Topic: Interesting stuff about SpaceX Starship (hate the name)

[Nemesis]

IFT 13 now has a date (as always subject to delays)

Tue • Jul 14th, 2026 6:45 PM - 8:56 PM EDT

So next Tuesday.  I've seen one quote allegedly from Shotwell placing the first orbital flight as possibley IFT 15, people (including me) have been assuming that if IFT 13 went well then IFT 14 would be orbital.  Why the delay?  Unknown to me.  That might place it in September if the 1 flight a month she mentioned is lived up to. 

With Vulcan there is an "oddity" when it comes to launch dates.  The source I use www.spacelaunchschedule.com when I look for any ULA launches lists a Vulcan launch in September but when I look just for Vulcan launches it only lists them as December and one for June next year.  I don't know why so I haven't been listing it. 

Edit 1:  That didn't take long: 

Wed • Jul 15th, 2026 6:45 PM - 8:56 PM EDT

Edit 2:

Thu • Jul 16th, 2026 6:45 PM - 8:15 PM EDT

[Nemesis]

China just did their first successful landing of an orbital class booster.  A little less cargo capacity than Falcon 9 but in the same class. 

[Nemesis]

A couple of items

When IFT 12 Starship had done the simulated landing and cut the engines it quite naturally fell the remaining distance and exploded.  One of the COPVs survived under pressure and went across the water like a torpedo and struck one of the floating "kiddy pool" buoys which seems to have survived due to the flexibility of the inflated rings.  The odds of going straight at a buoy seems quite low but it happened, there is video of it.

It seems that the problem on hot staging was tiny timing differences in the startup of the engines causing the booster to tilt 90⁰ from the targeted angle.  Hopefully they have corrected for this now.