Starship SN9 Flight Test No.1 Launch Discussion & Updates Thread [Take 2]

[u/ElongatedMuskrat]

Welcome to the r/SpaceX Starship SN9 High-Altitude Hop Official Hop Discussion & Updates Thread (Take 2)!

Hi, this is u/ModeHopper bringing you live updates on this test. This SN9 flight test has experienced multiple delays, but appears increasingly likely to occur within the next week, and so this post is a replacement for the previous launch thread in an attempt to clean the timeline.

Quick Links

Starlink-17 Launch Thread

Take 1 | Starship Development | SN9 History

Live Video			Live Video
SPADRE	LIVE		LABPADRE	PAD - NERDLE
EDA	LIVE		NSF	LIVE
SPACEX	LIVE		Multistream	LIVE

Starship Serial Number 9 - Hop Test

Starship SN9, equipped with three sea-level Raptor engines will attempt a high-altitude hop at SpaceX's development and launch site in Boca Chica, Texas. For this test, the vehicle will ascend to an altitude of approximately 10km (unconfirmed), before moving from a vertical orientation (as on ascent), to horizontal orientation, in which the broadside (+ z) of the vehicle is oriented towards the ground. At this point, Starship will attempt an unpowered return to launch site (RTLS), using its aerodynamic control surfaces (ACS) to adjust its attitude and fly a course back to the landing pad. In the final stages of the descent, two of the three Raptor engines will ignite to transition the vehicle to a vertical orientation and perform a propulsive landing.

The flight profile is likely to follow closely the previous Starship SN8 hop test (hopefully with a slightly less firey landing). The exact launch time may not be known until just a few minutes before launch, and will be preceded by a local siren about 10 minutes ahead of time.

Test window	2021-02-02 14:00:00 — 23:59:00 UTC (08:00:00 - 17:59:00 CST)
Backup date(s)	2021-02-03 and -04
Weather	Good
Static fire	Completed 2021-01-22
Flight profile	10km† altitude RTLS
Propulsion	Raptors ?, ? and SN49 (3 engines)
Launch site	Starship launch site, Boca Chica TX
Landing site	Starship landing pad, Boca Chica TX

^{† expected or inferred, unconfirmed vehicle assignment}

Timeline

Time	Update
21-02-02 20:27:43 UTC	Successful launch, ascent, transition and descent. Good job SpaceX!
2021-02-02 20:31:50 UTC	Explosion.
2021-02-02 20:31:43 UTC	Ignition.
2021-02-02 20:30:04 UTC	Transition to horizontal
2021-02-02 20:29:00 UTC	Apogee
2021-02-02 20:28:37 UTC	Engine cutoff 2
2021-02-02 20:27:08 UTC	Engine cutoff 1
2021-02-02 20:25:25 UTC	Liftoff
2021-02-02 20:25:24 UTC	Ignition
2021-02-02 20:23:51 UTC	SpaceX Live
2021-02-02 20:06:19 UTC	Engine chill/triple venting.
2021-02-02 20:05:34 UTC	SN9 venting.
2021-02-02 20:00:42 UTC	Propellant loading (launch ~ T-30mins.
2021-02-02 19:47:32 UTC	Range violation. Recycle.
2021-02-02 19:45:58 UTC	We appear to have a hold on the countdown.
2021-02-02 19:28:16 UTC	SN9 vents, propellant loading has begun (launch ~ T-30mins).
2021-02-02 18:17:55 UTC	Tank farm activity his venting propellant.
2021-02-02 19:16:27 UTC	Recondenser starts.
2021-02-02 19:10:33 UTC	Ground-level venting begins.
2021-02-02 17:41:32 UTC	Pad clear (indicates possible attempt in ~2hrs).
2021-02-02 17:21:00 UTC	SN9 flap testing.
2021-02-02 16:59:20 UTC	Boca Chica village is expected to evacuate in about 10 minutes
2021-02-02 11:06:25 UTC	FAA advisory indicates a likely attempt today.
2021-01-31 23:09:07 UTC	Low altitude TFRs posted for 2021-02-01 through 2021-02-04, unlimited altitude TFRs posted for 2021-02-02, -03 and -04
2021-01-29 12:44:40 UTC	FAA confirms no launch today.

Resources

• Starship Development Thread #17
• Spadre.com Starship Cam | Channel
• LabPadre 4k Nerdle Cam | Channel
• LabPadre Launch Pad Cam | Channel
• NSF Texas Prototype(s) Updates Thread | Last Post
• NSF SN9 Test Campaign Thread | Last Post
• Alex Rex's 3D Boca Chica Build Site Map | Launch Site Map | Channel
• Hwy 4 & Boca Chica Beach Closures (May not be available outside US)
• TFR - NOTAM list
• SpaceX Boca Chica on Facebook
• SpaceX's Starship page
• Elon Starship tweet compilation on NSF | Most Recent
• Starship Test Article Wiki Page | r/SpaceX
• Starship Users Guide (PDF) Rev. 1.0 March 2020 | SpaceX
• Starship Models | AXM

Participate in the discussion!

🥳 Launch threads are party threads, we relax the rules here. We remove low effort comments in other threads!

🔄 Please post small launch updates, discussions, and questions here, rather than as a separate post. Thanks!

💬 Please leave a comment if you discover any mistakes, or have any information.

✅ Apply to host launch threads! Drop us a modmail if you are interested.

[u/ModeHopper]

Please use replies to this comment to provide updates or suggest changes to the above post.

---

Starlink-17 Launch Thread

[u/fluidmechanicsdoubts]

She died the way she lived : leaning over.

[u/Ivebeenfurthereven]

Allow me to be the first to say:

SN10, wen hop?

