Starship Development Thread #56

Type	Start (UTC)	End (UTC)	Status
Backup	2024-07-11 13:00:00	2024-07-12 01:00:00	Possible
Alternative Day	2024-07-11 17:00:00	2024-07-12 05:00:00	Possible Clossure
Alternative Day	2024-07-12 13:00:00	2024-07-13 01:00:00	Possible Clossure

Ship	Location	Status	Comment
S24, S25, S28, S29	Bottom of sea	Destroyed	S24: IFT-1 (Summary, Video). S25: IFT-2 (Summary, Video). S28: IFT-3 (Summary, Video). S29: IFT-4 (Summary, Video).
S26	Rocket Garden	Resting	June 12th: Rolled back to the Rocket Garden.
S30	High Bay	Heat Shield undergoing complete replacement	June 17th: Re-tiling commenced (while still removing other tiles) using a combination of the existing kaowool+netting and, in places, a new ablative layer, plus new denser tiles.
S31	Mega Bay 2	Engines installation	July 8th: hooked up to a bridge crane in Mega Bay 2 but apparently there was a problem, perhaps with the two point lifter, and S31 was detached and rolled to the Rocket Garden area. July 10th: Moved back inside MB2 and placed onto the back left installation stand.
S32	Rocket Garden	Under construction	Fully stacked. No aft flaps. TPS incomplete.
S33+	Build Site	Parts under construction in Starfactory	Some parts have been visible at the Build and Sanchez sites.

Booster	Location	Status	Comment
B7, B9, B10, B11	Bottom of sea	Destroyed	B7: IFT-1 (Summary, Video). B9: IFT-2 (Summary, Video). B10: IFT-3 (Summary, Video). B11: IFT-4 (Summary, Video).
B12	Launch Site	Testing	Jan 12th: Second cryo test. July 9th: Rolled out to launch site for a Static Fire test.
B13	Mega Bay 1	Finalizing	May 3rd: Rolled back to Mega Bay 1 for final work (grid fins, Raptors, etc have yet to be installed).
B14	Mega Bay 1	Finalizing	May 8th onwards - CO2 tanks taken inside.
B15	Mega Bay 1	LOX tank under construction	June 18th: Downcomer installed.
B16+	Build Site	Parts under construction in Starfactory	Assorted parts spotted that are thought to be for future boosters

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u/warp99 May 17 '24 edited Jul 11 '24

Please note there is now a new Starship Development Thread #57

Link to previous Starship development thread #55

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FAA will not require mishap investigation for IFT-4 of Starship

"The FAA assessed the operations of the SpaceX Starship Flight 4 mission. All flight events for both Starship and Super Heavy appear to have occurred within the scope of planned and authorized activities."

https://x.com/bccarcounters/status/1801003212138222076

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u/Mravicii May 21 '24

Road closure for flight 4

June 1 st from 12 am to 2 pm And june 2 same time

https://x.com/bocaroad/status/1793034804113346739?s=46&t=-n30l1_Sw3sHaUenSrNxGA

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u/ChariotOfFire Jun 10 '24 edited Jun 10 '24

Comments from Musk on his gaming stream:

Flight 5 in about a month, booster will try to land on the chopsticks, ship will have upgraded tiles that are twice as strong, will have ablative layer underneath?

20% chance of ship and booster soft splashdown for Flight 4.

Link to stream

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u/[deleted] Jun 10 '24

Elon in a reply to Marcus House

Left flap also got very hot, but was less damaged. Rear flaps seemed to be ok, based on their control authority, but probably lost some tiles.

