SpaceX cleared by FAA to launch first orbital Starship flight

[RussBLib]

Source: CNBC

SpaceX cleared by FAA to launch first orbital Starship flight

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a Starship launch license to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, a crucial final regulatory step that clears the company to attempt an orbital launch of its towering rocket for the first time.

“After a comprehensive license evaluation process, the FAA determined SpaceX met all safety, environmental, policy, payload, airspace integration and financial responsibility requirements. The license is valid for five years,” FAA said in a statement.

SpaceX, with the FAA license now in hand, aims to launch Starship as soon as Monday from its private facility in Texas along the Gulf Coast.

“SpaceX is targeting as soon as Monday, April 17 for the first flight test of a fully integrated Starship and Super Heavy rocket from Starbase in Texas. The 150-minute test window will open at 7:00 a.m. CT,” SpaceX said in a statement.

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/14/faa-clears-spacex-to-launch-starship-flight.html

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Oh, boy, here we go. We live 6 miles from that rocket and our house shook when he used 3 engines. This launch will use 33 engines. Yikes.

[dweller]

1. Anyone started a pool

on where it will land when it eventually falls from the sky ?
🤔

Dibs on the Gulf of Mexico



✌🏻

[2naSalit]

4. Florida or Cuba.

[Crowman2009]

11. Hopefully on top of Elon Musk.

What are the odds on that bet.

[edbermac]

2. I hate Twitter Elon...

But I root for SpaceX success. 🚀

[NBachers]

3. Yes- I remember rushing home from school to watch the Vanguard launches. I want success for SpaceX.

[ripcord]

5. I know many people don't like Musk

But SpaceX is saving the government a fortune over other potential contractors with better safety and reliability.

[speak easy]

7. I am rooting for Elon to be onboard.

[XorXor]

6. Musk is a prick, but I hope this works out well.

I try to keep Musk and the engineers, technicians, and scientists working at SpaceX separate.

[Farmer-Rick]

8. Musk doesn't come cheap

He charges us US taxpayers for everything.

"SpaceX is, after all, primarily a government contractor, racking up $15.3 billion in awarded contracts since 2003, according to US government records."

That's middle class workers tax dollars paying a billionaire. Seems like waste of money.

[EX500rider]

10. If the money had gone to Lockheed Martin & we got less for our money..

...would that somehow be better?
SpaceX does it cheaper.

[Farmer-Rick]

14. Do you have a link for that?

That Musk is the cheapest?

I would feel better if Musk and the other filthy rich US oligarchs were to pay as much taxes as the Middle Class does (average percent). When the secretaries pay more in taxes as a percent of their income than the CEOs, there is a problem.

In the meantime, all contractors should be audited by the IRS to make sure they are paying their full amount of taxes.

[EX500rider]

15. Here:

Launch money
If we take a look at launch costs, this trend makes a lot of easy sense. SpaceX launches accounted for 60 percent of global launches last year, and the erstwhile-startup can launch its Falcon 9 for a (relatively) modest $80-90 million. ULA tacks on a much higher bill -- the Government Accountability Organization reported (in 2015) their average cost is more than $400 million/flight, based on actual Air Force contracts. Our data confirms both Boeing’s and Lockheed’s contract value vacillating around that amount.

https://www.businessofbusiness.com/articles/spacex-growing-government-contracts/

[Farmer-Rick]

19. Only after Musk sued them

And soon after forcing the government to pay for his contracts, he destroyed a billion dollar Facebook satellite.

"But while this was a victory in government contracts, SpaceX saw its first major catastrophe in September 2016 when one of its Falcon 9 rockets exploded during pre-flight preparations, destroying a Facebook internet satellite worth billions."

Of course no one's counting all the subsidies Musk collected from the US government before he ever won a contract.

But thanks for the link. There is a lot of good info there including how Putin got paid to provide first stage rockets and engines to the US space program. Wow, capitalist don't care who they pay off as long as they get a profit.

[former9thward]

17. Musk paid $11 Billion in taxes in 2021.

A 40.8% tax rate. (This did not included CA income tax at 12%). That is far, far higher than a secretary is paying as a percent in taxes. It was the highest amount of taxes that anyone has paid in history. How much should he have paid?

https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/20/investing/elon-musk-11-billion-dollars-taxes/index.html

[Farmer-Rick]

18. So he says

And that CNN reporter doesn't claim he research the truth of it. Just says he "probably" did. Not so reassuring considering this further down in the article,

"That would be a massive change from some recent years. An investigation by ProPublica found that Musk, and fellow billionaires such as Jeff Bezos and Michael Bloomberg, legally paid zero in income taxes in 2018."

Soooo, it's rare for the oligarchs to pay any taxes at all. If what Musk claims is true, that's good. But why does the reporter say "probably"?

[former9thward]

20. The reporter is not the IRS and so does not see the check.

The IRS does not release individual's tax info. And the reporter is not Musk's accountant so he can only do reasonable educated guesses. Those are the reasons he says "probably". There are many, many other articles on this subject - not just CNN.

[Farmer-Rick]

21. Yeah, other media outlets are covering it because Musk is saying it.

He is claiming this and the journalist cover his claims without verifying any of it in the hopes of shaming Elizabeth Warren.

Then as you say, No one can legally verify what Musk claims. So it becomes an echo chamber because Musk was trying to clap back at a Democratic leader.

Musk is known to lie about his financial history and I suspect he is lying again.

So, I doubt it until actual evidence can be provided. Why doesn't Musk just release his own tax returns and prove it?

[Bayard]

12. Billions of dollars just to splash down in the ocean?

And it can't even hit warp speed.

[Lulu KC]

13. I have to say--

Last night my husband and I watched The Right Stuff, which we'd somehow both missed along the way. I've not been thinking about those original astronauts and what it was all like at the time in years. What a contrast.

(Though the film was not liked by most of the Mercury Seven, especially its treatment of Gus Grissom, which is another whole topic--WHAT A MOVIE! I had totally forgotten that they were all test pilots and veterans of WWII/Korea. Amazing, really. And Sam Shepard? I'd watch it again just for him.)

[SpankMe]

16. The Moron gives it a 50-50 chance of success

Frankly, I give it 60 to 65 percent chance of success based on a ton of lessons learned from the prior testing and flights.

I have grown to detest The Moron® (aka, Elon Musk). But I am a big fan of aerospace, planes and rockets and I am still all for the success of Falcon 9 and Starship. As much of an asshole as The Moron® is, SpaceX and Starship are pushing that whole industry forward in ways that Lockheed and Boeing (ULA) can't.