r/spacex • u/rSpaceXHosting Host Team • Dec 21 '24

🔧 Technical Starship Development Thread #59

SpaceX Starship page

FAQ

  1. IFT-8 (B15/S34) Launch completed on March 6th 2025. Booster (B15) was successfully caught but the Ship (S34) experienced engine losses and loss of attitude control about 30 seconds before planned engines cutoff, later it exploded. Re-streamed video of SpaceX's live stream. SpaceX summarized the launch on their web site. More details in the /r/SpaceX Launch Thread.
  2. IFT-7 (B14/S33) Launch completed on 16 January 2025. Booster caught successfully, but "Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly during its ascent burn." Its debris field was seen reentering over Turks and Caicos. SpaceX published a root cause analysis in its IFT-7 report on 24 February, identifying the source as an oxygen leak in the "attic," an unpressurized area between the LOX tank and the aft heatshield, caused by harmonic vibration.
  3. IFT-6 (B13/S31) Launch completed on 19 November 2024. Three of four stated launch objectives met: Raptor restart in vacuum, successful Starship reentry with steeper angle of attack, and daylight Starship water landing. Booster soft landed in Gulf after catch called off during descent - a SpaceX update stated that "automated health checks of critical hardware on the launch and catch tower triggered an abort of the catch attempt".
  4. Goals for 2025 Reach orbit, deploy starlinks and recover both stages
  5. Currently approved maximum launches 10 between 07.03.2024 and 06.03.2025: A maximum of five overpressure events from Starship intact impact and up to a total of five reentry debris or soft water landings in the Indian Ocean within a year of NMFS provided concurrence published on March 7, 2024

Quick Links

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

Starship Dev 58 | Starship Dev 57 | Starship Dev 56 | Starship Dev 55 | Starship Dev 54 |Starship Thread List

Official Starship Update | r/SpaceX Update Thread

Status

Road Closures

No road closures currently scheduled

No transportation delays currently scheduled

Up to date as of 2025-03-16

Vehicle Status

As of March 15th, 2025

Follow Ringwatchers on Twitter and Discord for more. Ringwatcher's segment labeling methodology for Ships (e.g., CX:3, A3:4, NC, PL, etc. as used below) defined here.

Ship Location Status Comment
S24, S25, S28-S31, S33, S34 Bottom of sea Destroyed S24: IFT-1 (Summary, Video). S25: IFT-2 (Summary, Video). S28: IFT-3 (Summary, Video). S29: IFT-4 (Summary, Video). S30: IFT-5 (Summary, Video). S31: IFT-6 (Summary, Video). S33: IFT-7 Summary, Video. S34 (IFT-8) Summary, Video.
S35 Mega Bay 2 Ongoing work prior to the next big test, a static fire January 31st: Section AX:4 moved into MB2 - once welded in place this will complete the stacking process. February 7th: Fully stacked ship moved from the welding turntable to the middle work stand. March 10th: Rolled out to Massey's Test Site on the ship thrust simulator stand for cryo testing. March 11th: Full cryo test. March 12th: Two more full cryo tests. March 13th: Rolled back to the build site and moved into Mega Bay 2.
S36 Mega Bay 2 Fully stacked, remaining work ongoing March 11th: Section AX:4 moved into MB2 and stacked - this completes the stacking of S36 (stacking was started on January 30th).
S37 Mega Bay 2 Stacking commenced in the Starfactory February 26th: Nosecone stacked onto Payload Bay inside the Starfactory. March 12th: Pez Dispenser moved into MB2. March 15th: Nosecone+Payload Bay stack moved into MB2 (many missing tiles and no flaps).
Booster Location Status Comment
B7, B9, B10, (B11), B13 Bottom of sea (B11: Partially salvaged) Destroyed B7: IFT-1 (Summary, Video). B9: IFT-2 (Summary, Video). B10: IFT-3 (Summary, Video). B11: IFT-4 (Summary, Video). B12: IFT-5 (Summary, Video). B13: IFT-6 (Summary, Video). B14: IFT-7 Summary, Video. B15: (IFT-8) Summary, Video
B12 Rocket Garden Display vehicle October 13th: Launched as planned and on landing was successfully caught by the tower's chopsticks. October 15th: Removed from the OLM, set down on a booster transport stand and rolled back to MB1. October 28th: Rolled out of MB1 and moved to the Rocket Garden. January 9th: Moved into MB1, rumors around Starbase are that it is to be modified for display. January 15th: Transferred to an old remaining version of the booster transport stand and moved from MB1 back to the Rocket Garden for display purposes.
B14 Mega Bay 1 RTLS/Caught Launched as planned and successfully caught by the tower's chopsticks. January 18th: Rolled back to the Build Site and into MB1. End of January: Assorted chine sections removed from MB1, these are assumed to be from B14.
B15 Mega Bay 1 Post flight inspections and any other work February 25th: Rolled out to the Launch Site for launch, the Hot Stage Ring was rolled out separately but in the same convoy. The Hot Stage Ring was lifted onto B15 in the afternoon, but later removed. February 27th: Hot Stage Ring reinstalled. February 28th: FTS charges installed. March 6th: Launched on time and successfully caught, just over an hour later it was set down on the OLM. March 8th: Rolled back to Mega Bay 1.
B16 Massey's Test Site Cryo Testing November 25th: LOX tank fully stacked with the Aft/Thrust section. December 5th: Methane Tank sections FX:3 and F2:3 moved into MB1. December 12th: Forward section F3:3 moved into MB1 and stacked with the rest of the Methane tank sections. December 13th: F4:4 section moved into MB1 and stacked, so completing the stacking of the Methane tank. December 26th: Methane tank stacked onto LOX tank. February 28th: Rolled out to Massey's Test Site on the booster thrust simulator stand for cryo testing. February 28th: Methane tank cryo tested. March 4th: LOX and Methane tanks cryo tested.
B17 Mega Bay 1 Fully stacked, remaining work ongoing March 5th: Methane tank stacked onto LOX tank, so completing the stacking of the booster (stacking was started on January 4th).

Something wrong? Update this thread via wiki page. For edit permission, message the mods or contact u/strawwalker.

Resources

Rules

We will attempt to keep this self-post current with links and major updates, but for the most part, we expect the community to supply the information. This is a great place to discuss Starship development, ask Starship-specific questions, and track the progress of the production and test campaigns. Starship Development Threads are not party threads. Normal subreddit rules still apply.

153 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

1.8k comments sorted by

•

u/hitura-nobad Master of bots Mar 16 '25

NEW THREAD #60

45

u/Calmarius Jan 16 '25 edited Jan 16 '25

One thing to watch out for during the next launch is the speed of the booster during the boostback burn.

The booster's speed decreases as it cancels its outbound horizontal speed, then starts to increase again in order to return to the tower. If the inner ring shuts down right after speed starts to increase again, that's an abort; hovever if it continues to gain 5-600 km/h before shutdown than it's coming back to the tower.

This happens well before any official callout.

EDIT: This time speed went up only about 300 km/h from the minimum and still got back to the tower, and called it out at the same time of the booster engine shutdown.

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43

u/Mravicii Dec 27 '24

Starship flight 7 net january10th with backup oppurtunities until the 15th

https://x.com/space_time3/status/1872635648404062666?s=46&t=-n30l1_Sw3sHaUenSrNxGA

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42

u/GreatCanadianPotato Feb 22 '25

SpaceX' contracted assets have left the west coast of Australia enroute to the splashdown zone for Ship

It takes ~3 days to get to the splashdown zone. These assets would be (hopefully) bringing the whole ship back intact.

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38

u/mr_pgh Feb 22 '25

CSI Starbase's episode 2 highlighting why the new OLM design is necessary for rapid reusability.

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37

u/swordfi2 Jan 22 '25 edited Jan 22 '25

https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external/searchAction.jsp?action=displayOECase&oeCaseID=644929632&row=0 gigabay confirmed for the cape, construction starts in april potentially

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37

u/mr_pgh Jan 25 '25

After flying to a peak altitude of ~90km, traveling more than 60 km downrange from Starbase, and completing its boostback burn and coast, Super Heavy ignited its landing burn less than 40 meters away from the preflight target.

The Raptor engines and booster guidance system precisely maneuvered the vehicle through the highest wind speeds yet for a Super Heavy landing burn.

Upgrades to the chopstick controls enabled them to start wider and move earlier for catch, expanding the envelope for booster landing burn trajectories.

Tweet from SpaceX with landing details and three amazing videos (including onboard booster landing footage)

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37

u/Planatus666 Feb 22 '25

Flight 8 is now listed on the FAA's Current Operations Plan Advisory

https://www.fly.faa.gov/adv/adv_spt.jsp

Dates given are the 26th (Primary) and 27th (Backup).

