SpaceX Revealed 1st Starship Launch to ORBIT Humiliated Blue Origin & China...

reaching orbit and Landing with the mechazilla arms for the first time these are two of the most critical milestones for Starship this year and it's likely that ship 35 and flight 9 will take on these historic missions but why were this ship and flight chosen how crucial are their missions to spacex's Future meanwhile rocket lab one of the most active play players in the industry in recent years has just encountered a delay ahead of its first mission of the Year let's dive into all this in today's episode of great SpaceX entering 2025 SpaceX has fully transitioned to the V2 variant of Starship ship 33 flew on flight 7 shifting attention to ship 34 the designated prototype for flight 8 however in comparison ship 35 the prototype for flight 9 stands out as the Moors significant Milestone late last year after its nose cone was stacked onto the payload section ship 35 was moved to the production site yard this allowed us to see that it incorporates several critical upgrades for the highly anticipated mechazilla arm catch attempt since then work on the vehicle has ramped up significantly on January 2nd its dispenser system was spotted by January 8th the forward Dome section had arrived at Mega Bay 2 the common Dome followed on January 17th the liquid oxygen section on the 27th and most recently the AFT section was moved into place on the last day of January with these developments ship 35 is now almost fully assembled with only the AFT flaps remaining if assembly continues at this pace we can expect the basic structure of ship 35 to be revealed in the first half of February followed by a series of rigorous tests leading up to launch flight 8 is currently scheduled for late February if all goes well flight 9 carrying ship 35 could take place as early as March or April initially SpaceX seemed to consider attempting the first ship catch with flight 8 however due to issues with ship 33 during flight 7 SpaceX will likely conduct one more controlled vertical Landing in the ocean before attempting a full catch this shifts the historic mazilla arm Landing to ship 35 on flight 9 this means ship 35 will carry two critical objectives it'll be the first Starship to attempt a landing with the mechazilla arms and it will also aimim to be the first to reach orbit let's break down why these two missions are so important first let's talk about reaching orbit despite seven orbital test flights Starship has yet to complete a full orbital Mission while flight 8 will focus will focus on testing satellite deployment and an inspace engine relight its primary objective is not necessarily reaching orbit that responsibility will likely shift to flight 9 with ship 35 of course before that can happen flight 8 must succeed satellite deployment has never been tested on Starship and SpaceX needs to validate the dispenser system before moving forward additional work is also needed on the Raptor engines which faced several issues in the previous flight leaks and damage to critical components must be addressed to ensure a smoother performance Beyond technical Milestones reaching orbit has become a matter of urgency due to Growing competition first blue origin made headlines when new Glen unexpectedly reached Orbit on its very first launch this was a major achievement for a company that had never previously conducted an orbital mission in its 24 years of existence while the landing attempt failed successfully reaching orbit with a liquid methane powered rocket a technology similar to Starship puts blue origin in direct competition with SpaceX for SpaceX reaching orbit soon is critical to maintaining its lead if ship 35 succeeds it will Propel SpaceX far ahead by proving starship's capability to reach orbit with the largest payload ever flown more importantly Starship is designed for full reusability whereas new Glenn is not a successful orbit and return would reinforce spacex's dominence in the reusable launch vehicle sector however blue origin isn't the only competitor China's rapid development of methalox rockets is another growing challenge although China's approach may be seen as a copycat strategy it has already already yielded surprising results last year Lands space's juu 2 became the first methane field rocket to successfully reach orbit and deliver payloads a milestone that even SpaceX has yet to achieve with Starship this development underscores the need for SpaceX to reach orbit as soon as possible if Starship can complete a full orbital Mission and successfully deploy payloads it will demonstrate a level of capability far beyond its Chinese competitors the sheer scale and power of Starship surpasses anything China has developed and a successful flight 9 would put SpaceX firmly back in the lead all eyes are now on ship 35 in Flight n if progress continues at its current Pace the first fully successful orbital Starship Mission Could Happen by March or April this will not only secure spacex's position as the leader in space flight Innovation but also set the stage for future missions including lunar Landings and interplanetary travel the space race is heating up and SpaceX is about to take a giant leap for forward back on Solid Ground let's shift our Focus to one of the most ambitious objectives of ship 35 executing a landing using meaz zilla's arms as previously mentioned the earliest images of S35 have already revealed upgrades specifically designed to accommodate a catch style Landing the visible structural holes strongly suggest that Landing pins will be added in the future similar to what we see on the super heavy booster this points to a major evolution in Starship Landing system reinforcing spacex's commitment to achieving full reusability this anticipated upgrade ties directly into an intriguing to an intriguing