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Wednesday, March 6, 2024

We Have an Announced Date for Starship IFT-3

I expect most of you will have heard this by now, since it has been headline news in space media, as well as other places.  

In a post on the social media site X, the company posted a link to watch "Starship's third flight test" at 7:30 am ET (11:30 UTC) on March 14. Published on Tuesday morning, the social media post was 'hidden,' but somehow discovered late Tuesday night.

This opening is from Ars Technica's coverage and saying "7:30 am ET (11:30 UTC) on March 14" is a surprise.  First off, I would think SpaceX Boca Chica would give the time in Central Time, but the oddity here is this Sunday is the start of Daylight Saving Time (7:30 AM is 12:30 UTC this week, so saying 11:30 is right). In turn, DST means sunrise is an hour later next week. It will be 7:30 EDT here in Florida next Thursday - so it will be close to 7:30 AM CDT there.  Coverage is starting at 6:30 AM CDT - an hour before sunrise.  SpaceX's Launches website says coverage starts 30 minutes before launch, which is still a half hour before sunrise. 

Does it matter if the sun is up with today's cameras, and what you're photographing is as bright as 33 Raptor engines?  Depends on what you're trying to see.  I wouldn't be at all surprised if that time is revised later or if they launch closer to or after their sunrise.

The obvious warning here is the FAA has not yet granted the launch license, although there are claims it's close to doing that.  There's still a small but dedicated group of haters that don't want SpaceX to launch from Boca Chica making noises and trying to come up with new ways to interfere. The County's Road Closures Website has nothing for next Thursday at the moment, but looks to be busy through next Wednesday.

Screen capture from the Cameron County website

Based upon learnings from these first two flights, this next mission, with upgraded hardware and flight software, likely has a reasonable chance of success. Among the milestones SpaceX will seek to complete during this test flight are:

  • Nominal first-stage performance, followed by a controlled descent of the Super Heavy booster into the Gulf of Mexico
  • Starship separation from the first stage using "hot staging," meaning engine ignition while the first stage is still firing its engines
  • Starship reaching an orbital velocity and engine shutdown
  • Early-stage testing of in-space refueling technology inside the propellant tanks of Starship
  • Controlled splashdown of Starship in the Indian Ocean.

SpaceX is seeking to demonstrate the basic flight capabilities of Starship so that it can move into a more operational phase with the big rocket. The company wants to begin deploying larger Starlink satellites from the vehicle this year, which will enable direct-to-cell phone Internet connectivity.

Moving to a higher cadence is necessary for SpaceX to start working more on in-space refueling - as mentioned. Without in-space storage of propellants and fueling on orbit, Artemis isn't happening, and neither are other deep-space missions in the planning stages. 



2 comments:

  1. If I recall correctly SpaceX started video coverage around 6:30 CST last November. And from the picture above, I think that is what they mean. Sunrise will be at about 7:48 CDT next Thursday and I wouldn't expect them to launch before that.

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  2. Huzzah, if it actually happens. But that early in the morning? I'll watch it on rerun, thank you very much.

    Hope it goes well, of course. That's a lot of potentially achievable goals for such a big ship.

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