Elon Musk details SpaceX progress on latest Starship spacecraft build and flight timelines
Link: https://techcrunch.com/2019/12/30/elon-musk-details-spacex-progress-on-latest-starship-spacecraft-build-and-flight-timelines/
The fast pace of Starlink deployments will allow SpaceX to rapidly expand its coverage area. Numerous other companies including OneWeb, Amazon, and Telesat are working on their own competing constellations – making it critical for SpaceX to bring Starlink to market as quickly as possible.
SpaceX is currently slated to begin their 2020 manifest with their third batch of Starlink satellites on Jan. 3 at 22:24 local time (Jan. 4 3:24 UTC). The launch will occur from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral, Fla., where SpaceX is expected to launch the large majority of their Starlink missions.
The launch will be the fourth flight of the first stage booster B1049, which will become SpaceX’s second booster to fly for the fourth time.
The fourth batch of Starlink satellites is then scheduled for mid-January, with SpaceX looking to quickly turnaround the SLC-40 launch pad.
Meanwhile, the company is currently targeting no earlier than Jan. 11 for the launch of Crew Dragon’s Inflight Abort Test from Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The flight will see Crew Dragon demonstrate its abort capabilities from a Falcon 9 launch vehicle at the point of maximum aerodynamic pressure on the launch vehicle.
The flight is the largest remaining hurdle before SpaceX is ready to fly crew for the first time.
SpaceX has already achieved its goal of conducting ten consecutive successful parachute drop tests of Crew Dragon’s upgraded parachutes in the final months of 2019, likely paving the way for parachute qualification in the near future.
Parachute qualification has been one of the largest remaining open items before crewed flight.
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