Starship Reached Space. What Now?
Summary
TLDROn June 14th, SpaceX's 3rd integrated flight test marked a milestone by reaching space with all 33 methalox engines firing successfully. Unlike previous attempts, this test achieved a crucial second hotstaging separation and demonstrated significant advancements in rocket technology, including the Starship's hypersonic re-entry and communication capabilities via Starlink. This event not only showcased the potential for reusable rockets and Mars missions but also emphasized SpaceX's ambition to revolutionize space travel and satellite deployment. The test highlighted the challenges and innovations in rocket design, fuel efficiency, and reusability, setting a new precedent for future space exploration and industry possibilities.
Takeaways
- đ SpaceX's 3rd integrated flight test successfully reached space for the first time, lighting all 33 of its methalox engines and performing a hotstaging separation.
- đĽ The test marked a significant improvement over the previous attempt, where the booster exploded and Starship failed to reach space.
- đ Starship soared past the Karman line to a max altitude of 234 kilometers, just short of the ISS orbit altitude, showcasing its massive potential despite a sub-orbital launch.
- đ Starship stands at 121 meters tall, making it not only the most powerful but also the biggest rocket ever made, with capabilities of pushing 150 tonnes into low earth orbit.
- đ¸ This flight test provided the first publicly available high-definition footage of reentry plasma cloud, a milestone for space exploration documentation.
- âď¸ SpaceX leverages Starlink for innovative communication through plasma clouds, a technique not available to the Space Shuttle, enhancing mission capabilities.
- đ Starship aims for full reusability, intending to revolutionize space transport to the Moon and Mars, with a design focusing on the sustainable use of methane as fuel.
- đ The Raptor engines' full-flow staged combustion cycle is a pioneering technology, aiming for high efficiency and reusability in contrast to traditional rocket engines.
- đ¨ Despite challenges such as wind shear and control issues during descent, SpaceX continues to innovate with plans to catch the booster using mechanical arms instead of landing legs.
- đ Future versions of Starship are planned for a variety of missions, including cargo transport, crewed journeys, lunar missions, and even serving as orbital propellant depots.
- đ° Ground News, sponsored by a former NASA engineer, offers a unique platform providing a balanced view of news stories, emphasizing the importance of understanding different perspectives.
Q & A
What significant achievement did SpaceX's 3rd integrated flight test accomplish?
-SpaceX's 3rd integrated flight test successfully reached space for the first time, lighting all 33 of its methalox engines and performing a second hotstaging separation.
How does the 3rd integrated flight test's success compare to the previous test launch?
-Unlike the previous test launch where the booster exploded and Starship failed to reach space, this flight was successful, marking a significant improvement.
What prevented SpaceX from performing a re-entry burn during the test?
-The out of control rolling of Starship prevented it from performing a re-entry burn.
What makes Starship stand out in terms of its construction and capabilities?
-Starship is notable for being the most powerful and largest rocket ever made, capable of pushing 150 tonnes into low Earth orbit with its full flow staged combustion cycle engines.
What unique advantage does Starlink offer SpaceX during re-entry communication blackout periods?
-Unlike the Space Shuttle, SpaceX's Starship benefits from Starlink, allowing it to communicate upwards through the plasma cloud that causes communication blackouts, something the Space Shuttle couldn't do.
What is the primary goal of SpaceX's Starship according to the company?
-SpaceX states that the primary goal of Starship is to serve as the primary transport method between Earth orbit, the moon, and Mars.
Why is methane considered a beneficial fuel for Starship, especially for missions involving Mars?
-Methane is advantageous as it offers better performance than kerosene, easier storage than hydrogen, and can be synthesized directly on Mars, facilitating the crucial refueling process for return journeys.
What are the main challenges SpaceX faces in achieving a fully reusable Starship system?
-SpaceX must overcome challenges such as controlling the heat of combustion to prevent turbine melting, managing soot from unburnt fuel, and ensuring the stability and control of the booster and second stage for safe landings and reuse.
How does SpaceX plan to address the landing of the Starship's heavy boosters?
-SpaceX plans to catch the booster with mechanical arms, eliminating the need for heavy landing legs and reducing the likelihood of damaging the landing pad upon return.
What are the implications of SpaceX's advancements with Starship for the space industry and scientific discovery?
-SpaceX's advancements with Starship, including its capability to launch larger payloads and facilitate new generations of communication satellites and space exploration, represent a significant step forward in space technology and its applications.
