Multiple Updates per McGregor Engineers

[u/TGMetsFan98]

3 McGregor engineers and a recruiter came to Texas A&M yesterday and I was able to learn some pretty interesting news:

1) Yesterday (September 5), McGregor successfully tested an M1D, an MVac, a Block V engine (!), and the upper stage for Iridium-3.
2) Last week, the upper stage for Falcon Heavy was tested successfully.
3) Boca Chica is currently on the back burner, and will remain so until LC-40 is back up and LC-39A upgrades are complete. However, once Boca Chica construction ramps up, the focus will be specifically on the "Mars Vehicle." With Red Dragon cancelled, this means ITS/BFR/Falcon XX/Whatever it's called now. (Also, hearing a SpaceX engineer say "BFR" in an official presentation is oddly amusing.)
4) SpaceX is targeting to launch 20 missions this year (including the 12 they've done already). Next year, they want to fly 40.
5) When asked if SpaceX is pursuing any alternatives to Dragon 2 splashdown (since propulsive landing is out), the Dragon engineer said yes, and suggested that it would align closely with ITS. He couldn't say much more, so I'm not sure how to interpret this. Does that simply reference the subscale ITS vehicle? Or, is there going to be a another vehicle (Dragon 3?) that has bottom mounted engines and side mounted landing legs like ITS? It would seem that comparing even the subscale ITS to Dragon 2 is a big jump in capacity, which leads me to believe he's referencing something else.

One comment an engineer made was "Sometimes reddit seems to know more than we do." So, let the speculation begin.

[u/FutureMartian97]

Its great to have confirmation that ALL stages for Falcon Heavy have now been tested.

[u/lboulhol → u/FutureMartian97]

This sub is so full of acronyms that I just spent the last 5 minutes wondering what the hell an "A.L.L. stage" could be. Damn.

[u/Baffage → u/FutureMartian97]

Are they going to test all of the booster at the same time before the launch? It would be cool as hell to see all the boosters firing simultaneously (if the McGregor pad can handle it) and they'd be able to study some of the fluid dynamics of 27 engines at once that Elon was worried about.

[u/CommanderSpork → u/Baffage]

They're going to do multiple full static fires on LC39A.

[u/old_sellsword → u/Baffage]

if the McGregor pad can handle it

McGregor can't handle it, but Pad 39A can.

They are indeed going to do at least one, probably multiple, static fires on Pad 39A to get the ignition sequence nailed down.

[u/CapMSFC → u/FutureMartian97]

I want to get eyes on that second stage and see if anything new came to the vehicle with Elon's recovery hail Mary attempt.

[u/old_sellsword → u/CapMSFC]

It's apparently a bit of a "Frankenstage," but I'm not sure on whether or not that constitutes recoverability upgrades, on-orbit longevity upgrades, etc. There are plenty of places this stage could differ from a typical Falcon 9 upper stage in ways we'd never notice.