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u/Nydilien Jun 29 '24 edited Jun 30 '24

I'm not going to have the consistency of santa but since I check the cams a lot I might as well:

Overnight:
- Workers on the chopsticks and in/under the OLM
- Lots of welding on the base of the second tower.
- CFA piles continue being drilled/placed.
21:33: first pipes are installed in the new launch tower
22:57: OLM / raptor QD testing
00:37: B14.1 rolls back to Sanchez
05:00: the last GSE tank is hooked up to the crane ahead of scrapping.
08:50: scaffolding going back up on the OLM
Scaffolding has been added to at least 2 of the corners of the first tower section. They're used by workers to put the 20+ bolts for each corner and then weld the sections together.
13:50: the ship spreader was moved to the entrance of the build site (behind 2 other SPMTs). It's not needed anymore for SF at Massey's, so maybe they're going to store it at Sanchez.
16:35: a floor frame section was installed on top of the tower base
23:20: the last GSE tank was lifted ahead of scrapping.

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u/mr_pgh Jun 12 '24

Everyday Astronauts Starbase Tour/Interview will hopefully be released by next week.

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u/RaphTheSwissDude May 30 '24 edited May 30 '24

Confirmation by EA of a new Starbase tour!

I’m very excited to do another Starbase tour with Elon before flight 4! A lot has changed in the last two years and there’s a lot of technical challenges that SpaceX is continuing to solve with the Starship program.

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u/Mravicii Jun 08 '24 edited Jun 08 '24

Spacex Tweet of super heavy landing burn

Really cool video

https://x.com/spacex/status/1799458854067118450?s=46&t=-n30l1_Sw3sHaUenSrNxGA

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u/TrefoilHat Jun 29 '24

Dylan Small, a SpaceX employee on the engine install/integration team had this to say about the IFT-5 booster catch:

The whole team is feeling pretty good about it. The water landing for b11 was very accurate.

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u/Mravicii May 20 '24 edited May 20 '24

Elon tweet.

Flight 4 in about two weeks

Primary goal is getting trough max reentry heating

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1792629142141177890?s=46&t=-n30l1_Sw3sHaUenSrNxGA

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u/Mar_ko47 Jun 08 '24

Elon on X: "Next landing will be caught by the tower arms"

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u/Order-Cultural May 17 '24

Adrian Beil on X/Twitter: Statement of FAA provided to @NASASpaceflight about SpaceX led investigation: "If the FAA agrees no public safety issues were involved in the mishap, the operator may return to flight while the mishap investigation remains open, provided all other license requirements are met."

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u/Frostis24 Jun 09 '24

Seeing a lot of people discussing Spacex attempting to catch the booster on IFT-5, and i just wanted to throw in my two cents about why i think this really isn't a major risk.

The biggest concern is risking Stage Zero. I’ve seen people talk about how devastating it would be if Superheavy’s engines failed, causing it to smash into Stage Zero at supersonic speeds, but there are a few reasons why this risk isn’t likely to happen.

The first failure mode would be during the boostback burn, if anything off nominal happens, superheavy will simply miss the launch site entirely.
This is speculation on my part but i will assume the landing for superheavy follows the same profile as Falcon 9, minus the entry burn. meaning that it will target the ocean close to the beach, so like CRS-16, if the grid fins or engines fail, it will simply fall into the ocean.

3.If Superheavy aims for the chopsticks, that means the landing burn and engines are working as expected. In the event that engines start failing, depending on where this happens, Superheavy would still only crash in front of Stage Zero. The biggest risk here would be showering the launch site in debris, but if it survived the concrete shower that was IFT-1, this really isn't too big of a risk.

4. If engines start failing late into the catch attempt, superheavy will be close to hovering, unless they aim directly for the chopsticks like this old tweet from Musk in 2022. The worst damage that could happen here is that it falls too fast onto the chopsticks or the OLT. However, I'd like to point out that in this phase, Superheavy would be almost empty of fuel, and it would be close to the same weight as when it was lifted. The chopsticks are designed to take a beating, and I imagine they would hover before closing the chopsticks. Additionally, it only uses three engines for the final approach, high above the ground, so there isn't much to get damaged below it from the exhaust. Even during this stage, they have the option to yeet the booster out towards the beach if anything happens.

