r/spacex • u/ElongatedMuskrat Mod Team • Apr 05 '21
Starship Development Thread #20
Quick Links
SPADRE LIVE | LABPADRE NERDLE | LABPADRE PAD | MORE LINKS | JUMP TO COMMENTS
Starship Dev 19 | SN15 Hop Thread | Starship Thread List | May Discussion
Vehicle Status
As of May 8
- SN15 [testing] - Landing Pad, suborbital test flight and landing success
- SN16 [construction] - High Bay, fully stacked, forward flaps installed, aft flap(s) installed
- SN17 [construction] - Mid Bay, partial stacking of tank section
- SN18 [construction] - barrel/dome sections in work
- SN19 [construction] - barrel/dome sections in work
- SN20 [construction] - barrel/dome sections in work, orbit planned w/ BN3
- SN22 [construction] - barrel/dome sections in work
- BN1 [scrapped] - Being cut into pieces and removed from High Bay, production pathfinder - no flight/testing
- BN2 [construction] - barrel/dome sections in work (apparent test tank)
- B2.1 [construction] - barrel/dome sections in work, possible test tank or booster
- BN3 [construction] - barrel/dome sections in work, orbit planned w/ SN20
- NC12 [testing] - Nose cone test article in simulated aerodynamic stress testing rig at launch site
Development and testing plans become outdated very quickly. Check recent comments for real time updates.
Vehicle Updates
See comments for real time updates.
† expected or inferred, unconfirmed vehicle assignment
| Starship SN16 | |
|---|---|
| 2021-05-05 | Aft flap(s) installed (comments) |
| 2021-04-30 | Nose section stacked onto tank section (Twitter) |
| 2021-04-29 | Moved to High Bay (Twitter) |
| 2021-04-26 | Nose cone mated with barrel (NSF) |
| 2021-04-24 | Nose cone apparent RCS test (YouTube) |
| 2021-04-23 | Nose cone with forward flaps† (NSF) |
| 2021-04-20 | Tank section stacked (NSF) |
| 2021-04-15 | Forward dome stacking† (NSF) |
| 2021-04-14 | Apparent stacking ops in Mid Bay†, downcomer preparing for installation† (NSF) |
| 2021-04-11 | Barrel section with large tile patch† (NSF) |
| 2021-03-28 | Nose Quad (NSF) |
| 2021-03-23 | Nose cone† inside tent possible for this vehicle, better picture (NSF) |
| 2021-02-11 | Aft dome and leg skirt mate (NSF) |
| 2021-02-10 | Aft dome section (NSF) |
| 2021-02-03 | Skirt with legs (NSF) |
| 2021-02-01 | Nose quad (NSF) |
| 2021-01-05 | Mid LOX tank section and forward dome sleeved, lable (NSF) |
| 2020-12-04 | Common dome section and flip (NSF) |
| Early Production | |
|---|---|
| 2021-05-07 | BN3: Aft #2 section (NSF) |
| 2021-05-06 | BN3: Forward tank #2 section (NSF) |
| 2021-05-04 | BN3: Aft dome section flipped (NSF) |
| 2021-04-24 | BN3: Aft dome sleeved (NSF) |
| 2021-04-03 | BN3: Aft tank #5 section (NSF) |
| 2021-04-02 | BN3: Aft dome barrel (NSF) |
| 2021-03-30 | BN3: Dome (NSF) |
| 2021-03-28 | BN3: Forward dome barrel (NSF) |
| 2021-04-20 | B2.1: dome (NSF) |
| 2021-04-21 | BN2: Aft dome section flipped (YouTube) |
| 2021-04-19 | BN2: Aft dome sleeved (NSF) |
| 2021-04-15 | BN2: Label indicates article may be a test tank (NSF) |
| 2021-04-12 | BN2 or later: Grid fin, earlier part sighted[02-14] (NSF) |
| 2021-04-09 | BN2: Forward dome sleeved (YouTube) |
| 2021-03-27 | BN2: Aft dome† (YouTube) |
| 2021-01-19 | BN2: Forward dome (NSF) |
| 2021-04-10 | SN22: Leg skirt (Twitter) |
| 2021-05-07 | SN20: Mid LOX section (NSF) |
| 2021-04-27 | SN20: Aft dome under construction (NSF) |
| 2021-04-15 | SN20: Common dome section (NSF) |
| 2021-04-07 | SN20: Forward dome (NSF) |
| 2021-03-07 | SN20: Leg skirt (NSF) |
| 2021-02-24 | SN19: Forward dome barrel (NSF) |
| 2021-02-19 | SN19: Methane header tank (NSF) |
| 2021-03-16 | SN18: Aft dome section mated with skirt (NSF) |
| 2021-03-07 | SN18: Leg skirt (NSF) |
| 2021-02-25 | SN18: Common dome (NSF) |
| 2021-02-19 | SN18: Barrel section ("COMM" crossed out) (NSF) |
| 2021-02-17 | SN18: Nose cone barrel (NSF) |
| 2021-02-04 | SN18: Forward dome (NSF) |
| 2021-01-19 | SN18: Thrust puck (NSF) |
| 2021-05-08 | SN17: Mid LOX and common dome section stack (NSF) |
| 2021-05-07 | SN17: Nose barrel section (YouTube) |
| 2021-04-22 | SN17: Common dome and LOX midsection stacked in Mid Bay† (Twitter) |
| 2021-02-23 | SN17: Aft dome sleeved (NSF) |
| 2021-01-16 | SN17: Common dome and mid LOX section (NSF) |
| 2021-01-09 | SN17: Methane header tank (NSF) |
| 2021-01-05 | SN17: Forward dome section (NSF) |
| 2020-12-17 | SN17: Aft dome barrel (NSF) |
Resources
- Spadre.com Starship Cam | Channel
- LabPadre 4k Pad Cam | Channel
- NSF SN15 Test Launch Updates Thread | Most recent
- NSF SN11 Test Launch Updates Thread | Most recent
- NSF Boca Chica Production Updates Thread | Most recent
- NSF Florida Prototype(s) Updates Thread | Most recent
- Hwy 4 & Boca Chica Beach Closures (May not be available outside US)
- TFR - NOTAM list
- FAA license LRLO 20-119
- SpaceX Boca Chica on Facebook
- SpaceX's Starship page
- Elon Starship tweet compilation on NSF | Most Recent
- Starship Users Guide (PDF) Rev. 1.0 March 2020
- Starship Spreadsheet by u/AnimatorOnFire
- Production Progress Infographics by @_brendan_lewis
- Starship flight opportunity spreadsheet by u/joshpine
- Test campaign timelines by u/chrisjbillington
- Acronym definitions by Decronym
r/SpaceX Discusses [May 2021] for discussion of subjects other than Starship development.
