Author Topic: SpaceX's Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship Updates and Discussion Thread 3  (Read 1424133 times)

Offline cscott

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Well did a quick search on the state site, a person is given as the manager of the LLC. But all adresses are the same and are that of SeaTran Marine.

See attached for the details.
The registered agent on file is Blake Miguez, the President/CEO of SeaTran Marine, LLC: http://www.seatranmarine.com/team/blake-j-miguez
The other agent listed is Blake's father --- SeaTran is a family business (as is Guice Offshore).

Since the LLC hasn't changed ownership recently (according to your docs) and the LLC still owns the boat, I think it's pretty certain that SeaTran still effectively owns the boat.  Guice Offshore must be under contract to operate it, or something.  Makes me wonder if that handsome GO logo is actually painted on, maybe it's just a large magnetic sign.

This makes the rumor that the sailors have a GO (something) name for this boat more intriguing; are we catching a glimpse of the future with a sale pending that hasn't yet gotten through its paperwork, or is GO (whatever) just a sailors' joke/nickname?  If it's a joke name, that's even more fun. :)

Offline Lar

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I thought WE started that rumor that it had a different name.... or maybe it was FB. do we know that the sailors do?

(oh the minutia we obsess over)
"I think it would be great to be born on Earth and to die on Mars. Just hopefully not at the point of impact." -Elon Musk
"We're a little bit like the dog who caught the bus" - Musk after CRS-8 S1 successfully landed on ASDS OCISLY

Offline vanoord

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There's definitely something interesting going on: the boat was bought from the builder for $1 (!) which suggests that some other form of compensation was made.  Perhaps the builder created the LLC, then sold the LLC  to SeaTran instead of the boat. Perhaps the $22 million number is the actual cost of the boat, and the $50 million loan includes other assets (a second boat?) transferred to Mr Steven LLC as additional collateral for that mortgage. Maybe those two boats were split into separate mortgages in the latest transaction.

Financial engineering.

It's relatively common for the Bill of Sale (it may be called something different in commercial shipping in the US) of a vessel to state the purchase price as $1 / £1 "and other considerations" - with the other (unspecified) considerations being the rest of the money.

There would also be an invoice which accounts for the transfer of the full sum of money (and presumably any taxation).

Why? Because when you come to sell the vessel, whoever buys it will get the paperwork (ie original Bill of Sale) which won't disclose the actual amount paid for it.

Similarly from a boat builder's point of view, if they can withhold the exact price, the may be advantageous when seeking further contracts.
« Last Edit: 02/27/2018 09:09 am by vanoord »

I saw a picture a few days ago on how JRTI wasn't in fit shape for a landing, and had a lot of required parts missing:
https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/7y95lz/just_read_the_instructions_taken_today_in_long/?sort=new

Iridium5 is due to land on it in a month - what are the odds it will be fixed by then?
Is there a possibility that it ends up being expendable?

Offline envy887

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I saw a picture a few days ago on how JRTI wasn't in fit shape for a landing, and had a lot of required parts missing:
https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/7y95lz/just_read_the_instructions_taken_today_in_long/?sort=new

Iridium5 is due to land on it in a month - what are the odds it will be fixed by then?
Is there a possibility that it ends up being expendable?

Iridium 5 is a going on a used Block 3 (or 4?) booster. SpaceX has been discarding those lately, so expendable seems likely.

Offline vanoord

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Block 4.

None of which have yet flown twice, so there's no history to indicate whether they will be limited to 2 flights (as appears to have happened with Block 3).

The pro-landing argument would be to get data on a twice-flown Block 4 core; the anti-landing argument would be whether or not they have a functioning ASDS to land on.

Unless they have the margins to get a Block 4 core back to VAFB...

Offline Mader Levap

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I don't think they will bother with re-using block 4 more than once.
Be successful.  Then tell the haters to (BLEEP) off. - deruch
...and if you have failure, tell it anyway.

Offline vanoord

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Octagrabber, apparently.

