Leo B – The Muskette https://themuskette.com Thu, 04 Mar 2021 23:04:37 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.2 https://themuskette.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/cropped-elon-fav-32x32.png Leo B – The Muskette https://themuskette.com 32 32 Starship Just Had Its Biggest Achievement Yet https://themuskette.com/starship-just-had-its-biggest-achievement-yet/ https://themuskette.com/starship-just-had-its-biggest-achievement-yet/#respond Thu, 04 Mar 2021 23:04:37 +0000 https://muskette.com/?p=3205 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:

 

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 tweaking the parameters of the flight computer:

And thus, the re-attempt at 17:15 was a go by the flight computer, and SN10 soared into the skies.

We saw a stable ascent, initially powered by all three Raptor engines, before shutting them down in sequence. This was to keep the thrust-to-weight ratio from being too high, and allowed for a stable, controlled ascent to 10km in altitude. 

The Raptors gimbaled (pivoted) in order to maintain control, whilst individual engines were throttled down and eventually shut down. 

Until finally, the vehicle relied upon a single-Raptor engine, providing the final acceleration to 10km. A ‘kick-flip’ maneuver was then performed by the Raptor before being shut down, to re-orient the vehicle belly-first. 

Descent & Landing

With the use of the forward and aft flaps, electrically powered by Tesla motors, SN10 had a stable descent from 10km, once again verifying the concept of the controlled ‘belly-flop’. 

A key moment in the flight was during the landing phase, something SN8 and SN9 had failed on for differing reasons. As talked about in another article, SN10 combined the improvements of SN8 and SN9, in the hope that it could land in one piece. 

And it did just that. 

We saw all three Raptor engines re-ignite successfully, a flip maneuver from horizontal to vertical, and the successful shutdown of two Raptors relying on one to perform the final touchdown. 

And touchdown it did. 

This was the first time a Starship had completed a high-altitude test flight, and landed. We had seen small hops in the past, but nothing as ambitious as this, and we had seen two previous prototypes have a failed attempt at touchdown. 

SN10’s landing marked a truly historic event in Starship development. 

Post-Landing

As everyone in the space community lost their minds, Starship SN10 decided to give one more surprise. 

Reflection

Even though SN10 had landed, it didn’t do so in the smoothest way. Nor did the landing legs deploy as best they should. 

You can visibly see SN10 touching down at a relatively high velocity, to the point where the entire vehicle appeared to bounce on the landing pad. 

Whatever landing legs were deployed correctly, they would’ve likely been crushed by this higher-than-expected landing speed.  

Somehow, the vehicle did manage to remain standing.

But the explosion we saw shortly after was likely due to the fireball we could see being emitted out of the shutdown engines during the landing burn. 

By the looks of things, this could have been leaked methane being combusted by oxygen, the leak source likely being a shutdown Raptor(s).

As the vehicle sat on the landing pad, enclosing the entire engine bay, this fireball continued to rage inside to the point of the liquid oxygen tank being ruptured and ignited. 

SN10 is now a wreck of stainless steel, just like SN8 and SN9 was.

But unlike them, this prototype had gone further than any prototype had gone before and was a huge achievement. 

What’s Next?

Starship SN11 is up next, and will likely conduct a repeat of this high-altitude test, this time landing intact. 

Teams will be hard at work looking through data, and adding improvements wherever needed. The ultimate fate of SN10 came down to the landing velocity being too high, potentially because one or more of the Raptors underperformed. 

Whatever occurred, SpaceX will be seeking a fix, and that fix will be applied to SN11.

]]> https://themuskette.com/starship-just-had-its-biggest-achievement-yet/feed/ 0 Could Starship SN10 Be the Successful One? We Await an Answer https://themuskette.com/could-starship-sn10-be-the-successful-one-we-await-an-answer/ https://themuskette.com/could-starship-sn10-be-the-successful-one-we-await-an-answer/#respond Wed, 24 Feb 2021 21:12:18 +0000 https://muskette.com/?p=3179 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, which has now been resolved through redundancy mitigation in the landing burn.

The point being, existing failure points have now been resolved. At face value, if no more failure points crop up, there’s nothing that should stop SN10 from finishing the job SN8 and SN9 couldn’t quite achieve.

But rocketry is never that simple.

What’s SN10 been up to?

Starship SN10 took its place on Launch Pad A on January 29, alongside SN9 on Pad B, marking the first time we saw two Starships together at the launch site.

SN9 took flight four days later on February 2. In its aftermath all eyes were on SN10, and as usual with Boca Chica operations, its testing campaign was imminent already.