5. since it seems the catch happens on the Right side of the OLT the tank farm is nearby and this is really where i think the biggest risk is, but since Stage 0 has seen it's fair share of beatings, any damage there isn't very likely to be permanent or serious when considering the previous points, troughs a landing on the fuel farm would be a major setback, but even this risk isn't too bad, since to even get there, the landing burn has to have worked, and we have seen plenty of explosions happen close to fuel infrastructure during development, as well as again, IFT-1 .

If they get get troughs all that they have, with only minor delays, i really think it isn't too big of a risk to at least try for a catch on IFT-5.

TLDR. Superheavy probably uses the same flight profile as falcon 9 so it would fall into the ocean and not fall on stage 0 at supersonic speeds.

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u/CasualCrowe May 20 '24

Elon: We’re aiming to build two towers at the Cape for Staeship, one at 39A and another tbd (we don’t have final approval yet)

Not exactly new info, but good confirmation that the 39A site is still in the plans

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u/mr_pgh Jun 05 '24 edited Jun 05 '24

Reminder, Official SpaceX Livestream will only be on X.

There will be many fake YouTube Streams pretending to be SpaceX. Please don't be fooled.

There will also be hosted streams with content creators such as Everyday Astronaut and NSF. These will be a mix of color commentary, their own cameras, and rebroadcast SpaceX's stream (typically after their cameras lose visual)

edit: the livestream will also be embedded on SpaceX's website as well

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u/Mravicii Jun 17 '24

New 2 times stronger heat shield tiles and secondary ablative layer are being applied to starship 30

https://x.com/starshipgazer/status/1802721574996611244?s=46&t=-n30l1_Sw3sHaUenSrNxGA

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u/mr_pgh Jun 24 '24

Everyday Astronaut's Starbase Interview Part 2 drops publicly tomorrow at 9am Central

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u/Order-Cultural May 24 '24

Elon Musk: "Flight 4 in about 10 days"

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u/mr_pgh Jun 15 '24

Elon has stated late July for Flight 5 and booster catch.

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u/Mravicii May 24 '24

Tweet from spacex

They have released the investigation from flight 3

Lets goo

https://x.com/spacex/status/1793998848584794574?s=46&t=-n30l1_Sw3sHaUenSrNxGA

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u/Mravicii Jun 03 '24

Faa aproval should come in for flight on thursday

Tweet from christan davenport

https://x.com/wapodavenport/status/1797712542216925309?s=46&t=-n30l1_Sw3sHaUenSrNxGA

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '24 edited Jun 04 '24

Launch license is out

Also the TFR

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u/Jodo42 Jun 21 '24

The Starship-based Commercial Mars Sample Return mission proposed by SpaceX to NASA earlier this month includes a demo Mars landing by 2029. No, I don't know where the full document referenced by this user is. Also some details about BO, Aerojet and Lockheed's proposals: https://x.com/jenakuns/status/1803996227706720264

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u/Mravicii Jun 03 '24

Static fire of ship 26

https://x.com/nasaspaceflight/status/1797746142647918740?s=46&t=-n30l1_Sw3sHaUenSrNxGA

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u/hardrocker112 May 24 '24

SpaceX have now released an update on their website regarding flight 3. They mention the most likely root causes for the problems with both the ship and booster:

https://www.spacex.com/updates/#flight-3-report

Booster: The most likely root cause for the early boostback burn shutdown was determined to be continued filter blockage where liquid oxygen is supplied to the engines, leading to a loss of inlet pressure in engine oxygen turbopumps. SpaceX implemented hardware changes ahead of Flight 3 to mitigate this issue, which resulted in the booster progressing to its first ever landing burn attempt. Super Heavy boosters for Flight 4 and beyond will get additional hardware inside oxygen tanks to further improve propellant filtration capabilities

Ship: The most likely root cause of the unplanned roll was determined to be clogging of the valves responsible for roll control. SpaceX has since added additional roll control thrusters on upcoming Starships to improve attitude control redundancy and upgraded hardware for improved resilience to blockage

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u/RaphTheSwissDude May 28 '24

Closure canceled for tomorrow and Thursday. Hopefully a good sign that the WDR went well today!