Offline CJ

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One thing that struck me about the photos of the Octograbber, and as commented on on that thread, was the lack of any cabling. Either they just haven't hooked it up yet, or they've made it self-contained.

I can't see any sign that they've put any kind of shielding over the Octograbber lair, right behind the door but forward of the white container. I figured they would, given that it got blasted by a landing F9 (if I remember right).

I also wonder if the state of JRTI (apparently out of service at the moment) is due in part to SpaceX doing a bit of rearranging in order to create an Octograbber lair on it.

And in possible other ASDS news, do we know if Elsbeth III is still an ASDS tug? The reason I ask is that, per Vesslefinder
https://www.vesselfinder.com/?mmsi=367017460 
She's been in Morgan City Beach (where, I think, the ASDS were converted) since Feb 24th. It made me wonder if the reason is that that's where the new ASDS is being built?

Offline cppetrie

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One thing that struck me about the photos of the Octograbber, and as commented on on that thread, was the lack of any cabling. Either they just haven't hooked it up yet, or they've made it self-contained.

I can't see any sign that they've put any kind of shielding over the Octograbber lair, right behind the door but forward of the white container. I figured they would, given that it got blasted by a landing F9 (if I remember right).

I also wonder if the state of JRTI (apparently out of service at the moment) is due in part to SpaceX doing a bit of rearranging in order to create an Octograbber lair on it.

And in possible other ASDS news, do we know if Elsbeth III is still an ASDS tug? The reason I ask is that, per Vesslefinder
https://www.vesselfinder.com/?mmsi=367017460 
She's been in Morgan City Beach (where, I think, the ASDS were converted) since Feb 24th. It made me wonder if the reason is that that's where the new ASDS is being built?
Wasn’t blasted during a landing. RP-1 fire from fuel that dripped from stage and pooled in the area of the Octagrabber garage. Probably advisable to put some system in place to prevent fuel from pooling there but otherwise no additional armor needed.

Offline vaporcobra

GO Searcher is back to doing something within a few miles of the Port entrance, lots and lots of arrival/departure notices similar to what she was doing during Crew Dragon recovery ops validation. Anyone at the Port? ;)

Offline Alastor

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GO Searcher is back to doing something within a few miles of the Port entrance, lots and lots of arrival/departure notices similar to what she was doing during Crew Dragon recovery ops validation. Anyone at the Port? ;)

On the facebook group, Go Searcher pictures have been published yesterday, with a dragon in the back.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1853492181347677&set=gm.10156432667171318&type=3&theater&ifg=1

So I guess we are seeing similar activities.

Mr. Steven has also been spotted from the starbucks of Palos Verdes around the same time
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1991007950927067&set=gm.10156432852011318&type=3&theater&ifg=1

Offline AncientU

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New article with nice Roomba image:
Quote
SpaceX’s drone ship fleet spied prepping for future rocket recoveries
Quote
...nicknamed Roomba or Octagrabber...
https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-drone-ship-fleet-spied-rocket-recovery/

Optimus Prime. Octopus prime. Not Roomba.
« Last Edit: 03/26/2018 07:27 pm by AncientU »
"If we shared everything [we are working on] people would think we are insane!"
-- SpaceX friend of mlindner

Offline vaporcobra

New article with nice Roomba image:
Quote
SpaceX’s drone ship fleet spied prepping for future rocket recoveries
Quote
...nicknamed Roomba or Octagrabber...
https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-drone-ship-fleet-spied-rocket-recovery/

Optimus Prime. Octopus prime. Not Roomba.

Heheheh. It's a lovingly-chosen nickname ;D but fiiiiiiine, I'll stick with Octagrabber...

Offline OxCartMark

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What's up ASoG?
Actulus Ferociter!

Offline Kabloona

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What's up ASoG?

It's been a mystery. A reliable source familiar with the two existing Marmac-based ASDS's says McDonough Marine is not part of any new ASDS procurement, and doesn't have any idea where it might be happening. He thinks SpaceX may have gone to a different builder on the West Coast, which would explain why the usual folks in Louisiana don't seem to be involved this time.
« Last Edit: 04/09/2018 04:00 am by Kabloona »

Offline CameronD

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What's up ASoG?

