No idea why this was dated 25 Mar.
In addition to the notice posted above, there are these two also ...
So am I correct in assuming that this shows that there will be no attempt to land the booster?
A booster on the mount, and a rocket at the pad. It is almost time for someone to hold Starship's beer.https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/04/spacex-moves-starship-to-launch-site-and-liftoff-could-be-just-days-away/
More than days away, but hopefully not many weeks away
Based on the NOTAMs and Marco's estimate, here is a rendering of the Starship near-orbital test flight trajectory (1/n)
.... SE over the Atlantic...
.. over Namibia and the Indian Ocean
... past Indonesia and on to the Pacific ...
... and then reentry at first perigee for debris impact 250 km NNE of Honolulu
Zoom in on impact area
There was never a plan for this booster to land anywhere other than the Gulf of Mexico
twitter.com/sciguyspace/status/1642271784270536706QuoteA booster on the mount, and a rocket at the pad. It is almost time for someone to hold Starship's beer.https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/04/spacex-moves-starship-to-launch-site-and-liftoff-could-be-just-days-away/https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1642273756289671170QuoteMore than days away, but hopefully not many weeks away
Quote from: southshore26 on 04/01/2023 08:51 pmThere was never a plan for this booster to land anywhere other than the Gulf of MexicoI am surprised because there was quite specific talk here about SH boostback and offshore soft landing. In conjunction of an FCC submission it was even assumed that landing attempt & catch at the launch site was also in the cards. All of these were baseless speculation?
Quote from: southshore26 on 04/01/2023 08:51 pmThere was never a plan for this booster to land anywhere other than the Gulf of MexicoI am surprised because there was quite specific talk here about SH boostback and offshore soft landing. In conjunction of an FCC submission it was even assumed that landing attempt & catch at the launch site was also in the cards. All of these were baseless speculation?
Quote from: geza on 04/03/2023 10:13 amQuote from: southshore26 on 04/01/2023 08:51 pmThere was never a plan for this booster to land anywhere other than the Gulf of MexicoI am surprised because there was quite specific talk here about SH boostback and offshore soft landing. In conjunction of an FCC submission it was even assumed that landing attempt & catch at the launch site was also in the cards. All of these were baseless speculation?NSF is great at going “what if…” and adding lots of speculation. The only plan I’ve ever heard from SpaceX was no boostback, splash the booster in the gulf but attempt a soft splash to see how far they get. No way they are risking a boostback and catch on a first flight.
Flight ProfileThe Starship Orbital test flight will originate from Starbase, TX. The Booster stage will separate approximately 170 seconds into flight. The Booster will then perform a partial return and land in the Gulf of Mexico approximately 20 miles from the shore.
FLIGHT PROFILEThe Starship-Super Heavy test flight will originate from Starbase, TX. The booster stage will separate and will then perform a partial return and land in the Gulf of Mexico or return to Starbase and be caught by the launch tower.
This always seemed an unlikely possibility to me as they will surely want to see that they can control its positioning before risking the tower.
Quote from: kevinof on 04/03/2023 11:24 amQuote from: geza on 04/03/2023 10:13 amQuote from: southshore26 on 04/01/2023 08:51 pmThere was never a plan for this booster to land anywhere other than the Gulf of MexicoI am surprised because there was quite specific talk here about SH boostback and offshore soft landing. In conjunction of an FCC submission it was even assumed that landing attempt & catch at the launch site was also in the cards. All of these were baseless speculation?NSF is great at going “what if…” and adding lots of speculation. The only plan I’ve ever heard from SpaceX was no boostback, splash the booster in the gulf but attempt a soft splash to see how far they get. No way they are risking a boostback and catch on a first flight.Original FCC exhibit 0748-EX-ST-2021QuoteFlight ProfileThe Starship Orbital test flight will originate from Starbase, TX. The Booster stage will separate approximately 170 seconds into flight. The Booster will then perform a partial return and land in the Gulf of Mexico approximately 20 miles from the shore.Updated FCC exhibit 1169-EX-ST-2022QuoteFLIGHT PROFILEThe Starship-Super Heavy test flight will originate from Starbase, TX. The booster stage will separate and will then perform a partial return and land in the Gulf of Mexico or return to Starbase and be caught by the launch tower.There has been no mention of anything other than a boost back.
Buoy update: this is the grid conformation for SpaceX' PATON buoys for the first Starbase OFT flight. Stay out of area please. Guaranteed excitement. @LunarCaveman @InfographicTony @SpaceX @DrSianProctor @SpaceOffshore @cnunezimages @LabPadre @RGVaerialphotos @elonmusk
Vehicles: B7/S24Projected date: NET April 10, 2023Key milestones to watch the rest of the way now live on nextspaceflight.com/starship and the Next Spaceflight app.
