We are back as SpaceX again attempts to test the Starship Flight 12. Yesterday, SpaceX abandoned the Flight 12 test because of a launch tower quick-disconnect (QD) arm detachment failure.
I have added additional YouTube live video streams of the Flight 12 Starship launch from NasaSpaceFlight.com and Everyday Astronaut below.
I am also going to be posting live text updates that you can read below as the main events happen.
Flight 12 is the first launch and landing test of the Starship V3 generation. I have labeled the fully stacked Starship V3 in the following image to understand the major components of the spacecraft. It will help you understand the live webcast as you get used to the terminology.
Live Stream by SpaceX
Live Stream by NasaSpaceFlight.com (YouTube)
Live Stream by Everyday Astronaut
Live Updates (text/refresh page for the latest)
- SpaceX is targeting 5:30 PM CT / 6:30 PM ET for Starship liftoff
- The 2nd attempt at the Flight 12 Starship launch looks good from the weather and technical standpoints
- Both upper and lower stages combined, Starship has the capacity to load 5,000 tonnes (11.5 million pounds) of propellant
- SpaceX plans to deploy twenty Starlink V3 dummy satellites in space during the Flight 12 test today (SpaceX achieved success with the payload operation in Flight 11 last year)
- In addition to the Starlink V3 simulators, SpaceX also plans to deploy two modified Starlink satellites (internally called Dodger Dogs)
- SpaceX does not plan to catch Booster 19 or the Starship 39 in today’s Flight 12 test
- Dodger Dog Starlinks serve as a testing platform between V2 and V3 satellites
- SpaceX is transitioning from a traditional radio frequency transmission for deep space communications to laser-linked satellites to relay information from the Moon to Earth and back, and also provide faster connections to Starlink terminals on Earth
- SpaceX is all prepped up to land the Starship 39 upper stage in the Indian Ocean (near the coast of Australia)
- The launch pad for Flight 12 is redesigned to support the V3 Starship launches with 33 Raptor engines igniting simultaneously
- NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman has joined the live webcast with SpaceX hosts from Starbase, Texas
- T- 3 minutes, everything looks fine for launch
- SpaceX is going to hold at T- 40 seconds to check all systems
- Super Heavy Raptor engines are currently being
- T-40 seconds
- T-10 seconds
- Successful liftoff from Pad 2 OLM
- T+30 seconds, all 33 Raptor engines firing
- Starship trajectory nominal at T+ 1 minute
- Successful stage separation
- Flight 12 Booster 19 shuts its engines unexpectedly
- One RVac engine on the upper stage Starship 39 hasn’t ignited
- T+ 5 minutes, Ship 39 continues to fire 5 out of 6 engines
- SpaceX is planning suborbital trajectory for Ship 39 today
- Booster 19 makes a splashdown landing in the Gulf of America
- Some of the Booster 19 engines ignited for the landing, but SpaceX lost contact with the booster
- T+9 minutes, Ship 39 following its normal trajectory with 5 out of 6 engines running (one RVac didn’t ignite)
- Starship 39 (Flight 12 seconds-stage) is coasting in space
- Ship 39 aft flaps are working as expected to control the attitude (angle) of the Starship
- SpaceX is expecting to skip the Raptor relight test in space
- The next major milestone is the payload deployment of twenty Starlink V3 simulators and the two Dodger Dogs (V2.5 test satellites)
- T+17 minutes into the flight, Ship 39 coasting in space, trajectory is normal
- T+19 minutes 40 seconds, Ship 39 payload bay opens, the first Starlink simulator satellite deployed
- T+21 minutes: 4 satellites deployed, 18 to go
- SpaceX employees chant USA, USA, USA, at Starbase, Texas
- Starship V3 is designed to deploy 60 Starlink satellites. Today, SpaceX is only testing it with 22 satellites
- Dodger Dogs have some V3 Starlink electronics and solar arrays installed on them
- SpaceX might share views of the Starship in space using the cameras installed on the Dodger Dogs, modified Starlink satellites
- T+28 minutes 30 seconds: Both of the Dodger Dogs have been deployed successfully
- Next milestone: Starship 39’s atmospheric re-entry (test of the heat shield thermal protection system (TPS) tiles)
- SpaceX successfully received Starship footage from the Dodger Dog satellites
- T+48 minutes 50 seconds, Flight 12 Ship 39 starts entering the Earth’s atmosphere
- SpaceX is collecting useful data from Ship 39’s reentry at more than 5 times the speed of sound (8 km/seconds or 5 miles per second)
- These hypersonic speeds block communications with the flight control room
- T+52 minutes, the velocity of Starship 39 is more than 23,000 km/h
- Extreme heat and friction upon re-entry are building plasma around Ship 39
- SpaceX is going to attempt a maneuver on the Flight 12 Starship. “Kick the nose up to fully deploy those aft flaps, to really get a good test of the structural strength of that part of the ship,” the webcast host explains
- Some extra propellant is left in the header tanks because of skipping the Raptor engine relight test. This is going to put some extra pressure on the forward flaps at reentry
- SpaceX skipped the in-space burn but is going to attempt a landing burn with two sea-level Raptor 3 engines
- Some heat shield tiles were also attached to the leeward side of the Starship to test and increase data points
- SpaceX completes aft-flaps stress test at around T+1 hours, 1 minutes (at Mach 7 speeds)
- At T+1 hours, 4 minutes: Ship 39 is on target for landing in the Indian Ocean
- Ship 39 successfully performs the belly-flop maneuver
- Flight 12 upper stage Starhip 39 successfully lands in the Indian Ocean, performed the landing burn with 2 engines and then 1 engine at the end
- Ship 39 explodes after landing. The explosion was more intense as extra propellant was present due to skipping the in-space engine burn
Stay tuned for future updates on Starship and SpaceX. Follow us on:
Google News | X (Twitter) | Flipboard | WhatsApp Channel | RSS (Feedly).
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