SoylentNews

takyon writes:

SpaceX's Starhopper has successfully completed a 150-meter test hop. Due to two orbital prototypes of Starship already nearing completion, Starhopper will not fly again, and will instead be converted into a vertical test stand for Raptor engine static fire tests:

SpaceX's Starhopper test vehicle – after finally gaining the required Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) permit for its highest hop yet – successfully carried out its test on Tuesday. The approval was required to pave the way for the 150 meter jump out of Boca Chica, Texas. Monday's attempt was scrubbed at T-0 due to an issue relating to the ignitor system on the SN6 Raptor, moving the next attempt to Tuesday which was successful.

[...] Currently, SpaceX has two full-scale prototypes nearing completion which are designated Starship Mk 1 and Starship Mk 2 respectively. The Mk 1 prototype is being built at the Boca Chica launch site while Mk 2 is being constructed in Cocoa, Florida.

Construction of both prototypes is progressing well, with the primary structures of the two vehicles nearing completion.

According to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the two major sections of the vehicles (fairing and tanks) will soon be stacked together. From there, technicians will install the control fins, Raptor engines, and landing gear.

A presentation revealing new details about Starship has been tentatively rescheduled for mid-September.

Also at Ars Technica and Teslarati.

A video of the flight is available on YouTube.

Previously: SpaceX Launches CRS-18 Using Twice-Flown Booster, Starhopper Finally Flies
SpaceX 'Starhopper' Highest-Ever Test Flight Early Next Week
SpaceX's Starhopper 150-Meter Test... Scrubbed for Monday; Try Again Tuesday at Same Time [Updated]

Original Submission

takyon writes:

SpaceX Starship Mk. 1 fails during cryogenic loading test

SpaceX's first full-scale Starship prototype – [Mark 1 (Mk. 1)] – has experienced a major failure at its Boca Chica test site in southern Texas. The failure occurred late in the afternoon on Wednesday, midway through a test of the vehicle's propellant tanks.

The Mk. 1 Starship – which was shown off to the world in September as part of SpaceX's and Elon Musk's presentation of the design changes to the Starship system was to fly the first 20 km test flight of the program in the coming weeks.

The main event of today, the Mk. 1 Starship's first cryogenic loading test, involved filling the methane and oxygen tanks with a cryogenic liquid.

During the test, the top bulkhead of the vehicle ruptured and was ejected away from the site, followed by a large cloud of vapors and cryogenic liquid from the tank.

There will be no attempt to salvage Starship Mk1, with focus instead shifting to Mk3 (in Texas) and Mk2 (in Florida):

Minutes after the anomaly was broadcast on several unofficial livestreams of SpaceX's Boca Chica facilities, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk acknowledged Starship Mk1's failure in a tweet, telegraphing a general lack of worry. Of note, Musk indicated that Mk1 was valuable mainly as a manufacturing pathfinder, entirely believable but also partially contradicting his September 2019 presentation, in which he pretty clearly stated that Mk1 would soon be launched to ~20 km to demonstrate Starship's exotic new skydiver landing strategy.

Musk says that instead of repairing Starship Mk1, SpaceX's Boca Chica team will move directly to Starship Mk3, a significantly more advanced design that has benefitted from the numerous lessons learned from building and flying Starhopper and fabricating Starship Mk1. The first Starship Mk3 ring appears to have already been prepared, but SpaceX's South Texas focus has clearly been almost entirely on preparing Starship Mk1 for wet dress rehearsal, static fire, and flight tests. After today's failure, it sounds like Mk1 will most likely be retired early and replaced as soon as possible by Mk3.

Above all else, the most important takeaway from today's Starship Mk1 anomaly is that the vehicle was a very early prototype and SpaceX likely wants to have vehicle failures occur on the ground or in-flight. As long as no humans are at risk, pushing Starship to failure (or suffering unplanned failures like today's) can only serve to benefit and improve the vehicle's design, especially when the failed hardware can be recovered intact (ish) and carefully analyzed.

Video of the rupture is available on NASASpaceFlight's forums. Start with this forum post and continue down the page for other pictures and videos.

Previously: SpaceX Provides Update on Starship with Assembled Prototype as the Backdrop

Related: The SpaceX Starship Pushback: NASA Administrator's Scolding and More
SpaceX's Starship Can Launch 400 Starlink Satellites at Once
Artemis Program Requires More Cash to Reach Moon by 2024; SLS Could Cost 1,000x More Than Starship

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

[Editor's note: SN3 is SpaceX parlance for "Serial Number 3"; Elon Musk is not just working on building rockets, he's building an assembly line and plans to build one Starship a week. This helps explain the use of serial numbers. --martyb]

For almost a year now, SpaceX has been building a series of Starship prototypes that will test how the system fares when launched to orbit.

[...] Musk recently shared images of the components for the SN3 prototype undergoing assembly.

Shortly after these images were shared, the assembled components were seen on their way to the company's test facility at Boca Chica, Texas, on the morning of March 29th. They were then seen being transferred to the launch pad by roll-lift and crane as of late afternoon. Footage of both these events was captured by the LabPadre and shared via Twitter.