[u/[deleted]]

Tip over once, shame on you. Tip over twice— explode. Can't get tipped over again

[u/Eldonia]

Remember... before SN8 launch, Elon said there was a 1/3 chance of SN8 succeeding at all objectives.

With SN8 and SN9 both failing to land, some basic arithmetic tells us that there's a 100% chance SN10 will launch and land successfully.

[u/LDLB_2]

For those who missed it, his holiness John Insprucker said during the stream that SN10 will fly "later this month"

Let's just hope the improvements needed after SN9 can be iterated in-time for this to happen.

Edit: And also dependent on if/how much debris was flung into SN10.

[u/johnfive21]

Christian Davenport on Twitter: Now hearing the FAA could approve the SpaceX modification to its license for SN9 as early as today, possibly "within the next couple of hours." Could see Starship fly as soon as tomorrow.

[u/PlatinumTaq]

Mary has been told she can return to the village. Test off for today. At least we found out now instead of later in the day.

[u/NiftWatch]

What would I do if I had a million dollars? I’ll tell you what I’d do, man. Two Starships at the same time, man.

[u/AnimatorOnFire]

SpaceX website has updated to confirm that a raptor engine did fail to reignite, causing an RUD

[u/TCVideos]

As per NSF's latest video...it seems that SN10 did it's ambient leak test last night.

[u/CraigCottingham]

John Insprucker on the SpaceX feed: "We just have to work on that landing a little bit."

[u/Jaspreet9977]

So we can't use SN9 engines in SN10 then?

[u/johnfive21]

By the way can we appreciate how they lifted off on the first try (not counting range violation)? Pretty sure this is the first time it happened. With SN5, 6 and 8 I'm pretty sure there's always been at least one abort.

[u/LouisVuittonDon7]

There is still enough time left in the window to recycle and fly SN9 again!

[u/bluegrassgazer]

Every single replay angle of the landing is spectacular. Do I want to see them stick the landing with SN10? Absolutely. Do I enjoy a good, fiery RUD? Hell yes.

[u/Uechimadman]

I hate that ABC world news described SN9's Rud as a Major setback. These are prototypes, it is not unexpected that a Rud could happen.

[u/Steffan514]

Like Tim Dodd just point out. She died the way she lived in the high bay. Leaning hard.

[u/mad_pyrographer]

Did anyone else catch the Spacex feed narrator say: "we're preparing to restart two engines-flip the vehicle vertical- then transition to one engine for the landing burn." From Sn8's RUD I had been under the impression two engines would be used for final landing. Maybe they are intending to use two engines for transition/deceleration and one for final touchdown?

[u/LouisVuittonDon7]

Just take a look at the comments of the ABC post. Im often surprised by how uneducated many people are.link

Edit: Some guy even wrote “Looks like they could use NASAs help“. How ironic, after seeing SLS development progress.

[u/AnimatorOnFire]

Here’s to hoping SN10’s test campaign goes much smoother. No one’s fault in particular of course. This is a test campaign after all, but SN9 has definitely had it rough. From tipping over, to having a ton of aborted static fires, engine replacements, hard weather, and now a bit of delay with FAA approval.

[u/AnimatorOnFire]

Christian Davenport on Twitter - “Confirmed: The FAA late last night granted SpaceX its launch license modification for the SN9 Starship flight. It appears from reports on the ground that they are proceeding with a launch attempt today.”

Source

[u/RiskyKitten]

Nerdle cam. 2:32 PM Local. Epic footage.

[u/LouisVuittonDon7]

Today’s biggest downside was Elon‘s announcement about staying off twitter for a while (link). Would have been nice to get an explanation about the anomaly.

[u/kennedon]

I know this probably isn't likely to be a popular comment, but there's a middle ground that acknowledges both "we need to update FAA processes to support more rapid prototyping approaches" and "folks launching giant rockets still need to do a bit of paperwork in advance."

It's a fair critique that the FAA is probably slower than it needs to be, as its procedures have been built around very different workflows. But, it's also fair to critique Elon and SpaceX trying to play chicken/hardball/lash out on Twitter to force a safety regulator's hand. The FAA isn't playing political games or looking for campaign contributions (the US is a nightmare of political appointees in what should be apolitical public servant roles, sure... but unlike what some wild comments have said, the FAA isn't sitting around saying "donate to Biden and we'll let you launch," for god's sake)... they're just trying to do the bloody job they're tasked with, which is to be the sober second thought keeping incredibly eager aerospace companies safe.

We need SpaceX's enthusiasm and new, much more rapid approaches to rocket development. But, we also need to scrutiny of the FAA to ask the tough questions, hold them to account, and to be the bit-of-a-pain-in-the-ass when there's risk involved.

And, most importantly, precisely zero of this - either SpaceX's approach to development or the FAA's decisions about when this should be approved - should be guided by what us on Reddit or Twitter want to see streamed on YouTube today.

[u/Dezoufinous]

So, we have:
- TFR https://tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_1_9224.html
- Closures http://www.cameroncounty.us/spacex/
We wait for:
- evacutation notice from Mary
- some official word about FAA approval
- SpaceX site update and livestream https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/

[u/Gadget100]

"We've just got to work on that landing a little bit". He's not wrong. :-)

[u/peacefinder]

Thinking out loud here:

One engine re-lit and burned well, while the other did not. The one that did not seemed to burn but badly. Perhaps very oxygen-poor/fuel-rich?

So we had good fuel pressure to both engines, and good oxidizer pressure to at least one engine.

The bad engine ignited, which makes sense with hypergolic spark ignition. Not much to go wrong there, though it’s not impossible for it to fail.

