SpaceX continues preparations for a new Starship launch attempt, and the Starship IFT-2 mission is likely to launch this Friday, November 17. At least, CEO Elon Musk assured on his X/Twitter that “the launch permit will be available in time for the launch on Friday.”
Back in late June, Elon Musk said that the probability that Starship would reach orbit during the second attempt was 60%, and the launch itself could take place in 6 weeks. So, let’s remember this tweet, and in a few days we will know everything (Elon Musk’s predictions and promises are often misleading), but just in case, keep it in mind.
The second orbital flight of Starship is at the final stage of preparation
A few days ago, SpaceX published a beautiful promotional video with a cutaway of footage of preparations for the second Starship orbital flight as part of the IFT-2 mission – the necessary permission from the US regulator FAA is expected any day now as part of the Starship relicensing program after the explosive first launch. We would like to remind you that Starship’s first attempt to reach Earth orbit on April 20, 2023, despite a successful start, ended in an explosion and serious damage to the pad: immediately after the launch, several engines spontaneously shut down and the system did not reach the stage of stage separation; the rocket was detonated by a command from the control center after reaching a maximum altitude of 39 kilometers.
The Starship prototype of the IFT-2 mission with both stages (70-meter accelerator/first stage Super Heavy B9 + 50-meter spacecraft/second stage Starship S25 ) has already been assembled several times and passed all the key stages of preparation for the launch. Even earlier, the team conducted all the necessary ground tests, including several fire tests of the ship and accelerator prototypes (for thesecond time, only two engines out of 33 prematurely shut down, while the rest worked for all 6 seconds) and WDR tests (a dress rehearsal of the pre-start countdown with all stages, including refueling, without ignition of the engines) to make sure that all subsystems are in good working order. In addition, SpaceX has already received a license to communicate with Starship from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) – it will be valid from September 7, 2023 to February 23, 2024.
What about the new license?
Earlier, the FAA ordered SpaceX to implement 63 changes in the design of the booster and launch site before the next launch of the Starship super-heavy launch vehicle to “protect public safety.” And since then, SpaceX has done a lot of work on the mistakes and made more than 1000 changes, taking into account the experience gained during the first attempt. At the same time, as part of the preparations for the second attempt, the team of engineers has seriously modernized the launch site and the entire infrastructure of the Boca Chica spaceport, where the development of the LV is concentrated. At the end of October, the FAA completed the safety inspection, and the next step is to complete the environmental review and issue a new license.
Among the key changes are the rocket and launch site design:
- A massive steel plate with many small holes was installed under the starting table, through which a large volume of water is sprayed under pressure. A new system of gas exhaust and flame extinguishing, which in operation resembles a giant shower, previously passed several tests – It should negate the negative impact of the jet stream from three dozen Raptor 2 engines; last time it smashed the reinforced concrete base of the launch table, creating a huge crater under it, and the fragments of stones that flew tens of meters around caused a lot of damage to both the launch site infrastructure and the surrounding areas.
- An intermediate compartment between the accelerator and the ship, thanks to which the rocket broke its own record of 120 meters and became even higher, by a couple of meters. Its purpose is a hot separation scheme, when the ignition of the second stage engines will take place while part of the first stage engines are still running. Inside this compartment there is a heat shield, which, in combination with perforated side walls, should ensure effective removal of hot gases to the outside and protect the integrity of the first stage during hot undocking.
Features of the Starship IFT-2 mission
The key innovations of Starship IFT-2 are compared to the first launch:
- turning on the new flame extinguishing system of the starting table 10 seconds before the start;
- start of Super Heavy engines 3 seconds before takeoff (previously – 6 seconds);
- MAX-Q at the 52nd second of flight (previously at the 55th);
- hot stage separation 2 minutes and 41 seconds after launch, and 2 seconds after most of the Super Heavy booster engines were shut down (versus 2 minutes and 52 seconds on the first flight);
- all stages from the moment the accelerator engines start up at launch to the potential entry into orbit will be faster than during the first flight. However, the ship’s return schedule is the same as during the first test.
- Starship and Super Heavy are promising reusable super-heavy rocket and spacecraft being developed by SpaceX since at least 2016 to replace the current Falcon rocket family and Dragon spacecraft and are designed to deliver cargo and people to Earth orbit, the Moon and Mars.
- Once commissioned, the Super Heavy + Starship system will be the most powerful in the history of space exploration. The rocket will be able to deliver cargo weighing up to 150 tons to low Earth orbit in a fully reusable configuration – with both parts (70-meter Super Heavy and 50-meter Starship) returning to Earth, as well as the possibility of docking and refueling in orbit.
- SpaceX is currently developing a Starship variant for the Artemis lunar program under a NASA contract, which provides for a manned flight and landing on the Moon. At the end of 2022, NASA chose the SpaceX Starship for the second crew landing on the Moon under the Artemis program, which is expected no earlier than 2027.
- SpaceX also plans to use the Starship to launch a new generation of Starlink V2.0 Internet satellites. In addition, SpaceX plans to send a tourist delegation led by a Japanese billionaire on a Starship to the Moon (a flyby without landing) (DearMoon mission) – the mission has already been postponed several times because the rocket is not yet ready. Another tourist mission on Starship is part of the Polaris program, but there are no details or even approximate dates yet.