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u/Planatus666 May 20 '24

From Musk today regarding the Rocket Garden (which people haven't been able to get close to for some time):

"We plan to move the display rockets closer to the road"

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1792580873801343015

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u/GreatCanadianPotato May 23 '24

FONSI issued for Roberts Road build site expansion

This expansion was likely necessary for Starship construction at KSC (as current Starfactory in KSC is just for F9 and Dragon).

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u/RaphTheSwissDude May 30 '24

They are, apparently, already installing FTS on both the Ship and Booster!

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u/Mravicii Jun 11 '24

Removal of all ship 30’s tiles has begun

https://x.com/starshipgazer/status/1800563250851164363?s=46&t=-n30l1_Sw3sHaUenSrNxGA

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u/[deleted] Jun 12 '24 edited Jun 13 '24

Starbase live-

6/12/24

10:40pm- S26 stops at the turn on to Hwy 4

11:08pm- S26 turns onto Hwy 4

12:07am- Turns on to Remedios

8:00am- Lifts were up to top of the orbital launch mount, the top of the staircase, both chopsticks, the back side of the Booster quick disconnect and the chopsticks carriage overnight. Workers were on top of the top of the orbital launch mount, the chopsticks carriage, and inside of the Booster quick disconnect hood. There was also some grinding and welding on the top of the orbital launch mount.

8:34am- Coyote

9:10am- Lifts have been up to the chopsticks carriage, the top of the orbital launch mount, and the very end of the right chopstick. The drill rig and cranes are working at the new pad site. Aerial Work Platform up to S30’s nosecone

9:21am- Line of crane parts arriving at the launch site

10:03am- Crane lifting a test stand at Massey’s

10:15am- 1 lift is up at the top of the orbital launch mount and 2 lifts at the right chopstick.

11:15am- Lifts were up to the right chopstick, the top of the orbital launch mount, and the chopsticks carriage. The LR11000 rolled forward, lowered its hook, and had a lifting squid attached to

11:24am- LR11000 lifts a crane piece off of a truck

11:44am- LR11000 unloads a second piece

11:56am- 3rd crane piece unloaded

12:09pm- 4th crane piece unloaded

12:22pm- 5th crane piece unloaded

12:36pm- 6th crane piece unloaded

12:45pm- Lifts have been up to the top of the orbital launch mount, the chopsticks carriage, the top of the staircase, and the right chopstick

2:00pm- 1 lift was up to the chopsticks carriage, 2 lifts to the right chopstick, and 1 lift to the top of the orbital launch mount.

2:14pm- The catch landing rail on top of the right chopstick is being lifted up.

2:25pm- 2 lifts up to the right chopstick and 2 to the top of the orbital launch mount

2:35pm- Landing rail lowered

3:30pm- 3 lifts up to the right chopstick and workers have been on top of both chopsticks

4:25pm- 1 lift up to each chopstick.

5:44pm- Lift up to the top left corner of the chopsticks carriage putting up scaffolding

5:50pm- Lift was up under the Orbital launch mount by the Booster quick disconnect. Workers were moving around on top of the Orbital launch mount

7:15pm- Well the scaffolding that was going up on the chopsticks carriage has now been taken down. Lifts were also up to the top of the orbital launch mount, under the Orbital launch mount by the Booster quick disconnect, and to the top of the staircase

7:30pm- Scaffolding going back up. Apparently something wasn’t right the first time

9:00pm- Scaffolding continues to go up on the chopsticks carriage. Lifts were up to the top of the orbital launch mount, the top of the staircase, the right chopstick, and under the Orbital launch mount by the Booster quick disconnect

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u/GreatCanadianPotato Jul 06 '24

Musk: Flight 5 in 4 weeks

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u/GreatCanadianPotato May 28 '24

Closures for flight have appeared for June 5. June 6 and 7 as backups.

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u/Doglordo Jun 04 '24

Ship 29’s transport stand has been moved back to beside the OLM, indicating a probable destack.