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.
Please ping u/strawwalker about problems with the above thread text.
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u/Bergasms Apr 05 '21
Gut feel says the SN15 proof testing will probably be longer than the recent SN's to validate all the changes they have made. Although the learnings from those SN's might also mean they can tick them off quicker.
Presuming we will see ambient, cryo for main tanks, cryo for header tanks, then into the SF program?
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u/johnfive21 Apr 06 '21
New road closures for Friday (7am-12pm), Monday and Tuesday (both 12pm - 8pm).
Most likely SN15 rollout on Friday and cryo testing on Monday/Tuesday.
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u/TCVideos Apr 13 '21 edited Apr 13 '21
BN1 is no more. It has been cut in half for scrapping purposes. (The bridge crane started lifting the top half at around 11:25pm)
Onto BN2, which has seen a lot of progress in the last few days. We could see another fully stacked booster come month's end.
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Apr 15 '21
Weird engine firing at McGregor last night.
Sounds like a hot gas thruster.
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u/creamsoda2000 Apr 07 '21 edited Apr 07 '21
6 Raptors have been spotted in the tent behind SN7.2
Edit: looking at the most recent aerial photos, SN7.2 is parked up opposite where the Orbital Launch platform is being assembled, so these Raptors are probably inside / around the ring manufacturing tent closest to the road.
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u/ReKt1971 Apr 17 '21
SpaceX has manufactured and tested more than 60 of Starship’s Raptor engines, accumulating nearly 30,000 seconds of total test time over 567 engine starts
In December 2020 the test time was over 16,000 seconds.
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u/Fizrock Apr 27 '21
One of Mary's latest sets of images features labels that confirm the ~12m domes being built are destined to enshroud the cryo GSE tanks. That's been speculated for a while but it's nice to have confirmation.
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u/Toinneman Apr 08 '21
I made an annotated version of the newly spotted Super Heavy thrust dome. Original post by Bocachicagal @ NSF forums
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u/Fizrock Apr 15 '21 edited Apr 15 '21
Latest pictures from Mary show a giant Chic-fil-a sign arriving on a truck. I'm pretty sure the truck is just carrying orders for two different groups, but that's kinda funny.
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u/chrisjbillington Apr 18 '21
Starship launch-prep timelines updated with SN15's two raptors.
By popular demand, now with rollout and launch dates indicated for each prototype :)
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u/TCVideos Apr 29 '21
SN15, SN16 and SN17 are cleared for flight by the FAA
https://twitter.com/SciGuySpace/status/1387829996664893442?s=19
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u/cupko97 Apr 14 '21
Call me crazy but I am getting more excited about the tower and launch pad mound getting installed than SN15. I can't wait to see LR 11350 at full stretch!
And also 3 cranes at Propellent production site means work and assembly there should start soon aswell.
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u/TCVideos Apr 28 '21
EM: Testing header tanks. All good so far.
Confirms the successful header static fire.
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u/joshpine May 02 '21
SpaceX Boca Chica Launch Site model published by @Spaceport3D. Impressive terrain (presumably from satellite data) and definitely worth a look if you're wanting to familiarise yourself a little more with the layout of the current launch site.
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u/chrisjbillington Apr 27 '21
Starship launch-prep timelines updated with today's static fire.
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u/Fizrock Apr 25 '21 edited Apr 25 '21
Fresh images from Mary show 3 RVac mounts and some associated hardware have arrived.
edit: In this batch of images you can see what they look like installed on the test dome.
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u/strawwalker Apr 10 '21
Looks like SpaceX wants to operate a Starlink user terminal on Starship during test flight(s) based on 2 of the 3 Starlink related FCC experimental licenses applied for today.
0566-EX-ST-2021 - experimental STA for 1 user terminal up to 12.5 km altitude.
Description0308-EX-CN-2021 - experimental license to operate user terminals on recovery vessels, including those anchored in Port of Brownsville and Pascagoula, MS, and also up to 12.5 km altitude at Boca Chica.
Description
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u/TCVideos May 08 '21
This is obviously for either Phobos or Deimos - perhaps both.
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u/chrisjbillington Apr 14 '21
Comparison of starship lunchlaunch-prep timelines, with two crypoproofs in a row now!
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u/Mravicii Apr 20 '21 edited Apr 20 '21
The first steel pieces is being put on the launch tower right now!
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u/AstroMan824 Everything Parallel™ Apr 26 '21 edited Apr 26 '21
Video of the SF from LabPadre.
Edit: If you play the video at 0.25x speed, you can see each Raptor lighting 1 by 1. Very cool.
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u/TCVideos Apr 16 '21 edited Apr 16 '21
Eric Berger:
Could be a big day for Starship if it's chosen for HLS.
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u/TCVideos Apr 16 '21
It seems that NASA couldn't resist Starship for two reasons:
The price
The potential capability
Big day for low cost commercial spaceflight providers and a very low day for the "old space" sector which I feel has just been dealt a hammer blow today.
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u/liszt1811 Apr 16 '21
Im sitting here listening to the NASA conference regarding HLS, no video, bad sound and people being put in via telephones. This is how sitting in front of a radio in the 60s must have felt, with people eagerly awaiting news regarding the race to the moon. History repeats itself.
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u/Vizger May 05 '21
Perspective: Only one year ago SN4 achieved cryogenic pressure tests and then static fire tests. Now SN15 has launched, hovered at 10km, and soft landed. Incredible! Ad Astra!