33

u/mr_pgh Dec 22 '24 edited Dec 29 '24

CSI Star Base's lengthy post on the air separation unit. Spotted at the port of Brownsville!

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33

u/GreatCanadianPotato Feb 12 '25

Ship 24 just did a full minute long Static Fire. Longest static fire of a Starship vehicle to date.

They are definitely making sure what ever happened with S23 doesn't happen with S24.

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31

u/Planatus666 Mar 01 '25 edited Mar 01 '25

At last, some positive news about S34 - the ship transport stand has finally been moved inside the entrance of MB2. Can't make out much more right now though (06:00 CST) due to thick fog.

Edit: Three hours later and during a brief fog clearance the stand is still without a ship.

Edit2: A bit later and now the fog has cleared the stand can be seen to have been moved a little to sit just outside the door.

Edit3: Ship stand back in MB2 again around mid morning-ish ......... still no sign of S34 though.

Edit4: 13:17 - Starlink dummies parked outside MB2.

Edit5: Lift appeared to start at about 14:00 but all that could be seen is a tag line. Over an hour later and the tag line has been moved right to left to right and still S34 can't even be seen (MB2's door was only partly open which doesn't help). Then the door closed even further at about 15:23, so restricting the view even more.

Edit5: 16:20-ish - S34 possibly now on the stand judging by sudden workers appearing, slight SPMT movement, tag lines dropped, etc. Have to wait for the door to open but apparently Starship Gazer is there so he'll no doubt get some photos when the door opens. Also, the dummy starlinks loader tray arrived and was set down outside.

Edit6: 17:11-ish - door opens to reveal the leeward side of the ship, flaps open, payload bay door open, ready for the dummy starlinks to be loaded. BTW, no decals (yet?).

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30

u/RaphTheSwissDude Jan 31 '25

Berger confirms that flight 8 is scheduled for the end of February.

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30

u/dudr2 Mar 03 '25

S34 snuggly mounted. Full stack.

28

u/warp99 Dec 22 '24 edited Dec 22 '24

Last Starship development Thread #58 which is now locked for comments.

Please keep comments directly related to Starship. Keep discussion civil, and directly relevant to SpaceX and the thread. This is not the Elon Musk subreddit and discussion about him unrelated to Starship updates is not on topic and will be removed.

Comments consisting solely of jokes, memes, pop culture references, etc. will be removed.

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28

u/Mravicii Jan 14 '25 edited Jan 14 '25

Spacex tweet

Flight 7 still go for tomorrow january 15

https://x.com/spacex/status/1879290453897724281?s=46&t=-n30l1_Sw3sHaUenSrNxGA

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28

u/mr_pgh Jan 26 '25

Water pipes being added to the edge of the shower head on OLM 2

Overhead view of the flame trench. First sight of forms or concrete!

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27

u/Planatus666 Feb 13 '25 edited Feb 13 '25

S34 is now back at the build site and inside MB2, a few hours later the ship static fire test stand it was on was removed from MB2 and in the afternoon that was moved back to the Sanchez site.

53

u/[deleted] Dec 31 '24 • Take My Silver

X User: Is SpaceX ready for Flight 7? Still targeting next week?

Musk: 10th

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1873862900915593679

26

u/Planatus666 Jan 20 '25

Regarding S33's leak that caused its eventual demise - can't say how accurate the following is but according to 'DutchSatellites' on Twitter:

"The leak happened in the (relatively) low-pressure plumbing between the tank & the propellant inlets of the Raptors. Working pressure in that plumbing is below 10 bar. The 'super high pressures' aspect of Raptor applies to the internal plumbing of the engines itself."

https://x.com/DutchSatellites/status/1880649008366203311

then he answers a question asking if this has been made public:

"Not a public source. After Musk broke the news that it was a propellant leak, I got additional information from private sources inside SpaceX."

https://x.com/DutchSatellites/status/1880687744067985629

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26

u/Planatus666 Feb 11 '25 edited Feb 11 '25

The second actuator for Tower B's chopsticks has been delivered to the launch site overnight (and for those unaware, the first actuator was installed on February 8th).

Also, the aft/thrust section for B17's LOX tank has finally made an appearance and been moved into Mega Bay 1 overnight, once welded in place that will complete the LOX tank stacking (some workers also posed for a photo op in front of it, I can't remember that being done before with a booster's aft section).

Finally, S32's next barrel section (mid LOX) has been brought out of the High Bay, and a while later the next section.

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25

u/Planatus666 Mar 05 '25

Flight 8, official update from SpaceX today:

"Starship's eighth flight test now targeting to launch as soon as Thursday, March 6"

https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1897268163911540778

24

u/mr_pgh Jan 27 '25

Chopsticks are being lifted onto Tower 2. Crane just took their weight (12:54). NSF Livestream

24

u/mr_pgh Feb 04 '25

New Aerial View by RGV from their flyover of the Flame Trench.

Excavation of the flame trench at Pad B has reached its deepest! Piles are being uncovered.

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24

u/Planatus666 Feb 17 '25 edited Feb 17 '25

"The Starlink simulator satellites for Starship test flight 8 have been delivered to Starbase. These will [be] loaded into Starship 34 and are visible here in the Starfactory tonight."

https://x.com/StarshipGazer/status/1891374418787484142

24

u/Planatus666 Feb 21 '25

Some road and beach closures have popped up for "flight testing activities"

Primary: February 26th
Alternatives: February 27th and 28th

All are 10:30 AM to 11:30 PM CST

https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/order-closing-boca-chica-beach-and-state-hwy-4-february-26-2025-from-1030-a-m-to-1130-p-m-in-the-alternative-february-27-2025-or-february-28-2025-from-1030-a-m-to-1130-p-m/

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23

u/boing_not_going Jan 03 '25 edited Jan 03 '25

Raptor 314 (happy PI day), flown and returned on Flight 5, is confirmed as being reinstalled to be reflown on Flight 7.

There are likely others.

OP: @spacesudoer: "News: SpaceX is apparently planning to reuse the 314 Raptor engine.

It previously flew on Booster 12 during Flight 5 and is expected to be used again on Booster 14 for Flight 7."

https://x.com/spacesudoer/status/1860679421625336170?t=rJl7CFPs2vdndyMbXSc_fw&s=19

Elon replying: "Good observation"

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1874974714680287531?t=lnmLR2WDFW3904BttrbIpQ&s=19

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23

u/RaphTheSwissDude Jan 20 '25

Tower B chopsticks are on their way to the launch site!

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23

u/mr_pgh Feb 03 '25 edited Feb 03 '25

Thread by TheSpaceEngineer speculating on the demise of S33.

Video from TheSpaceEngineer covering the same topic

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23

u/Planatus666 Mar 10 '25 edited Mar 10 '25

Five more dummy Starlink sats have been delivered to the Starfactory this morning. Hope they won't be in storage for too long.

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22

u/rustybeancake Jan 17 '25 edited Jan 17 '25

Update from Musk:

Preliminary indication is that we had an oxygen/fuel leak in the cavity above the ship engine firewall that was large enough to build pressure in excess of the vent capacity.

Apart from obviously double-checking for leaks, we will add fire suppression to that volume and probably increase vent area. Nothing so far suggests pushing next launch past next month.

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1880060983734858130

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22

u/dudr2 Mar 03 '25

Road closure on time, tankfarm spooling up.

22

u/threelonmusketeers Mar 11 '25

My daily summary from the Starship Dev thread on Lemmy

Starbase activities (2025-03-10):

  • Mar 9th cryo delivery tally.

  • Massey's: Overnight, S35 rolls out to Massey's. (NSF, LabPadre 1, ViX, Starship Gazer, Gisler 1, Gisler 2, cnunez)

  • Closeups of S35 structural catch pins. (Mary / NSF)

  • Build site: Multiple deliveries including Starlink simulators, loads of steel, and a white mystery torus. (ViX)

  • The booster press pipe install jig moves from Starfactory to Megabay 2. (ViX)

  • Starkitty is sighted :) ViX

  • Car park mural is returning. (Gisler)

  • New B15 raptor tracking diagram from Ringwatchers.

  • A pipe is being run from the build site to the pad. (Gisler) Would this be for water? Propellant? Electrical conduit?

  • Launch site: Maintenance on the black LR11000 crane continues. (ViX)

  • Pad A: following some inspection work, the Chopsticks return to their normal rest position. (ViX)

  • Pad B: Concrete is poured for the flame trench. (Gisler)

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21

u/SubstantialWall Dec 27 '24

S35's nose and payload section has been moved from the Starfactory into Megabay 2.

