SpaceX FINALLY starts the most important Starship project ever!

wait, this is what I think it is, my name is Helix and I'm the host of today's episode. SpaceX joins FAA in lawsuit over Starship Luna land, Separately, seen on Starbase Axiom 2, carries four people to the ISS and virgin orbit. faces his final moments and many more issues to unravel in this episode, so stay tuned and let's dive right into the Starship updates. What a hectic week it has been at Starbase, once again brilliant mentality. SpaceX is working diligently to ensure

ever

ything proceeds as planned. They are preparing the launch complex for another 33 Raptor-equipped Beasts, while meeting the ambitious deadline two months after the initial launch seems impossible.

The progress being made is truly remarkable. Join me as we explore this exciting place once again, as has been the case. in the last episodes let's begin our journey with the orbital launch Mound or olm in the last few days a lot of effort has been dedicated to reinforcing the base with additional piles to ensure that the feared compression of the ground that caused the famous concrete tornado is not a problem during the next launch attempt with the increasing number of piles, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep the exact count, some of them are hidden under wooden platforms or covered with earth, making them practically invisible; how

ever

, the dedicated people at Team Space are actively doing everything they can.

To follow the progress of the olm, one of those people is Chrome KIVI, who created a diagram showing all the build-free stacks. Incredible work. Be sure to follow him on Twitter, in addition to the attention paid to the orbital launch base. Mountain. More work can be done. You can see them a little above, several new Raptor quick disconnect arms were recently installed on the launch pad. These arms play a key role in spinning the turbo pumps of the 20 outboard Raptor engines, allowing them to start without the need for additional internal systems. In return, saving mass, the saying "the best part is no piece" still applies.

Additionally, on May 21, a shipment of numerous boxes arrived at the site. These boxes are believed to contain the new super heavy duty clamp clamp designed specifically to be compatible with the Booster 9. Installation is expected to take place within the next few days. The quick disconnect booster hood was disassembled and relocated to the construction site rather than being scrapped. Most likely it was moved due to space limitations in the olm. Workers are currently focusing on quick disconnection. It itself had some of its cryogenic pipes removed, as if likely preparing it for replacement in the near future. It's been a while since I mentioned one of the trickiest parts of Stage Zero, the Orbital Launch Integration Tower, or OLED.

Recently, it has seen surprising developments. On May 21, the ship's quick disconnect plate was removed from the launch tower in an unexpected turn of events. This arm is used to power and power the upper stage of the craft, and you can actually see it retract during the craft's first flight test. It's interesting to see. being retired as it appeared to have suffered little to no damage during takeoff, there are a few possibilities as to why it has been retired, perhaps it will be replaced by an upgraded version or perhaps it has suffered foreign object damage requiring its replacement to avoid potential problems in the future we definitely have to monitor this part closely as any significant change in its design could rule out chip 25 from being used on Starship flight number II recently a delivery was spotted at the launch site intriguing some of you maybe Remember that one day before the first launch attempt, something fell from the top of the launch tower, creating countless sparks in the process.

It was later discovered that a steel cable in the elevator had broken, rendering everything useless, forcing workers to use human lifts, which slowed overall progress of the repair. It looks like that's about to change, as the parts delivered appear to be a new lift system that will hopefully be installed inside the launch tower. Soon, taking a step back, we can see the orbital tank park. He's been getting a lot of attention lately. SpaceX is in the process of replacing redundant vertical propellant storage tanks captured by our amazing Chiefs ycam operator. The excavator has cleared enough space to allow drilling operations to begin with the blue drilling rig ready to create another set of sturdy piles as we can.

We've already seen some rebar cages being lowered into place, suggesting that foundation construction won't take long. Now you might be wondering why they are drilling into the foundation if there are no tanks on the horizon. Well, our initial speculation that SpaceX will use smaller tanks for additional storage could be correct, as it appears the new tanks are already on their way to Starbase on May 24, numerous media outlets spotted fairly large tanks in Kansas City Missouri, which is a huge distance of more than 1,600 kilometers or 1,000 miles from Boca Chica, all available. The information points towards Starbase as its final destination.