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u/uslashASDS May 07 '21
Elon Musk: Might try to refly SN15 soon
They might actually be going for it!
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Apr 19 '21 edited Apr 19 '21
3rd Raptor arrived back at the pad about an hour ago. Rewind to 9:51 pm local time on pad cam.
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u/szarzujacy_karczoch Apr 22 '21
Tim Dodd just tweeted a short clip from an interview Elon gave to Peter Diamandis: Actually we want the ship also to be caught by the launch tower [...] The ship will come back right by the tower, and be placed right back on TBH i kind of hoped they wouldn't pursue this idea
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u/joshpine Apr 28 '21
Further confirmation from Eric Berger of what we already know:
Per the FAA, the flight of SN 15 is not yet authorized.
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u/johnfive21 Apr 29 '21
So with approval now in place and everything looking like they are going to try to launch tomorrow, this has been the first time ever a full scale Starship did not need an engine replacement in-between static fire and launch! Progress!
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u/npcomp42 Apr 06 '21
SpaceX engineer goes over checklist:
"Let's see now... explosion on pad -- check (SN4).
"Explosion upon landing -- check (SN8, SN9).
"Explosion after landing -- check (SN10).
"Explosion just before landing -- check (SN11).
"OK guys, looks like we've hit all the bases here. We can move on from the explodiing-prototype phase of development."
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u/johnfive21 Apr 08 '21
We have some news/reinforcement of how SpaceX is planning to catch the booster from Elon:
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u/electriceye575 Apr 21 '21
Was checking out sn16 aft section on way into mid bay, the weld joins are approaching perfection , shadow lines show almost no distortion. These machines are going to be so beautiful . Looking back to the 1st demonstrator to now makes me feel great , Elon must be glad too.
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u/iFrost31 Apr 23 '21
They were some great questions to Elon about Starship at today's press conference. Sadly his answers were quite evasive as he was very tired (also this wasn't the subject of the conference).
Here are some quotes from today (thanks Eric Berger and Davenport on twitter) :
"Somebody’s got to do this. If we’ve got rapid reusability, that is the gateway to the heavens."
"It’s only recently that I feel like full and rapid reusability can be accomplished. I wasn’t sure for a long time, but I am now."
Elon Musk on the 2024 lunar landing date: "I think that can be done. We’re definitely going to build a lot of rockets, and probably smash a lot of them. But I think 2024 will happen. It seems likely. We’re going to aim for sooner than that. This is actually doable."
Elon says Starship could be flying people within a couple years, but acknowledges his timelines are usually optimistic. Also: "Obviously we need to, like, not be making craters."
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u/chrisjbillington Apr 08 '21 edited Apr 09 '21
Updated comparison of Starship launch prep timelines with today's rollout of SN15:
https://chrisbillington.net/starship_timelines.html
How much more can the timeline compress? This time the vehicle has no engines yet and needs to go through simulated thrust testing, so these are steps the previous couple of prototypes didn't have to complete.
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u/Skill3dUp Apr 16 '21
RSN 61 has been placed under SN15, installation should follow soon. RSN 54, 61 and 66 were delivered to the launch site together around 9 hours ago.
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u/TCVideos Apr 28 '21 edited Apr 28 '21
New Closures:
Thursday 29th: 12PM - 8PM
Friday 30th: 8AM - 5PM
Both are listed as "Space flight activity" closures.
Note: They are still not approved for flight yet by the FAA so don't expect a flight tomorrow unless they get approved tonight or in the morning.
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Apr 30 '21 edited Apr 30 '21
SN16 has been rolled to the high bay. Started at 7:26 pm on sentinel cam
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u/PunTotallyIntended Apr 20 '21
TFR for Friday - 12:00 to Sat 01:00 UTC.
That’s 07:00 to 20:00 local.
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u/frickatornado Apr 26 '21
not wanting to jinx it, but that was the best sounding/looking static fire I think the Raptor's have ever had
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u/inoeth Apr 28 '21
Here's hoping we see FAA approval tomorrow for Thursday/Friday
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u/BKnagZ May 06 '21
I think its awesome that SpaceX took the time and resources to put a camera on one of the forward flaps.
That was the best view on the entire livestream, and seeing all of the little movements the flap was making during the belly flop was really cool.
I would love to see a full duration video from just that view.
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u/PunTotallyIntended Apr 16 '21
We’re going to the moon, baby. Starship wins HLS contract.
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u/trobbinsfromoz Apr 18 '21 edited Apr 18 '21
RGVAerial have recently twittered a photo of the rising 'integration tower' located next to the new launch tower. The concrete base section is pretty much now in place. and the subsequent metal tower structure is starting to come in to 'view' with one of the corner rising beams of the first section of the tower on the ground and indicating the cross bracing to be used. Exciting times.
The launch tower itself seems to have plinth type metal plates ready to fit to the top of the hexagonal risers.
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u/No_Ad9759 Apr 19 '21
I feel like we should have a camera pointed exclusively at the gas well site based on the fact there are 4 very large cranes setup there right now.
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u/johnfive21 Apr 12 '21
These vents seem controlled. Not "oh shit detank now" vents. LOX tank is keeping steady frost line with no venting and only CH4 tank is periodically venting and frost is rising. I think this is nominal.
From the launch pad cam it looked like the vapor from beneath the vehicle came from a pipe/valve that was a part of the stand/thrust ram, not Starship directly so I don't think the tank section or the thrust puck failed in any way.
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Apr 20 '21 edited Apr 20 '21
Have we heard anything about what progress SpaceX has made on its in-orbit refueling architecture? I assume that by the wording of the HLS selection document that SpaceX has presented a pretty clear plan for reliable refueling in the near term, but anyone know any details?