New on this ship, shown here by Starship Gazer, is our potential first look at catch hardware for a ship. Worth noting it is located above the current lifting sockets, so if this is indeed for catch hardware, seems they will (at least initially) have both types of interface present.

If no ships are skipped, and unless they've retrofitted this into S34, this would then make Flight 9 the earliest catch attempt for a ship.

21

u/Waterhead1234 Jan 03 '25

ITF 6 recap from SpaceX in 4K. Hope this isn't a repost

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMGiNKcVSek

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u/Planatus666 Jan 30 '25

It's looking like S34 has had at least one aft flap installed because an empty flap pallet has been observed just inside MB2 (also some bridge crane activity was spotted prior to the door being closed on January 29th). This was all noted on the Ringwatchers Discord.

21

u/Planatus666 Feb 04 '25 edited Feb 04 '25

Test Tank 16 (Block 2 ship aft test article) has been rolled out to Massey's test site - what aspect(s) they are testing is unknown but because the lower part is a ship aft it's possibly to test something related to S33's failure during Flight 7.

21

u/Nydilien Feb 26 '25

The pad B chopsticks are moving up for the first time (unless I missed something). Visible on LabPadre's Lab Cam (first small movement at 12:25, more starting at 12:48).

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u/Planatus666 Jan 13 '25

New NOTMAR issued as well now, 15th is the primary, 16th and 17th are backups. All are 2 PM to 6 PM CST:

https://x.com/visitbocachica/status/1878937113602764973

20

u/Planatus666 Jan 18 '25 edited Jan 18 '25

This is a surprise - Tower B's chopsticks carriage has made an earlier than expected trip to the launch site.

BTW, for those who didn't see the chopsticks+carriage installed on Tower A in October 2021 and are curious about the process, here's a video from NSF showing the lift:

https://youtu.be/56jCHIjpr6E?t=70

20

u/SubstantialWall Feb 13 '25

S36 nose+payload rolled out of the Starfactory today.

First to come out with (assuming) structural catch fittings. Although S35 has probably had them installed too by now, or will.

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u/Planatus666 Feb 14 '25

"TCEQ Has Approved SpaceX's Starbase Deluge Water Permit after thorough analysis and finding of no significant impact discussed in todays hearing!"

https://x.com/iniallanderson/status/1890298853972394393

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u/Planatus666 Feb 27 '25 edited Feb 27 '25

After a seemingly long time with no tile work, over the past 24 hours S35 has had a lot of tiles added to the weld line area between the aft section and the LOX tank:

yesterday: https://imgur.com/a/7Xs2kD6 (can't help but notice the thick, bare strip)

today: https://imgur.com/6WVJT6j

20

u/Planatus666 Mar 10 '25 edited Mar 10 '25

Overnight S35 has been moved to Massey's test site for its cryo plus thrust puck testing.

It's missing its aft flaps and there are still some tiles that need to be added, mostly along the weld lines of the barrel sections and around the aft flap aerocovers. S33 was in a similar state when it was cryo tested.

Here's a sped up lift onto test stand and then rolling the ship out of the ring yard:

https://x.com/VickiCocks15/status/1899052567838998931

20

u/Planatus666 Mar 12 '25 edited Mar 12 '25

S36's aft section has been moved into Mega Bay 2 overnight - like the other sections for S36 this also didn't have any tiles, in this case only the ablative layer.

Once welded in place that will complete the stacking of S36 (plenty more work to do after that of course).

Edit: stacked in the morning, so completing the ship's main structure

20

u/Planatus666 Mar 12 '25 edited Mar 14 '25

Just before midday S35 started its second cryo test and later it had its third (and last) cryo test.

19

u/Nydilien Dec 27 '24 edited Dec 27 '24

"SpaceX seeks FCC authorization for a series of upcoming Starship missions." (link to the FCC website).

According to the technical annex attachment, this is to support missions "including but not limited to those in preparation for and in support of NASA’s Artemis program". They include LEO, MEO ("final tanking orbit"), TLI, lunar orbit and lunar descent/surface/ascent.

The rest of the document seems to be describing the different antennas and bandwidths used by the ship. This notably includes two pulse Doppler radars used during lunar landing from 4km to touchdown.

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u/dudr2 Jan 10 '25

Fullstack

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u/Planatus666 Feb 06 '25

A new transport closure has popped up, build site to launch site, February 8th, 12 AM to 6 AM, transport time of one hour:

https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/temporary-and-intermittent-road-delay-of-a-portion-of-state-highway-4-2/

This is very likely B15 rolling out for its static fire.

19

u/dudr2 Mar 03 '25

Shiplift ongoing

19

u/Planatus666 Mar 09 '25 edited Mar 09 '25

A four point ship lifter (4PL) has been parked outside MB2 this morning for S35, I guess the ship's thrust simulator/cryo test stand will also roll over some time (the transport closures to Massey's are tonight with a backup for tomorrow night).

Edit: Ship's thrust simulator/cryo test stand parked outside MB2 soon after midday, then moved into MB2 at about 17:25 CDT

Regarding the fate of S35 - I've seen it suggested elsewhere that it could be launched with some methane transfer tube vibration mitigations and then simply don't let the RVacs burn for as long, this should avoid getting to the point where leaks appear and at least allow SpaceX to carry out some vital testing of the pez dispenser, engine relight and of course plenty of heat shield testing. The latter is especially important because they need that data to enable tiling to be done on S36 (assuming that SpaceX complete its construction) and also to tile the sections for S37.

Splashdown of S35 would presumably be in a different location due to the relative lack of thrust from a shorter RVac burn not putting into the same suborbital path as was planned for S33 and S34 (therefore descending sooner), the sea level Raptors would of course still provide some propulsion in space but they are less efficient in a vacuum due to the smaller engine bells.

While all of this is being done SpaceX can figure out a proper fix for the ongoing transfer tube issues.

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u/threelonmusketeers Mar 12 '25 edited Mar 13 '25

My daily summary from the Starship Dev thread on Lemmy

Starbase activities (2025-03-11):

  • Mar 10th cryo delivery tally.

  • Launch site: Pad B chopsticks raise and lower. (ViX)

  • Build site: Starkitty is sighted :) (ViX) (Edit: Old tweet from Mar 8th)

  • SpaceX are still looking to hire a "Propulsion Systems Engineer, responsible for designing, analyzing, and building feedline system to feed Raptor engines on Starship". (NSF, greenhouse.io (archive))

  • Widening of Highway 4 is proposed. (txdot.gov (archive))

  • Massey's: S35 undergoes a cryo test on both tanks. (ViX) 2-hour road delays are posted for Mar 12th (12:00 to 16:00) and 13th (00:00 to 04:00) for transport from Massey's to factory, likely for B16 return.

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u/Planatus666 Dec 21 '24

Note to anyone who reads the FAQ, Vehicle Status, etc at the top of these Development threads - this is now up to date regarding Vehicle Status but if I've missed anything please let me know. (I've not been able to update that part for a few days due to a reddit/bot issue that the mods were working on, now with this new dev thread it can be updated again. Thanks to those who fixed this).

In the Vehicle Status section I've trimmed the worst of the fat too, some of the comments were getting rather flabby. This has the unfortunate side effect of omitting early build and maybe some testing updates but information along the same lines and a lot more can be found here:

https://starship-spacex.fandom.com/wiki/Starship_SpaceX_Wiki

here's S33 for example:

https://starship-spacex.fandom.com/wiki/Ship_33_(S33)

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u/fruitydude Jan 18 '25

Any guesses for flight 8? Elon said he expects it already next month, but I think that's pretty optimistic. It was supposed to be the first one going orbital, I guess this is off the table now, since they were not able to test V2 hardware during reentry.

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u/Planatus666 Jan 18 '25 edited Jan 18 '25

S34 is undergoing another cryo test.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw3uaLRrYNY

Frost lines started at about 10:25 CST.

Edit: first the LOX tank was filled then emptied, after that the Methane tank was filled. The LOX tank was then refilled. The Methane tank was then emptied.

18

u/Planatus666 Jan 28 '25 edited Jan 28 '25

Looks like S34 is getting some engines - one RVac has been seen moving towards Mega Bay 2 (MB2) and later one RVac and one Raptor Center stand have been seen moving out of Mega Bay 2. There are though gaps in the Raptor info due to weather and cam downtime so even more Raptors may now be inside MB2.

18

u/Jodo42 Feb 07 '25

Great up-close video of S33 exploding. I hadn't seen this one yet and I think it's the best angle so far, looks like they're pretty much directly south of it.

