We have completed breakover operations for the Neutron Stage 2 tank assembly, rotating the stage horizontal – a critical step in the handling of large rocket sections for integration and assembly.
Here’s a last look at Stage 2 on the Neutron Factory floor before it’s wrapped up (literally) for barge shipment to LC-3 on Wallops Island where its fluid systems will be tested and its Archimedes vacuum engine installed.
Production of the new carbon composite forward dome for Neutron’s Stage 1 propellant tank is underway.
Our automated fiber placement (AFP) machine follows a computer-controlled course to lay down thousands of strands of carbon fiber - each thinner than a human hair - at speeds of up to 100 meters per minute to create Stage 1’s structures on custom molds.
Once the AFP machine is finished with the new forward dome it will be rolled out, inspected, then prepared for the curing process to harden the carbon composite.
Stage 2 has officially left the rocket factory for the last time. 😢🫡
Now in Moses Lake, WA, it will undergo cryo proof testing and then a hotfire campaign with its Andromeda engine before shipment to our launch site in Cape Canaveral, FL.
In may of 2025, a bit after FLT-9, i submitted a FOIA request to the FAA to receive copies of the final mishap reports for Flights 7 & 8.
Over a year and a half later, and they finally got back to me.
The mishap reports are heavily redacted as i expected but are still cool.
I've joined the @X team at @spacexai! I'll be working with @santiagomed and @chrisparkX to build the 𝕏 Everything API. Excited to learn and excited to ship 🚢
(video unrelated)
this has become one of my most used prompts recently:
> restate in your own words what you think my goals are and what the problem i'm trying to solve is
Congrats @SpaceX! Gorgeous launch, getting Ship to orbit and managing every step in a safe, responsible, and especially inspirational way. @NASA, along with the rest of the interested public, is excited to help where we can and for Starship missions to become routine!