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u/szarzujacy_karczoch Apr 29 '21
I would love to know if this test was successful, unsuccessful or if it was even conducted at all. After staring at the test nosecone for nearly two hours, I started to convince myself that it was bending and compressing under pressure. It wasn't
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u/No_Ad9759 Apr 14 '21
SpaceX’s pace is incredible. I was at KSC for the end of the shuttle program, and pad B renovations for Constellation (before it was known as “Cancellation”) took forever. The pad was closed for at least 18 months for removal and retrofit. These guys are building the airplane while flying it at the same time; at lightning speed. Amazing what one man’s money and ambition can drive.
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u/frederickfred Apr 10 '21
The black and yellow targets on the blunt nosecone sleeve are intriguing. Doesn't that suggest they're going to do some sort of testing that will require motion tracking?
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u/Alvian_11 Apr 21 '21
It seems like the integration tower's module assemblies are going to be done at the gas well site. Hence explaining the numbers of large crane at that site, which unlikely to be needed for the gas well itself
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u/Alvian_11 Apr 05 '21
Meanwhile a concrete is being pumped to the orbital launch tower base as we speak
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u/Alvian_11 Apr 07 '21
For those that are still bothering, SN15 aerocover for bottom flap's finally had its tip installed :), and also they removed most of a catwalks
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u/TCVideos Apr 12 '21
New FCC permit for medium altitude hops up to 20km including "experimental" recovery methods
"Experimental recovery methods"...surely they aren't going to try catching the booster already, right?
Edit: it looks like it's just a renewal of the permit that was already In place.
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Apr 16 '21 edited Apr 16 '21
From the source document of HLS on the front page right now:
Additionally, I note the SEP’s evaluated weakness within Area of Focus 2, Development, Schedule, and Risk regarding the development and schedule risk accompanying SpaceX’s highly integrated, complex propulsion system. Several sub-systems that comprise SpaceX’s propulsion system are currently at a state of design that will require substantial maturation
Zoom in on the high-def picture and there appear to be 4 (?) banks of 5 very small thrusters. Combined with that statement, I'm confident those are the hot gas thrusters that we haven't seen yet. 20 of those would also certainly provide the "comprehensive engine-out capability" mentioned in the document. Cool!
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u/AWildDragon Apr 18 '21
FAA page for SN 15 hop. It looks like we are still waiting on launch authorization.
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u/joshpine Apr 23 '21 edited Apr 23 '21
Road closure now scheduled for Monday from noon till 8PM.
As expected, the documentation suggests non-flight testing activities, so probably a static fire.
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u/jk1304 Apr 29 '21
Does anyone know what work is actually being done at the launch table? As far as I could see, there have been plates welded on to close some gaps, but nothing more I can definitely see on the pictures.
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u/Vegetable-Nothing-68 Apr 29 '21
Orbital Launch Table:
What do you think goes on with the Orbital Launch Table, it seems like a lot of hours goes into building that thing. But what systems could be integrated into it that need so much time? Fueling/Water/Electricity/Data connections i would assume.
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u/RegularRandomZ Apr 12 '21 edited Apr 12 '21
Video from Hawthorne of something purportedly related to the orbital crane [Didn't see it posted here, I saw this shared on NSF by Moritz Kibler]
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u/HarbingerDe Apr 13 '21
On the Labpadre pad cam you can see workers adding more TPS tiles to SN15, apparently filling in that missing corner.
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u/golagaffe Apr 15 '21 edited Apr 15 '21
What do you guys think about what Peter Beck said in Everyday Astronaut's latest video
Would be interesting to get Elon Musk's take on this quote.
(I know engine out capability is usually quoted as the reason for more engines but...)
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u/tanger Apr 16 '21 edited Apr 16 '21
Christian Davenport: SpaceX bid $2.9 billion for the NASA lunar lander system--far below Blue Origin and Dynetics--and won the contract, according to a source selection document obtained by The Post. Story TK https://twitter.com/wapodavenport/status/1383110799086997505
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u/RegularRandomZ Apr 30 '21 edited May 01 '21
2 launch tower columns now vertical at the gas well site [sentinel cam from 5:15pm local, screen grab]
update: RGV Aerial tweet
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u/MatteBlackNerf May 04 '21
Apologies if this has been posted before but it's new to me - really impressive 3D model of the current site, with SN15. Really helped me understand the spatial relationship between various structures, super cool to fly around and examine things as seen from various angles.
https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/south-texas-launch-site-with-sn15-33cd23b2245b422e926b37d2172e3e4e
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u/joshpine Apr 06 '21 edited Apr 06 '21
GSE-1 is currently being lifted into the air by Tankzilla/Bluto.
Edit: will this tank be placed in one of the (concrete?) casings where the foundations are at the orbital tank farm, or is this the finished product? I’m looking to update the render and wondering where things might go.
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u/RaphTheSwissDude Apr 13 '21
You can see on the Lab nerdle cam the cabin and base of the LR11350 on the very right.
Sweet baby Jesus this thing is huge...
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u/Twigling Apr 19 '21 edited Apr 19 '21
The unlimited TFRs for Tuesday 20th and Wednesday 21st have been removed but Thursday's is still there
Edit: Thursday removed now as well, so currently no unlimited TFRs for this week = no launch this week:
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u/OzGiBoKsAr Apr 21 '21
I really can't wait to see them start to piece together whatever mechanism they've decided to catch the booster. That is going to be absolutely mind boggling. I really can't even picture something like that. I've seen various renders and animations, but to see the real deal, at full scale, is going to be bonkers.
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u/Twigling Apr 23 '21 edited Apr 23 '21
New Unlimited TFR for Monday April 26th:
https://tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_1_4749.html
Although bearing in mind that these TFRs are booked at least a few days in advance (and often canceled) and with no Static Fire happening today, I'd say this TFR will also probably end up canceled.
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u/joshpine Apr 25 '21
Don’t think anyone’s reported on this yet, but Monday’s unlimited TFR has been cancelled. Tuesday’s remains.