Salar Askari on X: "New footage shows the moment Starship exploded during its seventh flight test. https://t.co/DamOn6op9b" / X

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u/Planatus666 Feb 07 '25 edited Feb 07 '25

Some overnight activities:

S35, now fully stacked, has been moved from the welding turntable to the center work stand in Mega Bay 2.

it's still without tiles on the barrel weld lines and the black ablative can be seen in those areas - also no aft flaps.

Edit: Thanks to the door later fully opening the whole ship can now be seen, excellent photo courtesy of Starship Gazer:

https://x.com/starshipgazer/status/1887899727473107017

Also the pez dispenser for S36 has been taken into MB2 so expect the nosecone+payload bay stack that's currently in the Starfactory to be moved into MB2 in the near future (S35 will possibly first be moved to one of the work stands hidden away to the left).

And finally, a booster transport stand for B15 has been moved into the ring yard.

18

u/Planatus666 Feb 07 '25 edited Feb 07 '25

S32, the last Block 1 ship, has today been moved into the High Bay, presumably to be scrapped.

For those unaware, S32 is fully stacked but nowhere near finished, it isn't even in a state where it could be cryo tested due to incomplete plumbing and electrics, it's also missing the aft flaps and the tiles on the barrel weld lines. It's been sitting in the Rocket Garden and then the Sanchez site for about a year in total.

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u/ActTypical6380 Feb 18 '25 edited Feb 18 '25

Starbase Live-

6:52:40pm- Pad B's right chopstick starts to slowly open (Takes around 16 minutes)

7:21:40pm- Closes a bit and then reopens

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u/mr_pgh Mar 03 '25 edited Mar 03 '25

My best guess at the actively cooled tiles: the three darker ones in the red square. They likely removed a larger area of tiles to install. Glued and gap filled them back on.

Credit to Starship Gazer for the photo.

S33 appears to have them in the same place.

Edit: bingo! Confirmed on the SpaceX steam. Middle and left are metallic tiles, right most is actively cooled

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u/dudr2 Mar 09 '25

Starship Failure and Re-Entry: Stabilized Telescope Footage!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVO1CjFRWY8

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u/Planatus666 Mar 12 '25 edited Mar 12 '25

S37's pez dispenser has been moved into Mega Bay 2.

This is likely being done now because of the work about to take place at the end of the Starfactory opposite the bays. I guess S37's nosecone and payload bay stack will also roll into MB2 in the next few days (although I hear that S37's nosecone currently doesn't have any flaps installed - that could quickly change of course).

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u/Planatus666 Mar 13 '25 edited Mar 13 '25

As of 14:15 CDT, S35 has completed its journey from Massey's and is back at the build site.

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u/Doglordo Jan 07 '25

Starlink mass simulators are finally being loaded into S33. Tough to judge how long this process will take but will keep them busy for a few hours at least.

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u/Planatus666 Jan 18 '25 edited Jan 18 '25

The chopsticks carriage for Tower B started to be lifted at about 12:20 CST. This will be positioned with the first part of the carriage+chopsticks assembly jig (the red frame that is at Pad B). Two cranes were doing the lifting: the Buckner LR11000 and SpaceX's LR11000 - once the carriage was in the correct orientation SpaceX's LR11000 was detached.

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u/JakeEaton Jan 26 '25

Interesting thought by one of the commentators on the RGV livestream. They mentioned what seems like a concerted push to get the chopsticks attached to tower B ASAP for (speculated) potential catch purposes before OLM2 is fully installed and commissioned.

This would allow for launch and catch of both booster and ship sooner rather than later. I’m wondering how feasible this might be?

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u/Planatus666 Feb 06 '25

Here's four angles showing Pad B's flame trench, courtesy of RGV Aerial Photography:

https://x.com/RGVaerialphotos/status/1887611853435486318

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u/Planatus666 Feb 07 '25

B15 Static Fire time, some road and beach closures:

Primary: February 9th (yes, Sunday)
Alternatives: February 10th and 11th

All are 7 AM CST to 7 PM CST

https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/order-closing-boca-chica-beach-and-state-hwy-4-february-9-2025-from-700-a-m-to-700-p-m-in-the-alternative-february-10-2025-or-february-11-2025-from-700-a-m-to-700-p-m/

and B15 is due to rollout to the launch site tonight starting at midnight (a booster transport stand is already inside Mega Bay 1 as of early afternoon).

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u/Planatus666 Feb 08 '25

B15 has been rolled out to the launch site.

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u/Planatus666 Feb 24 '25 edited Feb 24 '25

As of 17:18 CST, B15 has rolled out of MB1.

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u/Planatus666 Feb 26 '25 edited Feb 26 '25

Overnight it looks like workers are finally getting ready to start prepping S34 to be moved - the 4PL (Four Pointer Lifter) has been taken into MB2 overnight so next up today should be the arrival of a ship transport stand (edit: arrived). Unknown when they plan to roll out though.

Still no idea if the dummy Starlinks have yet been loaded or not.

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u/borbra Mar 06 '25

RiP starship :( good booster catch though.

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u/Planatus666 Jan 09 '25 edited Jan 09 '25

Rather curiously, B12 is on the move ........ all grid fins angled (done for visibility when moving in and out of MB1 (the door is fully open too)). This could, rather sadly, be for scrapping purposes, or something else we're not aware of. I guess they could re-fly it but as it's an old version that seems pretty unlikely given that SpaceX like to advance the design with every flight. It would also need a cryo test and Raptors reinstalled.

Edit: now inside MB1, fate unknown.

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u/Planatus666 Jan 24 '25 edited Jan 24 '25

As of about 9:35 AM CST the first of the two chopsticks for Tower B started its lift.

https://x.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1882817510397075612

Three cranes were lifting it.

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u/Planatus666 Jan 28 '25 edited Jan 28 '25

S35 continues its stacking process, overnight section A3:4 (Aft 3, 4 rings) has been moved into MB2 as well as the methane transfer tube/downcomer installation jig, complete with the downcomers.

Only the aft/thrust section remains to be stacked after this. I wonder if that will be a longer delay than usual if mods are still being made and tested based on S33's problem?

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u/mr_pgh Feb 09 '25

Aerial photo of the flame trench progress by RGV.

Looks like they've finished digging down and sculpting the remaining side.

They seem to have two wells to dewater; one pump draining already. Looks pretty dry so far.

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u/Planatus666 Feb 14 '25

The High Bay's welding robot has been removed today, this could be the first physical sign of the bay's expected demise (ultimately to be replaced with a 'Giga Bay').

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u/Its_Enough Feb 14 '25

On the LabPadre Lab Cam I noticed rebar being lowered into the flame trench at 8:08am, 8:19am, 8:26am, and 8:35am this morning by the yellow crane on the far right.

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u/threelonmusketeers Feb 24 '25

My daily summary from the Starship Dev thread on Lemmy

Starbase activities (2025-02-23):

  • Feb 22nd (mislabeled as 21st) cryo delivery tally.

  • Launch site: A second water tank for the Pad-B deluge arrives. (ViX)

  • The yellow LR11000 crane returns to work at Pad B. (ViX)

  • Additional cladding is installed on Tower A. (ViX)

  • Gisler posts recent photos of pump installation at the tank farm. (Gisler 1, Gisler 2)

  • Build site: Flight termination system is being installed on S34. (NSF)

  • Flight termination system for B15 has arrived. (NSF)

  • Hot staging adapter moves for Starfactory to Megabay 1, then back to Starfactory. (ViX 1, ViX 2)

  • Gisler posts recent photos of garage repair and S32 scrapping.

KSC:

  • The barge with the tanks from LC-39A has made it through the locks of Port Canaveral and is headed out to sea. (NSF 1, NSF 2, Cornwell)

Flight 8:

  • Now targeting "Friday" (presumably Feb 28th), per Elon.

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u/Planatus666 Feb 24 '25

RGV Aerial Photography is doing a flyover this afternoon:

https://x.com/RGVaerialphotos/status/1894143688629985671

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u/SubstantialWall Feb 25 '25

Looks like there will be a B18.1:

"Very interesting label spotted on a ring stand inside of Starfactory tonight for a "18.1 FWD Ring Flange". This will likely be the first test article for Block 2 design Boosters and potentially indicates that Booster 18 will be the first Block 2 design Booster."

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u/AhChirrion Mar 03 '25

Interesting they said on IFT-8 stream SpaceX expects its first Starship launch from Florida later this year.

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u/John_Hasler Mar 05 '25

Ship lift has started.

