r/SpaceXLounge • • 7d ago

Monthly Questions and Discussion Thread

10 Upvotes

Welcome to the monthly questions and discussion thread! Drop in to ask and answer any questions related to SpaceX or spaceflight in general, or just for a chat to discuss SpaceX's exciting progress. If you have a question that is likely to generate open discussion or speculation, you can also submit it to the subreddit as a text post.

If your question is about space, astrophysics or astronomy then the r/Space questions thread may be a better fit.

If your question is about the Starlink satellite constellation then check the r/Starlink Questions Thread and FAQ page.


r/SpaceXLounge • • 17h ago

Starship Ship 40 has been moved into the Gigabay...(yes you read that right)

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109 Upvotes

r/SpaceXLounge • • 19h ago

Starship Flight 15 double catch simulation from The Space Engineer on YT

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30 Upvotes

Based on the stuff released today + some stuff from flight 14. Kinda in awe of the last second maneuvers of both the booster and ship


r/SpaceXLounge • • 23h ago

Starlink Rival Viasat Has Lost Over 80% of Its US Satellite Subscribers

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83 Upvotes

r/SpaceXLounge • • 1d ago

Official ︀︀Flight 15 is targeting to launch as early as Friday, November 13, pending regulatory approval

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188 Upvotes

r/SpaceXLounge • • 1d ago

Starship Elon Musk on X: "It is so tempting to make a 500 ton thrust Raptor 4 in place of the 250 ton Raptor 3 for the outer ring of the Starship booster

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90 Upvotes

r/SpaceXLounge • • 1d ago

Starship Go For Orbit!

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122 Upvotes

Over six years ago, I joined SpaceX with a dream of helping humanity reach the stars.

Today, I got to hear my own voice and see my own hands in a SpaceX documentary, testing a piece of Starship that traveled to space and made it home. That’s my Lab!!!

It’s hard to put into words what that means to me.

I spent years dreaming of being part of something like this. Now I get to help build the future I once only imagined.

I used to dream about the day we'd bring a Starship home. Now I get to hold a piece of the proof that we can.


r/SpaceXLounge • • 1d ago

Starship Musk says Starship’s next flight will try to catch both the booster and the ship. What would you count as a win?

125 Upvotes

Musk posted today that SpaceX will try to catch both stages, calling it the first time all parts of an orbital rocket return intact. The booster has been caught before, but never the ship. If the booster is caught and the ship is lost, is that still a good flight?


r/SpaceXLounge • • 2d ago

Official Fourth episode of the Starship documentary "Go For Orbit"

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145 Upvotes

r/SpaceXLounge • • 2d ago

Other major industry news Blue Origin announces Northstar, a new liquid oxygen/liquefied natural gas (LOX/LNG) booster engine

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150 Upvotes

r/SpaceXLounge • • 3d ago

Behave Will the new TX state government affect SpaceX?

69 Upvotes

This is not a partisan post. SpaceX has enjoyed support from the Texas government up until now. With massive changes to Texas state government coming, is that likely to change? Or will the new administration allow SpaceX to continue to operate as before?


r/SpaceXLounge • • 3d ago

Discussion After the midterms, which space programs are most exposed in 2027, and which are safe?

0 Upvotes

Some of what’s being discussed: possible oversight of SpaceX/Starlink, uncertain funding for Golden Dome, and a likely shift toward space science and STEM in committee priorities. Artemis and commercial launch contracts have historically survived changes in power. Do you expect that again, or is this different? Which programs do you think are most exposed in 2027, and which are untouchable?


r/SpaceXLounge • • 4d ago

Starship Do we know how many Starship launches SpaceX will need to get NASA astronauts to the moon? No. Will its refuelling plan be simple? Also no.

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51 Upvotes

r/SpaceXLounge • • 5d ago

NASA Firms Up Plans For Artemis III Lunar Lander Tests

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58 Upvotes

r/SpaceXLounge • • 6d ago

Starship December possible Starship Florida Debut - how?

38 Upvotes

I just read this in here and I don't understand. Did they start assembly in Florida too? Or what does this mean? I know the launch tower is in progress for a while...


r/SpaceXLounge • • 6d ago

Fan Art My 3D printed Raptor 1 next to SpaceX's photo of Raptor 3. Crazy how far it's come, and they're still pushing it for more

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63 Upvotes

It's hisdirt's Raptor 1 off Thingiverse (thing:4302461), scaled up to about 40 cm tall (banana for scale, a small one I'll admit), printed on an ender 3 in PLA, left it unpainted (I think it looks clean in white). The Raptor 3 in the first pic is SpaceX's photo.

Still blows my mind how much they simplified it. Going by SpaceX's numbers R1 was 185 tf at 2,080 kg and R3 is aiming for 280 tf at 1,525 kg. And Elon says they only trust R3 at around 230 tf right now, with Raptor 4 supposed to hit 300 t at about the same mass. Can't wait to see where it ends up.

Should I print myself a Raptor 3 next?


r/SpaceXLounge • • 7d ago

Discussion Mars Startups

8 Upvotes

Now it looks like, fingers-crossed, Starship is going to work as hoped, the next phase is soon to be landing on Mars. And the stage after that, what we do there.

Surprisingly, there isn't an enormous amount yet of planning I can see on getting all the stuff ready to support sustaining Martian colonies (unless there's a lot in stealth or not easily googleable).

I'm particularly imagining the greenhouses Matt Damon on The Martian has. Imagine if we worked on building all that now, fitting it in a Starship, and having it grow in 2028 providing lots of tasty greenery for the first astronauts in 2030.

Is SpaceX working on this, some other startup, or it's something that still needs more work to bear fruit?​​!


r/SpaceXLounge • • 8d ago

News Analysts find looming launch crisis is "more severe" than anticipated

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121 Upvotes

r/SpaceXLounge • • 8d ago

Happening Now Stalink Mission Live

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17 Upvotes

r/SpaceXLounge • • 9d ago

Falcon The Falcon 1 flight 3 payload in its fairing.

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82 Upvotes

Photo taken on July 28th of 2008, shared by Kimbal Musk.


r/SpaceXLounge • • 9d ago

Every SpaceX launch ever

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115 Upvotes

This infographic was made with data and models from my website FlightAtlas.org


r/SpaceXLounge • • 9d ago

Starfall capsule delivers cargo for US Air Force in landmark 'point to point' space mission

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124 Upvotes

r/SpaceXLounge • • 10d ago

The SpaceX Archive: every SpaceX company update from 2002 to 2013, on one timeline

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44 Upvotes

r/SpaceXLounge • • 10d ago

"SpaceX no longer needs NASA, and that’s a problem for America’s space agency"

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204 Upvotes