Hello, we are TheSpaceXFans and welcome to TheSpaceXShow,
the place where you can stay up to date with everything SpaceX.
Kicking off today’s video, there was a Tweet posted by OneWeb. It says “We are pleased to
announce that we have entered into a launch agreement with SpaceX that will enable OneWeb
to resume satellite launches. The first launch with SpaceX is anticipated later this year.”
There was a Tweet posted by Michael Sheetz saying “QuiltyAnalytics found that U.S. space companies
are poised to benefit from Russia cutting itself off from much of the global space industry, with
SpaceX "the clear winner" in the launch market -- exemplified this morning by OneWeb's new deal.”
There were some Tweets in response to this from Musk with the first one saying “SpaceX default
plan was ~65% of global launch mass to orbit this year. Incremental demand might take that to ~70%,
so not a major change. Those numbers don’t count Starship. Rough math is
~16 tons * 50 launches = 800 tons. Rest of world is <400 tons (mostly China).”
There is some information which could mean SpaceX might get some more missions to launch.
Eric Berger posted a Tweet saying “Notable: Important space officials in Germany say the
best course for Europe, in the near term, would be to move six stranded
Galileo satellites, which had been due to fly on Soyuz, to three Falcon 9 rockets.”
He also posted saying “This will almost certainly be resisted by France-based Arianespace. However
it may ultimately be necessary because there are no Ariane 5 cores left, and the new Ariane 6
rocket is unlikely to have capacity for a couple of years.” There was an article posted about
SpaceX cutting ties with one of the companies they launch satellites for. It says “SpaceX is severing
ties with launch services company Spaceflight Inc. after years of working closely together,
a move that surprised Spaceflight executives.” Further to this, the article also says “‘We were
surprised to learn of it on Friday, and were not given any insight into the reasoning behind the
decision,’ Jodi Sorensen, Spaceflight marketing vice president, said by email. ‘We continue to
reach out to SpaceX in an attempt to discuss their position but haven’t heard back yet.’”
There is an interesting article posted saying “Swarm Technologies was the unidentified customer
of an Astra Space launch this month that placed 16 of its tiny satellites into orbit.” Now,
what’s interesting about this news is that Swarm Technologies was acquired by SpaceX back in 2021.
There was another article posted with this one being about Starlink and price increases. It says
“SpaceX has raised prices for both its Starlink broadband service and for dedicated and rideshare
launches, in some cases by up to 20%, citing inflation. The cost of the service, which had
been $99 in the United States, increased 11% to $110. The terminal, which cost $499 in the U.S.,
increased to $549 for those who had already paid a deposit and $599 for new customers, the latter a
20% increase.” Heading over to Boca Chica, here’s a view of the orbital launch site where there was
some testing recently. Propellant deliveries have recently been spotted to the orbital tank farm.
The structural test stand was moved to the launch site. The work on the Wide Bay in the production
yard has been continuing. Here’s a view of how the Wide Bay is looking overall next to the High Bay.
In the thread stemming from Michael Sheetz’ Tweet, Musk posted some information about Starship. He
said “First Starship orbital flight will be with Raptor 2 engines, as they are much more capable &
reliable. 230 ton or ~500k lb thrust at sea level. We’ll have 39 flightworthy engines built by next
month, then another month to integrate, so hopefully May for orbital flight test.”
In response, Musk was asked “Will Starship SN20 & Super Heavy Booster 4 still conduct the orbital
flight or new prototypes?” He responded and said “New.” This new Booster common dome was recently
flipped in the yard. There was a new Booster upper bulkhead sleeved with its ring stack in the yard.
After being destacked last week, Starship 20 has now been moved away from the chopsticks. Here’s
a view of Ship 24 currently being worked on in the Mid Bay. This Ship 25 mid Liquid Oxygen ring
stack was seen outside. Amid some fog, Super Heavy Booster 4 has undergone some testing this week.
Taking a look at the road and beach closures on the Cameron County website, the closures are
mostly irrelevant with today and tomorrow having been cancelled. There is still a date scheduled
for Friday 25th though. Some aerocovers, known as chines have been installed over Booster 7’s COPVs.
This barrel section for a test tank which’ll be B7.1 was spotted. As always, I have to say thank
you to both Mary, known as BocaChicaGal and Nic Ansuini for being out there filming the Starbase
content. Also, thank you to the NASASpaceflight team working behind the scenes on their videos,
livestreams and other space content. That’s it for this episode of TheSpaceXShow, I hope you
enjoyed the video, if you did, make sure to hit the like button and leave a comment down below.
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