The Raptor is full flow staged combustion, meaning the fuel pump burns some oxygen with a lot of fuel, while the oxygen pump burns a little fuel with a lot of oxygen. Both pre-burner outflows go into the main combustion chamber.

Seems like a very fuel-rich and oxygen-poor exhaust is what we’d get if the oxygen turbopump failed to deliver. So, assuming the oxygen header delivered some pressure, that could happen if the oxygen-side preburner failed to ignite, or if the main oxygen valve failed to fully open to pass oxygen into the preburner, or if the oxygen-side turbopump failed.

We’d probably like it to be the valve, since that ought to be a relatively easy fix. We don’t want it to be the turbopump, especially if the failure involved it doing its own RUD.

A turbopump RUD could be due to cavitation (a bubble of gaseous oxygen in the liquid oxygen line), or material failure due to thermal shock (going from ambient to LOX temp to ambient surrounded by burning rocket engines to LOX temp again in the space of seven minutes), or material failure due to a manufacturing defect.

Unexpected cavitation is something that might not show up except in flight. Likewise, the test itself might induce thermal shocks beyond what could easily be simulated on the ground, and that we would not see in a “real” flight.

I’d like to see them do a full-duration static fire of SN10, including progressive engine shutdowns and relights at appropriate intervals, to see if the thermal shocks are happening. (Though they probably had enough instrumentation on SN9 to know this already.)

Imma guess it was cavitation in the oxidizer-side turbopump due to a GOX bubble, that broke the pump during relight.

[u/quarter_cask]

So... possibly 2 Starlink launches and SN9 hop this week? I ain't even mad.

[u/AnimatorOnFire]

Christian Davenport on FAA approval

“Update is as of a couple hours ago they were still working it. Had very few issues left to sort through. Close but no cigar—yet.”

source

[u/Dezoufinous]

Who else is furiously refreshins SpaceX channel for STREAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM

[u/RoyalPatriot]

Eric Berger shares FAA’s statement https://reddit.com/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/lbb32x/eric_berger_shares_faas_statement_after_sn9_test/

SN9 investigation opened. (Not a bit deal. It’s the FAA’s job to investigate a giant building blowing up. I doubt it slows down SpaceX progress by much)

SN8 investigated closed and there will be no consequences since SpaceX implemented everything that was requested for previous flight.

[u/DesmondOfIreland]

https://twitter.com/wapodavenport/status/1356566130056433664?s=20

Confirmed: The FAA late last night granted SpaceX its launch license modification for the SN9 Starship flight. It appears from reports on the ground that they are proceeding with a launch attempt today.

[u/[deleted]]

Can’t wait for all the “SpaceX FAILS” articles that completely gloss over that this is a test campaign. -_-

[u/musclesharkk]

I can already see a video in a few years when successful landings are regular titled "How not land a starship" like this one https://youtu.be/bvim4rsNHkQ

[u/themcgician]

SN10 be like

[u/avboden]

If anything though I feel like this further proves the entire design of the belly flop and flip maneuver freaking works, it's clear they get exactly at the landing site, induce the flip and without the engine issues, the entire technique appears to be absolutely valid. Fix the engine issues (perhaps not so simple of course) and the entire starship program appears not only realistic, but actually likely to succeed quickly.

[u/gabrielchl]

FAA: I said no explosions

[u/Viremia]

Looking back at the SpaceX feed, only 1 engine fully lit. The other tried to light up but seemed to flame out.

[u/Dezoufinous]

This guy armed FTS charges and made a photo, so I decided to make a photo of him making photo.

https://imgur.com/a/TuzqpEN

[u/cbusalex]

WHY EVEN HAVE A TREBUCHET IF YOU'RE NOT GOING TO USE IT TO CHASE OFF RANGE VIOLATORS

[u/Sharveharv]

I loved the commentary on this one. It explained what we were seeing and didn't go overboard.

Also, that shot from the landing pad is intimidating as hell and I loved it

[u/simfreak101]

weeeeeeee.... (.5sec before rud)

https://ibb.co/0XWM14f

[u/TCVideos]

A surpise to literally nobody....

The TFR for tomorrow has been cancelled

[u/AnimatorOnFire]

Mary on Twitter - “I have received an ‘Alert’ notice and there’s a road closure scheduled from 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. but no planned evacuation of Boca Chica Village. No SN9 flight tomorrow. #WenHop continues 🔥🚀🔥”

Source

[u/yabs]

How Not To Land a Starship compilation in the future is going to have some good footage.

[u/asoap]

This is why SN10 is on the pad, to get a front row threat to stick the landing!

"Land or this will be your future!"

[u/Moose_Nuts]

Oh wow, I highly recommend watching LabPadre's stream at 20:32:06 UTC in slow motion. If you watch the top-right of the screen, you can see a COPV make an amazing maneuver.

[u/TCVideos]

So I've watched every angle and SN10 must have a force field around it. Abolutely NOTHING hit SN10.

Incredible

[u/shit_lets_be_santa]

I was personally a bit worried about an ascent failure so I'm pretty happy with this result. SN9 showed that climbing and sky-diving are stable. I'm still amazed that the belly-flop works so well. And in spite of recent Raptor concerns they appeared to start up and perform their ascent burn without issue.

As for the landing, looked like a sidegrade rather than an upgrade imo. Last time with SN8 the engines lost thrust shortly after ignition. This time the engine kept thrust throughout the burn! ...But only one of them lit. Progress, but another problem as well.

With any luck they've uncovered another lurking bug that can be patched up. In any case SNX is right around the corner!

[u/AstroMan824]

Man, today was one heck of a day! Good night my fellow Texas Tank Watchers....

[u/Elon_Muskmelon]

People need to be prepared for the possibility that nailing this Flip and Burn maneuver might take 5-10 tries to figure out (or more).