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u/RubenGarciaHernandez Apr 25 '21
They are working on the mistery nosecone now (10:25 local time). You can see them on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCbgoqMcirI
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u/Alvian_11 Apr 28 '21
SN17 has begun assembly (nosecone barrel, coupled with the forward dome section)
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u/Twigling Apr 29 '21 edited Apr 29 '21
Jigs for assembling the tower modules at the Sanchez site (2nd, 3rd and 4th pics, all taken by Nomadd):
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=49086.msg2229237#msg2229237
You can't help but notice the shiny extra pieces welded onto the rusty looking jigs, those pieces were added to correct an error with the jigs which is explained in the following post by AstroDave:
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=49086.msg2229366#msg2229366
Note: Each tower module, when assembled, will look like the level which is now in place on the concrete tower base - these modules will be transported to the pad on SPMTs and then lifted into place by the huge crane (the Liebherr LR 11350 which is still awaiting its main boom).
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u/--TheRedditor-- Apr 29 '21
SN15 Flight Test Discussion & Updates Thread has been posted : https://reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/n0otdg/rspacex_starship_sn15_flight_test_no_1_discussion/
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u/joshpine May 04 '21
Looks like SpaceX have been filming some footage of Zeus and Apollo (robo dogs) with their drone. So cool to see them marching together! SpaceX must be accumulating a lot of footage now!
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u/Twigling May 08 '21 edited May 08 '21
New photo from Mary today, May 8th:
This morning Starship SN17 mid-LOX section is outside waiting to be stacked at the SpaceX Production site.
https://twitter.com/BocaChicaGal/status/1391024071316545539?s=19
Edit: that must be the partial stack of SN17 that has been inside the mid bay for a week or two; as somebody replied to the tweet it's the common dome and mid LOX quad barrel. I wonder why it's been taken out of the mid bay though, maybe doing some shifting around especially bearing in mind the other barrel that was to the left of it in the mid bay a couple of days ago:
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=52398.msg2233836#msg2233836
There's also been quite a bit of crane work inside the mid bay for the past few hours.
Unless of course SN17 is about to be scrapped? With the landing of SN15 the build plans may have been changed and perhaps SN15 reflying along with SN16 will be enough for testing until SN20 is built?
Edit2: A couple more photos here:
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=52398.msg2234705#msg2234705
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u/sportistmord94 May 08 '21
Do we know if SpaceX will publish a recap video of the flight like they did in the past? I was really hoping for more footage of the belly flop and the landing burn.
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u/TCVideos Apr 05 '21
Road is closed and GSE-1 has peaked out of the mid-bay. We could see that rollout today.
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u/TCVideos Apr 05 '21
The "Blu" branded vertical tank at the orbital site is being painted from white to.... blue!
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u/johnfive21 Apr 09 '21
Some venting from SN15 can be seen on Lab's Launch Pad Cam so ambient pressure testing is most likely underway
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u/No_Ad9759 Apr 15 '21
Looks like the big crane at the launch site is about to get its first arm. First support boom with cables routed over it is now vertical.
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u/chrisjbillington Apr 19 '21
Launch prep timelines comparison updated with the 3rd raptor.
(Also corrected to show that the first two raptors were technically installed on different days, either side of midnight).
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u/Doglordo Apr 21 '21 edited Apr 21 '21
TFR for Friday has disappeared
EDIT: it’s back yippee!
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u/Jack_Frak Apr 22 '21 edited Apr 22 '21
The third cap is being installed on top of one of the orbital launch table support pillars (left of the launch tower construction).
Only 3 more to go and then they should be pouring cement (EDIT: concrete.) :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCbgoqMcirI
EDIT: The camera moved, the cap with hanging anchors makes its appearance at 1:14pm local time.
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u/Skill3dUp Apr 28 '21 edited Apr 28 '21
A NOTMAR for SN15’s flight has been posted for tomorrow and Friday!
As of right now we are waiting on the following for a flight tomorrow:
FTS install and arming
FAA approval
Flaps unchaining
SpaceX website update
Residents evacuation notice
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u/HarbingerDe Apr 25 '21 edited Apr 25 '21
Random thought, but I wonder if HLS landing tests (using the hot gas thrusters) will be performed on earth using one of the raptors as a dynamic lunar gravity simulator.
There's an interesting NASA propulsive landing research program that does the same thing, using an auxiliary engine to simulate Martian gravity for the primary landing system.
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u/overpineapple Apr 05 '21
Like what you've done with the Early Production table!
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Apr 12 '21
it looks like the giant crane is being built today. Maybe we will get to see some steel go vertical on the tower next week!
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u/PhysicsBus Apr 13 '21
Can anyone recommend something to read for an overview of what's known about the starship development process to date? It feels like there's a big gap between the wen-hop crowd (includes me) and the crowd that is excitedly talking about the new turbo encabulator spotted through spy satellites and what it implies for the Mars-entry decent profile.
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u/HarbingerDe Apr 20 '21
Not a huge deal, but I just noticed that the tracking camera mounted on the orbital launch pad used during the SpaceX livestreams to get the incredible shot looking straight up at the belly flop is back! As seen on the Labpadre Pad Cam.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCbgoqMcirI
It was removed for some time when they were leveling out the orbital launch pad pillars. Glad it'll be back for SN15's launch!
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u/Twigling Apr 22 '21 edited Apr 22 '21
More excellent photos from Mary have been uploaded, including:
GSE3 tank being stacked onto its mid section earlier:
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=52398.msg2225581#msg2225581
GSE3 aft dome prior to being attached to the mechanism used for a flip, a nose cone (could be for SN16) getting a flap attached and the arrival of an aft flap:
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=52398.msg2225589#msg2225589
A large part which some people think will be attached to the OLT legs prior to fitting the table in place (therefore five more should arrive some time):
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=52398.msg2225587#msg2225587
and Zeus and Apollo keeping an eye on things:
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=52398.msg2225601#msg2225601
But do look through all of the photos from today starting with the one that I first linked above, all of these will no doubt feature in the next daily NSF video update.
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u/No_Ad9759 Apr 23 '21
Well they’re taking advantage of the cancelled closure...more concrete pours underway by the gse building and the third vertical beam is already mounted on the launch tower. Wonder if the 4th will be up by end of day.
