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 , cargo to the ISS (International Space Station), land and reuse a booster, and a crewed mission into orbit. See the wiki for related tags.
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Is vacuum created between the inner engines under Earth's atmosphere that could affect the booster in the early moments of the ascent?
The booster has a lot more engines than the Starship.
My thoughts are that if there's isn't a pressure relief to the innermost engines they could create a vacuum pulling the hot gasses expelled. I ...
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Wouldn’t Super Heavy flip following stage seperation, even without help from its 3 lit engines?
At 1:40 on the SpaceX launch commentary, the announcer said that after hot staging, “the three engines still firing on Super Heavy will flip the booster around”.
With empty tanks, the center of mass ...
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Scattering of exhaust gases during Starship IFT-2 hot staging
Various footage of the IFT-2 of SpaceX's Starship show intriguing pattern of, presumably, exhaust gases illuminated by the Ship's 3+3 engines (attached below). While this may be an optical illusion, ...
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Why Spacex Starship is not a modular rocket?
The past Nov 18 was the last launch, of Starship.
The things didn't happen as planned.
But all of us know that soon or later Spacex will make it a successful.
It will be a long time before it can be ...
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How does SpaceX get its boosters from the ASDS to SLC-40?
Getting a freshly-landed booster from a drone ship to pad 39A seems straightforward: there's a deepwater channel from Port Canaveral to a dock next to the VAB. Sail the ASDS up, lift the booster off ...
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Who is manufacturing the solar panels for Starlink satellites?
I am trying to understand the supply chain behind the Starlink Satellite Constellation. I am wondering how SpaceX is able to source those many solar panels. If somebody could give a brief explanation, ...
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Before we build a Mars colony, why don't we build a 100% self-sustainable test colony in the Antarctic?
Before we go to Mars, why don't we build a sealed dome self sustaining colony in the Antarctic? One that can heat itself, recycle all materials, water and waste. Grow enough plants to produce oxygen ...
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What's the reason behind SpaceX's timing of launching Starlink satellites?
I noticed a pattern in the timing of Starlink launches: In the first half of each year, Starlink launches occur rather during the day, and in the second half, they occur rather during the night (...
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How does SpaceX prevent fuel from cluttering together in zero G [closed]
What is the solution to stop fuel inside starship collecting in center of the tank during zero G flight? Here is a rough sketch of starship with rudimentary diaphragm system to control flow of fuel ...
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Why would astronauts need a wristwatch and a separate timer?
Watching this image used in this question
Why would astronauts in SpaceX's Crew Dragon need two separate timing devices: one portable digital timer, and one wristwatch, rather than carrying into orbit ...
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Are the things I'm seeing satellites?
I have seen objects that look like satellites, but there are many of them, and they move in one direction in a straight line. Can someone help me to understand what they are?
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Why was Booster 9's 29 engine static fire ended 2.36 seconds early? [duplicate]
Suggested by Darth Pseudonym in answer to my other similar question. Recently (August 7), Booster 9 conducted a static fire test where it shutdown after only 2.74 of the planned 5 seconds of burn ...
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Why were 4 engines shutdown prematurely during Booster 9's static fire?
Recently (August 7), Booster 9 conducted a static fire test where it only ignited 29 of 33 engines. This is the big static fire, there not another one. I have found that they were shutdown prematurely ...
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What advantages will Rocket Lab's Neutron have over the Falcon 9?
With Neutron's debut coming up next year, are there any advantages of Rocket Labs design over SpaceX's Falcon 9 FT? The most obvious I can see are the attached fairings, but certainly with all the ...
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What was the size of the SpaceX team in 2006?
I know a previous question has been asked for the team in 2008 (first successful launch of the Falcon 1).
However, reading Ashlee Vance' s book on Elon Musk, I came accross this paragraph:
With that ...
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Does SpaceX expect 1 collision involving one of their Starlink satellites every 2 years?
I read on https://gizmodo.com/spacex-starlink-satellites-dodge-137-objects-daily-1850616506
by Passant Rabie:
A new report revealed that Starlink satellites had to make 25,000 collision avoidance ...
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How does the current or future network latency of SpaceX Starlink compare to wired internet?
When reading about SpaceX Starlink, high frequency stock traders are mentioned as a potentially lucrative customers, this is because satellite to satellite communications don't have glass between them ...
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Why doesn’t SpaceX sell Raptor engines commercially?
I have never studied rocket science and am just curious about this.
I would assume one Raptor 2 engine could launch a small rocket to space. I heard they are able to make them for less than a million ...
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SpaceX Falcon Reusable First Stage Innovations
What are the top five innovations that SpaceX was able to accomplish that allows the first stage to land vertically and be reused?
I am sure the Apollo program would have liked to reuse their first ...
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Could Falcon 9 push the second stage a little longer after MECO and before separation?
When watching Starlink launches I noticed the MECO/stage separation usually occurs at about 2m30s with the speed of about 8000 km/h and altitude about 65 km. After the separation the first stage with ...
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Will spaceX crewed boosters have a self-destruct mechanism?
SpaceX's most recent launch went awry and they triggered the self-destruct. Crewed missions have a launch escape system which is a high-thrust rocket that can get the capsule clear of the main rocket ...
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Why wasn't SpaceX heavy rocket tested thoroughly on ground before being sent to space?
I do not know how much testing SpaceX did before launching their heavy rocket but it to blow up 3 mins later and call is a success seems a bit misleading. I understand they gathered data but to what ...
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Why was Space X's Starship blown up?
I understand that thousands of small rocket fragments will cause less damage when they fall than an intact rocket. But at the time Starship was detonated, I believe it was over the ocean, and not ...
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For the 4/20 Launch of Starship does anyone know what was inside starship?
I was curious to know if they built rooms or had dummies inside, or what they put in it to simulate weight.
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Why does SpaceX's integrated booster test not attempt to relight the second stage engines
Starting an engine in a vacuum under microgravity conditions is really difficult to test on Earth. Why isn't the first stage test being used to gather data for this?
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Why SpaceX decided to forgo the opportunity of a mock soft-landing (on water) for Super Heavy?
The first test flight would be a great chance to test vertical landing controls in the 'first stage' and maybe save some engines for after the flight examination.
Source: CNN "Less than three ...
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Why did the May 2016 Falcon 9 launch have a radar glitch?
Looking at a chronicle 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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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 drone ship landing?
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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