It's been a mystery. A reliable source familiar with the two existing Marmac-based ASDS's says McDonough Marine is not part of any new ASDS procurement, and doesn't have any idea where it might be happening. He thinks SpaceX may have gone to a different builder on the West Coast, which would explain why the usual folks in Louisiana don't seem to be involved this time.

If they've decided to build from scratch (as some have suggested) it'll be a pile of largely-unrecognisable steel plates locked away in a shed someplace and isn't likely to see light of day until launch time.  That could be months away.
With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine - however, this is not necessarily a good idea. It is hard to be sure where they are
going to land, and it could be dangerous sitting under them as they fly overhead.

Offline cscott

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Also possible that ASoG will be a new design, closer to the BFS launcher animations.  Elon's announcement might have just marked the start of design work; actual construction might be some way off.

Offline kdhilliard

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Also possible that ASoG will be a new design, closer to the BFS launcher animations.  Elon's announcement might have just marked the start of design work; actual construction might be some way off.

Interesting possibility, given what he said during the FH post-launch presser about BFS hopper tests:
Quote
Well, by hopper tests, I mean kind of like, where we had the Grasshopper program for Falcon 9, where we just had the rocket take off and land in Texas, at our Texas test site. So that would be, we'll either do that at our South Texas launch site, near Brownsville, or do ship to ship. We're not sure yet whether ship to ship or Brownsville, but most likely it's going to happen at our Brownsville location, because we've got a lot of land with nobody around, and so if it blows up, it's cool.

Offline testguy

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Let me speculate further and state that the new ASDS under construction may actually ultimately be used for BFR/S.

First here is what we know:
A. SpaceX is flexible and is uses continuing improvement as seen in Falcon 9 airframe and engines, GSE, and ASDS.
B. There has surprisingly has been less construction activity at BC than we would have expected by now considering the schedule for BFS.
C. BC EIS currently has limits on numbers of launches per year.  Yes we know this could be modified but we have not seen evidence of that yet.
D. SpaceX wants to retire Falcon 9 and Falcon 9 Heavy as soon as BFR/S comes on line, ASAP.
E. SpaceX has stated that they are looking at BFS hopes possibly from shore to ship or even ship to ship.
F. The 2017 IAC video shows the point to point BFR/S being launched off a large sea platform that also contains the GSE for refueling.

Given all of the above, I would speculate that the ASDS under construction is much larger than OCISLY and ultimately could develop into the sea point to point configuration shown in the 2017 IAC video. 
Here is why:
1. Why would you spend capital funds on a OCISLY clone when you already know you want to retire it ASAP.  Possibly before you could recover your return on investment (ROI)?
2.  Building a large ASDS now that could ultimately be modified to a full sea launch BFR/S could explain why construction at BC currently appears sparse.
3.  The large ASDS could initially be used for Falcon Heavy recoveries.  We know already that will not be in high demand and will be relatively short lived.
4. The large ASDS  if used for BFS would get around the EIS restrictions and could explain the lack of EIS modification activity.
5.  BFS hops, I believe could be launched of a concrete pad just as Grasshopper was.  After all that is a better platform that it will initially have on MARS.  The initial hoppers could land on the large ASDS to midegate  fears of the BC community.
6. Fuel/oxidizer tanks an GSE equipment could be added to the large ASDS latter when it could be used for BFR/S launches.
7. Not sure I see a need for a causeway or fuel and oxidizer lines running out to the large ADDS.  Why not just transport by ship to fill the tanks on the ASDS.  Control of GSE could simply be performed from a shore control room linked via a fire optic network.

It would be exciting, at least to me if SpaceX was using this approach because it would indicate that they are progressing faster than many perceive.

Thoughts?

I thought I would repost my speculation from 2/13/18.  Based on recent posts, it looks more likely this may actually be the case.
« Last Edit: 04/11/2018 01:24 pm by testguy »

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