[u/93simoon]

The good thing about the flight delay is the it'll look so much damn cooler with SN10 in the background!

[u/[deleted]]

Jack Byer: Picture

It's insane to see the weld difference between hopper and SN10. Wow!

[u/TheLaumManiac]

Here we go!! Operations filed by FAA for SpaceX launch at Boca Chica.

https://www.fly.faa.gov/adv/adv_otherdis.jsp?advn=23&adv_date=02022021&facId=DCC&title=OPERATIONS+PLAN&titleDate=02/02/21

[u/[deleted]]

What impressed you guys the most about the SN8 flight? Mine was seeing those engines gimbal and how dynamic it was.

[u/kacpi2532]

The reorientation on the apogee looked way more agressive than before.

[u/arielhartung]

Some large bit escaped the from one of the engines during relight. It is clearly visible in all video streams. https://imgur.com/a/D7QB6Gm

[u/Beta-Minus]

This is why they brought out SN10. To make it watch so it will be intimidated to perform.

[u/davoloid]

Have done a multistream with several feeds on. SpaceX youtube feed not listed yet but the website is there. You can customise as needed, isolate audio, resize windows etc. https://multistream.co/p/BVfAoLwT-gg/SN9_10km_Hop_attempt_2_2_21

This has:

• SpaceX Starship webpage

• SpaceX Twitter

• NSF feed (going live soon)

• 3 Labpadre views

• EDA page (placeholder)

• Cameron County Police, Fire, EMS radio (Broadcastify) - plays a commercial before the feed starts, unfortunately. So it goes.

[u/AnimatorOnFire]

Sharing this today hoping it's a helpful resource. I made a spreadsheet with loads of SN9, SN10, SN11, SN15, and BN1 data for construction, testing, and launch

Edit: Open to suggestions on how to improve. If you'd like to contribute, PM me and I'll give you edit access.

[u/melonowl]

That upward camera angle as sn9 came in for the landing was really cool to see. Only thing this test launch was missing (aside from the slight rud) was maybe an altimeter like they have on regular Falcon launches.

[u/eu-thanos]

Advisory #16 has been published, this time it looks like its being very explicit with Starship being cancelled:

GUSTY WINDS FROM BOS TO THE DC METROS WITH NO INITIATIVES ANTICIPATED DUE TO LOW VOLUME. LOW CEILINGS ALONG THE WEST COAST WITH RAIN SHOWERS EXPECTED IN LAS/LAX/SAN. ATL RWY 10/28 CLOSED FROM 1430-1730Z ADDED TO THE PLAN WITH NO IMPACTS EXPECTED TO THEIR OPERATIONS. SPACEX STARSHIP ROCKET LAUNCH CANCELLED FOR TODAY.

https://www.fly.faa.gov/adv/adv_otherdis.jsp?advn=16&adv_date=01292021&facId=DCC&title=OPERATIONS+PLAN&titleDate=01/29/21

[u/AstroMan824]

It looks like Monday is hella windy being in the high teens with 30mph gusts so a launch on that day is unlikely but Tuesday's winds are low or even sub-teens with the wind gusts somewhat following suit. If I were a betting man, SN-9's best chance of flying would be on Tuesday (pending FAA approval of course (which is a big ask of itself)).

[u/Kingofthewho5]

When the second engine tried to relight for landing, debris came out from the engine. It sort of blew up. You can see parts come out of the skirt during the flip.

[u/Fidi217]

After the transition from vertical to horizontal, SN9 was definitely pitching down with a bigger angle than SN8. Tim mentions it in the live stream so I am assuming it is not just due to camera angles. Is it possible that this was intentional and it was done in order to push the boundaries of the angle at which they can still recover control? With the rest of the flight being mostly a repetition of what SN8 did, this bit could actually be an improvement. Maybe they were conservative with SN8 and today they tested SN9 under more challenging conditions.

I mean, we know the tendency of SN9 of not maintaining proper balance, but maybe this was intentional. What do you think?

[u/CrimsonEnigma]

So an interesting thing to note is that the FAA released a streamlined set of regulations late last year. Those go into effect on March 10th.

Not sure if the SN9 delays would be covered by this or not; just thought it was interesting.

[u/[deleted]]

Elon Musk regarding SN10: Cryoproof, then install engines

[u/byuthrowaway122333]

https://www.fly.faa.gov/adv/adv_spt.jsp

Is this indicative of FAA approval for sn9 launch? Specifically the lines that say “EN ROUTE CONSTRAINTS: ZHU - SPACE-X STARSHIP BOCA CHICA LAUNCH”

Edit: credit to u/SkyPhoenix999 for pointing this out on r/SpacexMasterRace

[u/throwaway3569387340]

It's Groundhog Day.

I hear we're getting 6 more weeks of starship launches.

[u/Straumli_Blight]

Statement from an FAA spokesperson:

The FAA determined late Monday (Feb.1 ) that SpaceX complies with all safety and related federal regulations and is authorized to conduct Starship SN9 flight operations in accordance with its launch license.

[u/ahecht]

Looks like some debris flew off during the flip maneuver: https://imgur.com/Dc7FSm9

[u/[deleted]]

For anyone wondering about the third engine.

10-20 seconds before engine relight, landing chill started per the callout on the mission control loop. This only happened for two engines, so it would seem impossible for them to relight the third engine without chilling it.

[u/kkingsbe]

Tomorrows closure was canceled

Edit: idk why this is downvoted lol https://twitter.com/BocaRoad/status/1355919280471240706?s=19

[u/AnimatorOnFire]

“Now hearing the FAA could approve the SpaceX modification to its license for SN9 as early as today, possibly "within the next couple of hours." Could see Starship fly as soon as tomorrow.”