The exact length of the tanks is difficult to determine as they are being transported on a custom-made trailer, but a Google Earth 3D model shows us that they are approximately 28 meters tall, which is certain to be shorter than the tanks. large 50 meter methane tanks that are already present in the orbital tank farm, given their dimensions, it is very unlikely that these tanks will be used to store liquid oxygen, but who knows, perhaps they will not be mounted at all in the New Foundations, since it is possible to install them vertically, time will tell, as you can see, Starbase is operating at full speed to quickly prepare for another Starship launch;

However, there is a formidable obstacle that even SpaceX cannot overcome the law in one of the previous episodes. I talked about a lawsuit. filed against the FAA accusing the agency of being too lenient on SpaceX the proposed environmental mitigation measures are allegedly disproportionate to the impact caused by the Starship launches while the lawsuit appears to lack substantial grounds for its claims the legal process may lead long and last months or even years, although currently not an issue, there is a possibility that the court will rule that SpaceX cannot continue testing the prototype until the lawsuit is resolved.

Now comes the fun part. SpaceX has joined the lawsuit as a co-defendant, siding with the FAA. To support its position, its legal documentation argues that participating in the lawsuit is directly in the company's interest, since the FAA does not adequately represent its business with SpaceX and the FAA joins forces, there is hope that the lawsuit can be quickly dismissed allowing work at Starbase to continue without worrying that the entire operation could be canceled by a court ruling. Do you think the case will be dismissed? Or maybe environmental groups are right and the FAA should make a full environmental impact statement.

Let me know in the comments. I love reading your thoughts on a side note, one intrusive detail revealed in the lawsuit is that so far SpaceX has only invested about $3 billion in the entire

project

, which includes building support equipment systems in land for the construction and launch site and a fully-blown launch tower not to mention that with this budget they were able to conduct numerous prototype tests and even attempt an orbital launch. It's amazing what they achieve with such a tight budget. You are really getting your money's worth with SpaceX. Now let's take a short drive down Highway 4 to get to the second starbase facility, the construction site, this is where the real magic happens as all the boosters and ships come to life there before they can undergo any testing. testing at the launch site on May 23.

The boss managed to capture a special delivery. Shaped like a reinforcement grid fin, like their counterparts on the Falcon 9, the grid fins play a crucial role in guiding the booster during its descent through the lower parts of the atmosphere. These fins are the secret behind the Falcon 9's ability to repeatedly achieve precise landings in the middle of the ocean, the grid fin you are seeing now was already installed on the top booster 11, strongly indicating that this super stacking process heavy is imminent, believe it or not, this wasn't even the

most

exciting thing we assembled at the construction site recently, thank you.

Based on incredible aerial photography shots from RGV, we've been tracking an interesting component for over a week. At first glance, it appeared to be an unassuming decagon, a polygon with 10 sides located near the final entrance to the middle of the Bay within this Bay, another intriguing object. A curious-looking white dome caught our attention, however, after the next flight over both pieces it disappeared and in its place a strange ring with many stringers moved inside the central bay. Thanks to the meticulous research of Space Engineer and Starship 3D, we now have an idea how. These enigmatic pieces may fit together, be sure to follow them on Twitter and there's a good chance that what we're witnessing right now at Starbase is the creation of another Luna Starship mockup.

We've seen something like this before, but back then it was a simple nose cone piece painted white that was later scrapped while SpaceX definitely worked on the human landing system behind closed doors, we couldn't detect any real hardware at the site. construction which is until now what those parts represent. Possibly the Moon's two airlock sections (you can see them in the official SpaceX renders). The inclusion of an airlock will allow astronauts to exit the lander without requiring depressurization of the entire crew section. Additionally, it is anticipated that an elevator will be installed at this location providing a safe means for astronauts to descend to the surface of the moon and it gets even better under this section.

