On March 3, Starship SN10 conducted its high-altitude flight and achieved more than any prototype had done so far. If you haven’t watched the flight already, take some time out of your day, it’s worth it: https://www.youtube.com/embed/ODY6JWzS8WU Launch & Ascent At 17:15 CST, Starship SN10 lifted off Pad A at the Starship Launch Site in Boca Chica, Texas. This came after an aborted attempt earlier in the day, whereby the vehicle’s computers commanded shutdown at T-0.1 seconds due to excessive thrust generated by the Raptor engines. Elon took to Twitter to tell us they would re-attempt a launch after…
Author: Leo B
Leo B
Leo is an aerospace enthusiast, whose passion was sparked by SpaceX. He is specifically interested in the rocketry engineering of the company’s ventures.
SpaceX’s Starship development has caught the attention of many across the world, particularly after the spectacular flights of SN8 and SN9, both of which ticked multiple objectives for the vehicle and its radical design. Overall, they were renowned successes, and created interest like I’ve never seen before in the spaceflight community. However, both vehicles failed on one crucial objective; landing. But both instances have exposed failure points in the vehicle, something SpaceX have recognized and resolved. SN8 exposed an autogenous pressurization issue in the header tanks, now resolved by using helium to pressurize them. SN9 exposed a Raptor ignition flaw,…
What Happened? On February 15 at 10:59 EST, a Falcon 9 Block 5 launched from Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) in Cape Canaveral for the Starlink L-19 mission. As always with these missions, the vehicle was carrying 60 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit, increasing the constellation. Booster 1059 (B1059) was assigned to this mission, earning its sixth flight. The plan was to stage separate, with B1059 landing back on the Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship (ASDS) ‘Of Course I Still Love You’ – something which many of us have become accustomed to. The vehicle successfully lifted off the pad, and followed an…
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy is the most powerful launcher on the market today. Capable of lifting over 60 tons to low-Earth orbit, it first debuted in February 2018 launching Elon Musk’s personal Tesla Roadster into space, on a truly historic test flight. Since then, the vehicle has only had two flights: Arabsat-6A in April 2019, and STP-2 in June 2019. However, this hiatus is drawing to a close and Falcon Heavy is preparing to make a return, and in a glorious fashion. First and foremost, 2021 has been a year many space enthusiasts have been eagerly awaiting regarding FH. Not only…
Starship SN9 had its long-anticipated 10km test flight on February 2 2021, resulting in the completion of numerous test objectives, but the eventual destruction of the prototype during its failed landing attempt. Liftoff occurred at 14:25 CST, powered by three Raptor engines, SN9 soared into the skies of Boca Chica, Texas, with millions of people across the world watching in awe. Similar to SN8’s high-altitude test flight, we saw the vehicle shutdown individual Raptors in sequence to adjust the increasing thrust-to-weight ratio as the vehicle’s weight decreased by propellant use. The vehicle eventually relied upon one Raptor as it reached…
On February 4 2021, SpaceX launched the eighteenth Starlink mission (Starlink L-18) aboard their workhorse Falcon 9 rocket, from SLC-40 in Cape Canaveral. This mission sent a further 60 V1.0 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit, bringing the total amount of orbiting Starlink satellites to 1,021. Every mission strengthens the Starlink constellation and pushes ever closer to widespread rollout of its internet access. L-18 was initially set to use B1059.5, a Falcon 9 Block 5 booster, however a last-minute change to B1060.5 meant that this launch set a new record for reusability. B1060.5 had previously supported four missions; GPS III SV07…