The Hyperbola-2 methane-liquid oxygen reusable verification stage rose to a height of 178 meters during its 51-second flight. It performed a powered descent and soft landing, supported by four landing legs. The 3.35-meter-diameter, 17m-long test stage is powered by a variable thrust Focus-1 engine....
In an Oct. 9 letter to the FAA and Congress seen by SpaceNews, SpaceX principal engineer David Goldstein said the report relied on “deeply flawed analysis” based on assumptions, guesswork, and outdated studies....
The FAA has repeated multiple times: there is no launch licence yet for a second launch. Since the FAA asked the Fish and Wildlife Service to look into the matter, I think it’s highly unlikely that the FAA would issue the licence before FWS says it’s O.K.
I don’t know that there has been a definitive statement of the exact ending date. The Xeet summary provided included “The FWS has up to 135 days to submit the final biological opinion to the FAA (Started in August).” If it’s 4 months including weekends and holidays, it could be up to December 1 to December 31ish. But it could be handled before then, or if the FAA agrees, the deadline could be extended, or maybe it’s working days only. Also, the FAA would likely need time to digest it and issue its own ruling.
But there have been other reports that the FAA hopes to be done with it by October. So maybe they have inside knowledge.
I’m sorry, but I don’t follow what you’re referring to. I think the new render is near the top, showing Starship and Super Heavy stacked. I didn’t look at the page before, so I don’t know what else might have changed.
SpaceX’s social media people are really outdoing themselves lately. This video is, I think, the second one showing recent Starlink deployment. The mirrored surface reflected the second stage so well is stunning.
I saw this somewhere on Xitter or The Other Place. I hadn’t heard that there had been any sort of re-evaluation or more documents. The first document is dated 14 April 2023, so just before the first test, IFT-1:...
An easier way to reach the app in Android is the Google Play store. It’s named Austin 311 from City of Austin. Some negative reviews, though, like (20 Jan 2023) “You can’t report when your trash doesn’t get picked up - easily 99% of the reason I ever call 311” and (9 June 2022) “App sucks. The categories are very limited and hard to locate. I should be able to search on a keyword and your app suggests appropriate categories. Where do i report a malfunctioning pedestrian cross signal, for example. Very disappointing!”
I just checked out the Web page. That has a search capability (I don’t see one in the app), both built in via a Search text box, and the browser’s own facility (except there are not many items per page). I think I prefer it, even on my phone.
But the Android app at least has a map of recent reports, which is a nice feature; I don’t see it in the web page. It also has one central place to enter the reporter’s info; it looks like the Web page has it on each request.
It’s an interview with Brian Fuchs, a climatologist with the National Drought Mitigation Center, which publishes the Drought Monitor map. He talks about the center itself, He talks about how they determine drought, considering lots of different factors and their impacts. There’s a distinction between short-term and long-term...
Article by Jacek Krywko, 13 September 2023. No intro here, but a much older article says “a science and technology writer based in Warsaw, Poland. He covers space exploration and artificial intelligence research, and he has previously written for Ars about facial-recognition screening, teaching AI-assistants new languages, and...
WASHINGTON, Sept 13 (Reuters) - The acting head of the Federal Aviation Administration said on Wednesday the agency could advance a launch license as early as next month for the SpaceX Starship rocket after a prior one exploded following a test launch in April....
Eric Berger quoted a tweet from the FAA here, but it was in the form of an image. A text transcript was kindly provided by World Spills @WorldSpillshere:
SpaceX conducted a test flight of the Starship/Super Heavy at Boca Chica, TX on April 20, 2023. As a result of that launch, SpaceX completed a mishap investigation with FAA oversight; this investigation analyzed the launch, mishap events, and corrective actions. Before it is authorized to conduct a second Starship/ Super Heavy launch, SpaceX must obtain a modified license from the FAA that addresses all safety, environmental, and other regulatory requirements. As part of that license application determination process, the FAA will review new environmental information, including changes related to the launch pad, as well as other proposed vehicle and flight modifications. The FAA will complete a Written Reevaluation (WR) to the 2022 Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) evaluating the new environmental information, including Endangered Species Act consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. If the FAA determines through the WR process that the contents of the PEA do not remain valid in light of the changes proposed for Flight 2, additional environmental review will be required. Accordingly, the FAA has not authorized SpaceX’s proposed Flight 2.
It was followed by untranscribed
The FAA will provide updates with notification of any license determination or results of additional environmental review.
