Note, my Spider Sense says they don’t have full regulatory approval for 10/13 and this is just an effort to demonstrate that the government is holding things up. Had SpaceX not done this, it would be easier for the government to shrug off its delays and assert that SpaceX would not have been ready anyhow. But on with the show…
This topic discusses the forthcoming SpaceX fifth flight test of the integrated Starship (#30) and Super Heavy booster (#12), currently scheduled for launch no earlier than 2024-10-13 12:00 UTC. The planned flight, if successful, will launch the craft on a near-orbital trajectory, with the first stage booster performing a boost back burn and launch tower catch (with fallback to soft water landing in the Gulf of Mexico), and the upper stage Starship accelerating to a velocity slightly less than orbital speed, causing it to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere over the Indian Ocean. Additionally, a revised Starship heat shield system including ablative underlayer will be tested.
A truly inspiring achievement; tears in my eyes! It shows the possibilities of technological power of concerted human effort for the long-term benefit of all. Unfortunately, we live in a political system, at present - rooted in something akin to institutional envy - where such an enormous success by an individual’s company will cause TPTB to regard him as a dangerous enemy, a threat. As they see it, there is no room for inspiration to emanate from anywhere other than fed gov™. The story of the scorpion and the frog comes to mind, illustrating the nature of scorpions everywhere and under all circumstances. Such is the ethos of our present state. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” - sayeth the fed gov™ diety.
It’s good that the FAA and FCC were dragging their feet because the superheavy presents more of an opportunity than the heavy for stolen valor by technosocialists; claiming it couldn’t have been done without them. I was disappointed when Musk bid on the moon landing contract.
Joe six-pack is starting to understand how much of an enemy that unspeakable thing in DC is and the superheavy is doing some heavy lifting in the mythic vocabulary of The Nation of Settlers.