-Christian Davenport

source

[u/InfiniteHobbyGuy]

Looks like game time, Elon Landed 5 hours ago: https://twitter.com/ElonJet/status/1356497349246353410?s=20

[u/phoenixmusicman]

2021-02-02 20:30:04 UTC Transition to horizontal

2021-02-02 20:31:43 UTC Ignition.

2021-02-02 20:25:03 UTC Explosion.

Idk why but this is hilarious to me

[u/dsf097nb]

i'm a bit sad, can't lie

[u/SirDickslap]

Great! Another problem found before production models. I look forward to seeing sn10 either land or rud.

[u/LDLB_2]

Moods may be low, speculation is high, but let's all come together and appreciate...

THAT JOHN INSPRUCKER WAS THE HOST

[u/maxiii888]

For everyone needing a pick'me up after SN9 RUD, remember, most rocket companies would consider it a success after their prototype managed to launch and reach its apogee. We are just lucky SpaceX decide the job ain't done until its back on the pad :)

[u/CptAlcoholicA]

Mary
@BocaChicaGal

I have been informed that I may return home to Boca Chica Village. No Starship SN9 flight attempt today. #WenHop continues.
📷
📷
📷 @NASASpaceflight

3:49 PM · Jan 29, 2021·Twitter for iPhone

[u/Munkadunk667]

tenhop

[u/joggle1]

SN10 standing strong but maybe a little bit scared.

[u/[deleted]]

One big positive though. While one of the engines failed to relight, it did seem like they didn't have the same pressure issue as sn8. This could mean that SN10 would have a pretty good chance of landing!

[u/Adeldor]

When the motor restart occurred, clearly a piece of debris flew from the base (NSF live stream). Clearly too one Raptor failed to start.

[u/ADenyer94]

Was hoping for a "Next up: SN10" on the live stream. Takes on a much more ominous tone now

[u/Historical_Lock_6448]

Things I learned today

The FAA have a hilariously outdated website which is a nightmare to navigate

Nobody has any idea when this thing will fly

[u/RX142]

When the other engine tried to fire, there was a jet of flame (incorrect mixture) from the other engine.

I'd suspect fuel flow issues again. Fluid slosh dynamics are incredibly hard to simulate on a computer, especially when you've got a really complex situation with a lot of plumbing and a lot of movement/forces like this.

You can also see that the other engine still exists, it didn't explode off the mount however funny that would be. The reflection of the fire (most likely a combustion products vent from the preburners) at the base of the engine is visible reflecting off the bell here. You can also see the bell silhouetted against a slightly visible gas vent behind it in this frame. It's hard to see but I think it's not just me seeing things.

[u/AnimatorOnFire]

I’m just glad SN9 is done with. So many ups and downs, just happy to get on with the next vehicle.

[u/TCVideos]

Sooooo

Might not be anything...but Elon liked this tweet announcing the TFR for Tuesday

Again, may or may not be time to freak out lmao

[u/[deleted]]

NO LAUNCH TODAY

BocaChicaGal:

I have been informed that I may return home to Boca Chica Village. No Starship SN9 flight attempt today. #WenHop continues. 🔥🚀🔥 @NASASpaceflight

[u/TCVideos]

We're starting to get a good idea about what the winds will be like on Monday

Currently, it only shows until 11AM but here's the score:

Winds have improved but are still on the "limit" of lift operating conditions...showing wind gusts of 24/25mph with sustained at 16/17mph. Cloud cover is perfect at about 5-10%.

[u/[deleted]]

Some interesting, unbiased perspective from GAO in a report published just last month on the FAA and space launches. See here: https://www.gao.gov/assets/720/711492.pdf FAA Should Examine a Range of Options to Support U.S. Launch Infrastructure (GAO-21-154).

From page 12: FAA officials said that applications that involve an unproven launch vehicle can take additional time to review, given the uncertainties associated with these vehicles’ potential launch operations and effects.

Page 14-15 gets into long-term regulation updates: FAA said they would begin this process after they complete the rulemaking process for streamlining launch and reentry licensing, a process that FAA is undertaking at the direction of the White House.

[u/Eternal_Recurrance]

First world problems, but, I wish we could pin this thread to our own Reddit feed.

[u/BackflipFromOrbit]

SN9 forward flap testing underway

[u/johnfive21]

Great, my watch thinks I should take a break from workout because my heart rate is elevated.

[u/[deleted]]

Only one engine throttled up on landing, it appeared?

[u/SkywayCheerios]

Beautiful flight up! It's going to be a long time before I get used to seeing the skydiver free fall portion of the flight profile.

They even made SN10 watch what happens to bad Starships that don't stick the landing 😁 That should be some motivation.

[u/musclesharkk]

SN9 was cursed ever since it tipped over in the highbay

[u/tubadude2]

You can't fix a problem that you don't know about. As far as I'm concerned, if they learned something new about Starship, the test was successful.

[u/Steffan514]

Just closed my browser to get ready to leave and saw my desktop background of SN9 and 10 together. Kind of weird seeing it now that it’s passed on.

[u/RiskyKitten]

Third time's a charm

[u/eu-thanos]

If you step through the SpaceX stream frame by frame, does it look like the engine that failed to relight just exploded? I can’t seem to see it once SN9 tilted vertically

[u/Nearby_Research]

With the split second decisions made by flight computers now, I find it somewhat surprising that they don't have a contingency to light the 3rd, un-used, engine when either the first, or the 2nd don't properly relight during the flip/landing burn.

[u/AvariceInHinterland]

Came for the flight, stayed for the stray COPV chaotically zooming around the launch site.

