Hey everybody, welcome back to the Elon Musk Podcast. This is a show where we discuss the critical Crossroads, The Shape, SpaceX, Tesla X, The Boring Company, and Neuralink, and I'm your host, Will Walden. So SpaceX had a recent Starship System test and it marks an important, albeit very complex point in its development journey.
Despite the loss of the Super Heavy booster and the Starship spacecraft during the IFT 2 flight, SpaceX remains optimistic, viewing the event as a valuable learning opportunity for advancing its multi planetary ambitions. Now SpaceX in a statement emphasizes the significance of the test for gaining crucial data to enhance starships
reliability. This incident underscores the challenges of SpaceX faces and perfecting the technology needed for future space missions, including colonization of other planets like Mars and beyond. Now the Starship system is not only a key player in Spacex's grand vision for space travel, but also a critical component in NASA's Artemis program. This program aims to return US astronauts to the moon, a feat not achieved in over 50 years or five decades.
And this one's different. They're going to establish permanent lunar outpost, the Artemis 3 mission scheduled for late 2025 but possibly being pushed on even further Plans to utilize the Starship spacecraft and the recent test flight failure has raised concerns about meeting this deadline, although the NASA officials maintained an optimistic outlook, valuing the lessons learned from each one of these
tests. IFT 1, IFT 2 and soon, probably February of 2024 IFT 3. Let's go back to the second test flight of the Starship. The system demonstrated significant improvements over its first attempt. The successful ignition of all 33 engine and the survival of the launchpad against immense thrust are notable achievements. However, this mission also faced critical failures that hindered
its full execution. Now the Super heavy booster is unexpected explosion after detaching from the Starship and the subsequent loss of signal from the Starship capsule highlight key areas for improvement. These events prevented SpaceX from testing vital landing and reusability maneuvers. Now Elon Musk, the SpaceX CEO, has acknowledged the complexity of ensuring safe re entry and landing for the Starship. This aspect remains one of the most challenging hurdles in the vehicle's development.
Reusability is a cornerstone of all of Spacex's strategy, but essentially the Starship system needs this in order to complete the goal to get to the lunar surface. Now successfully recovering and reusing both the Starship spacecraft and the Super Heavy booster is crucial for frequent and cost effective lunar missions. The orbital refueling of Starship is also a critical step
for lunar missions. Given the immense fuel consumption during loss, over a dozen tanker missions may be required to refuel a single Starship for its lunar journey. Just recently, in a talk with NASA, a SpaceX representative said it would take about 10 refuels for the Starship and the lunar mission. Now, achieving a moon landing with Starship involves multiple development milestones, including hundreds of satellite missions, tanker version testing, and an uncrewed lunar landing.
Spacex's approach to edit this out, Spacex's approach to development embraces the risk of explosive failures as a path to rapid learning and also improvement of the Starship system. Comparatively, NASA's traditional development approach, characterized by extensive ground testing, contrasts with Spacex's more experimental and cost effective method.
The difference in approach reflects the varying priorities and methodologies of government and now private sector space exploration with SpaceX. Now, when the broader context of lunar Landers, SpaceX Starship competes with Blue Origins Blue Moon, another contender for future Artemis missions, each company faces unique challenges in the respective designs and
strategies for Moon landings. Now, the current initiatives to send humans back to the Moon through programs like Artemis mark a shift from NASA's historic Apollo missions. Unlike Apollo, which was primarily focused on achieving the first lunar landing and established American dominance in space during the Cold War, the Artemis program aims for a sustainable and long term presence on the Moon. This new era in lunar exploration is not about
repeating the past. What about laying the new groundwork for future space endeavors, including potential missions to Mars? And a key difference between the Apollo program and current lunar missions is the emphasis on sustainability and also reusability in space travel.
While Apollo missions were essentially one off ventures, the Artemis program, with the help of technologies like Spacex's Starship, seeks to establish a continuous human presence on the Moon. This approach involves developing infrastructure for repeated trips, permanent lunar bases, and technologies that can be adapted for future Mars missions, representing a significant advancement from the Apollo era. Apollo basically sent humans to the moon and brought them back to Earth.
We're going to set up an infrastructure for future generations with the Artemis program, and the Artemis missions also differ in their collaborative nature. The Apollo program was a largely national effort, driven by the geopolitical context of the 1960s, the Cold War, and in contrast, Artemis is more international and commercial, involving partnerships with various countries and also various private companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin.
This collaborative approach not only spreads the financial burden, but also brings together a diverse range of expertise in technology, making the mission more robust and inclusive. The technological advancement since the Apollo era also play a critical role in shaping the Artemis missions. Today's spacecraft, lunar Landers, and other space technologies benefit from decades of innovation in material science, computing, and engineering.
These advancements enable more ambitious missions, such as establishing a permanent base on the Moon and eventually sending humans to Mars, which were beyond the scope of the Apollo program. The Artemis missions therefore stand as an important milestone in the ongoing evolution of space exploration. Now, looking ahead, SpaceX plans to ready the Starship system for another test flight within weeks, Should be about mid January, late January.
For this, however, the timeline is uncertain given the need for a thorough analysis of the recent test data and regulatory approvals from the FAA and the FA. Involvement in investigating the recent test flight and its role in approving future launches adds another layer of complexity to Spacex's timeline. The duration of these regulatory
processes remains unclear. SpaceX is hoping to get FAA clearance by February. Spacex's recent Starship test represents a significant but mixed step in the journey towards advanced space exploration. The successes and setbacks of this test provide vital insights for SpaceX as it continues to develop technology that could shape our approach to exploring and inhabiting space from the Moon to Mars and beyond. Hey, thank you so much for listening today. I really do appreciate your
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