Outlines
đ SpaceX's Breakthrough Starship Test
The narrative begins with the author's experience at SpaceX's 3rd integrated flight test, detailing the successful launch of the Starship, which for the first time, ignited all 33 of its Raptor engines and performed a complex hotstaging separation. This launch marked a significant improvement over previous failures, showcasing a sub-orbital launch that avoided turning Starship into space debris. The segment highlights the rocket's impressive capabilities, including its massive size, powerful engines, and potential to carry substantial payloads into low Earth orbit. The re-entry provided groundbreaking high-definition footage of the reentry plasma, a feat unachieved by the Space Shuttle, partly thanks to the Starlink communication system. The discussion then shifts to the broader implications for the space industry, questioning SpaceX's ultimate goals with Starship, amidst a backdrop of increasing space ventures by wealthy entrepreneurs.
đ§ Innovations and Challenges in Starship's Engine Design
This section delves into the technical specifics of SpaceXâs Starship, focusing on the Raptor engines that distinguish it from its predecessors with their full-flow combustion cycle, contrasting with the open cycle of the Apollo mission's F1 engines. The discussion covers the engineering solutions SpaceX implemented to overcome the challenges of high-pressure liquid propellant pumping and the risks of combustion temperature and soot buildup, which are critical for the reusability of the engines. Methane's choice as fuel is justified by its balance between performance and storage convenience, its potential for in-situ production on Mars, and its cleaner combustion. The narrative also recounts a past incident of engine failure due to material incompatibility, highlighting SpaceXâs iterative learning process and the ongoing adjustments to the Starship design, emphasizing the relentless pursuit of the visionary goal of making Starship a fully reusable rocket system.
đ Toward Full Reusability: Starship's Second Stage Challenges
This segment focuses on the challenges and advancements in making Starship's second stage fully reusable, detailing the engineering feats and hurdles encountered. The narrative explains the technical aspects of the Raptor engines designed for vacuum conditions and the difficulties in relighting them due to the second stage's uncontrolled rolling. The discussion extends to the thermal protection system, comparing it with the Space Shuttle's and emphasizing Starship's advantages like its steel construction and lower ballistic coefficient. The author reflects on the potential solutions for the re-entry control issues, the importance of the test data obtained, and SpaceX's ambitions for various second-stage configurations tailored for different space missions, including cargo and crewed journeys, lunar missions, and even acting as an orbital propellant depot, particularly highlighting the role of Starship in enhancing the capabilities of the Starlink satellite constellation.
đ Ground News: A Tool for Balanced News Consumption
The concluding segment shifts focus from SpaceX to discuss the importance of consuming news from multiple perspectives, underscored by the introduction of Ground News, an app developed to provide a balanced view of current events. The app is praised for its data-driven approach, offering users insights into the political bias and factuality of news sources. The narrative exemplifies this by examining a story on a land deal involving SpaceX, illustrating how different political biases influence the coverage of news. Ground News is recommended as a vital tool for critical thinking in today's media-saturated environment, with the author offering a promotional discount for the app, emphasizing its role in fostering a more transparent and informed public discourse.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄSpaceX
đĄStarship
đĄMethalox engines
đĄHotstaging separation
đĄRaptor engines
đĄKarman line
đĄReusability
đĄSub-orbital launch
đĄFull-flow combustion cycle
đĄSpace industry
Highlights
SpaceX's 3rd integrated flight test reached space, lighting all 33 of its methalox engines.
Performed a successful second hotstaging separation, improving from previous test failures.
Starship achieved a max altitude of 234 kilometers, close to ISS orbit altitude.
Aimed for sub-orbital launch to avoid creating space junk, showing cautious advancement.
Starship's reentry provided first high-definition footage of reentry plasma cloud.
Starlink's communication capability through the plasma cloud using Starlink.
SpaceX's goal with Starship is to serve as primary transport between earth, moon, and mars.
Methane fuel choice supports Mars missions by enabling local fuel production.
Raptor engines' full-flow combustion cycle marks a significant innovation in rocket technology.
Super heavy booster's landing burn attempt and challenges highlighted.
Plans to catch the booster with mechanical arms instead of using landing legs.
Starship's thermal protection system is similar yet improved from Space Shuttle's.
Starship's design enables a lower ballistic coefficient for safer reentry.
SpaceX plans to create multiple second-stage variants for different missions.
Ground News platform offers a data-driven way to analyze news bias and factuality.
