Author Topic: SpaceX core and second stage spotting  (Read 368751 times)

Offline Jakusb

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #180 on: 05/10/2018 02:17 pm »
A Falcon Heavy side booster, block 3, makes an appearance with the first block 5.

Cross-posting.

Offline Jakusb

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #181 on: 05/12/2018 02:20 pm »
I am really hoping for some core movement now the Bangabandhu launch was successful.
1048 should be finished by now, might even have been ready for some time even. Who knows..
1047 for sure has been much longer at McGregor then expected, so not sure what might be the hold up.
Some possibilities (pure speculation):
- They want to first dissect 1046
- They we’re waiting for a successful launch
- NASA requires them to proof 1047 to be exactly identically build like 1046 and that requires a lot of additional inspection at McGregor

Anyone with maybe some other ideas?

Anyway, keep an eye out for cores being transported...

Offline HeartofGold2030

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #182 on: 05/12/2018 03:39 pm »
I am really hoping for some core movement now the Bangabandhu launch was successful.
1048 should be finished by now, might even have been ready for some time even. Who knows..
1047 for sure has been much longer at McGregor then expected, so not sure what might be the hold up.
Some possibilities (pure speculation):
- They want to first dissect 1046
- They we’re waiting for a successful launch
- NASA requires them to proof 1047 to be exactly identically build like 1046 and that requires a lot of additional inspection at McGregor

Anyone with maybe some other ideas?

Anyway, keep an eye out for cores being transported...

I think it's likely they've just gone under our radar due to all the excitement around yesterday's launch; 1046 got to the Cape from McGregor without anyone noticing, we only knew it was there when it was announced at the TESS pre-launch conference. So it's not unthinkable that this could be the case for the others.

Offline IanThePineapple

Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #183 on: 05/13/2018 08:22 pm »
Some new info from Matt Desch:

Quote
Yes, it [Iridium-7] will be Block 5.
Source: https://twitter.com/IridiumBoss/status/995693917717827585

EDIT: He doesn't know the core number
Source: https://twitter.com/IridiumBoss/status/995761202440663045

So what core can it be... :)
« Last Edit: 05/13/2018 08:25 pm by IanThePineapple »

Offline gongora

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #184 on: 05/13/2018 08:45 pm »
Some new info from Matt Desch:

Quote
Yes, it [Iridium-7] will be Block 5.
Source: https://twitter.com/IridiumBoss/status/995693917717827585

EDIT: He doesn't know the core number
Source: https://twitter.com/IridiumBoss/status/995761202440663045

So what core can it be... :)

Not really new info.  It was already expected to be a new Block 5.

Offline IanThePineapple

Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #185 on: 05/13/2018 09:23 pm »
Some new info from Matt Desch:

Quote
Yes, it [Iridium-7] will be Block 5.
Source: https://twitter.com/IridiumBoss/status/995693917717827585

EDIT: He doesn't know the core number
Source: https://twitter.com/IridiumBoss/status/995761202440663045

So what core can it be... :)

Not really new info.  It was already expected to be a new Block 5.

It's a confirmation, though.

If someone confirmed it was Block 5 before, I must have missed it, sorry.
« Last Edit: 05/13/2018 09:26 pm by IanThePineapple »

Offline scr00chy

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #186 on: 05/13/2018 09:36 pm »
Some new info from Matt Desch:

Quote
Yes, it [Iridium-7] will be Block 5.
Source: https://twitter.com/IridiumBoss/status/995693917717827585

EDIT: He doesn't know the core number
Source: https://twitter.com/IridiumBoss/status/995761202440663045

So what core can it be... :)

Not really new info.  It was already expected to be a new Block 5.

It's a confirmation, though.

If someone confirmed it was Block 5 before, I must have missed it, sorry.
This is the second time Desch confirmed it.

Offline IanThePineapple

Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #187 on: 05/14/2018 01:16 am »
Some new info from Matt Desch:

Quote
Yes, it [Iridium-7] will be Block 5.
Source: https://twitter.com/IridiumBoss/status/995693917717827585

EDIT: He doesn't know the core number
Source: https://twitter.com/IridiumBoss/status/995761202440663045

So what core can it be... :)

Not really new info.  It was already expected to be a new Block 5.

It's a confirmation, though.

If someone confirmed it was Block 5 before, I must have missed it, sorry.
This is the second time Desch confirmed it.

Ok, thanks for the correction!

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Offline RocketLover0119

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #189 on: 06/10/2018 12:25 am »
Previously flown core spotted at McGregor, hard to tell from the quality of the photo which core it may be.

https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/8po6cr/drove_by_mcgregor_today_and_spotted_this/
"The Starship has landed"

Offline vanoord

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #190 on: 06/10/2018 05:46 pm »
Best guess there is that it's 1031, but there's no real reason for it to be there unless it's for testing or component recovery.

There is a better photo of it in L2, incidentally ;)

Offline Alexphysics

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #191 on: 06/10/2018 06:04 pm »
Could you please link the picture of it on L2 for those of us who have access to it and are lazy? xD

Btw, B1048 has been spotted heading to McGregor on the I-20 in Abilene, TX.

https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/just-saw-a-falcon-9-passing-through-jal-nm.117355/#post-2796450

Offline Michael Baylor

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #192 on: 06/10/2018 10:18 pm »
Could you please link the picture of it on L2 for those of us who have access to it and are lazy? xD

Btw, B1048 has been spotted heading to McGregor on the I-20 in Abilene, TX.

https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/just-saw-a-falcon-9-passing-through-jal-nm.117355/#post-2796450
He said it was heading west in a later reply. That would mean that it's leaving McGregor and heading to Vandenberg for Iridium-7.

