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 47 | Starship Dev 46 | Starship Dev 45 | Starship Dev 44

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 2023-09-05

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 Rocket Garden Cryo tested
S27 Rocket Garden Scrapped Common dome imploded
S28 Engine Install Stand Raptors installed Previously tested at Masseys
S29 High Bay Under construction Flap installation in progress
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 Rocket Garden Resting
B12 Megabay 1 Grid fins installed
B13 Build Site Parts under construction
B14 Build Site Parts under construction
B15 Build Site Parts under construction

Resources

    • subtle_inquisitor@aussie.zoneEnglish
      4·
      1 year ago

      Surely they’ll fix them up? Or maybe they’re not that confident it will get to reentry anyway. Or even if it does they want to see how damaged tiles behave. Idk, just spitballing here

    • burble@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      4·
      1 year ago

      It’s pretty incredible to look at the build and launch sites back then vs now. None of the predicted program timelines were close to right, but the progress is still really impressive.

  • LettuceTurnipTheBeet@lemm.eeEnglish
    5·
    1 year ago

    New comment from /u/santacfan on Reddit:

    Starbase Live-

    8:45am- Lifts were up at the chopsticks, OLM, and the right rear chine overnight. Workers were also seen on top of the OLM.

    2:04pm- Crane lifts another staircase segment into the new mega bay

    3:47pm- Aerial work platform goes up to the underside of the SQD arm

    6:23pm- Crane arrives near the chopsticks

    6:30pm- Lift goes up to the chopsticks

    7:04pm- 2nd crane arrives. Mini excavator working over by the dog house. (Breaking up fondag?)

    8:05pm- Crane lifts the hydraulic arm, that operates the booster alignment pin on the right side, off of the OLM

    9:15pm- Crane lifts the left side alignment pin unit off

    (This gets synced)

  • pigeonberry@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    1 year ago

    Zack Golden @CSI_Starbase (Nitter link) Sep 2, 2023 · 3:45 AM UTC has a multi-post speculation about Super Heavy testing at Boca Chica.

    I am now 95% confident that SpaceX is in the process of building not one, but two Super Heavy Static Fire Test stands. One will be located near the Suborbital tank farm, and the other will be at the Massey’s test site.

    These test stands are essentially mini versions of the Orbital Launch Mount. There are a few major differences though:

    1. These stands will not have launch capability so they will be much simpler…
    1. Because of the location of these test stands, and severe limitations on space, the method of testing engines will have to be different than how its done on the OLM. [flame trenches]

    Why?

    1. Well at some point, launches will become much more frequent. This means the OLM will be nearly always be busy preparing for the next launch…
    1. The Orbital Launch Mount, with its new Bidet system is limited to Static fire tests of less than 10 seconds. It is truly designed for Launching Full stacks, and not for long duration tests purely due to the volume of water stored in the tanks.
    1. The OLM is also believed to be limited to Static Fire tests with thrust values at or around 50%. This is a result of the design of the hold down clamps. Also, the skirt of the booster is likely not designed for the kind of forces it would experience if it was being held down at max thrust…

    So if this speculation is true, what should we be on the lookout for?

    1. The areas where these will be located will either be built up to accommodate a flame trench, or they will soon begin excavating large holes into the ground for this purpose.
    1. The suborbital tank farm will likely need to be expanded in order to increase its LOX and CH4 storage capabilities. I believe SpaceX is already in the beginning stages of this massive renovation.
    1. CH4 storage tanks will need to be added to the Massey’s test site. They will also need additional GSE equipment for filling Booster COPV’s. This includes Helium storage, CO2 for the engine skirt purge system.
    1. There will likely also need to be additional water tanks installed for traditional deluge systems for both of these tests stands…

    He says he’d do a video if he weren’t already in the middle of two deep-dives.

    u/Alvian_11 in The Other Place says that a “flame diverter/ramp” is different from a “flame trench” and that a flame diverter/ramp makes much more sense.

    • clothes@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      1 year ago

      This was the first time I’ve watched a spin prime live and I think it must be an acquired taste :P

      Can’t wait for the static fire!

    • pigeonberry@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      1 year ago

      RGV Aerial Photography @RGVaerialphotos Sep 2, 2023 · 4:35 PM UTC wrote,

      Notice they filled in the heat tiles with some type of epoxy/clay instead of replacing these damaged tiles. Indicator Ship 25 probably isn’t expected to survive reentry.

