SpaceX Starship - IFT-3 - Starbase TX - Launch Thread and Post Launch Discussion

Launch Date: March 14
Launch Window: 7:00 am CDT (9:00 am EST, 13:00 UTC)
Launch site: LC-1 - Starbase, Boca Chica Beach, Texas
Core Booster Recovery: Expended in Gulf with a landing burn
Starship Recovery: A controlled reentry through the atmosphere to a terminal velocity splashdown in the Indian Ocean
Booster: Super Heavy Booster 10
Starship: Starship 28
Mass: No mass simulator mentioned
Orbit: LEO-ish
Yearly Launch Number: 26

A SpaceX Super Heavy and Starship launch vehicle will launch on its third not quite orbital integrated flight test designated IFT-3. The mission will attempt to place Starship into a nearly orbital trajectory that will attempt a controlled reentry through the atmosphere to a terminal velocity splashdown in the Indian Ocean . The Super Heavy booster will attempt a landing burn in the the Gulf of Mexico where it will likely be destroyed. This is a further test of Stage 0, the booster, full power ascent, Max-Q, stage separation using the new hot staging, a booster stage test of a hard turn and boostback, full burn boost of Starship to space and sub LEO, Starship will do one partial orbit, simulate a de-orbit burn, test tiles and heating from atmospheric reentry, until it has a splashdown in the Indian Ocean.

It has also been determined that for this test flight there will be a fuel transfer test done on Starship for NASA's Tipping Part contract. The Starship will also test its payload bay door in zero-G for a test of future Starlink 2.0 deployments.

 

[ecarfan]

So the brief views of the ship in orbit could be through Starlink communication?

And the ship appears to be maneuvering in the coast phase, rolling a bit.

 

[ecarfan]

It seems like the ship is doing the classic barbecue roll to prevent the remaining propellants from overheating?

 

[scaesare]

HOLY CRAP video during major plasma!

 

[ecarfan]

That was incredible video. I assume the ship has hit the water by now.

 

[ecarfan]

 

[ecarfan]

 

[JB47394]

Lots of progress, and lots of stuff to work on. The full 33 engine light on the booster was awesome, as was staging and boostback.

During booster descent, that grid fin looked like it wanted to rip off, and the control system clearly wasn't stable. Right at the end, I saw one engine light, then they lost the feed, so I wonder if one or more engines blew up at that point.

Sadly, Starship wasn't stable once in space. I don't believe that was an intended "barbeque roll", and certainly the ship wasn't stabilized for reentry. It looked like it was stabilizing late courtesy of the control authority of flaps, but @ecarfan's screen shots show how actively it was moving around.

Oh, and SpaceX officially wrote off Starship. It didn't survive reentry. Certainly not enough to send any data.

 

[scaesare]

So they just called Starship loss... but man another great test flight... so much more progress...

Also SpaceX founded 22 yrs ago today (Pi day)... from a Mariachi band of a dozen folks to what we just saw, in a little over a couple decades... wow.

 

[ecarfan]

Ship failed to survive reentry. Not a surprise. Maybe lost too many tiles.

Overall, a real success! Some milestones achieved, others not.

And of course it is Pi Day today, so for all geeks everywhere…

 

[ecarfan]

Also SpaceX founded 12 yrs ago today

22 years. Founded in 2002 by a crazy guy who was laughed at by the entire aerospace industry.

He is still crazy, but no one is laughing at SpaceX now.

 

[zoomer0056]

Can SpaceX get data other than feeds from the ship in case of loss of signal? Like from cameras located on an aircraft or satellite, RADAR or an entry proof black box.

 

[ecarfan]

I’m not aware that SpaceX had any aircraft with cameras over the Indian Ocean, satellites seems very unlikely, and the ship does not have a “black box” like commercial aircraft do.

 

[scaesare]

22 years. Founded in 2002 by a crazy guy who was laughed at by the entire aerospace industry.

He is still crazy, but no one is laughing at SpaceX now.

Ah yeah, I realized I misheard a moment later when I realized that couldn't be right.

I still haven't had enough coffee (or sleep the last 3 days)...

 

[mongo]

Lots of progress, and lots of stuff to work on. The full 33 engine light on the booster was awesome, as was staging and boostback.

During booster descent, that grid fin looked like it wanted to rip off, and the control system clearly wasn't stable. Right at the end, I saw one engine light, then they lost the feed, so I wonder if one or more engines blew up at that point.