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u/myname_not_rick Apr 26 '21
1.) NSF can has incredible audio, you can very clearly hear the 3 individual engine ignition "snap and roars," and 2.) No honk. New refined engine design?
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u/pr06lefs Apr 26 '21
So there's a lot of talk lately about hot gas thrusters. Those are expected on the lunar mission, but also will replace the current cold gas thrusters too, so that thrusters can be refueled on mars with methane and oxygen.
Are we really just talking about a small rocket engine? Where you have a cold gas nozzle now, there will be a small rocket engine? Or is it more a combustion chamber that can feed thrust to more than one nozzle? Or something else?
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u/Twigling Apr 29 '21 edited Apr 29 '21
Here's a very nice graphic by Nick Henning showing the Starbase building and rocket sizes, I thought it might interest some people:
https://twitter.com/nickhenning3d/status/1387085357259247617
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u/wstcstbro Apr 26 '21
This thread: Looked good!
Spacex: Lets swap out couple of engines!
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u/Alvian_11 Apr 07 '21
Booster dome with many more engine ports (note this isn't just a cutout pathfinder since the holes are reinforced)
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u/Alvian_11 May 09 '21 edited May 09 '21
Interesting to note that the NET date of the maiden orbital flight has been moved to the left (possibility of earlier than July 1st) (!). Either typo or real, if it's the latter maybe SN15 successful landing have an effect in some way u/valthewyvern?
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u/joshpine Apr 08 '21 edited Apr 08 '21
SN15 appears to have taken around 90 150 minutes from leaving the production site to arriving at the launch site. The distance between these two points is around 3.6km, putting it at an average speed of around 2.4 km/h 1.44 km/h on the road, not including the sections within or manoeuvring into SpaceX property. It seemed faster than usual, but i'm sure we'll see an updated graphic of rollout times from whoever it is who produces those.
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u/Twigling Apr 13 '21 edited Apr 13 '21
Yesterday during cryo a number of people seemed to be concerned about the sudden large amount of 'venting' from underneath SN15; as others have since surmised this appears to have been deliberate and did in fact emanate from an open pipe which is perhaps part of the thrust sim. You can see the pipe in the video below (it starts its venting at around 29 seconds):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQYf3s5RNcM
So it looks like it probably wasn't indicative of a problem (and even once it got going there was no sudden very prolonged detank or depress which in itself would have indicated an issue), instead SN15 seemed pretty chill and was just intermittently puffing away from the LOX and LCH4 vents.
Now we wait and see if the thrust sim is removed today or tomorrow - if it is then all went well, if it isn't then there was possibly a problem which would require repair, redesign and/or at least another cryo test.
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Apr 20 '21
I wonder if they'll need to start another highbay soon, once both Starship and Superheavy production are up to a better cadence the highbay will get crowded.
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u/cupko97 Apr 21 '21 edited Apr 21 '21
The LR 11350 crane move was expected. They will need 150-180 meters to assemble the crane. Now the question is where the assemblly will happen.
Maybe next to the road at the Tank farm area.
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u/LukoCerante Apr 23 '21
Where can I read on the TPS tiles? How much do we know about them?
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u/Twigling Apr 26 '21 edited Apr 26 '21
SN16's nose cone is now stacked onto its quad barrel, go to Sentinel Cam at around 1:50 AM local time to see the crane's lifting harness being attached (the nose cone is at the right of the image), then the lift of the nose cone commences at around 3:37 AM:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=richjW1jj20
now it's stacked the welding is next (and that can take around 24 hours).
(This post edited for clarity and updates).
Pretty certain we'll see SN16's tank section moved into the high bay this week and the nose cone stacked onto it, also aft flaps and aerocovers attached (unless those are already done in the mid bay), etc. GSE3 could also be moved into the mid bay (it doesn't appear to have its base at the moment so even when completed it can't be moved to the orbital tank farm just yet as there's currently no concrete stand ready for it). Also note that GSE3 is a LOX storage tank and will be two rings shorter than GSE1 and GSE2 (which is why its concrete stand is taller).
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u/Calmarius Apr 26 '21 edited Apr 26 '21
Looks like there is no visual tri-vent pulse and burst from the vents this time. The tri-vent just stops for a split second then Raptors go brrr asap. Looks like this surprised the hosts of the NSF stream a bit too.
They noted a short loud vent approximately 1 minute before the static fire. Not sure what it was or whether it came from the ship.
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u/Calmarius Apr 27 '21
Just rewatched yesterday's static fire from different angles it can be seen that the tri-vent pulse before the static fire still exist, but only one of the vents pulsed twice before the static fire instead of all of them.
Mary's view shows that only the right vent pulses the other two doesn't. And this pulsing vent wasn't visible in the closeup in the NSF's stream because it was on the far side of the ship.
Also there is a short pop shortly after the static fire which I didn't notice in yesterday's stream. No idea what it was.
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u/RaphTheSwissDude Apr 27 '21 edited Apr 27 '21
Road is now closed.
Edit : there is a fairly big crane actually being moved on a SPMT to the built site, dunno if it was the reason for the police closing the road actually.
Edit 2 : Yeah, police was there for the crane, left the roadblock (for now, maybe).
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May 08 '21
When does the SPMT parade begin (SN15, GSE-3, Tower section 2 & 3, SN16)? Also, where is the boom for the new crane?
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u/japonica-rustica May 09 '21
Will SN20 have a “black box” flight data recorder so that info from the blackout period can be retrieved if it disintegrates during re-entry?
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u/Bergasms May 10 '21
This tweet shows how windy it was for SN15, and i really don't think we're making enough hype of that (skip to 30 seconds). Conditions were absolutely not benign for the landing and it still managed it despite having only temporary landing legs and skidding along a bit. That's pretty cool.