strategy S35 will likely attempt to land at Tower B currently under construction the latest updates from the launch sites have shown that the first components of mechazilla arms have already been installed on this Tower while we are still waiting to see further enhancements to see what further enhancements SpaceX will introduce it's plausible that these arms will be fitted with new catching mechanisms designed to interface seamlessly with the expected Landing pins on the Starship if this is the case we could see a division of responsibilities between the two towers one handling booster Landings and the other dedicated to Starship Landings in the short term this approach would reduce the burden on a single Tower allowing for quicker refurbishment Cycles in the long term it would significantly accelerate space exess launch Cadence ultimately Paving the way for star ship to operate at an unprecedented flight rate the synchronized progress of S35 and Tower B suggests that SpaceX is laying the groundwork for this next evolutionary step in Rapid fully reusable space flight with these advancements S35 is well positioned to attempt the first ever Starship Landing using milla's arms a Monumental step toward full reusability however for this plan to succeed SpaceX must continue refining several Key Systems including the Raptor engines heat shields and a aerodynamic flaps the lessons learned from flight 7 and the upcoming flight 8 will be invaluable in ironing out any remaining challenges before this groundbreaking Landing attempt that said SpaceX faces another critical decision which booster will accompany S35 on this Mission if we follow the expected sequence B16 should be the Prototype assigned to pair with S35 late last year the a section stand of B16 was removed from the mega Bay signaling that the stacking process had been completed however little to no visible progress has been made since then the lack of updates and ongoing silence regarding b16s rated for flight 9 have raised questions about whether it will be available in time given these uncertainties SpaceX must accelerate its development timeline not just for B16 but also for subsequent booster prototypes with the launch rate increasing any delays in booster production could bottleneck starship's progress however this challenge presents an opportunity for SpaceX to achieve yet another major milestone if B16 isn't ready the company could opt to refly booster 14 marking the first reuse of a Starship booster b14 a version one prototype performed well when paired with a V2 second stage it did not suffer any major structural damage during its flights meaning that with some careful inspection and necessary modifications it could be prepared for a second launch this would be a game-changing demonstration of starship's reusability potential making flight 9 a pivotal moment in the the program's development now the big question is which booster do you think will be used for S35 is Landmark Landing attempt and when do you think this historic moment will take place share your thoughts in the comments section down below and don't forget to like the video and subscribe to our Channel if you haven't already to stay updated on spacex's ongoing journey toward revolutionizing space flight that wraps up the Starship segment now let's turn our attention to Rocket lab and their first mission of the year at the time of this recording the mission had not not yet launched titled iot for you and me the mission was originally scheduled for February 3rd the plan was to launch Five canes Internet of Things satellites into orbit marking an important step forward for Global connectivity however the launch faced a delay due to ca or Cola which is short for Collision on launch avoidance SL assessment restrictions rocket lab provided an update on X stating electron is ready for liftoff but the latest Cola report is in and it rules out our single instantaneous launch opportunity for tomorrow's kise Internet of Things launch we have plenty of backup launch opportunities in the coming days that Meet customer requirements so these five satellites will be in orbit in no time for those unfamiliar Cola is a process that assesses potential risks posed by Space Traffic including satellites and the International Space Station to determine whether a rocket can be launched safely since orbital positions are constantly shifting Cola reports are most accurate just a few hours before launch as a result last minute Cola assessments can sometimes cause sudden shifts in launch timing while safety is the top priority minimizing launch delays is also critical to maintaining an efficient launch Cadence rocket lab successfully launched 16 missions last year 14 of which were orbital flights given their ambitious goals for 2024 they are under pressure to increase their launch frequency even further unfortunately a slow start to the year with no flights in January and a delay on their first scheduled Mission could pose a challenge to meeting these targets that said rocket lab Remains the second most active commercial launch provider in the world trailing only SpaceX to maintain this momentum they must ensure their launch operations remain efficient while pushing forward with their next major Milestone the debut of their Neutron rocket designed as a larger partially reusable vehicle Neutron is set to compete in the medium Li launch market taking on Rivals such as ula's Vulcan and spacex's Falcon 9 the space industry is evolving fast and Rocket Labs next moves will be crucial can they increase launch frequency and stay ahead and when will Neutron take flight we'll be watching closely so stay tuned if you enjoyed this update don't forget to like And subscribe for more spaceflight news this has been Kevin with great SpaceX thanks for tuning in and until next time keep looking up for