Unlike SN9, SN10 did not have its trio of Raptor engines installed prior to pad transport. Elon said this would happen after it completed its cryo test:

But as ever with Starship operations, plans change constantly so during the first week of January, the three Raptors were installed before the cryo.

And before long, the testing campaign begun with a cryogenic proofing test (cryo test) whereby the vehicle was loaded with superchilled liquid nitrogen to verify structural integrity.

This was completed on February 8, just six days after SN9’s flight.

Following the cryo test, a static fire was expected as usual, where the vehicle is held down but all three Raptor engines are ignited for a few seconds qualifying a multitude of hardware on the prototype, ready for flight.

Static fire occurred on February 23.

The static fire appeared to be a good duration, but as I outline, the rapid depressurization venting after shutdown hasn’t been a good sign in past static fires.

This vent releases all pressure from the liquid oxygen and liquid methane tanks, and allows for detanking to occur whereby the propellants can be withdrawn or boiled-off from the tanks. This naturally happens at the conclusion of a test, in order to safe the vehicle and allow work to continue at the pad.

But, to see it directly after the shutdown of engines usually signals an abort has occurred. The vehicle’s computer has detected an anomaly, and it seeks to safe the vehicle as soon as possible.

Usually, we have seen them withhold from detanking until a few minutes after the static fire, likely for data collection post-ignition. This is without computer intervention in the form of an abort.

Elon confirmed this shortly after:

As of present, a new replacement Raptor has been delivered to the launch site and will be swapped out with the anomalous one.

In keeping with past experiences, another static fire is highly likely.

This should hopefully be completed in the coming days, potentially more than a week.

The flight of SN10

In the aftermath of the first static fire, a flight depends on a successful second one and favorable weather.

At present, there are launch Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs) set for Thursday, Friday and Saturday (February 25, 26, 27), combined with road closures on Thursday, Friday, Monday and Tuesday (February 25, 26, March 1, 2).

As ever with these dates, they can change very easily. The bottom line is that a more solid estimation can be given once there is a nominal static fire, which we’re yet to have.

In regards to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval for launch, there are no hurdles to jump.

How will SN10 make a success out of SN9’s failure?

As discussed in my other article, SN9 failed to land due to an anomalous Raptor failing to ignite on the landing burn. More detail on mitigation can be found there.

Since, NASASpaceFlight understand that incident was down to an “apparent ignitor issue” in the engine. This is unconfirmed, but the best indicator we have of the incident as there has been no official news.

According to Elon himself, these are the chances that SN10 will land:

Best of luck SN10, as always, we will be watching whatever the outcome.

]]> https://themuskette.com/could-starship-sn10-be-the-successful-one-we-await-an-answer/feed/ 0 Falcon 9 Booster Lost For The First Time In Nearly A Year – What Happened And What Does This Mean? https://themuskette.com/falcon-9-booster-lost-for-the-first-time-in-nearly-a-year-what-happened-and-what-does-this-mean/ https://themuskette.com/falcon-9-booster-lost-for-the-first-time-in-nearly-a-year-what-happened-and-what-does-this-mean/#respond Tue, 16 Feb 2021 20:45:42 +0000 https://muskette.com/?p=3162 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 expected and nominal flight profile. Stage separation occurred, with the second stage igniting toward an orbital insertion.

The first stage completed its reorientation maneuver, to face aft-first into its trajectory. With ASDS recoveries, the booster performs two key burns: the re-entry burn and the landing burn.

The re-entry burn occurs at approximately 50km in altitude, whereby three of the nine Merlin 1D engines reignite to slow the stage down, so much so, that it remains structurally integral as it passes through the thick portion of atmosphere.

Once complete, the sheer size of the stage and increasing air density slows the vehicle further by atmospheric drag, with control provided by the four titanium grid fins and Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters.

Once nearing the landing site, the landing burn is initiated whereby just one Merlin engine is reignited to perform a ‘hoverslam’ – in essence, igniting the engine at the precise moment that the vehicle’s velocity reaches zero when it touches the ground.

Back to Starlink L-19; B1059 did perform a re-entry burn.

But, this was slightly shorter and less velocity scrubbed than typically expected. More significantly, a trail of exhaust could be seen after the re-entry burn shutdown.

Telemetry of the booster was lost shortly after the off-nominal re-entry burn. Likely due to the build-up of plasma engulfing the vehicle, caused by a combination of velocity and atmosphere – a normal phenomenon for camera loss, but not at the intensity that telemetry connection is lost.

It was not clear whether the fate of the booster had been sealed at this point, as the camera patiently waited on the droneship.

But then we could visibly see an orange glow in the distance reflected by the clouds and sea, before then vanishing to darkness in an instant, accompanied by scared birds.

