When is the Starship orbital launch?

[Tyeeking]

Impressive that the stack held together throughout the flipping until flight termination

Indeed it was quite surprising.

 

[techrat]

Yeah, it looked like a few engines failed on the way up, and then when it was supposed to separate, it did not, and the booster followed it's flight pattern to perform a flip, but the starship was still attached, so there were problems. This got worse as the booster started to run out of fuel (you can see it spinning, but almost no fire is coming out); and then it looks like they blew it up.

Still; it cleared the pad, and if the pad isn't destroyed by the launch, then it's a success.

 

[cerving]

Guessing that the air was thin enough that there weren't any significant aero loads... rotational forces eventually caught up with it.

 

[jmasterj]

"Flight termination" is code for "we ordered it self-destruct," right?

 

[cerving]

Yeah, it looked like a few engines failed on the way up, and then when it was supposed to separate, it did not, and the booster followed it's flight pattern to perform a flip, but the starship was still attached, so there were problems. This got worse as the booster started to run out of fuel (you can see it spinning, but almost no fire is coming out); and then it looks like they blew it up.

Still; it cleared the pad, and if the pad isn't destroyed by the launch, then it's a success.

Damn copperhead igniters...

 

[jsdemar]

6 engines out and unbalanced. 2 appeared to blow at 30 seconds. Flight termination system activated at 4 minutes.

 

[Bill S]

Whoops. Well thats why its called a test flight. But the media will probably spin it as worst possible case, just awful, just 'cuz.

 

[Tractionengines]

"Flight termination" is code for "we ordered it self-destruct," right?

YES.

 

[Antares JS]

Guessing that the air was thin enough that there weren't any significant aero loads... rotational forces eventually caught up with it.

Negative. The flight termination system was activated. It was not a flight load that destroyed the vehicle.

"Flight termination" is code for "we ordered it self-destruct," right?

Yes.

 

[techrat]

Whoops. Well thats why its called a test flight. But the media will probably spin it as worst possible case, just awful, just 'cuz.

Elon had been setting low expectations for weeks, saying that as long as it didn't blow up on the pad, it's all good.

 

[Tractionengines]

6 engines out and unbalanced. 2 appeared to blow at 30 seconds. Flight termination system activated at 4 minutes.

View attachment 576251

On the one video I watched at 30-32 seconds there was an lot of shrapnel that flew away from an engine and some fire from places it shouldn't have been.

 

[techrat]

Why this test was effing great:
#1) It didn't just blow up on the pad
#2) When the engines started firing, there was a long delay before it started moving, at first I though it was never going anywhere.
#3) Once it started moving, THEN I got excited.
#4) Not only did it clear the pad, it reached Max-Q
#5) Despite the failure of 6(?) engines, it still had enough impulse/thrust to keep going

If Starship had separated, we'd be watching the splashdown in Hawaii right now, so, halfway there as far as I am concerned.
Not bad for the first flight of such a heavy and complex machine.

 

[Raythain]

Whoops. Well thats why its called a test flight. But the media will probably spin it as worst possible case, just awful, just 'cuz.

All things considered, the media coverage I've seen has fairly kind to SpaceX. They've done a good job with the messaging that they're doing rapid iteration on the hardware, and setting pretty clear goals for each test flight (thinking back to the Starship bellyflop and landing tests).

#2) When the engines started firing, there was a long delay before it started moving, at first I though it was never going anywhere.
#5) Despite the failure of 6(?) engines, it still had enough impulse/thrust to keep going

Judging by the diagram on the official livestream, it looks like 3 of them failed to light at the start. Might explain the slower liftoff. I think one of them lit shortly into flight, but another 4 failed throughout the flight.

 

[Tractionengines]

Quote by Wernher Von Braun: “One good test is worth a thousand expert opinions.”

Now they have a TON of data to review, to get ready for next test.

 

[Marc_G]

It will be interesting to see how quickly they incorporate what they learn from today's date into a next flight. No idea whether to expect a month or a year.

 

[tsmith1315]

It will be interesting to see how quickly they incorporate what they learn from today's date into a next flight. No idea whether to expect a month or a year.

That’s what I’m wondering. What’s the status on this giant hardware system?

 

[Antares JS]

That’s what I’m wondering. What’s the status on this giant hardware system?

I'm pretty sure they have another booster and starship waiting in the wings. My bet would be on months until the next attempt.

 

[cls]

Going to be tough to model that, for mission points.

 

[afadeev]

No. Failed to separate.

BTDT.
Though, at smaller scale.


Awesome show, regardless of the exact ending!

 

[Dotini]

It will be interesting to see video showing the engines. For all 33 to function perfectly might amount to a statistical anomaly.

 

[MetricRocketeer]

For all 33 to function perfectly might amount to a statistical anomaly.

Hi TRF colleagues,

Getting rocket-engine clusters to work is always difficult. Even a small number of engines. Isn't that so?

Stanley

 

[Spitfire222]

I also had similar thoughts when it took so long to liftoff: "Oh no, please don't blow up on the pad!", and then was happy to see it moving and clear the tower. Then another concern when it looked like some damage and debris shortly after liftoff. But since it kept going, I thought maybe it was chunks of ice/frost or some kind of insulation I wasn't aware of. It would have been nice to have the flight continue further had the stages separated, but it was good to see it launch at all. I wasn't expecting only one round of no-go; I figured this launch would be scrubbed for some other issue, so that's impressive in itself.

 

[mh9162013]

For all 33 to function perfectly might amount to a statistical anomaly.

I was thinking the same thing and how the rocket is designed to work just fine as long as no more than X number of engines fail to start on liftoff.

 

[Blast it Tom!]

No. Failed to separate.

See, if you go through a couple cycles of CA'ing your coupling tube and then sanding with 400 grit or so, you'll make a nice, smooth slip fit....

 

[Antares JS]

Hi TRF colleagues,

Getting rocket-engine clusters to work is always difficult. Even a small number of engines. Isn't that so?

Stanley

Yes, you have acoustics issues where vibrations from one engine can interfere with the operation of another. I can only imagine how much of a nightmare this is on a vehicle with this many engines.

That said, getting engines on the scale of the F-1 to work, which would allow fewer engines, is also a nightmare, so pick your poison.

 

[Antares JS]

It will be interesting to see video showing the engines. For all 33 to function perfectly might amount to a statistical anomaly.

I was thinking the same thing and how the rocket is designed to work just fine as long as no more than X number of engines fail to start on liftoff.

SpaceX has already gotten 27 engines to work together reliably on the Falcon Heavy. Good engineering, testing, and best manufacturing practices get rocket engines to work, not blind luck.

 

[tsmith1315]

And no flash pan, either!

 

[A-ron]

There's some major repair work to be done on the launch mount before the next flight. No wonder there was so much debris flying everywhere at liftoff, look at the size of that crater!

 

[Antares JS]

There's some major repair work to be done on the launch mount before the next flight. No wonder there was so much debris flying everywhere at liftoff, look at the size of that crater!



View attachment 576261

It did occur to me that there doesn't appear to be any water deluge system at that launch pad...

 

[boatgeek]

It did occur to me that there doesn't appear to be any water deluge system at that launch pad...

Not only that, there didn't seem to be any flame deflectors either. It looks like it was just 30-odd Raptors aimed at the dirt. Well, concrete, but close enough.