Ed Ludlow on SpaceX rocket launch

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:00]What is ten 9876543? Ignition.

[00:00:15]We have the phone.

[00:00:22]Sit you down. Range.

[00:00:33]Mr.. Raptor chamber.

[00:00:38]Pressure nominal.

[00:00:44]All right. We are t plus 30s into flight C, a 33 out of 33 Raptor three engines on booster V three ascending over the gulf.

[00:00:54]Now coming up on maximum aerodynamic pressure Booster and ship. Avionics.

[00:01:00]Power telemetry. Nominal.

[00:01:04]Systems. Looking good.

[00:01:05]We're just passing through the period of maximum dynamic pressure.

[00:01:14]A little over a minute into flight. Now.

[00:01:17]So far, so good. You're looking at at 33 Raptor engines generating £16.5 million of thrust at the moment of liftoff, twice the power of the Saturn five vehicle which took mankind to the moon last.

[00:01:32]And that is a downward facing camera from the middle of the stack.

[00:01:37]We just went through Max-Q, which is the moment where there's the most stress on the combined launch system, the moment of maximum aerodynamic pressure.

[00:01:46]So what's next? We're going to get to the bigger picture. We've got plenty of time to chat here.

[00:01:50]Beautiful pictures facilitated by Starlink, which is a space access, satellite based internet connectivity. It's unbelievable, really, that in this day and age, the quality and clarity of the picture is a rocket test through the air, and when it throttles up to maximum speed, it will be traveling 17,500mph at peak velocity. The next kind of big moment in this mission is, uh, Meco. Main engine cut off, super heavy engines cut off, and then there's a hot staging where the super heavy booster, uh, separates from the Starship spacecraft. Uh, which is the the top portion of it in the suit. The Starship spacecraft will carry on for one hour or so around the, uh, towards the Indian Ocean, while the booster will undergo a number of maneuvers.

[00:02:40]Uh, but, uh, ultimately splashdown in the Gulf.

[00:02:44]There's going to be no attempt to, uh, land, either.

[00:02:47]And there you go. That hot staging and separation with the super heavy booster falling back down to Earth.

[00:02:54]Uh. It's exciting.

[00:02:55]This is rocket science. This is SpaceX.