Transcripts
On the 14th of June SpaceXâs 3rd integrated flight test achieved something incredible, and Â
I was there to witness it while helping my friend EverydayAstronaut film the event. It reached space Â
for the first time. Successfully lighting all 33 of itâs methalox engines. While also performing Â
its second hotstaging separation, where the heavy booster powers down all but 3 of its engines, Â
while the six second stage light before separation occurs. Which is a huge improvement over the last Â
test launch where the booster exploded and Starship failed to reach space due to Â
a fire caused by a planned oxygen dump. This successful maneuver allowed the second stage Â
starship to soar past the Karman line, achieving a max altitude of 234 kilometers. Just short of Â
the orbit altitude of the ISS. SpaceX could have performed a boost burn to achieve orbit, Â
but with so much left to figure out, including the out of control rolling that prevented it from Â
performing a re-entry burn, SpaceX aimed for a sub-orbital launch. This prevented Â
Starship from becoming the largest piece of space junk in the history of space flight.
Starship is massive. Standing at 121 meters tall, itâs not just the most powerful rocket ever made, Â
it's the biggest. And its powerful raptor engines, the first full flow staged Â
combustion cycles to ever fly, are capable of pushing 150 tonnes into low earth orbit.
Instead it re-entered the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds, providing incredible Â
footage. There is no footage publicly available of the Space Shuttle during re-entry, I know I Â
looked for it for our 3 part documentary. We had to create our own animations instead. As far as I Â
can tell this is the first publicly available high definition footage reentry plasma cloud. Â
That very plasma cloud caused the Space Shuttle to enter a communication blackout as the free Â
electrons in it prevent radio communication, but SpaceX has something the Space Shuttle didnât, Â
Starlink. Allowing it to communicate upwards, rather than downwards through the plasma cloud.
This is all incredible. So what now. What does this mean, Â
and how does this change the face of the space industry?
At this point, you might be overwhelmed with the amount of new rockets. It seems Â
that every divorced billionaire is starting a rocket company, Â
in the same way a divorced middle aged man buys a Mazda Miata.
But unlike the Miata, Starship can carry more than just 1 sad lonely Â
person. Starship is capable of launching more into orbit than anything before it, Â
and with that capability comes a whole lot of new possibilities.
Not only is the starship the most powerful rocket ever made, Â
itâs intended to be fully reusable. With both the heavy booster and second Â
stage being designed to land back on earth to be refurbished and reused.
SpaceX have stated that the goal of Starship is to serve as the Â
primary transport method between earth orbit, the moon and mars.
But is this truly their goal or is this simply a Â
way to launch even more constellation satellites into orbit around earth,
which is currently the largest driver of revenue in the space industry, by a large margin.
Some points of design would suggest this ambition is sincere. The use of methane as a fuel source is Â
a huge departure from tradition in the rocket industry. Methane sits in an awkward middle Â
ground between the two most popular fuels. It provides better performance than kerosene, but Â
not as good as hydrogen. And itâs easier to store than hydrogen, but not as easy as kerosene. Its Â
benefits are only now becoming useful as SpaceXÂ works to unlock the magic of reusable rockets.
Methane serves as a particularly advantageous fuel for the Starship vehicle, especially for its Â
missions involving landing on Mars and returning to Earth. Methane can be synthesized directly on Â
Mars, facilitating the crucial refueling process needed for the return journey.
The Martian atmosphere has an abundance of carbon dioxide. Providing the key ingredient for the Â
Sabatier process. An efficient method of methane production. This chemical reaction combines carbon Â
dioxide with hydrogen in the presence of a nickel catalyst under h igh temperatures and pressures.
Carbon dioxide has the highest freezing point of any gas in the Martian atmosphere. This allows us Â
to extract carbon dioxide from the air by simply cooling the air. In a process that is essentially Â
the opposite of distillation. This also condenses the carbon dioxide in a liquid at the same time.
The hydrogen used in the process is a largest issue, which will require water Â
deposits on mars to be found and mined. These are obviously long term goals, Â
but methane provides a more immediate benefit in SpaceXâs ambitions for reusability.
The Raptor engines of the Starship are the first liquid rocket engines Â
to utilize a full-flow combustion cycle in flight. The F1 engines used in the Â
Apollo missions were powered by an open cycle. So what does this mean?
Liquid propellants need to be pumped at very high pressures Â
to provide the thrusts necessary for launch. This requires a lot of power.
In the Saturn V, a portion of the fuel and oxidizer was redirected to burn through a turbine. Â
This turbine then drove pumps that significantly increased the pressure of the liquids.
The heat of combustion could easily melt these turbines, and thus, to lower the temperatures Â
involved, the fuel mixture is kept fuel rich. Resulting in cooler combustion.
Fuel-rich mixtures however burn with A LOT of soot. The dark cloud here above the Merlinâs Â
engine nozzle is the sooty pre-burner turbine exhaust. This exhaust does not contribute to Â
thrust and is just thrown overboard. This is what an open cycle is, and itâs a little wasteful.