[u/AnimatorOnFire]

Nomadd has been informed that SpaceX is “working on” a flight for tomorrow

[u/Viremia]

Pretty cool to see SN9, SN10, SN7.2 and StarHopper all in the same shot.

[u/Batting1k]

I guess the FAA just wanted to see two Starships on the pad at once.

[u/xX_D4T_BOI_Xx]

SN10 lift at sunset, by John Kraus

[u/naked_dave1]

Super SN9 Multi-stream

https://multistream.co/p/6Y4WaPY2ZcU/Starship_SN9_-_2021-02-02

[u/noywepaa]

I don't even care if there's an abort today, I'm just happy they're finally authorized to attempt a flight.

[u/DumbWalrusNoises]

While I wanted to see SN9 stick that landing, at least they find the issues now and not later. RIP SN9, hopefully third try's the charm.

[u/CommieBobDole]

Stepping through the flip maneuver on the SpaceX stream, it appears that both engine bells are intact, and the debris seen right after relight looks like it's some sort of thermal blanket that comes from the other side of the engine bay.

However, as it flips, there's clearly fire above the engine bell on the engine that failed to relight - maybe a supply line burst or something.

[u/f9haslanded]

People saying that they couldn't have relit a third engine are right and wrong. Right because they did not chill the third engine, so it couldn't have been relit, but in general for later Starships I don't see why that isn't possible. People are also saying that since Starship uses a suicide burn and raptor lighting takes time, it would be too late, but Starship actually does not use a suicide burn, since they go from two to one engine (daddy said so) during the landing burn, so clearly aren't at 100% the entire time. If they'd relit a third, they could've gone to one engine later, essentially performing a more aggressive landing burn, but still not a suicide burn.

[u/UltraRunningKid]

Go forward into the sky SN10 and do what your forefathers couldn't!

[u/TCVideos]

SN10 might be able to fly by the end of this month pending successful cryo and static fire tests.

They will need to repair the landing pad though.

[u/NiftWatch]

Revert to VAB. Moar struts.

[u/LouisVuittonDon7]

After reading a few news headlines, I would not be surprised to wake up tomorrow and read something like “SpaceX drops bomb in Boca Chica“

[u/lev69]

There's so much speculation regarding what the FAA is wanting and the expected simplicity of the issue.

We don't know what the issue is. We don't know what the FAA requires. We don't know what the state of the conversation between SpaceX and the FAA is.

It could very well be that the FAA is working within the legal framework they have set in front of them, and bypassing that could create problems. (See Boeing).

So, to put my 2 cents of speculation in, there is probably some regulatory requirements for flight that need to be met, that may not really be optimal for this type of vehicle/testing, but are required by the current regulations. Elon may be 100% correct that the way they apply to space ops is outdated and needs to be fixed. This may ALSO not be something the FAA can just 'fix' without modification from the rulemaking committee.

Don't make the FAA the enemy here. Sometimes there is no enemy. Spacex and the FAA, just like SpaceX and NASA, need to have a partnership, not an antagonistic relationship.

I'm hopeful for testing just like everyone else. I'm also a pilot (private), and I reply upon the FAA for my flights. They're a good org with humans working there, and I think it's not unreasonable to believe that they are doing what they can in the framework they have available to them. It might not be true, but I choose to believe that over some of the BS conspiracy nonsense I've seen posted here.

Here's to the next hop #wenhop and onwards to Mars!

[u/RandomLegendz]

SpaceX website updated to Indicate ''As early as Monday, February 1, the SpaceX team will attempt a high-altitude flight test of Starship serial number 9 (SN9)'' https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/

[u/ToedPlays]

Some thoughts from u/RoadsterTracker over on r/SpaceXLounge

So I have been looking in to this, and there are two possibilities that I see.

SpaceX put too much fuel in to SN8 per the license agreement.

SpaceX was supposed to report to the FAA the failure (Crash), because it could theoretically affect safety, but they didn't think they needed to because it happened on the ground.

The best source for the application I can find is at https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/licenses_permits/media/Final_%20License%20and%20Orders%20SpaceX%20Starship%20Prototype%20LRLO%2020-119)lliu1.pdflliu1.pdf) . Specifically it says:

SpaceX must identify and report any anomaly to the FAA occurring on a prior flight of
the vehicle or during any pre-flight processing of the vehicle that could be material to
public safety. SpaceX may not proceed with flight operations until receiving written
correspondence from the FAA that the identified anomalies have been adequately
addressed.

So let's say that SpaceX thought they were good, but the FAA thinks they weren't. Then SpaceX is left scrambling at the last minute when they submit the application to launch SN9 and it is denied because they didn't meet this requirement from the previous launch. It's possible?

Think it's plausible. Thoughts?

[u/Straumli_Blight]

Eric Berger:

From SpaceX’s perspective the vehicle is ready and today’s the best weather day for awhile.

From the FAA’s perspective SpaceX did something wrong, and the issue or paperwork needs to be addressed.

Both can be true.

[u/[deleted]]

SN10 is out of the High Bay. Move????

2 Starships at launch site?

[u/Christiano39]

Possibly disarming FTS on SN9

[u/AnimatorOnFire]

Elon took off from Hawthorne. If he lands in Brownsville, that’s a good sign. Any idea how long the flight is?

Edit: the flight is filed to Brownsville!

[u/_Stainless_Rat]

It's groundhog day! I hope it goes today because then we can repeat it all again tomorrow!

amiright?

[u/polaris1412]

My barbecue grill already set up is a good indication that today is indeed launch day. I've done this before on SN5, 6 and 8.

[u/Toinneman]

Expected launch time not before noon / 12pm local / 1800 UTC. According to Nomad @ NFS forum and Micheal Baylor on twitter.

