SpaceX needs to complete the following to launch the Super Heavy Starship Orbital Flight
* complete the launch tower
* the Starship SN20 heatshield must be complete and each tile verified
* Both the SN20 and the BN4 prototypes must complete ground tests
* the fueling tank farm must be completed
All of these things are getting closer to completion but there is still 2-3 weeks left.
First orbital stack of Starship should be ready for flight in a few weeks, pending only regulatory approval
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 15, 2021
Finally the FAA must approve the launch after everything else is ready.
Ship 20, along side Booster 4 could possibly be flight ready within a few weeks.(pending regulatory approval) These full scale prototypes will be SpaceX’s 1st attempt to reach orbit with StarShip, testing the reentry capabilities is one of the focal points of this coming mission. pic.twitter.com/l3vevgEboi
— Austin Barnard🚀 (@austinbarnard45) August 15, 2021
SOURCES- Felix Schlang – What About It?, Alex Svan Art, Austin Bernard, Elon Musk
Written by Brian Wang, Nextbigfuture.com
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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Tower doesn't need to be entirely complete, but the QD arm must be finished. The catcher mechanism can wait. Technically the launch table is also needed.
actually they recently setup a special branch office in I think Austin,Texas, specifically to deal with Blue Origin New Shepard and SpaceX Starship, for inspectors at least. Not sure about other bureaucrats…
Using a camera inside the tank would work during reentry, but, no, I mean the ground inspection that's happening now.
So, cover the visible gaps and hope for the best?
Which may be justifiable. The launcher is meant to go down in a blaze of glory after landing in the ocean.
But it can be on return too. There will still be plenty of data to gather and analyze either way.
in other news… well the Cygnus re-supply mission went well…
healthy-ish competitors means vibrant industry.
submissions many-many weeks ago…
(i am the fly)
I'm sure Musk calls Independence Avenue, Washington, DC direct.
The FAA must have its own fully-staffed branch office near Boca to keep up with all this… has to be more than paperwork submittals.
To be a fly on the wall of that place.
Youtuber Tim Dodd asked that; Elon paused and said something like "well, could use cryogenic IR, or off the shelf FLIR" Followed by the brilliant "oh, duh. This is stainless steel, if need to identify hot spots, it will be -hey, it's that panel that's glowing red-… fortunately this alloy doesn't loose strength until it's white hot"
Wonder how they inspect the tiles? Just visually?