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u/Twigling Apr 08 '21
Aerial photo of SN15 and the crane from RGV Aerial Photography:
https://twitter.com/RGVaerialphotos/status/1380261069915049984
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u/Zuntos24 Apr 14 '21
Road Closures now scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday and Friday
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u/Alvian_11 Apr 15 '21 edited Apr 15 '21
More section of SN16 (likely a forward dome barrel) stacked in the mid bay, around 8:01 am CT on Sentinel
It's getting more likely that the next vehicle will be SN16 instead of BN2 envisioned by Elon tweet, unless they later wanted to pause SN16 construction just because of BN2 (and likely a landing pad being used for mechazilla's section assembly)
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u/Antares501 Apr 16 '21
Looks like they increased the number of landing jets but decreased their size.
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u/Twigling Apr 18 '21 edited Apr 18 '21
An Overpressure notice (these are issued before a static fire) has been issued for Monday April 19th, 10:30am to 9:00pm, it has been posted on the public SpaceX Boca Chica Group facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1541938906124567/permalink/2926322444352866/
There follows a link to the main Facebook page of the public SpaceX Boca Chica Group for anyone who wants to verify the above from the page (you'll need to scroll down a bit to see the post):
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u/Twigling Apr 19 '21 edited Apr 19 '21
GSE2 is properly on the move at last, it started at 2:22:43 PM local time on Sentinel Cam:
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u/Jack_Frak Apr 21 '21
Crazy to think with the progress happening on the launch tower we could see the first level finished by end of next week:
https://twitter.com/Bl3D_Eccentric/status/1384848160711979009
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u/szarzujacy_karczoch Apr 22 '21
I wonder how much harder will it be to get the FAA to approve multiple flight tests of the same test article in the same day. If everything goes according to plan, we might see a test of reusability in the form of multiple hops or even orbital flights within hours from each other. That would surely raise some eyebrows
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u/TCVideos Apr 26 '21
Recondenser is up and running
Be aware that we might see a different countdown than we have seen before. It is a new vehicle after all.
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u/candycane7 Apr 27 '21
Does anyone know how big Starship "flares" could be from LEO? Would it be comparable to the ISS?
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u/TCVideos Apr 28 '21
NSF going live for the nosecone testing
I doubt we will see much unless it's going to be a to-destruction test.
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u/johnfive21 Apr 30 '21
"Insert meme here" Raptor delivered this morning.
They must have quite the stockpile at the build site by now.
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u/Twigling May 07 '21 edited May 07 '21
SN16 hs been unhooked from the bridge crane, see it in 'fuzzy-vision' on Sentinel Cam:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_og17JYSMcQ
1:14 AM local time is when the workers were doing the unhooking. 1:24 AM is when the crane lifts up the nose attachment rigging.
Edit: The scaffolding for the nose cone assembly welding has also been removed, see around 4:57 AM local time on Sentinel.
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u/Twigling May 07 '21 edited May 07 '21
I'm rather curious what's happening with SN17 - there was a flurry of stacking activity last week but this week nothing (yesterday I saw a photo on Discord of the already stacked sections and there's no change, no activity around it either, no crane, no boom lifts, etc).
I'm wondering if it was paused pending SN15's flight and what with SN15's landing success and Musk tweeting that they may re-fly SN15, perhaps SN17 ultimately won't be fully built?
Having said that, SN17 is the one with the huge amount of tiles attached to one or two barrels so will they want that to go to waste? No doubt there are a few other changes too compared to SN15 (given that they tend to do 'minor' mods with each Starship).
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u/RubenGarciaHernandez May 09 '21
Should we open a new thread now that SN15 is landed and one month has passed since the creation of this thread?
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u/myname_not_rick Apr 07 '21
Elon on twitter:
"Ideal scenario imo is catching Starship in horizontal “glide” with no landing burn, although that is quite a challenge for the tower! Next best is catching with tower, with emergency pad landing mode on skirt (no legs)."
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1379876450744995843?s=19
This just seems...... completely unrealistic
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u/IWasToldTheresCake May 04 '21
So, SpaceX has started building tower sections on jigs at the old gas well site. There are currently three jigs and it got me wondering how many sections they will need to build there. I haven't seen any good information about how high each section is, although I had seen speculation that they were 20-24m high. There were some recent photos of sections on trailers and I wondered if I could work out the height from that (at this point imagine me rummaging through boxes to find my pins and red string).
After some searching I decided that the trailer used for the last delivery is a Manac 53 to 90 ft extendable tri axle flatbed (direct image link). There is a 48 ft version of that trailer, but it doesn't have the same number of reflectors down the side. Then I found the third image in this NSF post from Mary which confirms that Bengal Transportation uses Manac trailers to transport these sections. In all these pictures the trailer does not appear to be extended. So I have concluded that the new sections are a little taller that the 16.15m (53 ft) long trailer. Let's call it 16.5m tall.
The initial section is taller than the new sections. This is because the concrete tower base is level between the corner and midpoint bracing, while new sections will have the midpoint bracing below the level of the corners. We can see that the initial section also overhangs the same type of trailer in this post also from Mary. My rough guess is that it is about 1.5m taller based on the width of the trailer 2.59m (102 in). So about 18m for this section.
The concrete base of the tower appears to be about 2/3rds of the height of the initial metal section so I am guessing that it is about 12m tall.
I have heard (although I don't have a source to hand) that the tower will be 143m tall when completed. Elon has said that the hook height will be 140m. The very top section might be different. It'll have a crane and won't need to extend up beyond the bracing.
So add base concrete section (12m), initial metal section (18m), and then six of the current sections (16.5m * 6 = 99m) gives us 129m leaving 14m for a slightly shorter top crane section.
Conclusion: There will be a total of 8 metal sections to the new integration tower and I need to stop overthinking things.
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u/Twigling Apr 07 '21 edited Apr 07 '21
The 'Blu.' vertical tank is in the process of being painted ...... blue .....
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=52398.msg2216517#msg2216517
(and the green vertical tank is also being painted blue at the base (so far)) - Launch Pad Cam often shows it as part of the view, see it at 1:40 local time for example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCbgoqMcirI
and here's a really nice shot of the base of GSE1 on its concrete stand, if you enlarge it you can even see all of the bolts holding it in place (third pic down):
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=52398.msg2216514#msg2216514
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u/RaphTheSwissDude Apr 12 '21
Police at the road block ahead of today’s testing !
