, but fr om the discussions it is clear that he certainly is familiar with the topic and is well-prepared. Which I think is a good way to ensure that the discussion remains understandable to non-experts throughout.


I tried to write down all pieces of information which are beyond a certain threshold of technical detail, i.e., I left out parts explaining very basic things like what a two-stage vehicle is and that you would want to encapsulate your satellite in a fairing. I don't think that any of the information shared is entirely new.


Translating and summarising at the same time in addition to Hans attempts to formulate technical details in a commonly understandable way might have lead to misleading items below. If your are particularly interested in a specific point please let me know and I (or someone else) might be able to provide an accurate translation of the corresponding passage.


With that out of the way, the podcast in chronological order:

[/li]
• 4th engineer when joined in May 2002
  
  
• since then the 3rd left, so he considers himself the 3rd now
  

[/li][li]met Elon together with Gwynne (she was his boss back then) in early 2002

[/li]
• at an amateur rocket launch meet-up
  
• two months later, Elon contacted Hans and asked whether he would join a new company
  
• Elon moved from Silicon valley to LA for SpaceX (since talent is there)
  

[/li][li]Elon from the beginning hat his philosophy of making life multiplanetary

[/li]
• first task: build a rocket one can build with a small number of people
  
• make most of the key components in-house
  
• solve the most difficult problems first (i.e. first the engines)
  

[/li][li]1st Falcon-1 start was really expected to succeed

[/li]
• some weld in/near the engine failed and things burned
  

[/li][li]company culture (from the beginning)

[/li]
• communication really important
  
• the best idea is supposed to win in a discussion regardless of rank
  
• much freedom for engineers (e.g. to buy stuff)
  
• time is money, but not just that; hence work as fast as possible
  
• -> Elon used his personal plane to carry employees between LA and McGregor to save time
  
• -> have extremely ambitious timelines, since projects take longer in any case
  

[/li][li]development

[/li]
• what is physically necessary?
  
• what is there in the space industry and what of it actually makes sense?
  
• also taking inspiration from other industries (e.g. cars)
  
• engine was developed rather independently
  
• -> Merlin initially had 25 valves, which got significantly reduced since then
  
• -> Merlin was initially optimised to be built in-house, later optimised for performance
  

[/li][li]software & electronics

[/li]
• use modern equipment, but test for radiation-resistance
  
• launch software rather easy, landing software was/is a challenge
  
• -> initially 1-2 software engineers for Falcon-9
  
• Linux-based operating system (own SpaceX-Version), much OpenSource used
  

[/li][li]company culture (as the company grows)

[/li]
• initially aimed at as few people as possible due to increasing complexity
  
• communication between specialists tends to be difficult
  
• 1st Falcon-1: about 250 employees
  
• 4th Falcon-1: about 300 employees
  
• weekly meetings with Elon and VPs to ensure communication (technical meetings)
  

[/li][li]reuseability

[/li]
• despite quick success of SpaceX, failures were present
  
• -> efforts to recover Falcon-1 via parachutes was seen internally as a failure
  
• -> likewise early landing tests of Falcon-9 were seen internally as failures
  
• learning recoverability while having successful primary missions was useful
  
• sat-dish on ADAS causes loss-of-signal
  
• learning from failures (e.g. landings) can take weeks or months
  
• fairing recovery
  
• -> large area and low mass, thus theoretically easy to reenter
  
• -> in practice: took some time to get this properly done
  

[/li][li]Falcon-1 and transition to Falcon-9

[/li]
• initially thought that there is a market for it (intended to keep it)
  
• -> eventually realised that the market is just to small
  
• -> started Falcon-9 development prior to 4th Falcon-1 launch
  
• Falcon-9 to actually make money
  
• -> satellite market
  
• -> dragon
  
• each Merlin of Falcon-9 has its own computer (ethernet connection to main computer)
  
• Falcon-1 launch site (Kwajalein, Marshall Islands)
  
• -> because clearance for AirForce bases (Vandy,Cape) was difficult to get
  
• -> in hindsight: convenient that failures were not that publicly visible
  
• moved to the Cape due to the airport of Kwajalein being unable to handle the weights of satellites
  

[/li][li]Falcon-9

[/li]
• frequent iterations did indeed happen, but main changes in the block-changes
  
• subsequent block-5 boosters nowadays sometimes do not feature changes
  

[/li][/LIST]This was the first hour, due to reddit character lim it, the 2nd part is in a comment below.

[Apollo13]

continuation

[/li]
• how does a launch of Falcon-9 play out?
  