A landing burn was never enunciated.

It’s not clear what exactly happened here; the glow may have been a landing burn attempt or the residual plume we saw in the re-entry burn.

The rapid loss of color and back to darkness was likely the booster hitting the sea at high velocity creating a bang, explaining the scared birds.

However, the second stage continued to follow a nominal mission, and the 60 Starlink satellites were deployed into orbit – after all, this was the primary objective.

What does this mean for SpaceX?

SpaceX has not suffered a booster recovery failure since March 18 2020 on Starlink L-5.

Since then, the Falcon 9 has enjoyed the longest recovery streak ever, recovering the booster on 24 missions.

Unfortunately, Starlink L-19 ends this streak.

SpaceX will now be hard at work diagnosing and resolving the anomaly which led to the loss of B1059.

Starlink L-17 was scheduled to launch on Wednesday February 17, but this will no longer happen as teams troubleshoot.

More significantly, Crew-2 is set to launch in April 2021 to the International Space Station. NASA will likely want to be in close contact with SpaceX throughout this investigation.

This does not mean that Crew-2 will be delayed, but it’s likely that NASA will want to see the Falcon 9 perform at least a couple successful missions before Crew-2, to verify the investigation outcome. The launch manifest can easily allow this to happen.

SpaceX have had to overcome many, many hurdles in their time, and this is definitely not the highest they’ve had to jump.

Undoubtedly, we’ll be seeing boosters back on the droneships and landing pads very soon, and the streak can be built up once again.

]]> https://themuskette.com/falcon-9-booster-lost-for-the-first-time-in-nearly-a-year-what-happened-and-what-does-this-mean/feed/ 0 Falcon Heavy Is Making A Glorious Return https://themuskette.com/falcon-heavy-is-making-a-glorious-return/ https://themuskette.com/falcon-heavy-is-making-a-glorious-return/#respond Thu, 11 Feb 2021 22:46:53 +0000 https://muskette.com/?p=3157 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 will this end the hiatus with a launch, but rather two launches in this year alone.

The upcoming mission is USSF-44. Currently, this mission is set for no earlier than May 2021 and will mark 23 months since STP-2.

USSF-44 is a mission for the U.S. Space Force, carrying a classified payload to a Geostationary Orbit (GSO). Notably, the payload will be inserted directly into a GSO as opposed to a Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO), because the impressive capability of Falcon Heavy can do so.

The mission will utilize a brand new core and boosters, significantly being the first dual-droneship landing using ‘Just Read The Instructions’ and ‘Of Course I Still Love You’ for side-booster recovery (B1064 and B1065). The center core (B1066) will be expended, in order to provide more energy to get the payload into a direct GSO.

And then two months later, we will see USSF-52, set for no earlier than July 2021.

Much like the previous mission, this is another classified payload for the U.S. Space Force. Details of the orbit and recovery operations are not yet known and this will likely come nearer the time, typical of governmental payloads.

ViaSat-3 is then the next mission, set for no earlier than January 2022.

This is a commercial payload for Viasat, an American communications company, whereby ViaSat-3 will boost its constellation of satellites in orbit.

2022 will feature three launches of FH in total, Psyche and USSF-67 in addition to ViaSat-3.

Not only has Falcon Heavy returned from its slumber to launch multiple missions in the foreseeable, it has also been chosen for a pivotal and historic mission.

On February 9 2021, NASA selected SpaceX and its Falcon Heavy to launch the first segments of the Lunar Gateway; more specifically, the Gateway’s Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) and Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO).

This will mark the beginning of NASA’s Artemis Program Lunar Gateway, an orbiting outpost similar in function to the International Space Station but will allow for frequent and long-duration missions to the Moon.

This mission is set for no earlier than May 2024, and will launch on a Falcon Heavy using an extended fairing, from the historic Launch Complex 39A in Cape Canaveral.

It is fair to say that Falcon Heavy has got a busy future ahead, and although it’s disappearance for what will be nearly two years, has been disappointing, it’s return couldn’t be more glorious with 2021, 2022 and 2024 launches scheduled.

And as for 2024, being chosen to launch the first segments of a hugely historic lunar outpost will be one special flight for the vehicle.

Go Falcon Heavy!

]]> https://themuskette.com/falcon-heavy-is-making-a-glorious-return/feed/ 0 SpaceX Continues to Press Ahead Onto SN10 at Astonishing Pace https://themuskette.com/spacex-continues-to-press-ahead-onto-sn10-at-astonishing-pace/ https://themuskette.com/spacex-continues-to-press-ahead-onto-sn10-at-astonishing-pace/#respond Tue, 09 Feb 2021 00:02:33 +0000 https://muskette.com/?p=3150 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 its apogee of 10km, executing precise control as the vehicle began to slow toward a hover, before the engine eventually performing a ‘kick-flip’ helping reorient the vehicle belly-first, then shutting down.

