From: snidely.too@gmail.com   
      
   Remember when JF Mezei bragged outrageously?  That was Wednesday:   
   > Assuming this September, SpaceX does its first launch and it explodes   
   > during descent.   
   >   
   > How many succesfull launches would it take before SpaceX can start to   
   > accept commercial payloads? (since ability to land doesn't matter for   
   > launhing satellites) ?   
      
   I'd expect 2-10 Starlink launches before any customer.  And it could be   
   more.   
      
   > Can SpaceX launch to equatorial orbit from Boca Chica?   
   >   
   > And assuming that the payload bay is similar to the Shuttle, could   
      
   That's a big assumption, given how little we know about the freight   
   Starships.  We've heard of the alligator, and seen renderings, and   
   we've seen a test nosecone chopped open in a way that suggests   
   shuttle-like payload doors, but we could also see something like the   
   Dragon front hatch, with some adjustment to where the thrusters and   
   tankage are located.   
      
   Only recently have we heard anything about how many Starlink satellites   
   SpaceX is planning on stuffing the bird with.  These will be the Gen2   
   kites, 850-1250 kg each, and Teslarati pencils that out to 120 boxes.   
      
   > spaceX re-use its existing 2nd stage and sateliute/2nd stage interface   
   > and use springs to push it out of the cargo bay once doors are open? Or   
   > would it need totally new system to get satellite to destination?   
   >   
   >   
   > (I assume Starship won't itself deliver to geostationary or even GPS   
   > altitudes).   
      
   It could, with refueling, and there will be payloads where that's the   
   appropriate choice.  There aren't now, but there will be.   
      
   /dps   
      
   --   
   "That’s where I end with this kind of conversation: Language is   
   crucial, and yet not the answer."   
     Jonathan Rosa, sociocultural and linguistic anthropologist,   
   Stanford.,2020   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)