https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2024/08/transporter-11/

https://spacenews.com/indian-solid-sslv-rocket-launches-earth-observation-satellite/

Think a booster will complete 25 flights by the end of the year? I think so. We're close!

Thanks! I've never modded(?) before but I'd be more than happy to give it a shot :)

Personally, I think it's a great thing that the US arguably has the best military surveillance and communication satellites. Certainly I prefer money going there than into literal bullets. In any case, doesn't this have nothing to do with space tourism?

Instant upvote. Well played, my friend, well played.

My dear friend, the report is factually false. I can't speak for others, but I personally find it to only be responsible to help dispel false news. And for what it's worth, Elon is an asshole in my view, but that is irrelevant in this context, wouldn't you agree?

As for the facts, you may check them yourself. Here is the actual application. Typo is on page 79, the actual figure is in the appendix on page 177.

https://www.tceq.texas.gov/downloads/permitting/wastewater/title-iv/tpdes/wq0005462000-spaceexplorationtechnologiescorp-starbaselaunchpadsite-cameron-tpdes-adminpackage.pdf

Maybe you're wondering why I am keen on sharing all this. I am a big fan of spaceflight, it's just something I like and find inspiring. False reports that lean heavily on "Elon Musk bad" make the spacefaring future I'm rooting for more difficult to achieve. Surely it's ok to correct misinformation?

This community is awesome!

I post kind of a crazy amount, so if anyone wants to request that I do less of that, please let me know! (I'm also going to try to be more on-topic in the future.)

Thanks everyone for being so cool and for having a great time cheering for and discussing spaceflight. Ad astra!

I agree completely! Life is so cool. I would also say that we are a very, very long way from sending tons of dirt to Mars, but current probes are essentially sterilized, which adds billions to their cost, and for what?

https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1823378186836889699

CNBC updated its story yesterday with additional factually inaccurate information.

While there may be a typo in one table of the initial TCEQ's public version of the permit application, the rest of the application and the lab reports clearly states that levels of Mercury found in non-stormwater discharge associated with the water deluge system are well below state and federal water quality criteria (of no higher than 2.1 micrograms per liter for acute aquatic toxicity), and are, in most instances, non-detectable.

The initial application was updated within 30 days to correct the typo and TCEQ is updating the application to reflect the correction.

Good point! Truth is, it is basically space tourism. Now, because of the demand for science by humans in orbit, there will be science done and data gathered on the trip, but that isn't really its purpose. That being said, this kind of orbit brings some very interesting challenges re launch, radiation, and recovery, but I'm sure SpaceX can easily manage that.

On the tourism side, the orbit is actually quite noteworthy. We'll have to see what the actual figures are, but even at 450km, you're really quite close to the planet. As such, the sights they will see due to high inclination especially over the poles will be unlike anything any human has seen before, and that's exciting to me :)