Sadly, Starship wasn't stable once in space. I don't believe that was an intended "barbeque roll", and certainly the ship wasn't stabilized for reentry. It looked like it was stabilizing late courtesy of the control authority of flaps, but @ecarfan's screen shots show how actively it was moving around.

Oh, and SpaceX officially wrote off Starship. It didn't survive reentry. Certainly not enough to send any data.

Booster feed cut out with a lot of Gulf in view. Pancake seems more likely than RUD.

Starship wasn't 'stationary', but was there any requirement for it to be? Seems like using flaps to set entry attitude via low densityatmosphere is a valid approach.

 

[scaesare]

Lots of progress, and lots of stuff to work on. The full 33 engine light on the booster was awesome, as was staging and boostback.

During booster descent, that grid fin looked like it wanted to rip off, and the control system clearly wasn't stable. Right at the end, I saw one engine light, then they lost the feed, so I wonder if one or more engines blew up at that point.

Sadly, Starship wasn't stable once in space. I don't believe that was an intended "barbeque roll", and certainly the ship wasn't stabilized for reentry. It looked like it was stabilizing late courtesy of the control authority of flaps, but @ecarfan's screen shots show how actively it was moving around.

Oh, and SpaceX officially wrote off Starship. It didn't survive reentry. Certainly not enough to send any data.

Thought I saw a 2nd light up on the graphic, but yeah, not as planned...

 

[JB47394]

Can SpaceX get data other than feeds from the ship in case of loss of signal?

They were using Starlink and the Tracking Data Relay Satellites (TDRS). Both went out at the same time, which is why SpaceX figures that the vehicle died in a fireball.

Maybe lost too many tiles.

Maybe. We sure saw a lot of crap coming off the vehicle right as it was starting to enter the atmosphere (~121 km). The tiles looked like they were holding up really well during the video feed. I think the tumbling probably killed it, with exposed stainless steel heating and failing.

Starship wasn't 'stationary', but was there any requirement for it to be?

It was still turning during reentry. While the control surfaces were trying to stabilize things, it took at least two rolls before I saw any sign of stabilization. From there, the pitch angle may have been all wrong.

They've clearly got to master control of the spacecraft's orientation. On this flight, I think it cost them reentry.

 

[JB47394]

Booster feed cut out with a lot of Gulf in view. Pancake seems more likely than RUD.

You're right. I just watched the SpaceX feed again. It impacted, and it looks like you can even see the surface of the water. The altitude reading went straight to zero while still moving at 1100 km/h (about Mach 0.9). They very briefly had three engines showing as lit.

No wonder the grid fin looked like it wanted to rip off.

 

[scaesare]

Thought I saw a 2nd light up on the graphic, but yeah, not as planned...

Actually 3 briefly:

 

[mongo]

Maybe. We sure saw a lot of crap coming off the vehicle right as it was starting to enter the atmosphere (~121 km).

That may have been ice. The wind was light and the shapes were irregular (unless it was chunks of tile due to reverse flow direction).

It was still turning during reentry. While the control surfaces were trying to stabilize things, it took at least two rolls before I saw any sign of stabilization. From there, the pitch angle may have been all wrong.

Sure, but is two rolls actually a problem? Pitch control after that is critical and the pitch flipping may have been further roll issues.
(Not to imply rolling at reentry is a good thing)

 

[JB47394]

That may have been ice.

There's clearly ice, but there is also some darker material (and not just due to lighting). It doesn't look to be tile material, but it sure looks like something else. In truth, the visible tiles held up like troopers.

(Not to imply rolling at reentry is a good thing)

Well, that's my point; the vehicle was rolling during reentry. At one point during reentry, there was plenty of plasma visible and the thing was coming in sideways, exposing stainless steel.

There was a lot of venting out the back of the vehicle for pretty much the entire flight, and I assume that was the cause of the tumbling. It could be due to any number of things, but they were certainly venting.

Separately, I noticed that the velocity telemetry on the Starship abruptly jumped by a few km/h several times at about the time they were supposed to try for the on-orbit relight. I wonder if that was attempts at spinning up the engines for the relight, but the computer instantly shut them down again. Would spin prime flow provide enough thrust to move a 100 ton ship by a few km/h? Could they have actually started the light and instantly shut down?