SN3 pic.twitter.com/bM1wzzd4Zg

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk)

Like its predecessors, the next step for the SN3 will be cryogenic loading trials in which the spacecraft's methane and oxygen tanks will be filled with a cryogenic liquid (most likely liquid nitrogen).

[...] In a previous statement, Musk announced that the SN3 would be used for static fire tests and short flights, whereas longer test flights will wait for the SN4. [...] There is [...] documentation that indicates that SpaceX will be conducting tests as early as next week.

The documents, which were shared on NASASpaceFlight, reference a permit issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the "Starhopper" vehicle, which is valid until June 2020. They further suggest that a static fire of the SN3's engines could take place between April 1st and 3rd, followed by a 150-meter (500 ft) hop test between April 6th and 8th. This was the maximum height achieved by the Starship Hopper.

[...] Once the Starship is finished and integrated with the Super Heavy booster, Musk hopes to begin conducting payload runs to the moon by 2022, followed by crewed missions to the surface by 2024. In between, Musk also intends to conduct the first lunar tourism mission (#dearmoon), which will involve sending a crew of artists around the moon in 2023.

-- submitted from IRC

Previously:
(2020-04-01) SpaceX Releases a Payload User's Guide for its Starship Rocket
(2020-03-10) Another Starship Prototype Explodes, but SpaceX Isn't Stopping
(2020-02-19) SpaceX Announces Partnership to Send Four Tourists Into Deep Orbit
(2020-01-18) Elon Musk Discloses Details for SpaceX Mars Mega-Colony

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for TurkeyWaddle:

Starship chilled. Starship pressurized. And for the first time, it didn't explode:

This marks an important moment in the Starship program. Since November 2019, the company has lost three full-scale Starship prototypes during cryogenic and pressure tests. The most recent failure came on April 3. This is the first time a vehicle has survived pressure testing to advance to further work. Such tests are designed to ensure the integrity of a rocket's fueling system prior to lighting an engine.

SN4 passed cryo proof! pic.twitter.com/EJakThZRGF

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 27, 2020

Now, Musk said, SpaceX engineers will attach a single Raptor engine to this vehicle and conduct a static fire test. The company hopes to move forward with this test later in the week.

Should the static fire test be successful, Musk has said the SN4 vehicle will make a 150-meter "hop" test, much as the "Starhopper" prototype performed in August 2019. The company has yet to receive regulatory approval for this test, so it may not happen for several weeks.

SpaceX already has fabricated most of the parts for its SN5 vehicle, which may be the first prototype to attempt a higher flight. Musk said, if all goes well with SN4, the plan is to attach three Raptors to SN5 for a higher flight test later this spring.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

SpaceX's next Starship starts to take shape as Elon Musk talks next steps

Less than a day after SpaceX successfully hopped a full-scale Starship prototype for the first time, the company has begun stacking the next rocket and Elon Musk is talking next steps.

[...] According to Musk, SpaceX intends to perform at least several more smaller hops (a la SN5) "to smooth out [the] launch process." It's unclear which prototype(s) will be involved in that series of hops but after SpaceX is satisfied with the state of launch operations, the plan is to "go high altitude with body flaps." Based on past comments, it's safe to assume that Musk is referring to a plan to launch a Starship to 20 km (~12 mi).

After reaching 20 km, Starship would orient itself belly down – a bit like a skydiver – and quite literally fall its way to ~1 km altitude before attempting an aggressive Raptor-powered pitch-over maneuver and last-second landing. By using Earth's atmosphere much like a skydiver trying to slow down, Starship will theoretically be able to dramatically reduce the amount of propellant it needs to land.

That high-altitude launch and landing demonstration will also be the first time a Starship truly needs aerodynamic control surfaces (i.e. "body flaps") to safely complete a flight test. According to NASASpaceflight.com info, Starship SN8 – also the first full-scale prototype to be built out of a different steel alloy – will be the first ship to receive functional flaps and a nosecone. If initial tests go according to plan, SN8 will also be the first ship to attempt a skydiver-style landing as described above. As far as full-scale aerodynamics goes, such a landing is loosely understood at best. For an orbital-class spacecraft, it's even more of a wildcard.

Regardless, just hours after Starship SN5's successful hop debut, SpaceX began stacking the first of several already finished Starship SN8 sections. Based on the assembly of past prototypes, the ship's tank section could reach its full height just a few weeks from now, while subsequent nosecone and flap installations are uncharted territory.

Previously: SpaceX Completes Static Fire of Starship Prototype, Will Hop Next
SpaceX's Starship SN5 Conducts Successful 150-Meter Flight Test

[Ed. note: Check out https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=51332.760 for developments at Boca Chica. Lots of pictures and videos of the sites (launch and construction), deliveries, component construction (e.g. nosecone, thrust ring, main body, etc.), and assembly of these components into actual Starships. And the occasional test firing or launch, too!]

Original Submission