A ring of smaller, possibly Raptor-derived thrusters can be seen. They are designed to allow the spacecraft to land on the silver globe without creating a giant crater below. As they are higher up on the Starship, it is possible that the reinforced ring I showed you earlier is the mounting frame for such thrusters, although for now that is just speculation, some have also proposed that the ship's nose cone 22 will become In part of this strange contraption, since it was not ruled out for a long time, it is truly incredible how open SpaceX is to the public. It's like watching the first steps in the development of the lunar lander, except it's bigger, better and,

most

important

ly, reusable.

However, while doing research at Starbase it was always fun. our ability to deduce information will become increasingly challenging. Last week we saw some clues that the onshore manufacturing building was in the process of being dismantled. Now it turns out that SpaceX not only plans to get rid of the manufacturing building but also the propulsion building. In addition to the lower bay, in fact, this process has already begun. Argon tanks adjacent to the onshore manufacturing site were emptied. The fence in front of the complex was taken down and the lower bay was completely cleaned. You may be wondering why SpaceX is choosing to remove so many buildings, well most of them have not been used for quite some time and a much larger construction is ready to replace them.

Yes, I'm talking about the star factory. We have already witnessed its expansion to the right, but now it seems that it will also extend downwards; It's only a matter of time before it engulfs the three production tents located next to the existing Star Factory section. Working outdoors may not have been a problem for singular prototypes, but production must increase. As foreign object damage and adverse weather conditions become major issues, locking everything inside a colossal production facility is a smart move, although it sounds unbelievable and will undoubtedly speed up prototype production. There is a downside, once the factory is complete it will be more difficult to get a look inside. and capture photographs like this impressive piece of water plate captured by the Chief.

Unfortunately, this is a trade-off we must accept as part of Starbase's progress. What do you think? How long will it take to dismantle all the buildings? Two months, five, maybe more. Make sure you do it. Let me know in the comments and while you're at it hit the Me buttonlike subscribe to our channel or become a channel member or patron by clicking the join button below the video or follow the patreon link in the description. Thank you very much for your support from the entire team before we continue, let's talk about our sponsor who has been making my life much easier and much more delicious.

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They may be offering 50 off your first box, visit factor75.com or click the link below. and use code Felix 50 to get 50 off your first box of Factor. Now let's take a look at the Falcon 9's first raw mission that includes a maneuver back to the launch site. Of course, I'm also talking about Axiom, since this mission took off from Florida. launch complex 39a on May 21 at 2137 UTC, embarking on a 12-day voyage for the crew, remarkably despite being the first mission to present or return to the launch site, the new b1080 booster fulfilled its duties.performing smoothly a recoil boost and

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landing on lz1 nearly 15 hours and 35 minutes later, the Dragon Freedom crew successfully docked with the International Space Station achieving the fastest gross docking time ever achieved by SpaceX.

Here's some intriguing space trivia for you while 15 hours may not seem like much thanks to years of experience. Ross Cosmos managed to reduce the docking time to a staggering three hours and three minutes in October 2020. This is an outstanding achievement, especially considering how uncomfortable it must be to fly in the Soyuz capsule. There is little space inside after coupling. The astronauts were warmly welcomed by the Expedition 69 crew and briefed on ISS emergency procedures. They then proceeded to unpack some of the cargo they had brought with them on their third day of mission. They began to prepare the experiments they had to carry out the next day.

The mission's pilot, John Hoffner, participated in a remote conversation with students from Portugal and Ireland, assuming that everything is going according to plan. The Axiom 2 crew will spend a total of 10 days aboard the ISS conducting In addition to the ax2 mission, assigned testing and contributing to ongoing research and operations on the space station, in addition to the ax2 mission, this month there was another major mission to the International Space Station, just three days after the ax2 liftoff, a progress spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. In Kazakhstan, called ms-23 by Ross Cosmos or Progress 84 by NASA, this mission represents the 84th delivery of cargo to the ISS by the Progress family of spacecraft, unlike the raw missions, Progress does not carry a crew to on board, but rather serves as a large Transport Truck that transports almost 2.5 tons or 5,500 pounds of cargo to the ISS each time, an incredible 210 tons since the first flight.