      125-megapixel image link: https://www.easyzoom.com/imageaccess/ad67522c147c4746bc055c5a80704e55

      But they look like regular tiles to me, just with adhesive smeared around messily. Marcus House, in his weekly update at 5:31, zooms in and says, “we can see that a few surrounding tiles were damaged during the process [of adding tiles to cover lifting points], but these were to be replaced soon after this shot was taken.”. At 5:44 on, he explained and showed a worker using the suction cup device: one tile passed, one pulled off.

  • pigeonberry@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    1 year ago

    Top-level posts just added:

    [SpaceX] September 8, 2023: Upgrades Ahead Of Starship’s Second Flight Test That is, it’s a statement from SpaceX itself about the major problems it saw on Starship test 1, and several changes it has made.

    [Chris Bergin, Abhi Tripathi @SpaceAbhi] SpaceX LEADS the investigation It’s not appreciated that SpaceX did the investigation, decided on corrections, and wrote the report. The FAA provides feedback, but we don’t know how much.

  • LettuceTurnipTheBeet@lemm.eeEnglish
    4·
    1 year ago

    New comment from /u/santacfan on Reddit:

    Starbase Live-

    4:01am- LR11000 moves away from the pad

    6:43am- Workers return to pad. Service trucks to the broken down lift

    6:58am- Raptor install stand rolling over to the pad

    7:15am- Lifts go up to the install stand

    7:30am- Install stand rolls up to the the OLM

    7:33am- Lift goes up to the top of the OLM

    7:36am- The lift lives!! High five to my fellow mechanics!

    7:50am- More lifts arrive and go up to the top of the OLM

    8:18am- The remaining scaffolding on top of the OLM is coming down

    8:46am- Workers working on the deluge plate?

    9:00am- Raptor install stand moves under the pad

    9:18am- Install stand rises up under the booster

    9:45am- Here comes the engineers to look at things

    9:50am- SPMT’s leaving the launch site

    12:00pm- Raptor stand is still up under the vehicle and lifts have been going up and down from it. Workers have also been on top of the OLM.

    1:13pm- Guy with a leaf blower blowing dust off the pad

    1:37pm- Sweeper vehicle working along the edge of the pad

    1:57pm- Work platform lowers on the install stand

    2:49pm- Raptor install stand rolls out from under the OLM

    3:00pm- Rolls all the way over to the sub orbital pads

    3:24pm- Red caution tape wrapped around the bottom of the OLM

    3:50pm- Workers at the SQD and on top of the OLM.

    5:50pm- Workers have been inspecting something over by the tower and are still working on top of the OLM

    6:30pm- Workers have set up a total station under the pad to survey/scan the area

    7:04pm- Packing the scanner away. Would be interesting to know if they were just taking measurements or if they were using it to calibrate sensors

    7:06pm- Power washer!! (It took 5 hours last time to clean the whole pad)

    7:45pm- Lifts have come down from the top of the OLM. Workers still working under the pad though

    8:14pm- Operation point lighting tower right at NSF camera is a success

    (This gets synced)

  • pigeonberry@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    1 year ago

    Some Xer, Cowboy Dan @CowboyDanPaasch, wrote (Nitter link) Sep 2, 2023 · 11:58 AM UTC,

    Boat #SpaceX used for ops during first orbital flight test is inbound to #Starbase atm. The former GLADYS D had been offgrid last three weeks around Pensacola FL. #SpaceXArmada

    … a passenger fastboat by trade, appears she’s been outfitted w/ some extra gear. Worked LZ/recon ops during first orbital test flight. Now mooring in Port Isabel Texas. (@jessica_kirsh cam) piped.video link that doesn’t work for me

    Kevin Mock @kevmk04 replied,

    The GLADYS D’s sister ship was used on the first Dragon recovery mission. The GLADYS S

    I can’t really find full confirmation of that. I do find an Xmission from Gav Cornwell @SpaceOffshore Apr 20, 2023 · 10:54 AM UTC,

    Fast boat Gladys S departed from Port Isabel this morning to support the SpaceX launch.

    Still not exactly sure what role the vessel is playing but it’s confirmed to be involved based on its AIS designation of ‘Texas Launch’ and the fact it has two Starlink dishes mounted…

    And a bit later, with pictures,

    A look at the Gladys S, which appears to have been supporting the SpaceX launch in some capacity offshore.

    Spot the Starlink terminals!

    Retweeting Jenny Hautmann @JennyHPhoto Apr 20, 2023 · 9:35 PM UTC.

    • LettuceTurnipTheBeet@lemm.eeEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      Things seem to be progressing, also on the paperwork front.

      Wonder when S25 moves to the launch site. Expected this to happen the last few days. Will they do a full stack, WDR, unstack, FTS, restack? They might be preparing the FTS now to avoid a restack — I guess that’s how it works for Falcon as well.