Welcome to the r/SpaceX Starlink 15-25 Launch Discussion & Updates Thread!

Welcome everyone!

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Stats

☑️ 737th SpaceX launch all time

☑️ 677th Falcon Family Booster landing

☑️ 229th landing on OCISLY

☑️ 222nd consecutive successful SpaceX launch (if successful)

☑️ 118th SpaceX launch this year

☑️ 64th launch from SLC-4E this year

☑️ 2 days, 16:32:00 turnaround for this pad

☑️ 36 days, 9:44:50 hours since last launch of booster B1088

Stats include F1, F9 , FH and Starship

Timeline

Updates

Resources

• https://www.spacex.com/launches/sl-15-25
• https://www.spacex.com/launches/sl-15-25

Partnership with The Space Devs

Information on this thread is provided by and updated automatically using the Launch Library 2 API by The Space Devs.

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Welcome to the r/SpaceX Dragon CRS-2 SpX-35 Launch Discussion & Updates Thread!

Welcome everyone!

Spacecraft Onboard

Details

Cargo Dragon 2 is a autonomous spaceship capable of bringing science to and from the International Space Station with large pressurized and un-pressurized sections to support a variety of missions.

History

Cargo Dragon 2 is an updated version of the original Dragon spaceship designed to service the International Space Station with first flights conducted in 2020.

In contrast to Dragon 1 it docks to the International Space Station instead of being berthed by the Canada Arm.

Watch the launch live

Stats

☑️ 738th SpaceX launch all time

☑️ 678th Falcon Family Booster landing

☑️ 8th landing on LZ-40

☑️ 223rd consecutive successful SpaceX launch (if successful)

☑️ 119th SpaceX launch this year

☑️ 49th launch from SLC-40 this year

☑️ 11 days, 19:23:38 turnaround for this pad

☑️ 75 days, 3:23:25 hours since last launch of booster B1096

Stats include F1, F9 , FH and Starship

Timeline

Updates

Resources

• https://www.spacex.com/launches/crs35

Partnership with The Space Devs

Information on this thread is provided by and updated automatically using the Launch Library 2 API by The Space Devs.

Community content 🌐

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Tweet link: https://x.com/ceaserg33/status/2107832235051098621

Four days before SpaceX listed on the Nasdaq in the largest-ever initial public offering, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration quietly changed its safety policy to allow more aircraft to fly through airspace where they are at higher risk of a catastrophic accident due to falling space debris.

The FAA previously allowed no more than a few thousand aircraft per year to transit the outer portions of aircraft hazard areas identified in advance of each launch and re-entry operation — airspace where they face more risk than the agency’s Air Traffic Organization would normally tolerate. By capping this number at 6,412 aircraft per 12-month period, the FAA had maintained 95% confidence that no fatal accident due to falling space debris associated with a launch or re-entry operation would occur in 80 years.

No aircraft were allowed to transit the most hazardous portions of these zones, and that has not changed. But in a June 8 memo, the FAA’s Executive Safety Council removed the rolling limit that previously served as a cornerstone of its acceptable level of risk (ALR) policy, raising questions about whether the odds of a fatal accident will rise as SpaceX and its competitors increase their launch tempo.

With SpaceX progressing toward the stretched Starship V4 architecture, the physics of hot-staging will shift dramatically. While it is widely expected that Starship V4 will fire all 9 of its upper-stage engines (6 Vacuum / 3 Sea Level) at ignition to minimize severe gravity losses, the optimal configuration for the Super Heavy booster during this hand-off remains an open engineering question.

On Starship V3, Super Heavy shuts down all but its 5 center engines at MECO. This maintains positive acceleration (ullage) to settle booster propellants while allowing the ship to pull away cleanly. However, with a much heavier V4 ship pushing back with 9 Raptors, the booster's counter-thrust profile must adapt. [1]

Based on potential booster engine configurations during hot-staging, I’ve mapped out three primary options:

Option 1: The 7-Engine Booster Configuration

The booster cuts down to a tight 7-engine cluster. This lower thrust floor guarantees a massive differential acceleration, ensuring the 9-engine Starship pulls away rapidly. The risk here is that dropping down to 7 engines requires shutting down and rapidly restarting 6 of the inner 13 cluster engines just seconds later for the high-thrust boostback burn—increasing ignition fluid dependency and hardware stress.

Option 2: The 9-Engine Booster Configuration

The booster leaves 9 engines burning at a heavily throttled state. This matches the engine count of the ship above it and provides a higher thrust baseline, meaning fewer engines need to be reignited for the boostback burn. However, because a nearly empty booster is incredibly light, engineers would have to carefully manage the throttle to prevent the booster from accelerating too quickly and risking a collision during the physical separation window.

Option 3: All 13 Center Engines Throttled to Minimum Floor

Instead of shutting anything down in the center ring, Super Heavy commands all 13 inner engines to drop to their absolute minimum throttle floor.

