# Starship development and progress \[previous title: Will Musk's starship reach orbit this year?\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** elon-musk\ **Created:** [July 7, 2022, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starship-development-and-progress-previous-title-will-musks-starship-reach-orbit-this-year/967583 "2022-07-07T22:05:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 65
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2025, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starship-development-and-progress-previous-title-will-musks-starship-reach-orbit-this-year/967583/1281 "2025-01-17T17:21:42Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Just aim it for some state no one cares about, like Nebraska. Texas is an easier target to hit. And with the possible exception of downtown Dallas, has substantially nothing worthwhile in it. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2025, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starship-development-and-progress-previous-title-will-musks-starship-reach-orbit-this-year/967583/1282 "2025-01-17T17:34:53Z")
That’s a bit harsh. Some quite good music has come out of Austin. 🙂 OT, I know. Hopefully they will have at least some telemetry which will help diagnose what went wrong. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2025, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starship-development-and-progress-previous-title-will-musks-starship-reach-orbit-this-year/967583/1283 "2025-01-17T18:00:29Z")
Kelly’s Hill Country BBQ Panther City BBQ Snow’s BBQ Black’s BBQ Kruez Market Smitty’s BBQ Brotherton’s Black Iron BBQ Schoepf’s BBQ Mimsy’s Craft BBQ Franklin BBQ Daddy Duncan’s BBQ etc. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2025, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starship-development-and-progress-previous-title-will-musks-starship-reach-orbit-this-year/967583/1284 "2025-01-17T19:37:26Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I watched the replay on YouTube and you could see when the telemetry from the ship stopped updating. If you were watching on YouTube, you weren’t watching an official stream. The official stream is only on X and the SpaceX website. There are plenty of fanboy streams like Everyday Astronaut or NASASpaceflight with varying degrees of enthusiasm and technical knowledge, but they have nothing to do with SpaceX itself. Of course, even on the official stream, the announcers tended to focus on the booster once telemetry cut out. Early on it’s impossible to know if there’s a serious problem or just a glitch with the telemetry. They gave us what info they had as soon as they had it, which wasn’t much. Eventually they confirmed the ship was lost (probably about when the FTS kicked in). There’s really not much else they can do. I’ve certainly seen a lot worse from other organizations–like announcers pretending that the launch is hitting its milestones while telemetry is showing the thing as out of control. Often enough they just end the stream right there. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2025, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starship-development-and-progress-previous-title-will-musks-starship-reach-orbit-this-year/967583/1285 "2025-01-17T19:52:07Z")
Whole lot of people noticing the term “rapid unscheduled disassembly” for the first time today/yeaterday. Lots of mocking Musk for coming up with that brand new term. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2025, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starship-development-and-progress-previous-title-will-musks-starship-reach-orbit-this-year/967583/1286 "2025-01-17T23:25:32Z")
I’m reminded of the French television series “Astrid et Raphaëlle” where Astrid, discussing her coping strategies for things she has trouble dealing with as an autistic, refers to “a planned unexpected event”. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2025, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starship-development-and-progress-previous-title-will-musks-starship-reach-orbit-this-year/967583/1287 "2025-01-18T16:58:53Z")
In our younger less cushioned years my late wife and I used to speak of the “monthly unplanned regular $200 expense.” It was always something unexpected, but the occurrence itself was as predictable as an eclipse. Folks who don’t budget for the unplanned regular event will be sunk by it. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starship-development-and-progress-previous-title-will-musks-starship-reach-orbit-this-year/967583/1288 "2025-02-06T03:58:33Z")
Here’s a look at some chunks of thermal tile from [Starship 33](https://starship-spacex.fandom.com/wiki/Ship_33_(S33)) that were sold at this year’s Tucson Mineral and Gem Show. (The sign for the smaller chunks is $300 each and the larger $400. I can’t tell the price for the larger, missing pieces on the third card. All of them later sold out.) [![](https://i.imgur.com/eUtN9go.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/eUtN9go.jpeg) (Photo by Mark Lyon, found on Facebook.) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starship-development-and-progress-previous-title-will-musks-starship-reach-orbit-this-year/967583/1289 "2025-02-06T04:05:20Z")
A lot of those showing up on eBay, too. And not cheap. I’d probably pay a couple hundred bucks for a nearly _intact_ one, but not a tiny chunk of one. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starship-development-and-progress-previous-title-will-musks-starship-reach-orbit-this-year/967583/1290 "2025-02-06T04:07:49Z")
What’s the size of an intact tile? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starship-development-and-progress-previous-title-will-musks-starship-reach-orbit-this-year/967583/1291 "2025-02-06T04:19:42Z")
A bit under a foot across. Though the new Ship has some smaller tiles as well (around 6-8", I think). ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starship-development-and-progress-previous-title-will-musks-starship-reach-orbit-this-year/967583/1292 "2025-02-06T12:55:13Z")
