nextspaceflight.com

Astyanax

Here's a site that shows the next rocket launch around the world. It can be filtered to particular places.

Enjoy.

Might be worthy of being stickied.

MacLeech

Astyanax
NextSpaceFlight is a favorite because it also has a calendar you can subscribe to:
https://nextspaceflight.com/calendar/

This is also a good one
https://www.rocketlaunch.live/

MacLeech

MacLeech Also the next Starship test flight from Texas launch is in less than 2 hours.
https://t.co/alyJTRtgTh
https://www.youtube.com/live/L_4gAtrfi6w
https://www.youtube.com/live/mhJRzQsLZGg
https://www.youtube.com/live/vr_q3Dua0D8
https://www.youtube.com/live/Q2Fq4AJXoXk
https://www.youtube.com/live/nAlPb6NrCVo

InternetJeff

Point of order...

Are not "stickied" theads supposed to stay at the top of the thead list when viewing All Discussions"?

Edit: Welp, it jumped to the top after I posted. But still, the question stands.

Kathy_9

InternetJeff Are not "stickied" theads supposed to stay at the top of the thead list when viewing All Discussions"?

No, not All Discussions, but it will stay at the top of the tag it's located in; in this case, the Space tag.

InternetJeff

MacLeech

👍

MacLeech

InternetJeff Doh! Hold at 40sec then cancelled for today. They're offloading propellent now. Might try again tomorrow.

[edit] Added note from Musk about the miss.

Bobcat00

They can't seem to get a handle on this thing with 8 (?) tests so far. The whole thing seems over complicated with 33 engines among other crazy stuff. It's puzzling if we're putting all our space program eggs in this basket.

MacLeech

Bobcat00 All rockets have issues. Space Shuttle, Atlas, Delta, SLS, etc. all had issues that delayed launches.

Falcon has 9 engines and is the most reliable rocket around. Falcon Heavy has 27 engines and hasn’t had an issue. The number of engines isn’t really the problem.

The Starship builders are optimizing the rocket for inexpensive reuse so there’s new tech to be developed and old tech to be adapted. Do you have anyone they can emulate/copy/learn from who has done similar rocket reuse?

The whole space program isn’t in SpaceX basket. There are still SLS, ULA, Blue Origin, Sierra Space, Firefly, Relativity Space, and others flying rockets and spacecraft. SpaceX is just the most prolific at the point.

BTW, Firefly just successfully landed on the moon.
https://www.space.com/the-universe/moon/sunrise-on-the-moon-private-blue-ghost-lander-captures-amazing-shot-after-historic-lunar-touchdown-photo

Also, an ESA Ariane 6 rocket who's first launch was supposed to be in 2020 just delayed it's first launch for it's 3rd time in the last 2 months. It has 1 booster engine and 2 strap on solid rocket boosters so about as simple as a orbital rocket can be. Rockets are hard.
https://spaceflightnow.com/2025/03/03/live-coverage-arianespace-to-launch-an-ariane-6-rocket-on-its-1st-commercial-mission/

Bobcat00

MacLeech All rockets have issues. Space Shuttle, Atlas, Delta, SLS, etc. all had issues that delayed launches.

The space shuttle did not need 8 "test" launches.

Sorry but these private experiments in Texas are not in the same league as the Space Shuttle.

MacLeech

Bobcat00 The shuttle needed at least 16 approach and landing tests
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Approach_and_Landing_Tests
The first four launches of Columbia were considered Orbital Test Flights as well so the shuttle had ejection seats fitted for the two person crews. Originally there were supposed to be six test launches.

The shuttle was also several years late in development and missed its first planned mission, to boost Skylab back into a sustainable orbit.

Half of all shuttle flights were delayed from their original launch times. The shuttle’s first launch was scrubbed and delayed 2 days. It was later found to have bent parts from launch, that had the test pilots known about they would’ve ejected.
https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/sts-1-space-shuttle-columbia-facts
These “unknown major failure issues” would cause many more close calls in the future including the loss of two shuttles with all aboard.

Through all of its issues, Shuttle was still a successful program, but it never met all of its original goals.

InternetJeff

MacLeech

I've said it before, but I would rather have SpaceX break as much as they can and blow up as much as they can during development and testing. This is in contrast to the dinosaur companies and mentality of over reliance on trying to engineer-out every flaw in advance on paper.

SpaceX needs to keep doing what they are doing. Stress every aspect of the hardware to its beaking point during development and testing. And if it didn't break, why not? At what point does it break?

If there is something that can fail I want to see it fail now. Not later after hardware is put into operation.

MacLeech

InternetJeff NASA and it's contractors have tested to structural failure and blown up a lot of equipment. It's just done in private, away from public eyes, the vast majority of times for political and public relations reasons. Video and eyewitness accounts come out about it later.

SpaceX is in a league of it's own with dozens of cameras linked to the internet watching them 24/7. They don't try to hide much, of what they're allowed to show.

Bobcat00

MacLeech NASA and it's contractors have tested to structural failure and blown up a lot of equipment. It's just done in private, away from public eyes, the vast majority of times for political and public relations reasons.

Right. I don't remember NASA subjecting a local community to environmental dust and debris from a concrete tornado because of a huge engineering decision mistake by its leader.

MacLeech

Bobcat00 Right. I don't remember NASA subjecting a local community to environmental dust and debris from a concrete tornado because of a huge engineering decision mistake by its leader.

Oh they did worse… it was nuclear fallout at their Santa Susana test facility in Southern California
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Susana_Field_Laboratory

Bobcat00

MacLeech

From 1959? This is 2025 and we all should know better today.

MacLeech

Bobcat00 until 2006! NASA knew better for decades.
https://ssfl.msfc.nasa.gov/

A single concrete tornado on one day pales in comparison.

NASA has many other long term hazardous situations and accidents in its history.
https://jplwater.nasa.gov/
https://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2010/er_4.html

SpaceX is not perfect but neither is NASA. They’ve worked through and made plenty of the same mistakes SpaceX has. Nostalgia from NASA success and rose colored glasses just make it easy to forget they’re not a saint or perfect either.

MacLeech

Back to rocket launches. SpaceX has destacked their rocket for further checks so no launch today.

MacLeech

MacLeech SpaceX Starship flight 8 may launch today. NSF has a rocket launch "stakeout stream" running watching it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dg1lozrqKlo

InternetJeff

Next launch attempt in 7 hours, 6:30PM ET (as of this post).

https://www.spacelaunchschedule.com/launch/starship-flight-8/