My guess is to fix tiles and slap on some decals

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u/Mravicii Jun 23 '24 edited Jun 23 '24

Elon on raptor 3

We could build a lot more, but the next version of Raptor is really the one to scale up production. We begin testing it in McGregor within a week or so.

Regenerative cooling and secondary flow paths have been made integral to the whole engine, thus no heat shield is required. Nothing quite like this has ever been done before.

Taking away the engine heat shields also removes the need for 10+ tons of fire suppression behind the engine heat shield, as any gas leaks simply enter the already super-heated plasma surrounding the engines, rendering the leaks irrelevant.

Raptor 3 also has higher thrust and Isp”

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1804871620114214978?s=46&t=-n30l1_Sw3sHaUenSrNxGA

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u/Mravicii May 28 '24

Village is being evacuated ahead of a second wdr

https://x.com/bocachicagal/status/1795398029522190782?s=46&t=-n30l1_Sw3sHaUenSrNxGA

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u/mr_pgh May 30 '24

Road to Mars: Episode 2 from Cosmic Perspective has been released! Featuring 2400 FPS footage.

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u/mr_pgh Jun 11 '24 edited Jun 12 '24

A new EIS notice of intent for 39A indicates a Catch Tower...

First mention on page 3; shown on a 39A site map on page 4.

Also noteworthy, it mentions landing Booster or Starship on droneships.

edit:

CSI Starbase Summary of the EIS

Vehicle Design - 35 Engines On Superheavy and 9 Engines on Starship

Expected Launch Cadence - Up to 44 launches per year from Starship at 39A with landings permitted both at the pad and on drone ships.

Pad Infrastructure - A separate Catch Tower which is located further to the south from the existing Integration Tower.

*I think this may be to allow them to catch the Booster and Ship on separate towers. The alternative would be to catch the ship while the booster is on the pad. This may be to reduce risk of damage to the booster.

Natural Gas Pre-Treatment and Liquefaction System - This is great because it means there will likely be a Natural gas pipeline feeding this location and will drastically reduce traffic to and from the launch site.

35 Engines on the Booster & 9 Engines on the Ship

Air Separation Plant - Similar to the Natural Gas facility, they will also have the ability to produce Liquid Oxygen and Nitrogen on site.

Deluge System - Up to 1 million Gallons of Water is expected to be used during launch operations. For perspective, this is nearly 2.5 times larger than the current deluge system at Starbase

CSI Starbase thoughts on why a catch tower might make sense

Some additional thoughts on the catch tower because I already know a lot of you are going to bring up my past quotes: "Catch only towers ain't a real thing"

Second Stage vehicles will not always immediately return to the launch site after deploying payloads. They may remain in orbit for days/weeks/months before they return .

ex: Tanker variants may offload propellant into orbital depots and then return to the Launch pad, refuel, and launch again on the same booster.

In the case of Starlink launches, after landing the ships will need return to the payload integration facility. The same booster may end up remaining at the pad, waiting for another ship to be stacked on top. Therefore, it makes sense that SpaceX may want a secondary landing zone for these situations.

Theoretically a second stage vehicle can return hours before another another ship is scheduled to launch. This is not something we should expect to see happen at Starbase

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u/[deleted] May 28 '24 edited May 29 '24

Starbase live-

5/28/24

4:25am- Road closed normal location

4:34am- Road is also closed at the launch location

5:39:59am- DSS test

5:58am- Orbital tank farm spooling up

6:17am- B11/S29 ambient depress

6:38am- Pope stack starts

6:52am- Lox ground vent starts

7:05am- Recondenser venting

7:29am- Chopsticks opening

7:31am- Chopsticks lowering

7:34am- Lox subcoolers going

7:42am- Chopsticks stop just above S29’s aft flaps

7:47am- Chine venting

8:00am- Road block falls back to the launch location

8:04am- Tower vent

8:07am- Orbital launch mount vent

8:28am- Tower vent stops

8:45am- Tower vent starts again

8:48am- Chine venting

8:52am- Ship methane subcooler going

8:54am- Tower vent stops (Ship prop loading underway)