I got the impression from reading the few posts about it that it’s going to start as a backup for the existing crew Dragon tower. Whether it could ever become Son of Mechazilla in the long run I don’t know, and I doubt it. I suspect, though on no evidence other than prior practice and the 5-step algorithm, that SpaceX would rather debug the first model some before building a second.
FAA have issued the launch license for IFT-2! (nitter.net)
Original PDF link (hugged to death or revoked): www.faa.gov/media/72856...
Starship launch attempt Friday! (twitter.com)
Elon Musk says that approval to launch should happen in time for a Friday launch.
(SpaceNews) China’s iSpace launches and lands rocket test stage (spacenews.com)
The Hyperbola-2 methane-liquid oxygen reusable verification stage rose to a height of 178 meters during its 51-second flight. It performed a powered descent and soft landing, supported by four landing legs. The 3.35-meter-diameter, 17m-long test stage is powered by a variable thrust Focus-1 engine....
(ArsTechnica) CEO of rocket-maker ULA makes a sales pitch—for the whole company (arstechnica.com)
Tory Bruno spoke....
(ArsTechnica) Boeing says it can’t make money with fixed-price contracts; "Rest assured we haven't signed any fixed-price development contracts, nor intend to." (arstechnica.com)
[insert obvious comments here]
(SpaceNews) SpaceX slams FAA report on falling space debris danger (spacenews.com)
In an Oct. 9 letter to the FAA and Congress seen by SpaceNews, SpaceX principal engineer David Goldstein said the report relied on “deeply flawed analysis” based on assumptions, guesswork, and outdated studies....
(ArsTechnica) World’s largest space conference succeeds in making a Starship update boring (arstechnica.com)
Good analysis, from all I’ve heard....
Starlink ... connecting 2M+ active customers (nitter.net)
Starlink @starlink Sep 23, 2023 · 9:29 PM UTC:...
(Jerry Pike, video) Drone view of B1058 coming back into port after 17 launches (nitter.net)
I love this video.
Did you know that the FAA has re-entry licences? Neither did Varda (arstechnica.com)
I’d seen the story about a spacecraft making a drug in microgravity and planning to land it in the US....
FWS considering the water deluge system at Starbase; has up to 135 days to submit the final biological opinion to the FAA (nitter.net)
I don’t have a transcription to hand and shouldn’t take the time to do it myself. The image alone:...
(SpaceX) New Starship render and pictures (www.spacex.com)
(SpaceX) Video of Starlink deployment (nitter.net)
SpaceX’s social media people are really outdoing themselves lately. This video is, I think, the second one showing recent Starlink deployment. The mirrored surface reflected the second stage so well is stunning.
WRITTEN RE‐EVALUATION OF THE 2022 FINAL PEA ... (www.faa.gov)
I saw this somewhere on Xitter or The Other Place. I hadn’t heard that there had been any sort of re-evaluation or more documents. The first document is dated 14 April 2023, so just before the first test, IFT-1:...
(SpaceX) Amazing glamor shots of a stacked ship (nitter.net)
The first image, of Super Heavy + Starship at night reflecting the launch tower – is astonishing. Image 1...
YSK: Austin, TX has a web and mobile app to report non-emergency incidents (311.austintexas.gov)
web: 311.austintexas.gov (there is no TLS 😢)...
(KXAN) Central Texas drought ‘top one or two driest’ (www.kxan.com)
It’s an interview with Brian Fuchs, a climatologist with the National Drought Mitigation Center, which publishes the Drought Monitor map. He talks about the center itself, He talks about how they determine drought, considering lots of different factors and their impacts. There’s a distinction between short-term and long-term...
(ArsTechnica) What would it take to build a self-sustaining astronaut ecosystem on Mars? (arstechnica.com)
Article by Jacek Krywko, 13 September 2023. No intro here, but a much older article says “a science and technology writer based in Warsaw, Poland. He covers space exploration and artificial intelligence research, and he has previously written for Ars about facial-recognition screening, teaching AI-assistants new languages, and...
(Reuters) US could advance SpaceX license as soon as October after rocket exploded in April (www.reuters.com)
WASHINGTON, Sept 13 (Reuters) - The acting head of the Federal Aviation Administration said on Wednesday the agency could advance a launch license as early as next month for the SpaceX Starship rocket after a prior one exploded following a test launch in April....
Starship Development Thread #49
SpaceX Starship page...
New launch tower segments moving to SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral
Reported by Chris Bergin - NSF @NASASpaceflight on Xitter, video at Sep 6, 2023 · 10:32 PM UTC...
2023 September General Discussion and Starlink Launch Thread
September launches:...