I was thinking at those prices, that vendor ought to be more careful about the chips and dust falling off them. That thar’s some real money. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2025, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starship-development-and-progress-previous-title-will-musks-starship-reach-orbit-this-year/967583/1293 "2025-02-06T13:08:32Z")
Meh. He’s a meteorite dealer. He sells things that cost up to hundreds of dollars a gram. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2025, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starship-development-and-progress-previous-title-will-musks-starship-reach-orbit-this-year/967583/1294 "2025-02-24T21:24:21Z")
Fairly detailed update on flight 7: > **[SpaceX](https://www.spacex.com/updates/)** > > SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft. > The most probable root cause for the loss of ship was identified as a harmonic response several times stronger in flight than had been seen during testing, which led to increased stress on hardware in the propulsion system. The subsequent propellant leaks exceeded the venting capability of the ship’s attic area and resulted in sustained fires. > As part of the investigation, an extended duration static fire was completed with the Starship flying on the eighth flight test. The 60-second firing was used to test multiple engine thrust levels and three separate hardware configurations in the Raptor vacuum engine feedlines to recreate and address the harmonic response seen during Flight 7. Findings from the static fire informed hardware changes to the fuel feedlines to vacuum engines, adjustments to propellant temperatures, and a new operating thrust target that will be used on the upcoming flight test. > To address flammability potential in the attic section on Starship, additional vents and a new purge system utilizing gaseous nitrogen are being added to the current generation of ships to make the area more robust to propellant leakage. Future upgrades to Starship will introduce the Raptor 3 engine, reducing the attic volume and eliminating the majority of joints that can leak into this volume. Wouldn’t be the first rocket with a resonance problem. Not sure if this was a type of Pogo oscillation or something else. Interesting that it only cropped up now, though it was an all-new design for the upper stage. Flight 8 supposedly happening on Friday. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2025, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starship-development-and-progress-previous-title-will-musks-starship-reach-orbit-this-year/967583/1295 "2025-03-03T23:07:38Z")
Starship Flight 8 happening in about 40 minutes. Everyday Astronaut stream: > **[\[4K\] Watch Starship Flight 8, booster catch and Starship 2 test.](https://www.youtube.com/live/L_4gAtrfi6w)** > > \[TIME SUBJECT TO CHANGE\] This is the eighth fully integrated test flight of Starship with its Super Heavy booster, the largest and most powerful rocket to ev... And the main SpaceX stream: > **[SpaceX](https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-8)** > > SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft. Lots of good stuff happening on this flight, including a new pez dispenser and some dummy satellite deployments. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2025, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starship-development-and-progress-previous-title-will-musks-starship-reach-orbit-this-year/967583/1296 "2025-03-03T23:41:17Z")
4 minutes to launch. Looking good so far, but there’s still a chance of a hold for weather and minor booster issues. ETA: Holding at T-0:40. That’s a normal hold time if there are issues. But it sounds like the booster issue was cleared, so there’s a good chance it’ll resume. ETA2: Ahh, scrub for today. Maybe tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2025, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starship-development-and-progress-previous-title-will-musks-starship-reach-orbit-this-year/967583/1297 "2025-03-03T23:55:36Z")
Scrubbing for today. They held at T-:40, worked through an issue on Superheavy, then another issue on Starship, then released hold and promptly tripped multiple issues and reset to 40 again, and finally called it. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2025, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starship-development-and-progress-previous-title-will-musks-starship-reach-orbit-this-year/967583/1298 "2025-03-04T00:02:09Z")
That is the downside to subcooled propellant. You only have a few minutes to work through issues. When prop is at the boiling point, you can just keep topping off the tanks. But when it’s below the boiling point you have to totally recycle it once it warms sufficiently. Fine when you have a fully operational vehicle. But less good when you’re still flying prototypes that might have finicky issues. The Ship issues might well have been minor things they could clear in an hour, but they didn’t have an hour. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starship-development-and-progress-previous-title-will-musks-starship-reach-orbit-this-year/967583/1299 "2025-03-05T12:49:20Z")
Subcooling was an interesting engineering decision. Do they subcool both booster and ship? Anyone have any figures on how much it buys in terms of increased payload capability? Also, what about orbital refueling, where they don’t have the ground-based refrigeration infrastructure? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starship-development-and-progress-previous-title-will-musks-starship-reach-orbit-this-year/967583/1300 "2025-03-05T21:48:02Z")
I would suppose that if Starship is to meet its design goal of being able to spend months in transit to Mars and have landing fuel when it gets there, cryogenic propellant storage is somehow going to have to be a thing. If it can be done at all subcooling is going to be a minimal additional challenge. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starship-development-and-progress-previous-title-will-musks-starship-reach-orbit-this-year/967583.md?page=64) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starship-development-and-progress-previous-title-will-musks-starship-reach-orbit-this-year/967583.md?page=66)