Questions tagged [spacex]
Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, or SpaceX, is a private space exploration company. It was the world's first privately held company to successfully launch a cargo mission into space and a crewed mission into orbit. See wiki for related tags.
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Why did the May 2016 Falcon 9 launch have a radar glitch?
Looking at this nice chronicles of booster landing failures, in May 2016 the landing legs appear to have had a radar glitch. This then damaged them. So, my question is why did this happen?
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Where and how many RCS thrusters are installed on Starship?
Starship from SpaceX will soon launch. During the 10 km test it used RCS thrusters to flip itself in the right position. On the website it mentions how important it is to use air friction to slow down ...
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What is the capacity of the various Falcon Heavy configurations to LEO?
As you probably already know, Falcon Heavy has many configurations, going from all boosters and core expended to all boosters and core landing on land. I am wondering what the payload capacity of each ...
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When chopsticks catch the booster by the grid fins, what is the maximum vertical speed?
How much vertical speed can the grid fins handle before breaking off?
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How does SpaceX get through regulatory issues so quickly?
"Regulatory" isn't the right word, but I don't know what is.
For example, SpaceX seemed to be able to prove to NASA's satisfaction that they were sufficiently safe to use for crewed launches ...
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What caused the falcon booster landing failure during the CRS-16 mission?
On December 5, 2018 the Falcon 9 booster started spinning during the landing burn, and promptly appears to have soft landed on the ocean. While SpaceX stated that the booster could be reused it never ...
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Are Falcon Heavy fairings reused?
I heard a lot about SpaceX reusing the fairings from the Falcon 9. Do they/ are they planning to do the same for Falcon Heavy?
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Why did the June 2016 SpaceX launch run out of propellant?
In other words, what caused SpaceX to miscalculate the amount of propellant required to safely land the booster. They had landed successfully on the drone ship in April. So what went wrong here? What ...
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Does a RTLS (Return to Launch Site) landing deposit more soot on the booster than a landing on a drone ship?
First, it performs an extra burn (the boostback burn). Does this burn make a credible source of extra soot? Second, sometimes it appears to have flown through the second stage's exhaust plume. Does ...
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Has Spacex released any reports describing how they are going to secure the payload on Starship?
SpaceX has announced that Starship will be able to lift around 100 to 150 tons of cargo into Leo. When the spacecraft is landing or taking off you don’t want the payload just floating insecurely in a ...
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How can you find out how many times a SpaceX fairing has been reused?
For the past few years, SpaceX has been reusing there fairings. While on some SpaceX webcasts they tell you, others they dont. Is there a way to find out how many times judging from how they appear? ...
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Why do the Falcon 9 fairings have soot on them?
On nearly every SpaceX webcast since 2020 they explain that the Falcon 9 booster has soot on it because, during the entry burn, it flies through its own exhaust plume very quickly depositing the ...
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Why did only 31 engines ignite during Starship's static fire?
What could be the reasons behind only 31 engines of the planned 33 engines igniting during Starship's recent static fire, given that the spacecraft is designed to have 33 engines and how could this ...
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What guidance algorithm does Falcon 9 use during powered descent and landing?
The SpaceX Falcon 9 does a powered touchdown with a rocket thrust higher than mass, so is not able to establish a low altitude hover and final descent as used by the Apollo lander. Instead it needs to ...
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Do Space Shuttle cargo doors carry structural airframe loads, like the lid of a shoebox?
Airframes are usually designed for semi-Monocoque construction. The skin carries the primary stresses to keep the fuselage rigid.
https://www.abbottaerospace.com/aa-sb-001/22-aircraft-specific-design-...
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Recent GPS III Launch Intended or Unplanned Venting?
Between 14:01 and 14:14 in the following video, there is a significant gas vent happening behind the engine bell:
Is this working as intended, or does that appear to ...
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What is SpaceX doing differently with Starship to avoid it exploding like the N1?
Both Starship and the N1 have more than 30 rocket engines. The N1 exploded after having a chain reaction from a failed engine.
N1 rocket engines:
Starship’s rocket engines:
Unlike the N1, SpaceX has ...