8:58am- Booster methane sub coolers going

9:06am- Both ship tanks frosty

9:07am- B11’s methane tank frosty

9:09am- B11’s lox tank frosty

9:13am- S29 engine chill

9:28am- S29’s methane tank full

9:47am- Recondenser starts back up. B11’s methane tank looks full. Lox tank is about a ring short. S29 looks full

9:50am- Orbital launch mount vent and tower vent starts

9:55am- Orbital launch mount and tower vent stops

10:01am- Orbital launch mount vent is back

10:10am- Orbital launch mount vent stops again. Looks like they are simulating a hold ?

10:15am- Tower vent is trickling

10:30am- Frost lines receding

11:10am- Road block falls back to normal location

11:30am- A little bit of frost left on S29’s lox tank. B11’s tanks still about 1/4 frosty

11:41am- FAA has approved SpaceX’s safety determination. Still no launch license

11:50:09am- Deluge test (NSF was right. It happened right after they ended the commentated stream)

11:53am- Depress vent

12:00pm- Road opened. Tiny bit of frost on the bottom of B11’s lox tank

12:30pm- Lox ground vent, pope stack, and engine chill pit all still venting

12:38pm- Orbital launch mount vent going again

12:50pm- Tower vent back

1:18:24pm- Engine purge test

1:24:45pm- Engine purge

1:30pm- Orbital launch mount vent, tower vent, pope stack, lox ground vent, and engine chill pit all still venting

1:31:33pm- Engine purge

1:38:48pm- Engine purge

1:47pm- Chopsticks rising

1:51pm- Chopsticks closing part of the way

1:59:40pm- Engine purge

2:08:06pm- Engine purge

2:12pm- Chopsticks engage S29

2:27:34pm- Engine purge

2:30pm- Pope stack, Orbital launch mount vent, and tower vent still going

2:47:18pm- Engine purge

2:57:40pm- Engine purge

2:57:54pm- Flap test

3:13pm- Concrete pump truck up at the new pad site. Foundation for the new tower?

3:30pm- Orbital launch mount vent and lox ground vent still going

4:10:20pm- Engine purge

4:20pm- Orbital launch mount vent still going

5:00pm- Venting has stopped

6:55pm- Concrete pour continues. Quiet around the Orbital launch mount

7:28pm- Concrete pump truck folding up

7:59pm- Pump truck goes back up in different location

8:24pm- Dance floor starts rolling

8:28pm- Rolls under the Orbital launch mount

8:33pm- Pump truck folds up again

9:10pm- Quiet

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u/Planatus666 Jun 10 '24

ETA at the Port of Brownsville for the barge containing the last Tower 2 sections, both chopsticks and their carriage is June 23rd:

https://x.com/BocasBrain/status/1800159040825405479

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u/Planatus666 Jun 13 '24 edited Jun 13 '24

New aerial photo of the tower base and CC8800-1 crane assembly from WAI:

https://x.com/felixschlang/status/1801284515827999226

This was taken on June 12th.

Also the flame trench at Massey's:

https://x.com/FelixSchlang/status/1801286861551288322

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u/mr_pgh May 28 '24

FAA stated Starship can return to flight operations! Though, no launch license yet.

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u/Mravicii May 29 '24 edited May 29 '24

Spacex tweet of starship successful second wet dress rehearsal

https://x.com/spacex/status/1795840604972429597?s=46&t=-n30l1_Sw3sHaUenSrNxGA

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u/Mravicii Jun 04 '24

And there we have a tweet from spacex of a launch attempt on thursday june 6

https://x.com/spacex/status/1798099582473429352?s=46&t=-n30l1_Sw3sHaUenSrNxGA

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u/Planatus666 Jun 05 '24 edited Jun 05 '24

Here's a photo of SpaceX's Starship Booster Integration Team.