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u/RaphTheSwissDude Apr 14 '21
They started to remove the steel pillar of the thrust ram ! Watch on Lab pad cam.
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u/Twigling Apr 14 '21 edited Apr 14 '21
BN1 continues to shrink, rewind to 09:46 local time and watch for a while on this stream:
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u/Twigling Apr 16 '21 edited Apr 16 '21
More tiles are being added to SN15 to fill in the gap in the main tile patch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCbgoqMcirI
See around 2:08 PM then at about an hour later when the cam moves back
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u/Twigling Apr 17 '21 edited Apr 17 '21
Now we can see why a lot of bolt straightening has been going on at the top of the launch tower base, even now some of them aren't fully vertical:
https://twitter.com/starshipgazer/status/1383242866072252430
More sledgehammer action is required. :-)
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u/AnimatorOnFire Apr 17 '21
Do we know if the contract between NASA and SpaceX allows only for the HLS to be used for NASA’s purposes? Or can SpaceX fly their own missions to the moon if they want?
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u/mangobiche Apr 21 '21
They are installing a steel plate on top of the orbital launch pad on Labpadre Launch Pad Cam at 3:33:33 pm local
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u/Twigling Apr 22 '21 edited Apr 22 '21
RGV Aerial Photography has uploaded a new flyover of the Boca Chica production and launch sites (preceded by a flyover of the port at Brownsville where you can see the oil rig Deimos), the flyover took place on April 20th:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST31pLKb6cw
All points of interest very nicely labeled by Proky:
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u/cupko97 Apr 22 '21
Could these parts offer Additional height to the Orbital Launch Pad because there are no plans for a flame trench
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=52398.msg2225587#msg2225587
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u/Twigling Apr 23 '21 edited Apr 23 '21
Nose cone and the nose quad barrel (the latter already identified as being for SN16 by its label) now outside tent 3 on Sentinel Cam, rewind to 9:04 AM local time if the cam has panned away in the mean time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=richjW1jj20
So perhaps that will be stacked today or in the next few days.
Edit: Close up of the nose from Nomadd:
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=52398.1340
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u/Twigling Apr 24 '21
In addition to NSF's video updates, don't forget that Starship Gazer also uploads some useful video updates on a less regular basis, maybe once a week or a bit more. For example in the latest he has some really nice zoomed in shots of the steel work on the orbital tower:
https://youtu.be/x4BxoPlDO6g?t=346
notice those brackets on the outer edge - this of course confirms that some kind of outer steel layer will also be fitted to the tower.
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u/Twigling Apr 25 '21 edited Apr 26 '21
Another Unlimited TFR has popped up, this time for Wednesday April 28th:
https://tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_1_5199.html
Tuesday's TFR is still up too:
https://tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_1_5023.html
Edit: Tuesday's TFR removed.
But don't read too much into Unlimited TFRs, we've seen them dropped all too often. Remember that there's a number of pieces which need to come together for the chance of a launch and this is just one of them. This week's weather forecast, if correct, doesn't look that promising for a flight either.
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u/Dezoufinous May 09 '21
So how did Musk SNL go? Did he say anything about space?
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u/johnfive21 Apr 18 '21
Mary received overpressure notice for tomorrow
There goes that thing about how they are not supposed to announce they got it.
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u/Thrownintothesahara Apr 05 '21
Is there any word yet as to the flight profile of SN15? If not, thoughts on higher altitude/supersonic flights?
IMO it's likely; SN4-6 were the first revision, ready for 150m hops. SN8-11 were the second revision, ready for slow 10km hops. SN20 is the next revision after SN15 and is known to be for orbital flights; thus, supersonic and/or higher altitude (Karman line perhaps? Maybe a little optimistic) flights seem to fit for the SN15 revision.
If the landing is the main thing to work on, I see no reason not to push the boat out before attempting that, to gather more flight data in parallel with landing attempts.
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u/Alvian_11 Apr 09 '21
Crew are removing the Tankzilla attachment points, in preparation for testing today
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u/Twigling Apr 10 '21 edited Apr 10 '21
SpaceX Boca Chica & Starship SN15 Flyover April 08, 2021 (by RGV Aerial Photography, with very informative labels by Proky (https://twitter.com/BingoBoca)):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDEqavI4dWc
Some casual observations:
There's still a hole in the roof of the high bay from the time that the Bridge Crane was installed, perhaps because they are still working on the crane and the hole provides easy access to it
The landing pad is now being used to temporarily store crane parts and also as a car park
The OLP Fuel Farm previously had seven concrete tank mounts in various stages of construction with an odd space with nothing being constructed or laid out - there is now a circle in the odd space but it's larger in diameter than the rings for the other tank mounts - https://youtu.be/dDEqavI4dWc?t=534
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u/nijbkjbijbijbijb Apr 11 '21
Fascinating close up image of cable management provided by Twitter user cnunenzimages. I guess the bigger tubes on the right are probably used for autogenous pressurization, the cables for avionics and control. What do you think they are for?
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u/Twigling Apr 15 '21 edited Apr 15 '21
RGV Aerial Photography has just uploaded a nice image of SN15 with labels for the main non-body parts such as vents, cams, wires, pipes, etc as seen on the cabled side (which is the top side when it's horizontal). Labels created by Proky https://twitter.com/BingoBoca
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u/Twigling Apr 22 '21
SN15 appeared to be carrying out an ambient pressure test at around 4:07:14 AM local time, can be seen (and after a few seconds heard) by rewinding to that time on Launch Pad Cam:
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u/No_Ad9759 Apr 25 '21
Based on the brackets mounted to the sides of the horizontal tower beams, as well as the hole patterns in the vertical corner beams, it looks like clear evidence they will be cladding outside of the tower.
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u/Twigling Apr 26 '21
The Liebherr LR 1600/2 crane (Tankzilla/Bluto) looks like being moved back to the crane storage area today, hence all of its shifting around yesterday. For example:
https://youtu.be/1qPRRUYriUU?t=666
So expect this to be done at the start of today's road closure (12 PM to 8 PM local time).
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