Latest news with #Raptor3
Mint
27-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Musk to Address SpaceX Workers After Key Starship Launch
SpaceX delayed an all-hands-style X livestream with Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk until after the planned launch of the company's colossal Starship rocket on Tuesday evening, without giving a reason. The talk with the world's richest person is now scheduled for 8 p.m. local time out of SpaceX's newly incorporated city, Starbase, in South Texas. The company still plans to launch the ninth scheduled test flight of its Starship rocket at the nearby launch site sometime during a window that opens at 6:30 p.m. local time. The stakes are particularly high after flights in January and March were cut short just minutes after takeoff when the spacecraft exploded over the Gulf of Mexico, sending streams of debris raining down from the sky. Starship is critical to Musk and SpaceX's Mars vision, as the rocket is meant to serve as the primary spacecraft for transporting people to the Red Planet and then bringing them back to Earth. Musk has recently declared that SpaceX will send a Starship rocket to Mars as early as 2026 with robots on board, an incredibly ambitious timeline. SpaceX also holds contracts with NASA worth roughly $4 billion to land the agency's astronauts on the moon with Starship. A third botched test flight would call into question SpaceX's progress on Starship and cast further doubt on Musk's repeated claim that the vehicle will be ready for cargo flights to Mars as soon as next year. It also highlights the risks involved with SpaceX's chosen development plan for Starship, the largest and most powerful launch system ever developed, and how far the company still has to go to ready the vehicle for operational flight. This will be Musk's first public talk in roughly a year about Starship and his vision for Mars settlement. During these events he usually provides updates about changes to the rocket's design and development. SpaceX blamed the botched January test on unexpectedly intense vibrations that worsened a propellant leak, leading to fires throughout the vehicle. As for the March failure, the company said that one of Starship's Raptor engines likely had a hardware issue, causing propellants to mix together at the wrong time and ultimately leading to the explosion. SpaceX said it led investigations into each of the incidents and made fixes to prevent the problems from happening again. The company also said that the two failures were 'distinctly different' from one another, despite the explosions occurring around the same time in each flight. Additionally, future Starship vehicles will be equipped with new 'Raptor 3' engines that are supposed to be more reliable. For this flight, the Federal Aviation Administration said it will expand the size of hazard areas for pilots and mariners to avoid, partly because of the recent launch failures. During the last two flights, numerous commercial airplanes had to divert from their flight paths over the Gulf of Mexico to avoid falling debris. Subscribe Now: Business of Space newsletter, a weekly look at the inside stories of investments beyond Earth. Despite the back-to-back launch failures, SpaceX was still able to 'catch' Starship's massive Super Heavy booster back at the rocket's launch tower following each flight — an impressive feat the company managed to do for the first time last year. For this ninth launch, SpaceX intends to re-fly one of the Super Heavy boosters it caught previously — a first for the company — though it won't be attempting a midair capture of the vehicle on this mission. Also, when Starship is in space, the company will try again to deploy eight dummy satellites, designed to mimic the size and weight of future Starlink internet satellites that that rocket is meant to deploy when it's operational. SpaceX had hoped to demonstrate this deployment on the previous two flights before they were cut short. SpaceX also intends to test a number of technology upgrades aimed at improving Starship's reusability. Eventually, SpaceX plans to recover both the Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy booster after each launch. The company will probably achieve this milestone for the first time this year, Musk said during an interview with Bloomberg at the Qatar Economic Forum last week. Even if this upcoming Starship test launch goes smoothly, SpaceX still has a long way to go before Starship is fully operational. In order to travel through deep space, SpaceX will need to demonstrate the ability to refuel Starship multiple times while in orbit. However, SpaceX will have the ability to launch more frequently from South Texas moving forward. The FAA recently approved the company's request to increase the amount of Starship launches SpaceX can conduct each year out of Starbase from five to 25. With assistance from Sana Pashankar. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
India Today
26-05-2025
- Science
- India Today
Elon Musk reveals why Starship exploded minutes after launch