  
• choice of launch pad due to inclination
  
• -> does not mention polar orbits fr om the cape
  
• -> can change launch pads for a mission if known sufficiently far in advance
  
• once static fire is completed, mission timeline is stringent
  
• -> fleet has to depart in advance
  
• upper level wind shear
  
• -> if wind direction changes rapidly, rocket has to correct which causes stress on the vehicle and could potentially break up
  
• launch hazard area
  
• -> works well with planes (pilots can loose license if entering)
  
• -> works less well with ships (USAF will send helicopters if ships are in exclusion zone, first just hover over them, but if they don't leave drop a bottle with a message "please leave")
  
• start-up fully automated days in advance
  
• -> press a button a few days prior to launch to initiate and then monitor
  
• -> GSE first, Falcon-9 joins later
  
• ignition 2-3 seconds prior to liftoff
  
• -> Hans did not know that ArianeSpace uses L-0s for ignition and thinks it is strange (should liftoff at 0s, obviously)
  
• dragon-1 is close to the edge between return-to-launch-site and ASDS (which type of landing is used depends on the mission mass)
  
• pneumatic separation between the stages
  

[/li][li]how does a landing of Falcon-9 play out?

[/li]
• flip of Falcon-9 is such that the rotation is canceld by the Merlin, not the thrusters (thus ignition needs to be quite precise)
  
• 4-6g of acceleration if using 3 Merlins on empty stage
  
• first stage has almost identical navigation hardware
  
• -> gyroscopes (fibre-optical) & accelerometers
  
• -> GPS (exemption fr om the hight-lim it)
  
• -> GPS primary, gyroscopes & accelerometers secondary (will diverge after approximately 1 minute due to measurement error)
  
• -> flight computer
  
• entry burn at about 30 km (just prior to reentry)
  
• grid fins could also have been normal fins, but grid fins more compact and easier to retract
  
• fr om grid fin movement one can deduce how hard Falcon-9 has to work (slow, smooth movement indicates that rocket is on course)
  
• landing development
  
• -> Grasshopper was managed by ~20 people
  
• -> F9R did not get high enough to properly test grid fins, but could test on actual missions
  
• boostback does not have to be so precise (~100m), entry burn more precise (~10m), finally landing burn (~1m)
  
• landing sequence
  
• -> needs GPS for position and uses radar to determine high
  
• -> shutdown during hoverslam for has to precise (~0.1 seconds)
  
• -> usual landing accuracy of ~3-4 meters (determined by GPS and wind)
  

[/li][li]droneship landing

[/li]
• ASDS landing very worth it indeed (ships may be expensive to operate but the most expensive thing by far is the rocket)
  
• names for ASDS were Elon's idea (names for fairing catchers might have been suggested by others)
  

[/li][li]first landing

[/li]
• NatGeo asked whether they could film the first land landing, and Hans thinks that they did a great job
  
• Elon went to see the landing, Hans & control room monitored the second stage
  

[/li][li]falcon heavy

[/li]
• no added difficulty for landing, the side boosters just do their own thing ignoring the other
  
• STP-2 mission was a very demanding mission
  
• several FH missions in manifest
  

[/li][li]reuseability

[/li]
• have a lot of first stages lying around everywhere
  
• building one rocket instead of ten which is very worth it
  
• refurbishment has a learning curve (which parts have to be very closely inspected, which can just briefly be checked)
  
• mass production vs reuseability (host notes that reusing rockets means loosing mass production benefits)
  
• -> mass production only beneficial at ~10000 units, thus only minor benefits there
  
• -> reusing rockets, however, has large benefit
  
• -> added value of being able to inspect the rocket after flight
  
• -> if there is something strange found at inspection (e.g. leak), put a camera (GoPro) there (a few per flight at varying locations in addition to ~10 cameras on board which send video to ground during flight)
  
• -> Hans would really like to have the same option for the 2nd stage (currently problems found on 1st stage are sometimes applied to 2nd stage, too, if systems are similar)
  
• customers initially were sceptical using flight-proven rockets, but now some even prefer once-flown rockets
  
• Hans hopes/believes that rockets will become much safer due to the possibility of inspection after flight
  

[/li][li]2nd stage recovery

[/li]
• would need heat shield which is difficult and heavy
  
• there wh ere experiments with 2nd stage reentries which proved that point
  
• 2nd stage is more than 10% of cost of the vehicle (more redundancy, main flight computer) [note]
  

[/li][li]innovations by SpaceX / things SpaceX learned over time

[/li]
• sub-cooled propellant
  
• many small things (e.g. size of dampers in landing legs)
  
• GSE changes
  

[/li][li]Mars

[/li]
• does Elon want to got to Mars personally? Yes, Hans thinks so
  
• why steel?
  