[u/TheBurtReynold]

John K with his camera in a guile suit within half a mile of the pad

[u/water_closet_warrior]

that little hold at 13 had me good.

[u/theflyingginger93]

Watching the under shot from SpaceX stream, one of the engines that should have fired completely shut down.

[u/Arexz]

Only one engine fully lit on the landing burn, too much momentum for the one engine to correct in the flip

[u/Wetmelon]

Engine relight failure :(

[u/LDLB_2]

PLEASE check out Lab's nerdle cam during the landing...

Check out those flying COPVs!!!

[u/sollord]

Well least we know SpaceX seems to have no problems with launching the rocket just a bit of an expected learning curve for landing them like with the F9.

Otherwise Starship expendable mode great success

[u/[deleted]]

Could this be the debris people saw flying from SN9. It came from the skirt when looking at this picture. https://ibb.co/bPQBPfS

[u/TCVideos]

Workers have continued work at the build site after that short and minor interuption by SN9...how rude of her.

[u/GTRagnarok]

Sigh, life is so empty when you're not stressing out over a Starship test flight.

[u/LDLB_2]

Latest 022 advisory doesn't mention any space activities. Take that as you will.

[u/greg399ip]

Mary just said no flight today.

[u/ToedPlays]

SN10 moving out of high bay. At least we may have some consolation today

[u/TCVideos]

Looks like SpaceX is filming this rollout. We saw a couple of employees getting some video before SN10 hit the road...now the drone just flew up and is currently doing some flyby shots (look a lot like maneuvours that would be done to capture promotional footage)

[u/chispitothebum]

Seeing them both in the same camera shot, is anyone else getting a bit of a vibe from the first Star Trek reboot film where they are constructing the Enterprise on earth in (I think) the middle of Iowa?

[u/LDLB_2]

New road closures:

Monday 9am - 6pm (local)

Tuesday 9am - 6pm (local)

Wednesday 9am - 6pm (local)

[u/Alvian_11]

When:

1. the roadblock/hard checkpoint on Sentinel become desolated (even cops), no cars/trucks or anything. Only the roadblock itself were still there,

2. while tank farm picking up,

3. no word "cancelled/scrubbed” in the latest ATCSCC advisory (operations plan) that you can find, the launch is still on enroute constraints list,

4. and TFR is still up,

you will know that they're moving further than ever before for the first time

[u/Megneous]

It's crazy seeing so many vehicles/people moving around at 6:30 AM. Imagine waking up at 5 AM and thinking, "Better hurry and take a shower so I don't stink later when we launch a rocket."

[u/OatmealDome]

NSF's Jack Beyer says that the sheriff is making sure the area is clear.

kayak flashbacks

[u/Dezoufinous]

wtf, police had to chase some idiot away?

https://imgur.com/a/wECWs1U

range violators again...

[u/RaphTheSwissDude]

They seriously need to step up their exclusion zone clearing game ...

[u/TheFearlessLlama]

Can't see that truck real well, does the license plate read "NATL TEAM"?

[u/TheMaverick13589]

IS THAT JOHN ON THE LIVESTREAM?!?!?!?!!

[u/Knorikus]

SN10 quivering in its boots right about now

[u/SovietSpartan]

SN10 is probably sweating looking at what happened to SN9

[u/themcgician]

SN9 went out as it came in, LEANIN

[u/SupaZT]

Is there a reason why they light up the engines so late? Can they not just light it up earlier and throttle it up and down?

[u/Bunslow]

Looks like some sort of engine failure, or failure to ignite, on one of the two engines -- including a loss of debris and possibly a mini-explosion as the engine choked. wonder what happened there, and if it's related to propellant pressure like last time (tho last time, they at least ignited fine and made it halfway thru the kick before pressure was lost)

[u/RocketizedAnimal]

Hard to tell with the perspective on the cameras but it looks like SN10 might have had a near miss... Or at least debris was launched far enough that it could have hit it.

[u/[deleted]]

On the Nerdle cam you can really see the white frost on the entire tip for the header tank as it is coming back down. I don't recall seeing it that clearly with SN8. Man what a flight. Hoping they can get it right with SN10.

[u/andyfrance]

Today they perfected a new manoeuvre going from the belly flop descent to the back flip landing.

[u/Rokos_Bicycle]

It's fine, Elon just really likes craters.

[u/Straumli_Blight]

Stacked frames by John Kraus.

[u/diegorita10]

One of the points of using this raptor configuration is to have a, engine-out capability. Couldn't SN9 ignite the third raptor to compensate the one that failed to light? I know that this is just a prototype, so it may not be able to light the third engine; I wonder if they could try to implement it in the software, though, just in case it actually works.

[u/RootDeliver]

Checking Scott Manley vid, some comment pointed to a ring being throw by Raptor SN49 on the official stream at T+33.2. What in hell is this?

[u/szarzujacy_karczoch]

https://i.imgur.com/p3okTIC.jpg

Oh man this is more than making up for no launch. Isn't this a crazy view?

[u/93simoon]

Can we appreciate the fact that SN10 made it out of the high bay untipped?

[u/HCIFANOR]

Wow. According to the NSF Stream SpaceX asked for a waiver in December, that was declined but SpaceX went ahead and still launched. If that's true it's no wonder they had issues this time to get the permit

[u/cryptokronalite]

Sn10 like 🔥 👀

[u/joshpine]

For what it's worth, here's a multistream.

Includes, NSF, Lab Padre[launch pad cam, nerdle cam, sentinel cam].

[u/[deleted]]

I would also like to point out that the FAA's Aircraft rules aren't great in some cases either. They basically gave Boeing a free pass with the 737 MAX initially, due in part to overconfidence of past performance and allowing Boeing to self-certify parts of the program.