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Why keep expending SpaceX boosters?
SpaceX has only (to my knowledge) landed one Falcon Heavy booster. All others were expended. SpaceX also said during the early days of the company that each Falcon 9 booster could fly up to 1,000 ...
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How will Starlink 2.0 fit on a Falcon 9?
According to nextspaceflight.com the last Starlink flight of 2022 (possibly delaying into Jan 2023) is group 5-1 and is flying some kind of Starlink 2.0 payloads.
It was understood that Starlink 2.0's ...
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Elevation angle for a non-GEO satellite
I want to calculate the elevation angle of a Non-GEO satellite with respect to a ground terminal. The information I have to solve this:
Instantaneous Longitude, Latitude, and Altitude of the non-GEO ...
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Will SpaceX help with the Lunar Gateway Space Station at all?
Will the LGSS be assisted by SpaceX at all. For example, will the LGSS use SpaceX crew vehicles, or any of their services at all? If so, how often.
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How to test vaccum engines at sea level? [duplicate]
SpaceX is testing its Raptor vacuum engine (RVAC) at sea level (without any facility that can simulate near vacuum conditions). How can they do this without flow separation happening?
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Why are only 2 out of the 3 boosters on Falcon Heavy reused?
In this picture it shows that the side boosters of the Falcon heavy will land. However, the middle booster is not going to land. Why is this the case?
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Is Blue Origin redundant?
Blue Origin was founded in 2000, SpaceX in 2002. But so far, Blue Origin has only conducted Sub-orbital launches while SpaceX has launched high profile missions like DART. Can Blue Origin actually do ...
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Why hasn’t SpaceX sent anything to Mars yet?
SpaceX has the rockets to send some payload to Mars. The Falcon heavy can carry up to 16.8 tons to Mars according to this answer: Why can Falcon Heavy bring 4.2 times as much mass to Mars than F9, but ...
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How long would it take Starship to get to Neptune without any flybys?
After seeing this answer (https://space.stackexchange.com/a/60438/44505) saying that starship could get to Neptune, I wondered how long it would take to get to Neptune. Bonus question: Would it be ...
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If Artemis 1 fails, will it be the end of the program?
The Artemis 1 flight was meant to happen years ago. The program is really expensive and the SLS is not reusable. Other companies like SpaceX or Blue Origin are doing things in a much cheaper and ...
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Why doesn’t SpaceX use Falcon Heavy to launch Starlink satellites?
In this chart that I found here (https://i.stack.imgur.com/f8wOR.jpg)
It shows that the price of 1 kg to LEO is cheaper on the Falcon Heavy than the Falcon 9. Also the Falcon Heavy can carry more ...
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Why aren't smaller fairings used for smaller payloads?
I saw this picture of the DART spacecraft being encapsulated in its payload fairing.
Why doesn't SpaceX manufacture a smaller (shortened or thinned) fairing for the spacecraft? It reduces mass and is ...
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How much CO2 would Starship 2.0 produce? [closed]
In [a video redacted because why link to a hoax from SE] they show Starship 2.0. It can carry up to 1000 tons into LEO. If this nonexistent spaceship were ever to be theoretical built, how much CO2 ...
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Is there evidence whether SpaceX is making a profit launching rockets?
Since SpaceX is privately held, I'm not able to find information about whether they are actually turning a profit on their launches of reusable rockets. (Perhaps they are conducting launches, but at a ...
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How fast could we go back to Uranus and Neptune?
Since SpaceX is making everything so much cheaper to launch into space. If we launch a pair of orbiters to Uranus and Neptune, how fast could they get there? They could be really light and small, so ...
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SpaceX reusable rocket - when was technology first available and cost effective?
Today, a SpaceX rocket launching can be 97% cheaper than a Russian Soyuz ride cost in the ’60s
What is earliest year such reusable rockets could have been constructed given technology availability or ...
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Will Starship get refueled in Mars orbit?
The current plans of Spacex is to have Starship get refueled in LEO and then fly to Mars and refuel it there on the ground. Will Starship also have to get refuel while it is in orbit around Mars on it'...