• -> steel becomes stronger when cold
  
• -> steel can handle high temperatures during reentry
  
• Starship & Super-Heavy
  
• -> hight of Starship 68m, Super-Heavy ~100m
  
• -> development cannot compared to - say - SLS wh ere there is billions of $$$, which SpaceX does not have (Starship is self-financed); thus scrappy
  
• Hans is sure that when Starship flies to Mars, there will be scientific payload on board
  
• plan is to prove the concept now; once that is done, search for customers
  
• refilling at orbit makes the architecture cheap (due to reuseability)
  
• manned mission to Mars "will take a while", there will certainly be a cargo flight first
  
• preparation for Mars missions
  
• -> there is active work at SpaceX regarding radiation protection, etc.
  
• -> likewise, work is being done to develop propellant production and Mars logistics
  
• -> main focus is building Starship, since in other areas partners can help
  
• ~10 Raptors built so far [podcast was recorded 18.11.2019]
  
• -> transition period from development engines to production engines
  
• -> has been 2 years of raptor development
  
• -> less soot should help with reuseabilty compared to Merlin
  
• first manned mission
  
• -> propellant production has to be prepared by cargo mission
  
• -> navigation might be a challenge, manned mission needs to land near previous cargo mission
  
• Hans expects delays in the program
  
• -> SpaceX needs to find partners in the final stages (nations, agencies, e.g. NASA, ...)
  

[/li][li]SpaceX vs other organisations ("SpaceX diplomacy")

[/li]
• SpaceX is a close partner of NASA
  
• -> NASA helped SpaceX at a critical point for the company (F9 development)
  
• -> SpaceX helpes NASA to return human launch capability to the US
  
• -> 2020-21 SpaceX wants to approach NASA regarding Mars missions and coordinate with them
  
• -> SpaceX wants to participate in Artemis programme
  
• NASA and USAF contracts were helpful, but also much own development by SpaceX (e.g. FH)
  
• other organisations/agencies
  
• -> mainly competition
  
• -> there is a trend by nations to use their rockets for their payloads
  

[/li][li]dragon

[/li]
• dragon-1 is reusable (so far up to three times)
  
• dragon-2 improvements
  
• -> electronics & avionics
  
• -> solar panels on trunk sufficient
  
• -> docking instead of berthing (Hans jokes: what happens if CanadaArm breaks?)
  

[/li][li]Starlink

[/li]
• Hans does not know whether the first two Starlink satellites are still in orbit
  
• maximal size of constellation 30k satellites
  
• -> want to make sure that the upper bound is high enough to never encounter problems with it
  
• -> first 700 satellites should be sufficient for basic coverage at certain latitudes
  
• Hans is not really involved in Starlink and claims to have no detailed knowledge
  
• Starlink is a new kind of project due to having millions of customers
  
• -> want to learn from Tesla & SolarCity
  
• upper stages rotates for Starlink satellite deployment making use of centrifugal force to make sure that satellites separate
  
• few weeks for the satellites to reach final orbit
  
• can reuse dragon ground stations for Starlink
  
• if Starlink were to use higher frequencies in the future, receiver might become smaller
  
• Hans does not think that Starlink satellites will cause trouble for astronomy
  
• -> solar panel faces the sun thus most of the surface of the satellites reflects light back to the sun and hence causes no trouble
  
• -> initial Starlink train is misleadingly well visible and thus not representative
  
• -> there should only be half a dozen satellites visible at any time
  

[/li][li]Hans would like more companies to develop more things themselves and be innovative in the space industry


[/li][li]Hans does not want to fly to Moon or Mars (but maybe to the ISS?)


[/li][/LIST]

[АниКей]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhrkdHshb3E&feature=emb_title

[АниКей]

CREW DRAGON LAUNCH ESCAPE DEMONSTRATION                                  

SpaceX  is targeting Sunday, January 19 for an in-flight test of Crew Dragon's  launch escape capabilities from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA's  Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This test, which does not have NASA  astronauts onboard the spacecraft, is intended to demonstrate Crew  Dragon's ability to reliably carry crew to safety in the unlikely event  of an emergency on ascent.


Teams are  currently targeting a T-0 of 10:30 a.m. EST, or 15:30 UTC, two and a  half hours into the six-hour test window. A backup opportunity with a  six-hour launch window opening at 8:00 a.m. EST, or 13:00 UTC, is  available on Monday, January 20.


You can watch the demonstration live below, starting about 20 minutes before liftoff, and learn more about the mission in our press kit.