SpaceX has revealed the cause behind the dramatic explosion of the Starship rocket during its eighth test flight from Starbase, Texas, on March 6, 2025 as the company prepares for the next flight scheduled on May 27, eighth test mission, which began with a flawless liftoff and booster recovery, ended in a fiery spectacle over the Atlantic, marking the second consecutive Starship failure this test flight saw all 33 Raptor engines on the Super Heavy booster ignite successfully, with the booster completing a full ascent burn and executing a precise return and landing at the launch site. However, SpaceX revealed that the trouble began with the upper stage, known as Starship, minutes into its journey to to SpaceX's post-flight investigation, a 'flash' was observed near one of the central Raptor engines on the upper stage about five and a half minutes after separation. This was followed by a sudden 'energetic event' that led to the loss of that immediately, the remaining two center Raptor engines and one of the vacuum-optimized engines shut down, causing the vehicle to lose control and begin tumbling was lost about nine and a half minutes into the flight, after which Starship broke apart as it re-entered the atmosphere. The company's automated flight termination system was triggered upon loss of communication, ensuring the vehicle's safe breakup over a designated debris investigation traced the root cause to a hardware failure in one of the upper stage's center Raptor engines, which resulted in unintended mixing and ignition of hardware malfunction led to the catastrophic shutdown of multiple engines and ultimate loss of vehicle prevent future incidents, SpaceX is introducing additional insulation for engine igniters, a new nitrogen purge system, improvements to the propellant drain system, and upgrades with the upcoming Raptor 3 company emphasised that while setbacks are part of developing a fully reusable rocket system, each test provides invaluable data for improving reliability and safety as SpaceX pursues its goal of enabling human missions to Watch
India Today
22-05-2025
- Science
- India Today
Big explosion rocks SpaceX's Mcgregor base during engine test
Within seconds, the flames intensified, culminating in a powerful explosion that engulfed the structure in smoke and fire. (Photo: X/NSFSpaceflight) Eyewitnesses and livestream footage captured the moment It is believed to be a next-generation Raptor 3 unit The cause of the blast remains under investigation A big explosion shook SpaceX's McGregor testing facility in Texas on Wednesday, as engineers put the company's latest Raptor engine through its paces on the newly commissioned Raptor South test stand. The incident, which occurred during a routine static fire test, resulted in a dramatic fireball and a rapid response from emergency crews, who quickly extinguished the blaze. Eyewitnesses and livestream footage captured the moment the Raptor engine, believed to be a next-generation Raptor 3 unit, completed its firing sequence before an unexpected fire erupted beneath the test stand. WATCH SPACEX EXPLOSION DURING TESTING Within seconds, the flames intensified, culminating in a powerful explosion that engulfed the structure in smoke and fire. The cause of the blast remains under investigation, but early indications point to either a catastrophic engine failureâ€'known in the industry as a 'Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly' (RUD)â€'or a malfunction in the test stand's ground system equipment (GSE), which manages the flow of propellants and other critical systems. Methane and oxygen, the primary propellants used in Raptor engines, are highly volatile. Experts suggest that a leak or combustion anomaly may have allowed these gases to mix and ignite, triggering the explosion. Fortunately, the facility's safety protocols and firefighting systems worked as intended, bringing the fire under control within minutes. SpaceX has not issued an official statement regarding the extent of the damage or the impact on its Starship program, which relies on the Raptor engine family for upcoming launches. However, industry observers note that such incidents, while dramatic, are not uncommon during the development of cutting-edge rocket technology. The company's rapid testing philosophy often accepts occasional failures as part of the iterative process to improve engine reliability and performance. No injuries were reported. A big explosion shook SpaceX's McGregor testing facility in Texas on Wednesday, as engineers put the company's latest Raptor engine through its paces on the newly commissioned Raptor South test stand. The incident, which occurred during a routine static fire test, resulted in a dramatic fireball and a rapid response from emergency crews, who quickly extinguished the blaze. Eyewitnesses and livestream footage captured the moment the Raptor engine, believed to be a next-generation Raptor 3 unit, completed its firing sequence before an unexpected fire erupted beneath the test stand. WATCH SPACEX EXPLOSION DURING TESTING Within seconds, the flames intensified, culminating in a powerful explosion that engulfed the structure in smoke and fire. The cause of the blast remains under investigation, but early indications point to either a catastrophic engine failureâ€'known in the industry as a 'Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly' (RUD)â€'or a malfunction in the test stand's ground system equipment (GSE), which manages the flow of propellants and other critical systems. Methane and oxygen, the primary propellants used in Raptor engines, are highly volatile. Experts suggest that a leak or combustion anomaly may have allowed these gases to mix and ignite, triggering the explosion. Fortunately, the facility's safety protocols and firefighting systems worked as intended, bringing the fire under control within minutes. SpaceX has not issued an official statement regarding the extent of the damage or the impact on its Starship program, which relies on the Raptor engine family for upcoming launches. However, industry observers note that such incidents, while dramatic, are not uncommon during the development of cutting-edge rocket technology. The company's rapid testing philosophy often accepts occasional failures as part of the iterative process to improve engine reliability and performance. No injuries were reported. Join our WhatsApp Channel