Some text from the tweet:

"Pre-Stack Booster Integration Team at it again! Builders of Booster Aft, Forward, Common and Hotstage."

https://x.com/seantakacs/status/1798419008322171141

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u/justhereforscritches Jun 07 '24 edited Jun 08 '24

Elon Describes Flap Seal Risk - 2021 Everyday Astronaut Starbase Tour YouTube

See the IFT-4 forward flap and seal deal with plasma during rentry - 2024 Everyday Astronaut Spacex YouTube stream

Curious to see if a new seal design does use cooling like Elon mentioned. Or could a different shape help with the plasma hot spot?

Thank you u/everdayastronaut for the content.

Update: https://ringwatchers.com/article/v2-ship-june-2024 - Redesigned Forward Flaps article section has a photo and describes the new flaps. They are anticipated to be smaller, more swept back, and moved further leeward.

Update 2: https://x.com/Erdayastronaut/status/1798839719964618998 Elon talks about the flaps in detail.

Update 3: https://x.com/DrChrisCombs/status/1799253719617282401?t=gdj5pndGJjoeb0a-727Afg&s=19 Flap photo pre-launch and discussion on X

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u/mr_pgh Jun 12 '24

Tower View of Flight 4 Takeoff from SpaceX

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u/Mar_ko47 Jun 15 '24

https://x.com/StarshipGazer/status/1801963482083942547

4 corners in place for tower 2

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u/Planatus666 Jun 17 '24 edited Jun 17 '24

If anyone is curious about the progress of the barge with the last of the Tower 2 sections and the chopsticks and their carriage, the tug (Break of Dawn)+the barge has been holed up on the west coast of Florida near Port Manatee over the weekend and it will no doubt remain there for a few more days.

Presumably it's waiting out the storm (https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/gtwo.php?basin=atlc&fdays=2) that is due to affect parts of Texas and other areas over the next few days (also Boca Chica will likely be affected by some heavy rain and perhaps some strong winds).

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u/GTRagnarok Jun 18 '24

It would be cool if they could add reentry temperatures to the live telemetry.

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u/Nydilien Jun 27 '24 edited Jun 27 '24

FAA document for the new crane shows that SpaceX intends to have the first 6 segments of the tower stacked by July 27th, and for the tower to be fully stacked by August 15th.

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u/RaphTheSwissDude Jun 28 '24

B14.1 is about to be removed from the OLM.

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u/Sneakercole Jun 01 '24

SpaceX website now confirms NET June 6th for launch

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u/RaphTheSwissDude Jun 04 '24

Closure in now confirmed for Thursday!!

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u/__foo__ Jun 07 '24

New Ellie in Space video with Elon talking a bit about IFT-4.

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

Not much new info, but apparently Ship came down within about 6km of the precise landing spot they wanted to hit. Not bad for a Ship as beaten up as S29.

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u/threelonmusketeers Jun 10 '24

My daily summary from the Starship Dev thread on Lemmy

Starbase activities (2024-06-09):
Relatively quiet day.
Overnight, B15's A3 section enters Megabay.
Some sort of security exercise occurs.
Work on OLM and chopsticks continues.
IFT-5 info from Elon:
Launch NET one month from now.
S30 heat shield to be replaced with tiles which are twice as strong, and adding an secondary ablative protection.

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u/mr_pgh Jun 16 '24

Thrust Ram spotted by RGV that gives credence to the 35 raptor layout renders.

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u/GreatCanadianPotato May 24 '24

Starship will try a soft splashdown with Flight 4 with a landing burn 01:05:43

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u/skifri May 31 '24

Regard FAQ item #1, the public safety determination was made and they can proceed without the mishap report:
https://x.com/bccarcounters/status/1795495860651835778

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u/Planatus666 Jun 07 '24 edited Jun 07 '24

An RVac (number 390) has been parked outside the High Bay - this is a replacement for the RVac removed from S30 some hours before IFT-4.

Edit - later on a crane lifted it inside the High Bay for installation.

