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. If you want uninterrupted episodes of the Elon Musk podcast, please go to clubelon.supercast.com to find out how.
There's a link in the show notes Starship testing is advancing at Starbase and now SpaceX is eyeing a possible third test flight in March pending successful pre flight tests and also engineer approvals. Now recent activities including the delivery of crucial components for the Rockets flight termination system or the FTS signal this process. Now the FTS is essential for safely aborting the flight if
anomalies occur. Now the installation of the FTS, which is a standard safety feature for large rockets, involves placing explosives on the rocket to enable its destruction mid air if necessary. Now these systems are installed closer to the launch date due to their limited lifespan. Now, the movement of the second stage Starship to the test pad in Boca Chica hints at the preparation for this upcoming test flight.
Now the test pad known for conducting static fire tests, might soon witness such a test of the starship's second stage. Now there might be another static fire and static fire tests are critical for assessing the rocket's readiness for launch. Now the Super heavy booster, which is the bottom part of the Starship has been moved back into the High Bay. It utilizes 33 Raptor engines which are designed for atmospheric conditions.
The second stage, the Starship, is equipped with engines optimized for the vacuum of space. Now, a new launch site for Starship is being considered to support Elon Musk's ambition to increase the launch frequency of the Mars bound rocket. The proposed site at Cape Canaveral, FL is part of Spacex's plans to establish a global network of launchpads for interplanetary travel and eventually people living on Mars.
Now Starship, which is about 120 meters tall when fully assembled, is the largest rocket ever built, capable of delivering about 100,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit. Its development and launches are currently based at Starbase Facility in Boca Chica, Texas, but the proposal for the new launch site at Cape Canaveral involves taking over SLC 37 launchpad, which is a site with historic significance from the 1960s used for the Saturn One and 1B rockets.
X plans to adapt this site for Starship super heavy launching
and landing operation. Now. Additionally, plans are underway for another Starship launchpad at the Starbase facility, and Elon Musk confirmed the development of a new launch tower equipped with robot chopsticks aimed at catching the booster rocket post launch, highlighting the importance of having multiple launch towers for continuous operations in Texas and in Florida now in 2021. Now all the way back in 2021, Elon Musk announced plans to repurpose diffused oil rigs into
Starship launch platforms, naming them after Mars Moons, Damos, and Phobos. They've since decommissioned these platforms and now they're focusing on land based launches. The upcoming third major Starship launch is planned to be an uncrewed flight from Texas to Hawaii, completing a 90 minute journey around the Earth. This follows two previous attempts that ended unsuccessfully shortly after takeoff, with no confirmation date yet for the third attempt.
Now also, let's step back a little bit to the FTS. It's a critical component installed on both the booster and the spacecraft. Now during IFT One they use the FTS, the flight Termination system to blow up the booster and also the ship and this is due to the stages not separating and power loss on the engine and then it led to the destruction of the rocket. Now the second test flight saw improvements though was successful.
Detonation of the first stages FTS after separation it was during the kickback burn at the 2nd stages. FTS also function as intended during its coast phase, although SpaceX has been reserved about the details of that part of the test. Just recently, heavy duty explosives or for the FTS have been sent to Starbase. These deliveries indicate the ongoing operations for the next test flight, and it shows that they will be launching somewhat
soon. The ongoing preparations for the Starship's third test flight, including the installation of the FTS, static fire tests, stacking, unstacking, moving the booster back to the Bay, and also moving the ship off to the pad. It's a critical step. All these are critical steps towards the next launch, IFT 3 of Starship, as part of Spacex's broader efforts to advance human civilization to become a multi planet species. Hey, thank you so much for listening today.
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