I like the idea of SpaceX having its own centralized facility, but I cannot for the life of me understand why the company would want to force its control team to climb (ride elevators, of course) to the top of a 300-ish foot tower to do their jobs. That is beyond unnecessary. It creates safety issues that don't need to be created, etc., and it costs money that doesn't need to be spent. - Ed Kyle
Quote from: Lars-J on 06/08/2018 11:20 pmThat looks more like a viewing tower for the public rather than a control team building. My assumption would be that this is either a misunderstanding with the wrong artwork.Two SpaceX reps were involved in the creation of the document (page 55). I doubt they would sign off on having an incorrect description or the wrong artwork.
That looks more like a viewing tower for the public rather than a control team building. My assumption would be that this is either a misunderstanding with the wrong artwork.
Quote from: erikdurn on 06/08/2018 11:31 pmQuote from: Lars-J on 06/08/2018 11:20 pmThat looks more like a viewing tower for the public rather than a control team building. My assumption would be that this is either a misunderstanding with the wrong artwork.Two SpaceX reps were involved in the creation of the document (page 55). I doubt they would sign off on having an incorrect description or the wrong artwork.There's no way that picture is the proposed control center described in the document. Far too small.
Quote from: gongora on 06/09/2018 12:35 amQuote from: erikdurn on 06/08/2018 11:31 pmQuote from: Lars-J on 06/08/2018 11:20 pmThat looks more like a viewing tower for the public rather than a control team building. My assumption would be that this is either a misunderstanding with the wrong artwork.Two SpaceX reps were involved in the creation of the document (page 55). I doubt they would sign off on having an incorrect description or the wrong artwork.There's no way that picture is the proposed control center described in the document. Far too small.Exactly. The artwork does not match the application.
>The actual launch control room/building, as others have suggested, would probably be larger and impractical to put up in a tower, so that would likely be at ground level as usual.Both of those structures would probably go in the blue rectangle marked "Launch Control and VIP."
Quote from: Kabloona on 06/09/2018 02:33 am>The actual launch control room/building, as others have suggested, would probably be larger and impractical to put up in a tower, so that would likely be at ground level as usual.Both of those structures would probably go in the blue rectangle marked "Launch Control and VIP."ISTM the LCC will be to the VIP tower as Fort Wood is to the Statue of Liberty.
Well, this would certainly be awesome.It would be interesting to see how they plan to fund this alongside $10bn expenditure on BFR development and $10bn on Starlink development, all happening roughly in the same 4-year period, while generating maybe $2bn in launch revenue each year.And all while not relinquishing control of the company by giving shares away to new investors.Not saying it can’t be done, but the exact funding mechanism remains one of the things I am most interested in about this grand endeavour.
Definately not my area of expertise, but is there any particular reason SpaceX couldn't be planning a major advance in control center technology that would require a lot fewer people and stations? Maybe tying in with getting rid of static fires by letting computers handle the job in the first second after ignition that committees handle after a static fire now?
Launch and Landing Control CenterThe launch and landing control center would be of sufficient size to host a data center; firing room; engineering room; control center for Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy and Dragon; customer control center; temporary customer offices; and indoor and outdoor meeting space. The launch control center is envisioned to be world-class, architecturally distinctive, and equipped for satellite, cargo, and crew missions (Figure 2-2).
The launch and landing control center would occupy an approximate footprint of 2,973 m2 (32,000 ft2) with the maximum height of the building not to exceed 92 m (300 ft). The facility would also include an adjacent parking facility for up to 200 vehicles, with access via paved roads.
This is a world-class, architecturally distinctive facility with adjacent 200 parking spaces. (A low, square block house is not.)
That will keep their construction crews busy after their pad work in Boca and factory in long beach in a few years.
Quote from: Nomadd on 06/09/2018 03:59 am Definately not my area of expertise, but is there any particular reason SpaceX couldn't be planning a major advance in control center technology that would require a lot fewer people and stations? Maybe tying in with getting rid of static fires by letting computers handle the job in the first second after ignition that committees handle after a static fire now?They need to. Launch Ops is a major cost, well-trained people, etc. If you're going to have low cost rapid re-flight airline style, a permanent standing army of well paid engineers like seen at Houston's MSC, etc. needs to be minimized.The ultimate expression of this is the BFR landing right back on its launch cradle.All this will take years to happen, but without an aggressive end goal it has no chance of happening.
Quote from: philw1776 on 06/09/2018 11:11 amQuote from: Nomadd on 06/09/2018 03:59 am Definately not my area of expertise, but is there any particular reason SpaceX couldn't be planning a major advance in control center technology that would require a lot fewer people and stations? Maybe tying in with getting rid of static fires by letting computers handle the job in the first second after ignition that committees handle after a static fire now?They need to. Launch Ops is a major cost, well-trained people, etc. If you're going to have low cost rapid re-flight airline style, a permanent standing army of well paid engineers like seen at Houston's MSC, etc. needs to be minimized.The ultimate expression of this is the BFR landing right back on its launch cradle.All this will take years to happen, but without an aggressive end goal it has no chance of happening.no and no. The launch control center technology is at a minimum. Computers do handle the job and a few people monitor the computers. There is no "committee' MCC is not the same as LCC