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Starship Development Thread #49

SpaceX Starship page

FAQ

  1. When (first) orbital flight? First integrated flight test occurred April 20, 2023. "The vehicle cleared the pad and beach as Starship climbed to an apogee of ~39 km over the Gulf of Mexico – the highest of any Starship to-date. The vehicle experienced multiple engines out during the flight test, lost altitude, and began to tumble. The flight termination system was commanded on both the booster and ship."
  2. Where can I find streams of the launch? SpaceX Full Livestream. NASASpaceFlight Channel. Lab Padre Channel. Everyday Astronaut Channel.
  3. What's happening next? SpaceX has assessed damage to Stage 0 and is implementing fixes and changes including a water deluge/pad protection/"shower head" system. No major repairs to key structures appear to be necessary.
  4. When is the next flight test? Just after flight, Elon stated they "Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months." On April 29, he reiterated this estimate in a Twitter Spaces Q&A (summarized here), saying "I'm glad to report that the pad damage is actually quite small," should "be repaired quickly," and "From a pad standpoint, we are probably ready to launch in 6 to 8 weeks." Requalifying the flight termination system (FTS) and the FAA post-incident review will likely require the longest time to complete. Musk reiterated the timeline on May 26, stating "Major launchpad upgrades should be complete in about a month, then another month of rocket testing on pad, then flight 2 of Starship."
  5. Why no flame diverter/flame trench below the OLM? Musk tweeted on April 21: "3 months ago, we started building a massive water-cooled, steel plate to go under the launch mount. Wasn’t ready in time & we wrongly thought, based on static fire data, that Fondag would make it through 1 launch." Regarding a trench, note that the Starship on the OLM sits 2.5x higher off the ground than the Saturn V sat above the base of its flame trench, and the OLM has 6 exits vs. 2 on the Saturn V trench.

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Quick Links

RAPTOR ROOST | LAB CAM | SAPPHIRE CAM | SENTINEL CAM | ROVER CAM | ROVER 2.0 CAM | PLEX CAM | NSF STARBASE

Starship Dev 48 | Starship Dev 47 | Starship Dev 46 | Starship Dev 45

Official Starship Update | r/SpaceX Update Thread

Status

Road Closures

Type Start (UTC) End (UTC) Status
Primary 2023-08-24 13:00:00 2023-08-25 01:00:00 Cancelled
Alternative 2023-08-25 14:00:00 2023-08-26 02:00:00 Concluded
Alternative 2023-08-28 13:00:00 2023-08-27 01:00:00 Cancelled

Up to date as of 2023-09-05

Vehicle Status

As of 2023-09-22

Follow Ring Watchers on Twitter and Discord for more.

Ship Location Status Comment
S20 Rocket Garden Retired
S24 Gulf of Mexico Destroyed Destroyed on during Flight Test 1
S25 Stacked on B9 Spin Prime and Static Fire
S26 Test Stand B Cryo tested
S27 Rocket Garden Scrapped Common dome imploded
S28 Engine Install Stand Raptors installed Previously tested at Masseys
S29 Masseys Awaiting testing
S30 High Bay Under construction
S31 High Bay Under construction
S32 Build Site Parts spotted
S33 Build Site Parts spotted
S34 Build Site Parts spotted

 

Booster Location Status Comment
Pre-B7 & B8 Scrapped or Retired B4 is in the Rocket Garden, the rest are scrapped.
B7 Gulf of Mexico Destroyed Destroyed April 20th in Flight Test 1
B9 Launch mount Hot-stage ring installed Static fire (August 5th)
B10 Megabay 1 Cryo tested
B11 Megabay 1
B12 Megabay 1 Grid fins installed
B13 Megabay 1 Stacking
B14 Build Site Parts under construction
B15 Build Site Parts under construction

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  • New comment from /u/santacfan on Reddit:

    Starbase Live-

    11:56pm- S27 aft end test tank rolled out to Massey’s

    12:11am- SQD retracts (Rover2)

    1:20am- S29 frost free

    1:43am- S27 test tank arrives at Massey’s

    1:54am- Grinding on the left chopstick

    6:42am- More sparks under the OLM ring to the right of the staircase

    6:59am- Sparks to the left of the staircase

    7:57am- S25 venting. Looks like the stabilizer pins are engaged

    8:20- Lifts were up to both chopsticks, the staircase, the top of the OLM, and to S28 overnight.

    10:21am- Chopsticks start lifting S25

    10:35am- S27 test tank lifted into the structural test stand at Massey’s.

    10:40am- Chopsticks stop

    10:41am- SQD swings back over

    10:46am- Start swinging over B9

    10:53am- Over B9

    10:54am- Start lowering

    11:27am- Down on top of B9

    1:09pm- SQD work platform extended

    1:34pm- Worker up on SQD. Looks like they are removing covers on S25’s QD

    1:40pm- SQD work platform retracted

    1:45pm- Lift has been up at S26 off and on this morning

    1:54:55pm- SQD extends

    2:17pm- SPMT’s headed to Massey’s. S29 coming back already?

    5:00pm- Lift has been up and down to the top of the staircase. The elevator in the tower has been getting a work out today as well going up and down to the SQD level.

    5:15pm- Venting at Massey’s. S29 is go for round 2

    5:24am- S26’s Lox tank is open with a vent hose run to it

    6:16pm- Frost on S29

    7:50pm- S29’s lox tank is mostly frosty. Just a small line at the bottom of the methane tank. Lift up to the back side of the OLM and of course, there is one at the top of the staircase

    8:19:39pm- S29 depress vent. Never got full frosty

    9:48pm- Lift up at S26’s lox tank, back side of the OLM, and to the staircase. More grinding going on inside of the OLM ring to the left of the staircase

    10:17pm- S25’s stand is being moved back to the production site/storage area

    (This gets synced)

55 comments