Offline gongora

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #193 on: 06/10/2018 10:27 pm »
Could you please link the picture of it on L2 for those of us who have access to it and are lazy? xD

Btw, B1048 has been spotted heading to McGregor on the I-20 in Abilene, TX.

https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/just-saw-a-falcon-9-passing-through-jal-nm.117355/#post-2796450
He said it was heading west in a later reply. That would mean that it's leaving McGregor and heading to Vandenberg for Iridium-7.

He said West, but he also said he saw it pass and called a friend in a city to the EAST to take the picture.  And later mentions hearing it passed through another city farther East towards McGregor.

Offline Alexphysics

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #194 on: 06/10/2018 10:35 pm »
It happens a lot that people mix East and West. It actually happens everytime there's a sighting of a core and it's unlikely there's a core now heading to Vandy since 1047 has already left McGregor towards the Cape. The best guess is that this is 1048 being transported from Hawthorne to McGregor and the poster just made that mistake. It would be nice to ask him again about where it was heading. Anyways, the opening of the post (and the picture) says he saw it in Jal, New Mexico and that by 9am the booster was spotted on the I-20 in Abilene, Texas (that's what he actually says on the message I posted), so it was clearly moving east, not west.

Offline Jakusb

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #195 on: 06/11/2018 07:48 am »
It happens a lot that people mix East and West. It actually happens everytime there's a sighting of a core and it's unlikely there's a core now heading to Vandy since 1047 has already left McGregor towards the Cape. The best guess is that this is 1048 being transported from Hawthorne to McGregor and the poster just made that mistake. It would be nice to ask him again about where it was heading. Anyways, the opening of the post (and the picture) says he saw it in Jal, New Mexico and that by 9am the booster was spotted on the I-20 in Abilene, Texas (that's what he actually says on the message I posted), so it was clearly moving east, not west.

There is a chance this actually is 1049 and 1048 has not been spotted while being transported to McGregor. 
There was a sighting of a core on the test stand just before 1047 left McGregor. And the conclusion by me was that it was too little time to have it taken of the stand and get it ready for transport, thus it being 1048 that was seen then.
Also it would fit the 2-week cadence that was mentioned in Gwynn’s interview.
On the other hand, this core was spotted several times, so transporting a core unnoticed is also unlikely, although it did happen before I believe.
Time will tell.

Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #196 on: 06/13/2018 06:27 pm »
Quote
SpaceX’s third Block 5 rocket heads to Texas test site as launch marathon nears

A SpaceX Falcon 9 – almost certainly the third Block 5 booster to leave the company’s factory – was spotted passing through New Mexico on the last leg of its trip from California to Texas. Although the shipment is a great sign, it begs the question of how exactly SpaceX plans to launch its next six launches penciled in for July and August.

https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-falcon-9-block-5-texas-static-fire-tests/

Offline vaporcobra

Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #197 on: 06/13/2018 08:30 pm »
Quote
SpaceX’s third Block 5 rocket heads to Texas test site as launch marathon nears

A SpaceX Falcon 9 – almost certainly the third Block 5 booster to leave the company’s factory – was spotted passing through New Mexico on the last leg of its trip from California to Texas. Although the shipment is a great sign, it begs the question of how exactly SpaceX plans to launch its next six launches penciled in for July and August.

https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-falcon-9-block-5-texas-static-fire-tests/

The two boosters spied in transport have already been covered here, just sans photos. But the critical paragraphs in that article are below:

Quote
After conducting routine static fire testing in McGregor, the booster spotted on Monday – B1048 – will likely be shipped West to Vandenberg Air Force Base for the first West coast Block 5 launch in mid-July. B1047, the second Block 5 booster to leave SpaceX’s Hawthorne factory, was spotted miles from Cape Canaveral, FL near the end of May, while B1046‘s early May launch marked the debut of Falcon 9 Block 5 and was expected to undergo several months of disassembly and analysis to ensure the rocket upgrade was functioning as intended. Based on previous patterns, the fourth Block 5 Falcon 9 booster – B1049 – should not be expected to ship from the factory to McGregor until late June or early July. Finally, the last orbital Block 4 booster (B1045) will conduct its second and final launch in the last few days of June, currently NET June 29.

Put simply, B1049 is unlikely to arrive at its first launch site until mid or late July and can thus be taken out of the July running. B1045 will be (presumably) expended after launch, also taking it out of the running for future launches. B1048 will almost certainly travel to Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) for its first launch in July, effectively ruling out its availability for other July and August launches. Furthermore, Iridium’s CEO Matt Desch has stated that both Iridium-7 and Iridium-8 are expected to launch on unflown boosters. Fundamentally, this leaves two Block 5 boosters readily available for four loosely scheduled July and August launches on the East Coast.

Focusing on July’s schedule as it currently stands, B1047 would be required to launch two high-energy geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) missions in as few as two weeks. The nature of drone ship recoveries would cut the time available between the booster’s return to port and its second static fire to perhaps 5-10 days. In other words, there would be almost no time whatsoever for refurbishment, at least compared to the current prospective record of B1045, roughly 70 days between launches.
« Last Edit: 06/13/2018 08:30 pm by vaporcobra »

Offline gongora

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #198 on: 06/13/2018 08:49 pm »
Personally I'm only expecting five launches in the third quarter, four from the Cape and one from Vandenberg.  I wouldn't get too worked up over booster availability yet.

Offline edkyle99

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #199 on: 06/13/2018 09:01 pm »
So much focus on the first stages, when it is second stage and fairing delivery that really signals that a launch is approaching.  They are driven down the highways as well.

 - Ed Kyle

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