Once again, we saw amazing stability through the use of the vehicle’s forward and aft flaps, helping steer the craft back toward the launch and landing site whilst keeping oriented.

SN9 was on-profile, at terminal velocity and right over the landing pad, preparing to reignite two Raptor engines to flip vertical, and touchdown. However, we could visibly see one Raptor reignited successfully, but the other failed to.

What resulted was the vehicle successfully flipping, but uncontrollably. Without enough thrust to counteract the over-flip, the vehicle could not maintain vertical, let alone scrub off enough velocity for a soft touchdown.

SN9 crashed spectacularly.

The resulting hours and days allowed speculation to run wild; SpaceX eventually confirmed in a statement that “one of the Raptor engines did not relight and caused SN9 to land at high speed and experience a RUD.”

Significantly, Elon Musk took to Twitter to answer a question many had on their minds:

Before clarifying the fix needed to avoid such a repeat:

Prior to SN9, the landing burn consisted of using two Raptor engines, configured parallel to the flaps, to perform the flip-to-vertical manoeuvre, before then shutting down to one Raptor for the touchdown.

SN9 highlighted the lack of redundancy to this method, whereby if one of the Raptors failed, the landing would fail. Elon clarified even further the fix they will now use:

By igniting all three Raptors, flight computers will carefully monitor the health of all-three to which if nominal, one will shut down leaving the required two to perform the remaining burn. However, if one is off-nominal, by having all three Raptors pri=med, the opportunity to maintain the use of two Raptors remains, and thus the chances of a successful landing are not lost.

Onto the Next Prototype

Starship SN10 was already on the pad before SN9 launched, providing a glimpse of the first time two Starships had been on the pad together.

Fortunately, the crash landing of SN9 did not affect SN10 and according to local sources, the prototype sustained no damage from debris.

In the aftermath of SN9, and the clear impression that SpaceX had a fix, it was widely thought SN10 could be seen in the skies very soon. This consensus has stuck.

As of February 8, the prototype has undergone a cryogenic proofing test whereby the vehicle’s tanks were loaded with liquid nitrogen qualifying the vehicle’s capability to hold superchilled propellant.

A static fire will be conducted shortly after to qualify the three Raptor engines, in which if successful, there’s a high probability for a flight by the end of February, if not sooner.

The speed of Starship development and testing is truly phenomenal. SN11 is undergoing final checks, and will soon be rolled out to the pad, amongst a multitude of other prototypes in construction, that will shortly follow.

Truly phenomenal speed.

]]> https://themuskette.com/spacex-continues-to-press-ahead-onto-sn10-at-astonishing-pace/feed/ 0 SpaceX Sets a New Record for Reusability https://themuskette.com/spacex-sets-a-new-record-for-reusability/ https://themuskette.com/spacex-sets-a-new-record-for-reusability/#respond Fri, 05 Feb 2021 20:54:01 +0000 https://muskette.com/?p=3145 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 Matthew Henson, Starlink L-11 and L-14, and Türksat 5A.

The booster’s last mission, Türksat 5A, launched and landed on January 8 2021 meaning that its use in Starlink L-18 marked a record turnaround time of just 28 days, beating the previous record of 38 days held by B1051.8.

Not only was this the fastest turnaround time, but also the first time a Falcon 9 booster had been launched twice in a month (figuratively), and the 24th consecutive landing of a booster.

Quick turnaround times of Falcon boosters had been an aspirational target of SpaceX’s for a long time. After all, it’s all well and good returning the booster in one piece, but if it’s return-to-flight time can’t keep up with the launch cadence, then the premise is significantly less effective.

SpaceX have an aim of flying Falcon 9 boosters at least 10 times, before major refurbishment is required. Elon Musk has said that he hopes this can be achieved by the end of 2021.

Currently, the booster fleet has two ‘life leaders’. These are B1051.8 and B1049.8, who have had 8 and 7 flights respectively. The majority of their life has been used on Starlink missions, which are perceived as lower-risk than using a ‘life leader’ booster on a crewed flight for example. It’s expected both these boosters will achieve 10 flights.

What will be interesting to monitor, is what SpaceX will do with boosters after they have achieved over 10 flights. The cost of having to conduct major refurbishments on them may be undermined by building new boosters which require minimal maintenance between flights. It’s a cost-benefit analysis situation.

But for now, the Falcon 9 launch manifest remains incredibly strong, providing an exciting opportunity for SpaceX to further push the limits of reusable rocket technology.

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