Welcome to the /c/SpaceX Integrated Flight Test 2 Official Launch Discussion & Updates Thread!
| Scheduled for (UTC) | 2023-11-18 13:00 |
|---|---|
| Scheduled for (local) | 2023-11-18 07:00 (CST) |
| Launch Window (UTC) | 2023-11-18 13:00 to 2023-11-18 13:20 (20 minutes) |
| Weather | Good |
| Launch site | OLM-A, SpaceX Starbase, TX, USA. |
| Booster | B9 |
| Ship | S25 |
| Booster landing | B9 to perform a soft water landing in the Gulf of Mexico |
| Ship landing | S25 expected to impact Pacific Ocean near Hawaii |
Webcasts
| Stream | Link |
|---|---|
| Everyday Astronaut (4k and low latency) | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6na40SqzYnU |
| Spaceflight Now | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-LFzFWaACo |
| LabPadre | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwhcSwQWOHk |
| NASASpaceflight | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOI35G7cP7o |
| The Launch Pad | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0K0uSDE6ks |
| Space Affairs | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XbmBspvaHE |
| SpaceX | https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1725852544587727145#m |
| The Space Devs | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CREQ3e2Li34 |
Stats
☑️ 2nd Starship Full Stack launch
☑️ 299th SpaceX launch all time
☑️ 86th SpaceX launch this year
☑️ 2nd launch from OLM-A this year
☑️ 211 days, 23:27:00 turnaround for this pad
Stats include F1, F9 , FH and Starship
Mission Details 🚀
- SpaceX website (archived 2023-11-16): Starship’s Second Flight Test (archived)
- SpaceX website (archived 2023-11-18): Starship’s Second Flight Test (archived)
- SpaceX website (archived 2023-11-22): Starship’s Second Flight Test (archived)
- SpaceX website (current): Starship’s Second Flight Test
Link to Starship Dev thread
Scott Manley has already chimed in with his thoughts: Why Starship’s Booster Failed After Staging
It seems that several engines weren’t just shutting down during the boostback burn, but were violently disassembling themselves. Possible cause could include propellant sloshing during the flip leading to inconsistent pressure fed to the engines/plumbing.
Gotta love how quick he is on these.
And he’s now done a more in-depth analysis: Starship & Superheavy Become The Biggest Rocket In Space… Before Exploding
He speculates that B9 engine failure during boostback was due to either fuel slosh, fluid hammer, or a combination of both. It’s unclear whether the booster FTS was triggered or whether the Booster RUD happened on its own.
For S25, he notes that a puff of gas just after T+7 minutes coincides with a drop in the LOx gauge. This indicates an oxygen leak of some sort, which could have any number of causes.
Jonathan McDowell trajectory analysis: https://nitter.net/planet4589/status/1725873032244195495#m
Based on the last altitude/velocity numbers on SpaceX’s webcast, I estimate a Starship achieved trajectory of -1740 x 150 km with (if not entirely destroyed by the flight termination system) impact NE of the Turks and Caicos Is.
Those engines were beautiful
The combined mach diamonds were stunning!
Also super pleased to see the improved raptor reliability.
Wow, my skepticism about the engines was silly. There were a few moments during first stage where it I couldn’t tell whether the exhaust was nominal, but may be nothing. (Edit: Nvm, I think it was just ice chunks)
Looks like there’s some minor debris on the road near LabPadre’s camera, but certainly no concrete storm!
Awesome launch!
This thread maybe? This thread definitely!
S25 and B9 are stacked and ready for a Saturday morning launch. The tank farm should start spooling up around 2 a.m. local time.
While we wait, Starlink 6-28 is currently scheduled for 2023-11-18 05:05 UTC. Webcast links in comment.
MECO! (most engines cut-off)
Hot staging!
John Insprucker reports that the second stage may have been lost, likely triggered by AFTS.
SpaceX webcast ending now.
Ahhh so close to SECO!
Getting through hot staging and that much of the 2nd stage burn was huge, though. On to IFT-3.
Did they not get to SECO? It’s not clear whether S25 was lost before, after, or during SECO.
My understanding was that the engines shut down before the expected SECO time.
Prediction time!
Stage Zero: Works with only minor damage.
Booster Engine Failures: 5 :(
Hot Staging: Works, looks cool.
Upper Stage: Flies, with significant issues.
FTS: Big boom, on time!
End result: Booster re-enters in one piece, Ship in many.
I’d be surprised if they had that many booster engines fail. I suspect we’ll see only a couple of engines fail at most.
I’m less confident about the success of hot staging, since they’ve never tested it before. Excitement guaranteed though!
Totally! I don’t have an engineering reason to think they’ll fail, I’m just suspicious after the static fires couldn’t maintain 33. A hot staging failure would be MUCH more exciting.
Hmm, I am a bit more confident in the ships abilities (at least for anything between hot staging and SECO).
Anyways, if it gets to the point to initiate hot staging (regardless of the outcome) and the FTS works, it‘s a success. But we should also remember that SN9 landed (crashed) harder than SN8, and SN12 was way worse than the previous three tests. If stage zero is mostly unharmed, the FTS works, and the authorities are not too unhappy, SpaceX has already produced enough hardware for several tests to get it right within the next few months. A good test is a test where you learn a lot, and can try again soon.
This is a really hot take, but I reckon if it manages to make if to stage separation in one piece, and the hot staging works, the ship should fly trouble-free.
It’s the one part of the system that they have done significant testing on, not that many engines etc. If they once again don’t make it past staging that would be very concerning for the Starship timeline, Artemis, and so on…
It’ll be so cool to see the booster soft splash.
Biggest hope is that they manage to get away without sandblasting Boca Chica so the FAA don’t ground them for 6 months again.
NSF are live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOI35G7cP7o
Booster RUD!
Ship still looking good!
Why weren’t there any onboard cameras during the Livestream?
Yeah, that was a bit unusual. Last time we got a bunch of different views (booster cam, ship cam, flap cam, etc), but none this time. There was also a communications blackout period just before scheduled SECO where it was unclear whether the FTS had triggered or not.
Were there fewer ground stations along the flight path than for IFT-1?
Fuel loading has gone well so far!
Indeed!
- All systems go
- Propellant loading on booster
- Propellant loading on ship
Fingers crossed the “not a deluge system cause I didn’t get a permit for one” works properly and the pad (and/or rocket) doesn’t get torn up again.
It’s hard to tell from ground cameras, but I’m wondering whether the booster flipped upsidedown after separation. Seems like it really rotated hard.
If the SpaceX overlay graphic is accurate, it seems like a number of engines went out shortly after the relight for the boostback burn, around T+02:53. Asymmetric thrust could have contributed to extra rotation and loss of control.