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Is there any major difference between acceleration of solid propelled and liquid propelled rockets during launch
Few days ago, ISRO launched its PSLV-C53, which had solid first stage. (Clip here)
Also, the SpaceX's starlink launched on 24th July, 2022, having liquid first stage. (Clip here)
Is there any major ...
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What is a rocket engine spin up test?
Recently I came across internet about SpaceX's Booster 7 explosion in a ball of fire during an engine spin up test. I searched Google about rocket engine spin up test but I got no hit. What is a ...
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Why does the Falcon 9 first stage continue to decelerate after its reentry engine burnout?
As you know, Space X streams its missions and the speed and altitude data of the vehicle is shown. After stage separation, stage one gains speed and accelerates in its decent trajectory till reentry ...
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Will Roadster ever encounter Mars?
During it first closest approach to Mars, it was a mere 5 million miles away from the red planet. According to observer.com, it's ultimate fate will be to crash into the Earth or Venus. However, since ...
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What is this squiggly moving line in the recent SpaceX SARah-1 Mission?
I watched the livestream of the launch of the SpaceX SARah-1 Mission.
Shortly after the boostback burn there is this squiggly white line that moves away from the first stage, starting at T+03:54. It ...
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What would happen during an inflight abort in a Falcon 9 if the booster engines did not shut down?
During the SpaceX'S Crew Dragon In Flight Abort Test on a Falcon 9 Launch System, as soon as the abort system was triggered Falcon 9 booster engines was shut down and crew dragon's super dracos ...
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Why is SpaceX spraying water on their barges?
We often see on the SpaceX launch streams that they are spraying water on the deck of the ASDS where the booster will land:
There are multiple potential reasons to do this which come to mind:
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Can starship land back on earth after sending 100 tons to LEO? [closed]
Starship payload capacity to LEO is shown as 100 metric tons in SpaceX's Page. Can the starship land after sending this payload or will it require orbital refuelling to return to earth?
Related but ...
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How many times has SpaceX reused Falcon 9 first stage until 20th May 2022? [closed]
How many times has SpaceX reused Falcon 9 first stage until now?
Not about the possibility. I want to know the current progress with the Falcon 9 first stage.
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Does the Merlin vacuum engine on SpaceX's Falcon 9 gimbal?
SpaceX uses the Merlin Vacuum engine on the second stage of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle. Does the merlin vacuum engine gimbal or does the second stage uses only nitrogen cold gas thrusters for ...
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What is the purpose of having a planned hold during a countdown for a rocket launch? [duplicate]
NASA had many with the space shuttle, ULA always had a planned hold at T-4 minutes, and yet other launch providers like SpaceX don't. What is the purpose of a planned hold, and why do some launchers ...
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How many lives have space agencies saved? [closed]
Either the agencies themselves, lives saved by a satelitte launched by them, or how many people would have died if not for space services. How many lives have space agencies saved?
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Do the maximum launch capability figures of Falcon Heavy includes payload adaptor fairings or launch vehicle adaptors?
I would like to learn if stated payload capabilities of Falcon Heavy includes PAF. According to Falcon User's Guide, SpaceX has two different PAF for Falcon 9. In the said document, smaller PAF doesn'...
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Were SpaceX's early launches insured?
SpaceX's first three launches (of the Falcon 1) were failures, with the fourth launch being a success. Rockets are generally insured in order to protect the payload investment, but those three ...
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With the new (Feb 2022) NASA SpaceX Crew Dragon contract extension, how much per flight?
NASA awarded flights 7, 8, and 9 for Crew Dragon in an extension of the existing contract, bringing the total value to \$3,490,872,904 . We know that in 2014 SpaceX was awarded about $2.6 billion to ...
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Would it be possible to get a modified SprHvy booster to orbit, then send a full stack with Starship on a "standard" config, then mate them in orbit?
The idea is to get a modified Superheavy booster to orbit minus Starship. Then send a Starship to orbit on a standard configuration, and mate the first booster with the recently arrived Starship. So ...
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