David Chilton デイヴィッド🇺🇦

Father, husband, traveller, aerospace 🚀✈ engineer by degree, UK Defence civil servant. 日本語少し話す。 Comments and thoughts very much my own.

[David Chilton デイヴィッド🇺🇦 @DavidAChilton]

@JonA2i @thinkdefence Clearly you have good contacts! Thanks for your insights.

[David Chilton デイヴィッド🇺🇦 @DavidAChilton]

@JonA2i Thanks, interesting times for the programme.

[David Chilton デイヴィッド🇺🇦 @DavidAChilton]

@JonA2i @thinkdefence How do you know it's closed? Not that much detail in the public.

[David Chilton デイヴィッド🇺🇦 @DavidAChilton]

@JonA2i Apart from Germany then who else could become a part of GCAP? Do you think adding partners will impact the timescales?

[David Chilton デイヴィッド🇺🇦 @DavidAChilton]

@fesshole Yup, this is grim

[Jack Beyer @thejackbeyer]

The pace at which this program is moving is simply badass!

[David Chilton デイヴィッド🇺🇦 @DavidAChilton]

@d3vilicious @igorsushko AI or from a while back?

[Larry the Cat @Number10cat]

This is an image from @I_W_M of British Commandos on a landing craft approaching Sword Beach on D-Day, 6th June 1944. 82 years ago today.
War is a horrific thing; these men left their loved ones to enter its hellish cauldron. Some never returned. We remember their immense bravery and sacrifices to defeat fascism so that they should never be necessary again.

[Starship Gazer @StarshipGazer]

Super heavy booster 20 has rolled out of megabay 1 today for the first time ahead of transport later tonight to Starbase Massey's test site for initial cryo proof testing. This will be the booster for Starship test flight 13.

6/4/26

[David Chilton デイヴィッド🇺🇦 @DavidAChilton]

@RupertLowe10 No he doesn't. Not even close.

[OSINTtechnical @Osinttechnical]

Ukrainian attack drones successfully hit Russia's Antipinsky Oil Refinery overnight, setting it ablaze.

Seen here, the refinery continues to burn.

[Molly O’Shea @MollySOShea]

BREAKING: Inside Impulse Space with Tom Mueller (@lrocket) (SpaceX's 1st Employee)

FULL TOUR

The famous engineer behind the Merlin engine, now Founder, CEO & CTO of Impulse Space (@GoToImpulse)

ICYMI: Merlin still powers Falcon 9 today, the most reliable rocket engine ever flown & the highest thrust-to-weight ever developed. It's the workhorse behind nearly every SpaceX mission: Starlink launches, Dragon crew & cargo flights to the ISS, & booster landings

Tom walks us through the factory floor, from the avionics clean room to a live rocket engine firing in the vacuum chamber

Impulse is building the in-space mobility layer: the vehicles & engines that move spacecraft after launch, from LEO to GEO, the Moon, infinity & beyond

We cover:
→ Mira: precision maneuvering spacecraft & its saiph thrusters (8 thrusters, ~50 lbs thrust, 5-yr orbit life)
→ Helios: long haul same-day delivery vehicle (12 tons of LOX/methane, LEO to GEO)
→ Deneb Engine: 15,000 lbs thrust engine that powers Helios, ox-rich staged combustion, carbon skirt running over 3,000°F
→ Why 3D printing is "almost a cheat code" for rocket engines
→ In-house composite tanks, Novaloy, & copper liners machined from 700 lbs down to 25
→ 3 spacecraft in orbit + a 1,200-meter rendezvous
→ Starlink, iterating Merlin & Raptor, & working with @elonmusk
→ Nuclear propulsion, the Moon, & why compute needs to move to space

𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒
(00:00) Tom Mueller, Founder, CEO & CTO of Impulse Space
(00:49) Inside Impulse Space
(02:32) Avionics Bay floor
(02:59) Building rockets at home
(03:50) Mira and Helios
(08:00) Why Tom left SpaceX
(09:33) The Deneb Engine walkthrough
(11:42) Testing in Mojave
(12:23) Favorite part of the Engine
(13:30) How it's 3D Printed
(14:21) Why 3D Printing changes everything
(16:54) Finding Talent for COPVs
(17:28) No Modern hardware without software
(19:52) The Mill Turn explained
(22:42) Payload Deck Design
(25:28) Entering the Secret Area
(30:48) Thrust, Flow Rate, & 100 Sensors
(32:13) Collision avoidance in Orbit
(32:57) The Electric Propulsion Chamber
(34:28) Nuclear Electric is the future
(38:49) Data Centers in Space
(40:28) SpaceX & Starlink's Growth
(41:10) Working with Elon
(42:07) If not CEO, then what?
(42:32) Moon matters more than Mars

[David Chilton デイヴィッド🇺🇦 @DavidAChilton]

@lrocket @MollySOShea @elonmusk 'fricken laser ' 😂 use our data centre or we'll vaporise you

[David Chilton デイヴィッド🇺🇦 @DavidAChilton]

@JonA2i @almurray We have a different capability to Finland and Poland so you're right, we shouldn't compare. France or Italy are probably the closest in Europe especially Italy as they are also an F35 user. France on the other hand has a nuclear deterrent so neither country is directly comparable

[David Chilton デイヴィッド🇺🇦 @DavidAChilton]

@jk_rowling This is exhausting. Why is soo much energy being directed towards the smallest group of loud unreasonable protests. The concept of sex and safe places is so simple to understand. Those that are fighting against it need mental health support.

[Larry the Cat @Number10cat]

Anthony Head was an Ambassador for Battersea Dogs and Cats home for more than two decades. Thanks for everything Tony x

[David Chilton デイヴィッド🇺🇦 @DavidAChilton]

@JDVance His Parents have asked it not to be politicised. You are a disgrace to the boy's memory by blatantly disregarding the family's wishes. Suggest you focus on US politics, your issues on gun crime and policing!!

[Nicolas Pillet @nicolas_pillet]

Quelques explications sur l'évènement d'aujourd'hui à bord de l'ISS.

Le problème se situe dans la Chambre Intermédiaire (PrK) du module russe Zvezda. C'est le petit espace à l'arrière du module qui donne accès à la pièce d'amarrage où arrivent les vaisseaux Progress. 1/n

[David Chilton デイヴィッド🇺🇦 @DavidAChilton]

@JonA2i @almurray I'm not sure our full capability is as readily comparable. There's much we likely don't shout about.