The Raptor engines are closed cycle. They donât waste any fuel, Â
but there are two large problems to overcome. The heat of combustion melting the turbines and Â
the potential of soot from unburnt fuel clogging complex mechanisms.
These are critical concerns for single use engines, Â
but the Raptor engine needs to perform reliably time after time after time.
Methane helps solve one of these problems. Methane consists of a single carbon molecule, Â
reducing the potential formation of long carbon chain soot particles.
The Raptor engine runs ALL of its fuel and oxidizer through pre-burners.
With the fuel turbopump running a fuel rich mixture and the liquid Â
oxygen turbopump running an oxygen rich mixture.
The excess fuel and oxygen from either side then combine in the Â
combustion chamber in their gaseous state where combustion is completed.
However, that oxygen rich mixture in the preburner could easily cause elevated combustion Â
temperatures that could destroy the liquid oxygen turbopump. So how does SpaceX get around that?
Conventional closed cycle engines only push a small fraction of the fuel and oxidizer Â
through the turbopumps. The Raptor Engineâs full-flow cycle passes ALL of the fuel and Â
oxidizer through the turbopumps. This amount of mass flow means the temperature rise required Â
to run the turbine is much lower. Reducing the thermal loads on the turbine blades.
However, the oxygen-rich hot gas coming out of the pre burner still needs special Â
attention. SN8 showed what happens when oxygen-rich gasses are allowed to interact Â
with reactive materials. During its flight, decreasing head pressure in the fuel tank Â
shifted the combustion to an oxygen-rich environment that reacted with copper, Â
melting the engine. Flashy green copper flames preceded the ship engulfed in flames.
SpaceX is casting its Raptor parts in a specially developed Inconel alloy, Â
a highly oxidation and heat resistant nickel-chromium alloy to help combat this problem
These engines have proven their ability to push this absolutely mammoth rocket to orbit, Â
but there is plenty left to do to fulfill SpaceXâs grand vision.
The gigantic booster still needs to land. The super heavy booster of IFT-3 lit itâs engines Â
for Starships first ever landing burn, but it experienced a rapid unscheduled Â
disassembly at 462 meters in altitude. During its initial supersonic descent, Â
things seemed pretty stable, but then as it relit its engines while it flew by this altocumulus Â
cloud layer, it appeared to be hit by some heavy wind shear and was knocked out of stable flight.
The grid fins can be seen frantically trying to Â
return to a stable position before exploding at 462 meters in altitude.
Wind shear is to be expected, but it appears the booster was traveling faster Â
than planned and stability and control is affected massively by velocity. With Â
IFT-4 space X will likely work to decrease velocity quicker.
However, unlike their Falcon counterparts, the starships' heavy boosters will not have landing Â
legs. Space x is instead planning to catch the booster with mechanical arms, flying back to the Â
launch pad that it originally launched from. This removes the need for heavy landing legs, Â
but also reduces the likelihood of the powerful raptor engines destroying the landing pad on Â
landing. Landing where it took off also has other benefits. With all the necessary infrastructure to Â
refuel and relaunch nearby, the turnaround time for another launch could be reduced.
The next challenge in fulfilling SpaceXâs ambition is developing Â
full reusability for the second stage. The second stage has 6 raptor engines, Â
with three of them being adapted for use in a vacuum with much larger engine nozzles.
These engines successfully boosted the second stage to space, but could not relit because Â
the second stage began to roll. If we stabilize the footage of re-entry we really get a sense Â
of how much it was rolling out of control, and once it rolled onto its side it began Â
to tumble end over end too, but despite that it survived a surprisingly long time.
The bulk of starshipâs thermal protective system are tiles made out of silica fibers Â
with a fused silica glass coating, made in much the same way the space shuttles Â
tiles were. Although there are likely some minor changes in the formulation.
Especially as several tiles fell off once again. This is likely a similar issue Â
that the Space Shuttle solved by gluing its tiles to a nomex strain isolation pad first, Â
allowing the metal to flex and bend beneath the tiles without transferring that movement to the Â
tiles. However Starship has one massive advantage over the Space Shuttle. Itâs made out of steel, Â
not aluminium. Steel has a much higher operating temperature than the aluminium Â
airframe of the Space Shuttle, and thatâs pretty evident as the Space Shuttle survived Â
a surprisingly long time while rolling and tumbling at hypersonic speeds.
Starship also has a lower ballistic coefficient than the Space Shuttle. Â
When flying on its belly with its fuel tanks empty it has a large Â
surface and low weight that drag can act on quickly. Thatâs a low ballistic coefficient.