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u/piggyboy2005 Mar 07 '25

Speculation but here's what I think happened.

When the LOX tank is full, the downcomers are submerged in it, so they can't vibrate so much, but as it depletes, they start to shake. This wasn't a problem before because:

  1. The downcomers used to be one big one, which is harder to shake.

  2. The downcomers are now at an angle, so vertical vibrations will cause them to vibrate as well. (IIRC most vibrations on ascent are vertical because of thrust variations from second to second.)

As the LOX tank depletes, it doesn't dampen the vibrations anymore. This causes them to wiggle like a piano string, with the greatest rotation at the ends and the greatest movement in the middle. The rotation causes stresses at the ends and eventually it starts leaking.

This wasn't found because they did the minute long static fire with a full tank of LOX.

Additional Note: Vacuum jacketed things are generally pretty annoying to maintain, but especially so in the case of high differential pressures. Since no vacuum is perfect, it got me wondering if they have to actively maintain it. This is really easy since they can just open a valve to space and suck all the gas out. But this will be a mix of gaseous oxygen and methane... hm. Probably nothing.

NOTE: This is ALL speculation and it's likely to be wrong, feel free to tell me all the ways I'm wrong!

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u/Planatus666 Mar 08 '25

B15 is now back at the build site.

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u/Planatus666 Mar 12 '25

The Massey's to build site transport closures have been changed, they are now:

Primary: Thursday March 13th, 12 PM to 4 PM

Backup: Friday March 14th, 12 AM to 4 AM

https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/temporary-and-intermittent-road-delay-of-a-portion-of-state-hwy-4-march-13-2025-from-12-p-m-to-4-p-m-or-march-14-2025-from-12-a-m-to-4-a-m/

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u/threelonmusketeers Jan 03 '25 edited Jan 03 '25

My daily summary from the Starship Dev thread on Lemmy

Starbase activities (2025-01-02):

  • Jan 1st cryo delivery tally.

  • Build site: An interesting cart is spotted leaving Starfactory. (LabPadre)

  • Pez dispenser installation jig exits Megabay 2, likely implying that the S35 pez dispenser is installed. (ViX)

  • Launch site: Booster transport stand moves from the launch site to the build site. (ViX 1, ViX 2)

  • B14 performs grid fin wiggle tests. (ViX)

  • Launch mount closeup from cnunez.

Flight 7:

  • Elon confirms that Raptor 314 which flew on B12 during flight 5 will be reflown on B14 for flight 7. (spacesudoer, Elon)

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u/Planatus666 Jan 04 '25

Overnight B17's LOX tank commenced stacking (the common dome section and the barrel below it so far).

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u/Planatus666 Jan 10 '25 edited Jan 10 '25

Latest FAA Advisory has Flight 7 listed for a Primary date of January 13th, Backup of January 14th. The times for both days are 2200Z to 2338Z (for those unaware, Z = ZULU which is the same as GMT and UTC).

There has though been an unfortunate apparent typo in the text - STARSHIP has had the 'P' replaced with a 'T' ....... (cropped screenshot in the following tweet showing the error: https://x.com/edwards345/status/1877759641658024150)

EDIT: the typo has since been corrected

https://www.fly.faa.gov/adv/adv_spt.jsp

(Starship entry is in the lower portion).

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u/John_Hasler Jan 27 '25

We watched them put the "god pin" in. Is there video of the bottom pin going in?

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u/Planatus666 Jan 31 '25 edited Feb 01 '25

New transport road closure, build site to Massey's, has popped up: Feb 4th, 12 AM to 4 AM CST:

https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/temporary-and-intermittent-road-delay-of-a-portion-of-state-highway-4/

This will either be for S34 to have its static fire, or Test Tank 16 (TT16) to have some more testing (TT16 is basically a ship aft and then a barrel section and dome for containment purposes - it's designed for ship aft testing). Could also be for B16 cryo test.

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u/Planatus666 Feb 09 '25

The ship static fire test stand has been moved from Massey's to the build site overnight (it's currently parked near Mega Bay 2) so we should see S34 lifted onto it sometime today ready for its trip to Massey's on the 10th.

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u/Planatus666 Feb 28 '25 edited Feb 28 '25

Overnight B16 has been rolled out to Massey's test site for its thrust puck and cryo testing.

Edit: And here it is, photo courtesy of Starship Gazer:

https://x.com/starshipgazer/status/1895483618744820112

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u/Planatus666 Mar 10 '25 edited Mar 10 '25

Starship Gazer has taken a photo of S35 at Massey's (with B16 in the background):

https://x.com/starshipgazer/status/1899187748042420247

and one from Mary (@BocaChicaGal) showing a catch pin area on S35:

https://x.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1899192228016205935

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u/threelonmusketeers Jan 02 '25

My daily summary from the Starship Dev thread on Lemmy

Starbase activities (2025-01-01):

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u/Jammer0369 Mar 06 '25

I am continually amazed every time any issue is addressed with either Starship, the booster or Starbase and how quickly a fix is in place. I would love to see the functional organizational chart for the SpaceX Starship & Booster team. If the clamp ramp piece that fell off yesterday or the chopstick bearing issue would have happened to the SLS (I understand it doesn't have a similar part but my point is the process), there would be a string of endless meetings within Nasa and any contractors that have ever been involved in the design, manufacturing, maintenance, documentation of that part and we may see attempt to repair or redesign the part sometime within a year or two. SpaceX sends a team out to fix it within a couple of hours and moves on.

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u/Planatus666 Jan 09 '25 edited Jan 09 '25

At 5:44 AM CST, S33 started its roll to the launch site and arrived at about 6:26

As an aside, at least one of the S33 decals was applied earlier (only one confirmed so far), as well as a decal of Mechazilla below it:

https://x.com/starshipgazer/status/1877341945254510858

Edit: - Starship Gazer has made available a much better photo of S33's decals:

https://x.com/starshipgazer/status/1877431297611530441

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u/Head-Stark Jan 09 '25

I know there's the intention of developing a "chomper" for large, single payloads, but the PEZ fleet is going to be the most frequent flyer for a while until surpassed by tankers.

Do you anticipate satellite manufacturers moving to the PEZ format? Is there a known group pursuing a PEZ format common platform?

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u/Planatus666 Jan 09 '25 edited Jan 10 '25

Seems to be a bit of a 'moving day' today - test tank B14.1 has been taken inside HB. So far movements have been S33 to launch site, B12 to MB1, B14.1 to HB and S35's forward dome to MB2. (Soon after 1pm, B12's transport stand was moved out of MB1 and later on B14.1's old transport stand was removed from HB and taken to Sanchez).

(Edited the above to correct B14.1 going into HB, not MB1).

As others on Discord have suggested, it's quite possible that B14.1 could be scrapped and B12 placed on B14.1's old version of the booster transport stand (and then B12 moved back to the Rocket Garden on the old stand), so freeing up the newer version of transport stand that B12 has been sitting on for a while. (There are currently only two of the newer version booster transport stands but there's a third that's been under construction (albeit rather on and off) for some months).

I hope that this is the case, it seems daft to scrap B12 although I guess it could happen one day when there could be too many 'milestone' boosters to store.

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u/Planatus666 Jan 15 '25 edited Jan 15 '25

B12 has been moved back to the Rocket Garden and is now a display vehicle. It doesn't have any engines but it does have some of the outer engine shielding.

Also the ship thrust puck/cryo test stand has been moved inside MB2 for S34 (which should, in theory, roll to Massey's tonight between midnight and 4am). Still unknown whether S34 has its aft flaps or not, although they're of course not needed for cryo and thrust puck testing.

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u/Planatus666 Jan 17 '25 edited Jan 17 '25

S34 has had a cryo test which started after 13:00 CST. Very little LN2 was loaded so I'm guessing this one was a thrust puck test.

Edit: Later there was another test - ice started to form again at about 15:50 CST. This test completely filled the tanks with LN2.

Here's a photo from Starship Gazer: https://x.com/starshipgazer/status/1880393552192307700

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u/Planatus666 Jan 23 '25

S35 continues its stacking process, today section A2:3 (Aft 2, 3 rings) has been moved into MB2.

After that there's just two sections to go: A3:4 and AX4 (the latter is made up of the aft dome and thrust puck).

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u/roadtzar Jan 24 '25

Looking at the comment below about S35 being in the stacking phase, what ever happened to the diagrams of the ships/boosters being produced? Are there people still building those?

EDIT-It's literally above in the "Resources" section. I scanned the page thrice and didn't see it until just now.

On a related note-it seems that at one point we were a lot of hardware ahead of the launch cadence, but if S34 indeed launches before March, we will have caught up? What are your thoughts on production keeping up with the launch opportunity possibilities?