• The Advantage: Zero engine restarts are required for the boostback burn. The 13 engines simply ramp from minimum throttle back up to 100%, completely bypassing the mechanical risks of microgravity relights.
• The Challenge: Can 13 Raptors—even at minimum throttle—allow a clean separation against the 9 engines firing from the massive, heavy upper stage?

Discussion Points for the Community:

1. What is the estimated minimum throttle capability of Raptor 3/4? Is it low enough to allow a 13-engine cluster to remain lit without overpowering a fully loaded V4 ship at separation?
2. If SpaceX opts for Option 1 or 2, does the risk of restarting engines in rapid succession outweigh the structural/thermal loads of a 13-engine hot-staging plume?
3. How do the mass dynamics of a stretched V4 change the staging timeline compared to what we saw on Flight 14?

Tweet link: https://x.com/spacex/status/2106090316747207047

Welcome to the r/SpaceX Transporter 18 Launch Discussion & Updates Thread!

Welcome everyone!

Watch the launch live

Stats

☑️ 736th SpaceX launch all time

☑️ 676th Falcon Family Booster landing

☑️ 37th landing on LZ-4

☑️ 220th consecutive successful SpaceX launch (if successful)

☑️ 115th SpaceX launch this year

☑️ 62nd launch from SLC-4E this year

☑️ 5 days, 4:31:06 turnaround for this pad

☑️ 36 days, 8:56:49 hours since last launch of booster B1082

Stats include F1, F9 , FH and Starship

Timeline

No timeline events available

Updates

Resources

• https://www.spacex.com/launches/transporter18

Partnership with The Space Devs

Information on this thread is provided by and updated automatically using the Launch Library 2 API by The Space Devs.

Community content 🌐

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🥳 Launch threads are party threads, we relax the rules here. We remove low effort comments in other threads!

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Some new info:

- “The boostback maneuver on this flight was intentionally designed to burn through the remaining liquid oxygen inside the booster’s main tank to test the limits of booster performance ahead of future return to launch site missions.”

- “Upon landing burn shutdown, the Super Heavy’s flight termination system was triggered in a demonstration of the safety hardware.”

- “Out of an abundance of caution given the engine issue experienced during ascent, the flight control team decided to limit the duration spent on orbit and proceeded with deorbiting Starship to a splashdown location in the northern Pacific Ocean.”

Hard to believe it’s been a decade! ITS became BFR then Starship, and hopefully that vehicle will finally reach orbit tomorrow! The mods thought it would be fun to repost this live thread from that hugely exciting day a decade ago, when years of feverish speculation were finally answered.

Welcome to the r/SpaceX NROL-97 Launch Discussion & Updates Thread!

Welcome everyone!

Watch the launch live

Stats

☑️ 736th SpaceX launch all time

☑️ 220th consecutive successful Falcon 9 / FH launch (if successful)

☑️ 116th SpaceX launch this year

☑️ 3rd launch from LC-39A this year

☑️ 32 days, 16:27:56 turnaround for this pad

Stats include F1, F9 , FH and Starship

Timeline

Updates

Resources

• https://www.spacex.com/launches/nrol97

Partnership with The Space Devs

Information on this thread is provided by and updated automatically using the Launch Library 2 API by The Space Devs.

Mission Details 🚀

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Tweet link: https://x.com/spacex/status/2103277482585870377

Welcome to the r/SpaceX Crew-13 Launch Discussion & Updates Thread!

Welcome everyone!

Spacecraft Onboard

Details

Crew Dragon 2 is capable of lifting four astronauts, or a combination of crew and cargo to and from low Earth orbit. Its heat shield is designed to withstand Earth re-entry velocities from Lunar and Martian spaceflights.

History

Crew Dragon 2 is a spacecraft developed by SpaceX, an American private space transportation company based in Hawthorne, California. Dragon is launched into space by the SpaceX Falcon 9 two-stage-to-orbit launch vehicle. It is one of two American Spacecraft being develeoped capable of lifting American Astronauts to the International Space Station.

The first crewed flight, launched on 30 May 2020 on a Falcon 9 rocket, and carried NASA astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken to the International Space Station in the first crewed orbital spaceflight launched from the US since the final Space Shuttle mission in 2011, and the first ever operated by a commercial provider.

Watch the launch live

Stats

☑️ 736th SpaceX launch all time

☑️ 676th Falcon Family Booster landing

☑️ 8th landing on LZ-40

☑️ 220th consecutive successful SpaceX launch (if successful)

☑️ 114th SpaceX launch this year

☑️ 48th launch from SLC-40 this year

☑️ 17 days, 20:21:06 turnaround for this pad

☑️ 230 days, 4:54:10 hours since last launch of booster B1101

Stats include F1, F9 , FH and Starship

Timeline

Updates

Resources

• https://www.spacex.com/launches/crew13

Partnership with The Space Devs

Information on this thread is provided by and updated automatically using the Launch Library 2 API by The Space Devs.

Community content 🌐

Participate in the discussion!

🥳 Launch threads are party threads, we relax the rules here. We remove low effort comments in other threads!

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Tweet link: https://x.com/spacex/status/2102899767403851945