Space Update 17th may

Space Update 17th may 

 

Welcome. Today's post we have a bit of SpaceX, the Boca Chica update, then SN4 hop information, SN5, and some other thing's.

Demo 2 

starting with the upcoming Demo 2 mission that will launch astronauts Bob Benkhen and Doug Hurley.

You can see here that is the Tesla Model X that will transport the men to the lauch pad, has had some work NASA have added their insignia logo to the side and their worm logo to the back. Also on Demo 2, SpaceX have added a section to their website for those people who have or will graduate in 2020. If you're one of those, you can submit a picture of yourself to be added to a image of the earth. That picture will then be sent to the ISS with Bob and Doug on a Demo 2.

SpaceX 

A company called Planet who are planning to launch a bunch of satellites have booked a rideshare with SpaceX. The company will lauch six SkySat satellites, they will be launched aboard Starlink missions and will be spread evenly between two launches.

The first batch should launch on the ninth Starlink mission expected to launch in June, the other batch will launch later this summer. 

Starlink 7 is supposed to launch this morning, but due to another launch by ULA being scrubbed, this has change. Saturday they tweeted that the new launch date was monday 18th at 7:32 am UTC or 3:32 am EDT. however, realy early this morning they also tweeted that due to a tropical depression the launch is now Tuesday may 19th 7:10 am UTC or 3:10 am EDT.

Starship 

Michael Sheetz has tweeted about SpaceX is bid for the NASA HLS program. Apparently "there are actually 3 different Starship variants that will be used: a Starship tanker, a Propellant storage Starship, and a human landing system Starship," each carried to LEO by the Super Heavy booster. On to Boca Chica where quite a bit of work has been happening Today we will start with the construction area and as you can see here, the ring stack in the windbreaker is still there.Not much indication as to what it's as to what it's in there for, but it's

still assumed that it's the missing SN5 piece between the nose and tank.

Also in Boca Chica, a new machine has arrived. I know nothing about this machine, but after looking it up it appears to be a milling machine.

SpaceX are also working on a new hangar style building  over in the construction area. Over by the  tents and the old windbreaker you can see  the new building being constructed. Whilst  it looks almost the same as the new ring fabrication  building, it seems to be quite a bit smaller. I haven't found any info on it yet, but  if you know what it could be, let me know  in the comments.

Now, we will head over to the launch area where there has been quite a lot of activity. To begin with you can see

a new metal structure being put together here, and I was sure what it was at first. Turns out that this is a frame like we saw previously  to cover the fuel lines and wires going into  the launch mount. Seems like SpaceX are trying  to keep things protected in the event that  something goes wrong.

Also SpaceX are getting  the area ready for the hop test, with some  construction work going on. They've been  pouring concrete for what looks to be the  landing pad for SN4 and future vehicles.

Over  by the newly poured concrete a SpaceX Tesla  was also spotted, this Tesla  is for SpaceX emergency operations

On to SN4  which has already created an amazing legacy  for itself so far, but still has work to do. Obviously engineers aren't slowing down  and if anything are speeding up preparations  for the 150m hop. We already know that Raptor  SN20 is attached to this prototype. However,  engineers appear to have been installing more components.

All of this work is because in  the next few days, SpaceX will perform a hop  test. Michael Baylor has tweeted a NOTAM from  the FAA. The document says that the testing  should take place on May 18th, so on Monday  we might see SN4 hop. I'm incredibly excited,  first we had a "water tower" with Starhopper, but this time we will see a grain silo lift  itself to 150m in altitude. Before that hop,  SpaceX is expected to do another static fire to test SN20, which was expected for yesterday.

However, due to weather, that test has yet  to happen. Either way here are the current  road and beach closures, which could change  with the weather. Now let's look at SN5  where not too much has been going on… SN5,  which in a few days ago was stacked, is still sitting and being worked on in the high bay. There shouldn't be too much more to do before this vehicle is in a position to begin testing.

We know that a new test  stand is being worked on in the launch area. This could be for SN5, but could potentially  also be a replacement if anything happens  to SN4 during the hop. I personally think  they might remove SN4 once it has hopped,  unless of course there is a RUD, or Rapid  Unscheduled Disassembly. Either way, SN5 testing  should be coming in the next month or two. I'm not sure if they'll attach a nose  and ends before they do testing. However,  I'm assuming they might do a series of  pressure tests and static fires of it first. We know that SN5 will get 3 Raptors so they  will likely want to test those together.

Once  it is ready to fly, I believe this vehicle  will do a 20km flight, which will be crazy  cool to see. It's not much different now  with the stage that SN5 is at, but here is  the latest build diagram from Rafael.

Without  any categorical SN6 updates, let's look  at a few other Starship pieces. You can see  here some more rings just sitting outside  waiting to be put to use, maybe for SN6 or  SN7? Also over by the new hangar style building  a header tank that was spotted. However, whilst  I'm not entirely sure, this could be an  old tank that was left over as SpaceX have  old test builds all over the place. Over by  the high bay, the old nose cone we thought  was for SN4 has been worked on. You can see  here that a crane has been attached, but I'm  not entirely sure why. However, what I want to point out is that there was a ring attached  beneath it but that looks like it has now  been removed. So I have no idea what the plan  is for this but I also doubt it will be put  to use given the two new recent nose cones  we've seen. As always, none of these updates  would be possible without the amazing work  and dedication by Mary, BocaChicaGal. Fair  massive thanks goes to her and to the NSF  team for sharing the awesome progress in Boca  Chica.