Starcloud says 1 launch, $8M but ISS tech says 17 launches, $850M+

Re:Starcloud says 1 launch, $8M but ISS tech says 17 launche... by rtkwe on Friday June 27, 2025 @10:05AM (#44396903)

Wonder if you could game that in theory by burning in the components on the surface before launch or if the launch would cause a big enough spike from the vibration damage that it's not worth it.

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Re:Starcloud says 1 launch, $8M but ISS tech says 17 launche... by dapperdrake on Friday June 27, 2025 @11:29AM (#44397555)

Maybe they are different types of failure modes. Solar panel semiconductors hate vibration.

And then, there is of course radiation trouble.

So those two kinds of burn-in require a launch ti space anyway.

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Re:Starcloud says 1 launch, $8M but ISS tech says 17 launche... by vidarh on Friday June 27, 2025 @11:28AM (#44397554)

I suspect you'd absolutely want to burn in before launch, maybe even including simulating some mechanical stress to "shake out" more issues, but it is a valid question how much burn in is worth doing before and after launch.

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Re:Starcloud says 1 launch, $8M but ISS tech says 17 launche... by 0xffff2 on Friday June 27, 2025 @01:08PM (#44398453)

Vibration testing is a completely standard part of space payload pre-flight testing. You would absolutely want to vibe-test (no, not that kind) at both a component level and fully integrated before launch.

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Re:Starcloud says 1 launch, $8M but ISS tech says 17 launche... by btown on Friday June 27, 2025 @06:00PM (#44400645)

PSA: do not vibe-code the hardware controller for your vibration testing rig. This does not pass the vibe test.

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