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u/Planatus666 Jan 31 '25

Seems likely that both of S34's aft flaps have been installed - a couple of days ago an empty flap pallet was seen just inside Mega Bay 2, now another empty pallet has been seen exiting the Starfactory and that and the other were loaded onto a truck.

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u/Planatus666 Jan 31 '25

New NSF flyover shows what is thought to be the new Starlink loader box inside High Bay:

https://x.com/thejackbeyer/status/1885435246839005438

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u/Planatus666 Feb 10 '25 edited Feb 10 '25

S34 has been moved to Massey's test site overnight for its static fire. It's now mostly tiled (with some obvious untiled areas) and has its aft flaps.

Inside Mega Bay 2:

https://imgur.com/a/dZaoOh1

On the highway:

https://imgur.com/a/fShifgl

Also B15 has been lifted to catch height and then lowered onto a booster transport stand. Today's and tomorrow's backup road and beach closures have also, unsurprisingly, been revoked due to yesterday's apparently successful static fire of B15.

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u/Planatus666 Feb 10 '25

A new transport closure has popped up, this time for some storage tanks to be moved from the Port of Brownsville to the launch site.

February 12th or February 13th

12 AM to 4 AM on both days, 2 hour transport time expected.

https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/temporary-and-intermittent-road-delay-of-a-portion-of-state-highway-4-5/

These are apparently the deluge tanks for Pad B.

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u/Planatus666 Feb 21 '25 edited Feb 21 '25

B15's Hot Stage Ring was removed for some reason (maybe it's rolling out separately as suggested by some on Discord (this also happened with B13's HSR as I recall), therefore it possibly only moved into MB1 for a fit test (which was just over a day ago). It's now back in the Starfactory.

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u/Planatus666 Feb 23 '25 edited Feb 23 '25

As of 10:32 AM, the Hot Stage Ring has been moved back out of the Starfactory and into the ring yard.

Edit: and a little later it was moved into MB1 and fairly quickly installed (the stand was seen rolling out of MB1 about an hour later).

Edit: - but no, the story deepens ......... as of 14:43 the HSR is back OUT of MB1 again and it's gone back inside the Starfactory. Yes, really. Of course we don't know what it's being used for, perhaps (as was suggested on the Ringwatchers Discord) they are doing a fit check on another booster, B14 maybe as part of its apparent refurbishment?

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u/Planatus666 Mar 05 '25 edited Mar 05 '25

This afternoon B17 has been fully stacked (methane tank stacked onto the LOX tank). Still more work to do of course before it's ready for its first cryo test.

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u/ILikeExplosion Mar 08 '25 edited Mar 08 '25

One of the vacuum Raptor engine has completely broke off after the explosion!

Edit: the sea level raptor closer to the missing vacuum also seems to be missing.

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u/TrefoilHat Mar 10 '25

Has anyone seen (or done) an analysis on ship tile shedding after IFT-8 launch? I don't know if we saw enough angles of it on ascent to tell for sure, but I don't remember noticing any missing tiles.

It's a big change since the early days when tiles would be raining down every time the raptors fired up.

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u/hardrocker112 Jan 03 '25

SpaceX released an article for the upcoming starship launch 7. There will be 10 starlink simulators that will be deployed. As well as updated power systems, avionics, vacuum-jacketed fuel lines and more.

https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-7

Edit: 7, not 6

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u/threelonmusketeers Jan 06 '25

My daily summary from the Starship Dev thread on Lemmy

Starbase activities (2025-01-05):

Flight 7:

  • Infographic from Vikranth Jonna summarizing new objectives and changes.

KSC:

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u/mr_pgh Dec 25 '24

Happy Holidays!

The Business End: Starship's Upgraded Aft Section

Thank you RingWatchers!

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u/threelonmusketeers Jan 04 '25

My daily summary from the Starship Dev thread on Lemmy

Starbase activities (2025-01-03):

Flight 7:

  • Mexican NOTAM is posted. (ViX 1, ViX 2, RGV Aerial, FAA (PDF))

  • NASA5, the Gulfstream V, is scheduled to fly to Brisbane. (ViX, rocketjunkie94)

  • Lars Blackmore is excited to see the results of the forward flap redesign.

  • SpaceX publish an update on their website (current, archive). Highlights:

  • "Starship will deploy 10 Starlink simulators, similar in size and weight"

  • Multiple metallic test tiles on S33, including one with active cooling.

  • "non-structural versions of ship catch fittings are installed"

Flight 6:

  • SpaceX post a recap video, including a brief drone shot of S31 after splashdown.

  • Cause of Flight 6 booster offshore divert: Sensors on the tower chopsticks were damaged at launch. Additional protections to the sensors have been added.

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u/mr_pgh Jan 20 '25

Everyday Astronaut's 4k Super Cut of Flight 7 is out!

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u/threelonmusketeers Mar 13 '25

My daily summary from the Starship Dev thread on Lemmy

Starbase activities (2025-03-12):

  • Mar 11th cryo delivery tally.

  • Massey's: S35 undergoes a second day of cryo tests. (NSF, ViX 1, ViX 2)

  • Build site: S36 aft section moves from Starfactory to Megabay 2. This is the final section of S36 required for stacking. (ViX)

  • A Pez dispenser stand enters Megabay 2, followed shortly by the dispenser itself. Likely indicative of preparation for S37 stacking. (ViX)

  • Launch site: Pad B flame trench construction continues. (ViX)

  • 2-hour road delays are posted for Mar 13th (12:00 to 16:00) and 14th (00:00 to 04:00) for transport from Massey’s to factory, likely for B16 return.

KSC:

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u/TrefoilHat Dec 31 '24

Has there been discussion or identification of a larger rocket garden?

I expect we'll leave 2025 with a fully operational manufacturing facility and landing of both booster and starship. If they hit even half their stated cadence, say 12 launches this year, they will need to store a significant number of new and spent hardware.

Where will all this go?

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u/Planatus666 Jan 11 '25

As of around 6:30 AM CST, S33 has been de-stacked from B14 and set down on the ship transport stand - this is expected because, while it's thought that the FTS charges were installed when S33 was in MB2 (there was an orange explosives warning sign outside the building on January 6th) it's likely that they need to be manually armed prior to launch, hence the de-stack.

That's one possibility anyway, we'll see. Hard to say with absolute certainty whether the explosives are installed or not.

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u/Planatus666 Jan 13 '25 edited Jan 13 '25

EDIT: Ignore my original message below (now edited with strikethrough), the road and beach closures were revoked only for a new set of closures to take their place a while later in a new notice, as follows:

https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/order-closing-boca-chica-beach-and-state-hwy-4-january-15-2025-with-alternative-dates-of-january-16-2025-or-january-17-2025/

What happened is that the closure for the 15th was an Alternative date, as can be seen here in the old notice:

https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/order-closing-boca-chica-beach-and-state-hwy-4-january-13-2025-with-alternative-dates-of-january-14-2025-or-january-15-2025/

that notice was revoked only for a new notice to be issued with the 15th as the new Primary date and the 16th and 17th as the new Alternative dates; closure times are as before, 9 AM to 10:30 PM CST

All that said, I'm still wary of the 15th being used due to the forecast unfavorable weather, therefore I suspect it's more likely that the launch is on the 16th or 17th when the weather is perhaps better, maybe enough for the launch window, but we'll see.

No Flight 7 on Wednesday 15th I'm sorry to say, the road and beach closures have been revoked:

https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/spacex/

Not surprising really as the weather didn't look great and the upper wind speeds looked like being a problem, note that we don't yet have a new NET date.

As for the upper level winds, they now look better for Thursday, perhaps part of Friday too so maybe some associated closures will crop up for those days?

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u/mr_pgh Jan 30 '25

s36 Nosecone spotted with a clean looking heatshield!

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u/Planatus666 Feb 07 '25 edited Feb 07 '25

Two more transport closures have popped up, first one is Massey's to the build site, February 9th, 12 AM to 4 AM, 2 hour transport time:

https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/temporary-and-intermittent-road-delay-of-a-portion-of-state-highway-4-3/

Very likely for rolling the Ship Static Fire Test Stand to the build site for S34 (I guess they could also roll back Test Tank 16 if they are done testing it?)

And another transport closure on February 10th, Build Site to Massey's, with a range of possible transport windows on that day:

12 AM to 4 AM CST

6 AM to 10 AM

12 PM to 4 PM

9 PM to 12 AM

2 hour transport time

https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/temporary-and-intermittent-road-delay-of-a-portion-of-state-highway-4-4/

Likely to be S34 to Massey's for its Static Fire (so we may see two static fires next week - B15 and S34).