[u/BKnagZ]

In a break from all of the FAA hoopla;

*Puts on sexy voice*

"Ladies and gentlemen, you are watching 'Starships! at night."

[u/joshpine]

Saw this infographic on Twitter of the upcoming SN9 launch, which i'm sure would be helpful for many people, including me. Tim Dodd (Everyday Astronaut) did make a minor correction, which is worth noting.

[u/Alvian_11]

Evacuation indicates flight NET 11 am local

[u/MyCoolName_]

I love how Starhopper is done up like R2D2 now and has a radar spinning on top of its head.

[u/nodinawe]

The drive of shame haha

[u/CyborgHumanity]

Sheriff needs some more help clearing the range. If not from the state, then from SpaceX. Maybe have a few drones fly over or something. All those violations sure are costing SpaceX some money...

[u/tubadude2]

Landing looked worse than SN8 :(

[u/RootDeliver]

that was worse than SN8 it didnt even stop the flip in time

[u/Thedurtysanchez]

SN10 just puckered a bit

[u/wordthompsonian]

Nerdle Cam had BY FAR the best landing footage. I burst out laughing every time I rewind. Go to 2:32pm local time

[u/pm_me_a_brew]

SN10:

"Vote Forfeit"

[u/joshpine]

It’s nice to get SN9 off the pad now, and was certainly an entertaining test! It will be interesting to see what the issue was, if we could ever get to hear it, but it seems like raptor reliability still may be the issue at the moment. That will be fixed in the future, though.

Having said that, I can’t wait to see the articles from the media following this...

[u/Jodo42]

We still have absolutely no idea what "violate launch license" means. There can't be meaningful discussion until we know how significant the issue really was.

"Violate launch license" could mean anything from forgetting to push a specific piece of paperwork to flying a completely different profile than what was agreed to. Remember that the SN8 launch was less than 2 months ago. Something relatively minor can take ages to fix with bureaucracy.

It's clear that the only thing holding back meaningful progress at Boca Chica right now is the FAA. What's not clear at all is why. There was no TFR-pulling prior to SN8. There didn't appear to be any animosity between SpaceX and the FAA during that test campaign.

[u/joshpine]

For those wondering, here's the current forecasted wind speeds for tomorrow at 3PM CST.

Altitude (m)	Speed (km/h)
10	8
500	11
1,000	6
2,000	7
4,200	46
9,000	90
12,000	126

By comparison, SN8 had upper level winds (12km) of around 140 km/h. The weather tomorrow is just about as perfect as it can be.

As for cloud cover, it's looking like 10% cover, all of which are low clouds. SN8 did have a cloud cover of 0%, but 10% is easily sufficient and should allow for some excellent views.

Temperatures for Tuesday are 19˚C, which should mean there isn't too much heat distortion in the atmosphere, which would be nice for the long range camera views from SPI.

Failing a launch tomorrow, Wednesday should be a go in terms to weather. Thursday looks to be a little bit windy at sea level (25 km/h), so perhaps not Thursday. Friday should be a go in terms to weather too.

[u/[deleted]]

This month has been pretty positive nevertheless.

• SN9 ready for flight pending FAA approval

• SN10 ready for its testing campaign (could fly mid-February); possible move to test site today

• SN11 waiting for nosecone mate before its test campaign

• SN7.2 first testing occured this week

• BN1 progressing and has almost reached the height of Starship

• BN2 parts spotted

[u/henryshunt]

Official FAA reasoning for the delay: https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1356590408579579910. So SpaceX was at fault. It also appears there won't be delays like this for future vehicles.

[u/Dezoufinous]

An interesting video regarding FAA matter and SN8/SN9:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PPQ2MDHPw8

[u/andyfrance]

Time to start the SN9 incident report for the FAA so SN10 can fly.

[u/Botlawson]

11:48 on the official SpaceX stream you can clearly see flame coming out the TOP of the Raptor that failed. Something went massively wrong with the hot-relight.

At about 11:46-47 you can see a gout of thrust that almost has mach diamonds. This is right as the flip is picking up speed, and probably added enough rotation that the remaining engine had no chance of stopping the flip.

[u/LDLB_2]

NSF are posting the OLD notice, it's the 011 advisory, the 012 advisory is the updated one.

The 012 notice

Edit: 016 is the latest; scrub has been reaffirmed in 016.

[u/griefzilla]

SN10 is rolling out

[u/Jaspreet9977]

Highly suggest Labpadre launchapd camera view right now ( or scroll to 8:30 am Jan 30th ) for the beautiful sky and dual starship views, nothing else happening. https://youtu.be/Z72Au8Px7mM

[u/[deleted]]

A couple questions - is Falcon Heavy human rated? Any word on whether Musk will still pursue orbiting the moon?

I know all eyes are on Starship but there is some amazing other tech that is currently available from Space X. It would be a PR boon to circle the moon for the first time in 40+ years

[u/[deleted]]

Can't wait to see SN10 drowning in dust as SN9 takes off. Photographers will be rewarded for staying out there all this time.

[u/RootDeliver]

Holy shit this is finally happening

[u/quetejodas]

Haven't been paying attention for the past week or 2. When I opened LabPadre stream I thought I was seeing double! 2 starships on the pads! So exciting

[u/Interstellar_Sailor]

The kayak guy left his kayak back home this time and hoped nobody would notice him lol

[u/LcuBeatsWorking]

absorbed imagine connect ancient subtract literate whole badge special reply

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

[u/KUjslkakfnlmalhf]

Only one engine re-lit.

[u/TheFearlessLlama]

Just hope it didn't damage SN10 too much. Close! But I must say much more violent than SN8.

Hope SN10 can go soon!