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Darn! Certainly a set back, if a brief one— they're astonishingly building new Starships every few weeks now. It was almost exactly 15 years ago that SpaceX att

Darn! Certainly a set back, if a brief one— they're astonishingly building new Starships every few weeks now. It was almost exactly 15 years ago that SpaceX attempted their first (albeit unsuccessful) launch of the Falcon 1. Also, as of their 25th Starlink mission last week they now have 1320 satellites in orbit. Approximately ⅓ of all operational satellites are now Starlink relays, which is kinda mind boggling.

saberdancer 6y ago
I don't think it is a setback. They are building them all the time and they are iterating very fast. I don't think they are close to reusing them so they are just interested in seeing what works and what doesn't and then iterate on the design in subsequent launches. I wouldn't be surprised if this Starship didn't incorporate all the improvements they learned about during last few launches (and booms).
- Geee 6y ago
  The next one (in a few days) is SN15, which is a major upgrade with "hundreds of design improvements across structures, avionics/software & engine.", according to Elon. "Next major technology rev is at SN20. Those ships will be orbit-capable with heat shield & stage separation system. Ascent success probability is high. However, SN20+ vehicles will probably need many flight attempts to survive Mach 25 entry heating & land intact." Surviving the orbital entry and landing is probably the most difficult challenge yet. After that the next major challenge is landing on Mars.
- elihu 6y ago
  According to the article, they're probably going to skip over SN12, 13, and 14 in order to try with a later design. That makes sense, since it's likely that several crashes happen between when construction starts on a new rocket and it finishes. Once it's done, they may have design might already be out of date. > Fortunately, as part of its iterative development program, SpaceX is building a Starship vehicle at a rate of every two to three weeks. So the next prototype—likely to be SN15 as the company skips ahead toward a more advanced version—may be ready to fly in several weeks. Still, SpaceX would have liked to have gotten this one back in one piece.
ryannevius 6y ago
It's pretty wild to see trains of these Starlink satellites pass overhead. I've been using this tool to see them travel over our area every few days: https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/ https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/
- ajcp 6y ago
  What a ridiculously useful and easy-to-use site, thanks!
- LegitGandalf 6y ago
  Very cool, I've always wanted to watch the NSA watching me!
  - rurban 6y ago
    The NSA has proper camera satellites. These are for WiFi only, the 4 hubbles are much bigger and for view. If weather permits.

saberdancer 6y ago

I don't think it is a setback. They are building them all the time and they are iterating very fast. I don't think they are close to reusing them so they are just interested in seeing what works and what doesn't and then iterate on the design in subsequent launches. I wouldn't be surprised if this Starship didn't incorporate all the improvements they learned about during last few launches (and booms).

Geee 6y ago
The next one (in a few days) is SN15, which is a major upgrade with "hundreds of design improvements across structures, avionics/software & engine.", according to Elon. "Next major technology rev is at SN20. Those ships will be orbit-capable with heat shield & stage separation system. Ascent success probability is high. However, SN20+ vehicles will probably need many flight attempts to survive Mach 25 entry heating & land intact." Surviving the orbital entry and landing is probably the most difficult challenge yet. After that the next major challenge is landing on Mars.
elihu 6y ago
According to the article, they're probably going to skip over SN12, 13, and 14 in order to try with a later design. That makes sense, since it's likely that several crashes happen between when construction starts on a new rocket and it finishes. Once it's done, they may have design might already be out of date. > Fortunately, as part of its iterative development program, SpaceX is building a Starship vehicle at a rate of every two to three weeks. So the next prototype—likely to be SN15 as the company skips ahead toward a more advanced version—may be ready to fly in several weeks. Still, SpaceX would have liked to have gotten this one back in one piece.

ryannevius 6y ago

It's pretty wild to see trains of these Starlink satellites pass overhead. I've been using this tool to see them travel over our area every few days: https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/ https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/

ajcp 6y ago
What a ridiculously useful and easy-to-use site, thanks!
LegitGandalf 6y ago
Very cool, I've always wanted to watch the NSA watching me!
- rurban 6y ago
  The NSA has proper camera satellites. These are for WiFi only, the 4 hubbles are much bigger and for view. If weather permits.