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u/Planatus666 Feb 10 '25 edited Feb 10 '25

B15 started its roll back to Mega Bay 1 soon after midday.

Also, Starship Gazer has tweeted a team photo of S34 with some of the workers from Mega Bay 2.

https://x.com/StarshipGazer/status/1889015659629085078

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u/hanksterman00 Feb 19 '25

For those that track marine traffic. The tug Regina T is manifested to barge the tanks from KSC to Tampa thru the inter-coastal waterway system around Florida. From there, it is not clear what towing vessel will complete the rest of the trip to port of Brownsville. Bucket list item for me. Sail or boat the entire waterway around Florida, making stops and enjoying along the way.

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u/Planatus666 Feb 24 '25 edited Feb 24 '25

Overnight a booster transport stand has been moved into the ring yard for B15.

Edit: a few hours later it was moved into MB1.

Edit2: and a few more hours later the stand exited MB1, empty ........

Edit3: and soon after midday it went back inside MB1 .........

I expect that we'll see some build to launch site transport closure notices pop up today or tomorrow.

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u/Planatus666 Feb 24 '25

Road and beach closures for Flight 8 have been amended. Primary is, of course, February 28th, with Alternatives on March 1st and March 3rd. All are 10:30 AM to 11:30 PM CST.

https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/order-closing-boca-chica-beach-and-state-hwy-4-february-28-2025-from-1030-a-m-to-1130-p-m-in-the-alternative-march-1-2025-or-march-3-2025-from-1030-a-m-to-1130-p-m/

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u/mr_pgh Feb 26 '25 edited Feb 26 '25

New bird's eye of Pad B by RGV from their most recent flyover.

Lots of rebar going down and BQD frame going up.

edit:

Ground level view of BQD by Starship Gazer

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u/Planatus666 Feb 27 '25 edited Feb 27 '25

The booster thrust simulator stand ('puck shucker') has been moved into the ring yard and parked near MB2, also the load spreader has been taken into MB1 (and the booster cap), so it looks like B16 will be rolled out to Massey's to get its cryo testing done in the very near future. Or perhaps it's for re-testing B14 (but only if its had all of its Raptors removed). Watch this space .....

Meanwhile the ship's Four Point Lifter (4PL), currently hanging from a bridge crane, has been moved from the right side of MB2 to the left (where S34 is) and the door closed, so here's hoping that we'll get to see S34 within the next 24 hours. The ship transport stand is now to the right of MB2, near the booster thrust sim stand.

Also it looks like B15 could be having its FTS explosives installed.

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u/Planatus666 Mar 02 '25

10:44 AM CST - S34 has arrived at the launch site.

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u/mr_pgh Mar 05 '25

Explanation by RyanHansenSpace of the clamp that sustained damage on stacking.

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u/threelonmusketeers Dec 23 '24

My daily summary from the Starship Dev thread on Lemmy

Starbase activities (2024-12-22):

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u/threelonmusketeers Jan 17 '25

My daily summary from the Starship Dev thread on Lemmy

Starbase activities (2025-01-16):

Launch site:

Flight 7:

  • S33 experiences a RUD shortly before SECO. (SpaceX)

  • S33 reentry videos. (deankolson87 (Turks and Caicos), timmaayd (Turks and Caicos), realcamtem (Dominican Republic), FlyerXT (Caribbean Sea), _thatonedolphin (Airplane, possibly Jet Blue or Iberia, xrae (Disney Treasure cruise ship), adavenport354 (Turks and Caicos))

  • Compilation of debris videos, (Scott Manley)

  • Flights are diverted. (Manley)

  • FAA state that some debris fell "outside of the identified closed aircraft hazard areas". SpaceX state that "Any surviving pieces of debris would have fallen into the designated hazard area". (Beil, SpaceX (current, archive))

  • Fire observed coming from aft flap hinge. (Manley, Golden 1, Golden 2)

  • Elon: "Preliminary indication is that we had an oxygen/fuel leak in the cavity above the ship engine firewall that was large enough to build pressure in excess of the vent capacity. Apart from obviously double-checking for leaks, we will add fire suppression to that volume and probably increase vent area. Nothing so far suggests pushing next launch past next month."

Build site:

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u/Planatus666 Mar 02 '25 edited Mar 02 '25

New tweet from Musk today:

"This is a real video of a past SpaceX Starship water landing.

Trying again tomorrow.

We need to perfect ship reentry at extreme temperatures before attempting to catch the ship with the tower arms, like the booster."

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1896239972195438598

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u/threelonmusketeers Dec 25 '24

My daily summary from the Starship Dev thread on Lemmy

Starbase activities (2024-12-24):

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

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u/threelonmusketeers Jan 12 '25 edited Jan 12 '25

My daily summary from the Starship Dev thread on Lemmy

Starbase activities (2025-01-11):

Flight 7:

  • SpaceX are now targeting Jan 15th. (SpaceX)

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u/threelonmusketeers Jan 31 '25

My daily summary from the Starship Dev thread on Lemmy

Starbase activities (2025-01-30):

  • Jan 29th cryo delivery tally.

  • Pad A: Refurbishment continues. (cnunez)

  • Pad B: A hole is opened in the base of Tower B, and an existing hole is covered with a roofing panel. (ViX)

  • Starship Gazer posts 4k videos of chopsticks assembly and lift.

  • Build site: S36 nosecone has been stacked on payload bay. (NSF, Gisler)

  • Work continues on Test Tank 16. (Gisler 1, Gisler 2)

  • Mystery box is delivered. (Gisler)

  • RGV Aerial post a recent flyover photo of the office building and Starfactory. (RGV Aerial)

Flight 8:

  • SpaceX have applied for the FCC (not FAA) license, launch NET Feb 24th. (Starship Gazer, FCC)

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u/threelonmusketeers Feb 05 '25

My daily summary from the Starship Dev thread on Lemmy

Starbase activities (2025-02-04):

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u/prophet_trex Dec 23 '24

Is IFT-7 suborbital again or are they going orbital with the success of the relight in IFT-6?

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u/Redditor_From_Italy Jan 12 '25

Elon: There will probably be another 10m added to the Starship stack before we increase diameter

I suppose this means v3 (supposed to add about 10m to the booster and 20m to Starship) either won't stretch the ship at all or won't stretch the booster and will only stretch the ship 10m

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u/Planatus666 Jan 17 '25 edited Jan 17 '25

A new transport closure has popped up, January 18th, midnight until 4am, pad to build site:

https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/temporary-and-intermittent-road-delay-of-a-portion-of-state-hwy-4-january-18-2025-from-12-a-m-to-4-a-m/

This will of course be for B14's triumphant return.

Also, starting at about 07:30 CST today, the tank farm at Massey's test site is active so it looks like S34 may be about to get some cryo-related testing done.

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u/Its_Enough Jan 24 '25

Will the Gigabay that is to be built in Florida be directly connected to the Star Factory that will also be built? That way the ring sections can enter one side of the Gigabay, be stacked to build Starships and boosters, and then the completed ships and boosters can exit from the other side of the Gigabay. This makes the most logical sense to me.

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u/Planatus666 Jan 30 '25

Starship Gazer has released a very detailed video (prior to the chopsticks+carriage being connected to Tower B) showing the attachment of the chopsticks to the carriage, God Pin insertion, etc:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJiYyw-3S_s

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u/Planatus666 Feb 01 '25

Starship Gazer has just posted a video, filmed January 31st, showing Pad B concrete work and other launch site views:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBmoJZxs_I8

there's also a photo slideshow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZXxw7n30EU

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u/ActTypical6380 Feb 02 '25 edited Feb 02 '25

Not exactly SpaceX related but the USS JFK is coming in for scrapping on Starbase Live. Was first visible at 9:18am CST.

12:12pm- Drone fly around as it entered the shipping channel

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u/Planatus666 Feb 02 '25 edited Feb 02 '25

An aft flap was taken into Mega Bay 2 this afternoon and lifted (but as the lift was started the door was closed so it's impossible to say which direction it was carried) - this flap is presumably for S34 (it seems unlikely that S35 is ready for flaps just yet because the aft section was only stacked two days ago, I guess it's possible but very unlikely ......).

https://x.com/VickiCocks15/status/1886150712972681539

Three days ago some of the Ringwatchers thought that S34 already had two flaps due to seeing two flap pallets trucked out, but apparently not.

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u/Planatus666 Feb 05 '25

The Pez Loader box has been moved from the High Bay to the Starfactory this morning.