The payload includes various items, such as cosmonaut clothing and experiments, totaling more than 1.5 tons or 3,400 pounds of dry cargo. Additionally, it carries approximately 490 kilograms or just over 1,000 pounds of propellant to propel the ISS into orbit, as well as 420 kilograms or 930 pounds of fresh water. The spacecraft will remain docked at the station after a successful arrival for the next few months during this period. will act as a storage facility for waste generated aboard the station eventually progress will be sealed undocked and deorbited upon entering Earth's atmosphere will burn up safely while many progress cracks in the future will re-enter the Earth's atmosphere there is a vehicle that you will never leave again, perhaps you guessed it.

Of course, I'm referring to launcher one. It seems that Virgin Orbit's bankruptcy is inevitable and there is nothing they can do to stop it. Established in 2017 as a spin-off from Virgin Galactic, the company aimed to provide affordable access to space allowing payloads of up to 300 kilograms or 660 pounds to be sent to low-Earth orbit. Virgin's approach of using a modified Boeing 747 plane with an air-launch rocket mounted under its left wing was supposed to save money by skipping the thicker parts of the atmosphere making the rocket smaller and requiring less fuel to launch. rockets after an initial launch failure.

The virgin orbit managed to gain traction by achieving successful launches for NASA and the US Navy and contributing to the beginning of the historic Polish satellite constellation during its first operational launch. Unfortunately, all it took to bring down the entire company was just one failed launch on January 23rd. Virgin Orbit had ambitious plans to demonstrate its launch capabilities from multiple locations around the world, starting with a launch in Branson's home country of the United Kingdom, followed by another launch. from Poland in late 2023. The UK launch attracted significant media attention as it was sadly the country's first orbital launch, although lift-off looked promising for the launcher.

A rocket failed to reach a stable orbit. This failed launch had a detrimental impact on Virgin's orbit, making its shares plummet as a result, the company suspended all operations on March 16. There was a glimmer of hope when they came close to securing a $200 million investment, but the deal ultimately fell through and the company filed for bankruptcy on April 4. Their assets were sold. to three major bidders and that's where things start to look really interesting. Rocket Lab purchased the company's Long Beach facility with all its tools for $16 million to accelerate development of the neutron launcher. A large subsidiary responsible for the design of the private space station we recently covered. here I acquired the Mojave test site for 3 million dollars, but the most surprising thing was that Strato launched the company responsible for the rock, one of the largest planes ever created, got the Boeing 747 plane from the cosmic girl for 17 million .

What's so intriguing is that Strato Launch is already working on a similar concept, but instead of rockets they want to airdrop hypersonic test vehicles, maybe they just wanted a large cargo plane at a good price or maybe they saw an opportunity to fill the void created by the virgin orbit, time will tell, but we will definitely keep an eye on this company, ending the episode on a positive note. Mission #68, also known as the penultimate Delta IV heavy launch,

finally

received a new liftoff date after a delay caused by a problem with the rocket. Over the past few months, the various pieces of the rocket have been transported to Port Canaveral for assembly and subsequent assembly at Space Launch Complex 37, initially scheduled for April 20.

The launch was postponed until June 21 after an anomaly was discovered in one of the boosters during a routine pre-launch check, as is often the case with national reconnaissance office launches, the payload specified to board remains shrouded in secrecy, it could be a spy satellite or a space laser or something completely different, we can only speculate that my favorite would of course be space. laser, if you have the opportunity to witness this launch, please do your best to do so after this mission, only one more Delta IV heavy launches are planned for 2024, after which it will be retired forever, that's all for today , remember to like and subscribe, very

important

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