Keith’s Note: I was part of Bloomberg radio / video live coverage of the SpaceX IFT3 Starship launch on Thursday morning. Update: Wow. Simply WOW. The booster was lost before engines could be lit to begin a “landing” attempt in the ocean. The Ship 28 itself made it into space but was lost during reentry when both the Starling and TDRSS telemetry feeds stopped simultaneously. But the Pez door opened and the prop transfer commands were issued. More to follow. I’ll be on Deutsche Welle just after noon EDT. Update: Here’s the [audio] I did a CTV interview too [audio]

Keith’s note: The second flight of a Starship/Heavy Booster began on time today at 8:00 am EST. The rocket performed nominally up to and during “hot staging”. Moments after the separation of the Heavy Booster and Starship the first stage blew up. The Second stage – Starship – continued on a nominal ascent until just before the point at which it would have normally shut down its engines. And all data stopped. SpaceX said on its webcast “No more data from second stage so we think we may have lost it” followed by “Apparently flight termination system may have activated late in ascent over the Gulf of Mexico”. SpaceX then terminated its olive webcast. So, i summary, they had 33 engines on the first stage all the way up to staging, did a clean separation, lost the first stage, sent the second stage almost all the way and then lost that to. Again this was a test flight and they got much further along than they did on the first test flight. Its rocket science folks. Update: I appeared on Deutsche Welle TV this morning to discuss the flight test [Audio]

“The closure of the mishap investigation does not signal an immediate resumption of Starship launches at Boca Chica. SpaceX must implement all corrective actions that impact public safety and apply for and receive a license modification from the FAA that addresses all safety, environmental and other applicable regulatory requirements prior to the next Starship launch.” More

Keith’s note: The first launch of SpaceX Starship was halted on monday 17 April 2023 after a pressurization issue arose in the first stage. SpaceX decided to continue with the preparation – as a “wet dress” down to the T-0:10 mark so as to allow its team to exercise its procedures. The next launch attempt will likely be in 48 hours be on Thursday 20 April according to SpaceX. When the launch occurs – successful or not – this will mark a tectonic paradigm shift in how we access space. There is no indication that NASA understands what is about to happen. More

Keith’s note: SpaceX just conducted a full duration static test firing of 31 Raptor engines (1 shutdown, 1 was shut down) on Starship producing enough thrust to still reach orbit – the most powerful rocket humans have ever built or fired. Sorry SLS. Video below.

Keith’s note: This is not a CGI image. It is an actual SpaceX aerial photo of a Starship and its booster on the launch pad. In a month or so NASA PAO will need to delete the “most powerful rocket in the world” phrase from their sound bite collection since this rocket will utterly eclipse whatever it is that SLS weighs, thrusts, or throws – and it will certainly chop a few zeroes off of what it costs to launch – to say nothing of the whole re-launch thing. Ad Astra y’all.

FAA Requires SpaceX to Take Over 75 Actions to Mitigate Environmental Impact of Planned Starship/Super Heavy Launches, FAA “The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will require SpaceX to take more than 75 actions to mitigate environmental impacts from its proposed plan to launch the Starship/Super Heavy vehicle from Boca Chica, Texas. The actions are part of the agency’s environmental review. The environmental review must be completed along […]

From this: November 1972 Saturn V NASA/JSC To that: February 2022 Starship SpaceX https://t.co/LXNVk4SB3M pic.twitter.com/rlEkbdN2HA — Jamie Groh, M. Ed. (@AlteredJamie) February 10, 2022

Good morning everyone. Not much to see here. A @SpaceX #Starship was stacked over night. This is now the tallest and most powerful rocket that anyone has ever built. That's all. Have a nice day. https://t.co/GrudLO6Xz6 — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) August 6, 2021

Final view of SN11 in the air: ??https://t.co/Q2p3q1HS0i pic.twitter.com/PNJta9svkA — Chris B – NSF (@NASASpaceflight) March 30, 2021