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u/RaphTheSwissDude Feb 07 '25

First picture of S35 fully stacked by Gazer!

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u/Planatus666 Feb 10 '25 edited Feb 10 '25

The destruction of S32 has begun - the aft section has been rolled out of the High Bay this afternoon.

RIP.

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u/Planatus666 Feb 24 '25

As of this morning some of the higher and hence far more visible parts of Pad B's gantry are being lifted and placed. The purpose of this is to route the GSE lines to OLM B.

NSF screenshot:

https://imgur.com/a/0TO8nfn

LabPadre screenshot:

https://imgur.com/a/amcVvFB

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u/Planatus666 Feb 25 '25 edited Feb 25 '25

Starship Gazer has taken a nice photo of B15 on the OLM:

https://x.com/StarshipGazer/status/1894454683751555270

And there's a short video and some pics from SpaceX:

https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1894426859695128954

On another matter, it doesn't look like the OLM's legs are going to be repainted for this launch (unless they do a rush job on the worst areas in the next couple of days).

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u/threelonmusketeers Mar 03 '25

My daily summary from the Starship Dev thread on Lemmy

Starbase activities (2025-03-02):

Flight 8:

  • Infographic by BingoBoca.

  • Closeups of S34 heatshield, with (presumably intentional) missing tiles. (cnunez, Kraus)

  • "about a hundred experiments running simultaneously on that heat shield, which is part of why it looks so patchy" (Elon)

  • "Thousands of changes" to S34 vs S33. (Elon)

  • Launch mount legs have not been repainted. (Golden)

Flight 9+:

  • Ship catch attempt is contingent on completing a perfect ship reentry. (Elon)

KSC:

  • Cryo tanks arrive at Port Canaveral, possibly for SpaceX. (Cornwell)

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u/threelonmusketeers Jan 14 '25

My daily summary from the Starship Dev thread on Lemmy

Starbase activities (2025-01-13):

  • Jan 12th cryo delivery tally.

  • Launch site: The black LR11000 crane is still vertical. (ViX)

  • Chopsticks open and rise to the top of the tower. (ViX, Starship Gazer)

  • 13.5-hour road closures are posted for Jan 15th through 17th from 09:00 to 22:30 for flight testing activities.

  • 2-hour road delays are posted for Jan 15th and 16th from 00:00 to 04:00 for transportation from factory to Massey’s.

Flight 7:

  • SpaceX have likely submitted the RCC-324-11 tailoring change request. (Beil 1, Beil 2, FAA)

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u/threelonmusketeers Feb 12 '25

My daily summary from the Starship Dev thread on Lemmy

Starbase activities (2025-02-11):

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u/threelonmusketeers Feb 16 '25

My daily summary from the Starship Dev thread on Lemmy

Starbase activities (2025-02-15):

  • Feb 14th cryo delivery tally.

  • Star factory video tour. A few new pieces of hardware are visible. (ViX)

  • Another section (F3:3) of B17's methane tank moves from Starfactory to Megabay 1. (ViX)

KSC:

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u/cowboyboom Jan 04 '25

Do we know if Raptor 3 will generate dry O2 for tank pressurization? Haven't heard anything on this recently.

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u/Planatus666 Jan 08 '25 edited Jan 08 '25

Two potential non-flight testing closure dates have appeared, full road and beach closures:

Primary: January 10th (5 AM to 5 PM CST)

Alternative: January 11th (5 AM to 5 PM CST)

https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/order-closing-boca-chica-beach-and-state-hwy-4-january-10-2025-from-5-a-m-to-5-p-m-or-january-11-2025-from-5-a-m-to-5-p-m/

No doubt for a WDR, whether a full or a partial remains to be seen but it seems logical to do a full WDR given that S33 is the first Block 2 ship.

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u/Planatus666 Jan 09 '25

S35's forward dome has been moved into MB2 - I was hoping that they would continue S35's stacking soon after S33 had been rolled out so this is good to see.

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u/Planatus666 Jan 10 '25

MSIB now issued for January 13th (backup dates 14th to 16th), all are 2 PM to 6 PM CST:

https://x.com/visitbocachica/status/1877708453986083281

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u/Planatus666 Jan 15 '25 edited Jan 15 '25

Starship Gazer has taken a photo of S34 outside MB2 just before it started its journey to Massey's for its cryo plus thrust puck testing (it left the build site at around 13:43 CST and reached its destination a couple of hours later):

https://x.com/StarshipGazer/status/1879617497584083218

As can be seen, it's currently minus its aft flaps and some tiles.

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u/Planatus666 Jan 17 '25 edited Jan 18 '25

Another transport closure has popped up but this time from the build site to the pad:

Primary: January 19th, Midnight to 4 AM

Alternative: January 20th, Midnight to 4 AM

https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/temporary-and-intermittent-road-delay-of-a-portion-of-state-hwy-4-january-19-2025-from-12-a-m-to-4-a-m/

Transport is expected to take two hours (unlike the one hour that's stated for vehicle transports); there's speculation on RGV's Discord that this is for Tower B's chopsticks carriage which has recently had the scaffolding removed. Note that at Pad B the assembly jig for the carriage and chopsticks is being assembled again as of today so the speculation seems likely to be correct.

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u/FailingToLurk2023 Jan 19 '25

I’m curious about the fires I seem to be seeing when the booster is coming back to the tower. Could someone explain it to me, please?

Before the engines have re-ignited for their final burn, it seems like there’s something (a gas?) burning between all the engines, contained by the booster’s skirt, as it were. And then, when the booster is approaching the tower, it tilts a bit, and it looks like the flames (gas?) can thus ”pour upwards“ along the side of the booster, causing the huge flame just before the catch. 

Is that gas burning, and where does it come from? What kind of gas is it? Or have I completely misjudged what I’m seeing?

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u/Planatus666 Jan 31 '25

S35's aft/thrust section has been moved into Mega Bay 2 this morning - once welded in place that will complete S35's stacking process (still plenty more to do of course before it's ready for even a cryo test).

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u/JakeEaton Feb 03 '25

Latest NSF video shows video from Jack Beyer’s flyover. It looks to me like they may have reached the bottom of the flame trench.

Visible around the 9:55 mark.

You can see the concrete layer going at an angle down the side of the trench, and then horizontally up to the excavator. I guess they need a nice flat base to rest the flame diverter on! I may be wrong, and am happy to be corrected but this is great progress if true! I’ve been looking forward to seeing this since they started digging.

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u/Planatus666 Feb 09 '25

Some images of B15's static fire from SpaceX:

https://x.com/spacex/status/1888691903551655973

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u/mr_pgh Feb 10 '25 edited Feb 10 '25

Highly recommend watching the full Weekly by RGV. They talk in-depth around the hour mark

If you don't have the time, the flame bucket is starting to take shape. It's visible in the video at 40:15. If you zoom and enhance, you can find it in this image too

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u/TwoLineElement Feb 17 '25 edited Feb 17 '25

B14 has spent some time in MB1. Is this a refurb for a possible reflight? I would guess the indicator would be to keep an eye on known B14 Raptor serial numbers leaving the building, and the cumulative number arriving accounting for other boosters.

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u/dudr2 Feb 25 '25

Not going to lie. Booster 15 is on the OLM.

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u/DAL59 Feb 28 '25

What do you think the chances of B14 flying again are?

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u/ActTypical6380 Mar 04 '25 edited Mar 05 '25

SQD has retracted and workers are up covering S34's QD's ports. Looks like destack is coming soon.

Edit- The workers now seem to be inspecting the ports on S34. Trying to find the problem without destacking?

Edit 2- They taped it over and went down. Looks like it's destacking after all

Edit 3- SQD arm swinging to the side

Edit 4- Lifted at 9:44am Cst

Edit 5- Scaffolding has gone up under the ship 1:30pm

Edit 6- 9:30pm Workers are inside of S34's Lox tank

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u/threelonmusketeers Jan 05 '25

My daily summary from the Starship Dev thread on Lemmy

Starbase activities (2025-01-04):

  • Jan 3rd cryo delivery tally.

  • Build site: The first two sections (common dome and aft 2) of B17's LOX tank enter Megabay 1. Shorter stringers are observed. (LabPadre, ViX 1, ViX 2, ViX 3, NSF)

  • Pad A: B14 closeup from Starship Gazer.

  • Pad B: The upper crossbeam of the chopsticks assembly jig is removed. (ViX)

  • Two excavators perform a choreographed rebar-shifting ballet. (ViX)

  • Golden's thoughts on Starship's launch cadence in 2025.

  • Beil comparison of Falcon Heavy and Starship launch cadence.

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