Whereas a dense aerodynamically optimized bullet has a very high ballistic coefficient. The space Â
shuttle was a fascinating design, but much of its aerodynamics were influenced by the Air Â
Force who demanded that it could fly 2000 kilometers laterally in order to return to Â
its launch site after a single orbit. This is not something the Starship will need.
I have no doubt in my mind that it can survive re-entry if they can get these Â
control issues solved, but hypersonic stability and control is not an easy problem and we donât Â
have many ways to test solutions. This is something SpaceX will need to iron out with Â
more testing and thankfully they got some incredible data and footage to work off of.
Once decelerated the Starship will flip itself vertical using these Â
massive forward and rear flaps before performing a landing burn.
Once these problems are solved SpaceX could have the most capable space launch system Â
ever created on its hands and it has plans to create multiple variants of the second stage.
It can be outfitted for crewed or uncrewed journeys and can be adapted Â
for carrying cargo or designed specifically for lunar missions.
For missions that involve landing on the moon or traveling in deep space, Â
where atmospheric entry is not a concern, it can be configured without fins and heat shields.
In order to transport even more cargo deeper into space SpaceX has discussed Â
plans to have one second stage variant that is designed to act as an orbital Â
propellant depot. This depot could be filled with 9 missions to orbit, Â
each carrying hundreds of tonnes of propellant instead of their usual cargo.
However, the variant that will get the earliest and most use is the one designed specifically to Â
launch Starlink. SpaceX is gearing up to provide larger versions of the Starlink satellites.
Up to now, all Starlink satellites have been constrained by the capabilities of Â
the Falcon system. The Starlink v1.5 satellites are compact and weigh approximately 300 kilograms Â
each.With their flat-panel design, 60 starlink satellites can fit into the Â
Falcon 9âs 5.2-meter wide payload fairing, maxing out its capacity to low earth orbit.Â
SpaceX could achieve more with a larger payload capability. In August of 2022, Starlink announced Â
a partnership with T-Mobile to provide cell network to their customers. Cell phoneâs antenna Â
are too weak to interact with the signals from Starlinks current satellites. So, going forward, Â
Starlink needs to provide stronger signals to reliably provide a cell network in rural areas.
Starship will allow SpaceX to launch larger variants of starlink with larger antenna Â
providing stronger signals. Plans for gigantic space telescopes have been proposed for the Â
starship's large fairing too. The James Webb Space Telescopeâs engineering was massively Â
complicated with the size constraints of the incredibly reliable and capable Ariane 5.
Todayâs test was just the first of 2024âs and SpaceX has applied for an ambitious 9 Â
launches with the FAA, with each launch SpaceXÂ will get closer to completing their vision. AÂ Â
huge step forward in our ability to launch massive objects into space.
There is still much to be tested and proven but Space X is inching closer to having a Â
fully reusable starship system that will open up the doors for a new generation of Â
communication satellites, and a new generation of scientific discovery and space exploration.
Throughout this entire story I have tried not to mention the man behind SpaceX, Â
Elon Musk. Thatâs in part because the man has become incredibly politically divisive. On one Â
hand heâs helped develop and popularize critical technologies that can help fight climate change, Â
like electric batteries and electric vehicles. Something people on the left largely support. On Â
the other hand heâs very popular with the right for his anti-regulation and anti-union support.
If you listen to either side you donât get a full picture of the news. There Â
are three sides to every story. What you think happened, what I think happened and Â
what actually happened. Ideally we should all be getting the news of all three perspectives, Â
so we get the full picture of current events. Todayâs sponsor Ground News does just that.
Ground News is a website and app developed by a former NASA engineer on a mission to give Â
readers an easy, data-driven, objective way to read the news. Every story comes Â
with a quick visual breakdown of the political bias, factuality and ownership of the sources Â
reporting - all backed by ratings from three independent news monitoring organizations.
To see how Ground News works, let's look at this story on Texas approving a land-swapping Â
deal with Space X. Right away you can see that 21 news outlets have reported Â
on the storyBelow that you can see that 60% of sources are from central news organizations, Â
30% are from the left and 10% are from the right Up here we can click on left, center and right Â
tabs to get a quick synopsis of how the different sides are discussing the headline - like how this Â
left-leaning outlet mentions the land swap involves a state park, while neither of Â
the right-leaning headlines mention this. You can then choose a source to read more, Â
and Ground News labels each source with political leaning, a factuality rating, and Â
who owns the news organization. Giving you as much information as possible to contextualize the news Â
you are consuming. Something I think we can all agree is something we need today more than ever.Â
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