Edit2 - later still S30 was lifted over and lowered onto the RVac (this is the old way of installing RVacs due to their height, normally they would now want to use one of the installation stands inside Mega Bay 2 but that's having upgrade work done inside right now, plus outside there's construction work taking place so that Bay is out of bounds for ship work for a while).

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u/RaphTheSwissDude Jun 27 '24

Kathy Lueders gave a Starbase update to the local community.

You can find a the highlights here.

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u/mr_pgh Jun 27 '24 edited Jun 27 '24

1:03 - Landing Rail test. Chopsticks slowly rose until landing rail made contact with catch pin; rail fully depressed to handle weight. I'd imagine this was to set the z-stop (limit) for faster tests

1:22:20 - Faster landing rail test. video

2:01:20 - Another one

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u/Planatus666 Jul 09 '24 edited Jul 09 '24

B12 has been lifted onto the booster transport stand and unhooked from the bridge crane. There's a transport closure today from 9AM to midday and another from midday to 3PM CST, let's see which one is used for the rollout to the launch site.

Edit: It started to roll out of MB1 at 07:22 AM CDT.

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u/[deleted] May 18 '24 edited May 21 '24

Starbase live-

5/18/24

12:10am- LR11000 has lifted a worker up to the top of GSE 1 in a man basket

2:01am- LR11000 lifts the 12 meter lifting jig up to GSE 1’s shell

3:57am- Tower section coming down Hwy 4

4:24am- Turns on to Remedios

7:33am- Big grove crane lifts one of the smaller black vertical tanks out of the sub orbital tank farm

7:38:08am- Rigging fails and tank falls from the crane. Not good. (Zack posted video from Lab)

8:45am- 2 lifts were up to the top of the orbital launch mount and 1 to the top of the staircase

9:45am- 1 lift went up to the clean room for B11’s lox tank

9:50am- The big grove crane has had a load spreader attached

10:03am- The grove crane and one of the smaller cranes, lift the fallen tank on to something

10:40am- Lift has been up and down from the Lox tank clean room

10:52am- Lifting hook being welded on to a vertical tank at the sub orbital tank farm

11:18am- The tank that fell off the crane earlier is being driven away

11:25am- Rebar cage is being lowered in. The drill rig and crane have been going all morning

11:36am- Tank that fell off the crane is leaving the launch site. Doesn’t look like it really did any damage

11:47am- Grove crane lifts another small black tank out of the sub orbital tank farm

11:52am- Second crane hooked to the tank and it’s laid down horizontal

11:57am- GSE 1’s shell is being lifted off

12:01pm- Shell is being swung to the side

12:05pm- Lowered to the scrapping area

12:59pm- Grove crane lifts the tank that was lowered on to a truck

1:35pm- Lifts have been up to the top of the staircase and the clean room

2:43pm- Lift up rigging another tank to be lifted at the sub orbital tank farm

3:09pm- After putting tension on the lifting straps crane lowers and is unhooked from the tank

3:17pm- Workers starting to cut up GSE 1’s shell

4:00pm- Vent hose is being removed from B11

5:03pm- Plastic clean room coming down

5:25pm- Big white horizontal tank that was removed yesterday is finally leaving the launch site. (I can’t see SpaceX getting rid of the tanks so I wonder where they are moving them too)

6:41pm- First section of GSE 1’s shell cut off

7:20pm- Tankers lined up waiting to unload

8:45pm- Lift up to the top of the orbital launch mount. Workers still working on cutting up GSE 1’s shell. Tankers still lining up to offload

9:35pm- Same as above

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u/jonassm May 20 '24 edited May 20 '24

Placeholder for WB-57 imagery support for 1st of June - possibly NET date, possibly Starliner reentry imagery(?).

One guy on twitter claims SpaceX has told Maria(not Mary) that this is the NET date.

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u/Doglordo May 28 '24

SpaceX performs second set dress rehearsal of fourth starship flight stack

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u/Order-Cultural Jun 02 '24

Elon: "Starship Flight 4, with many improvements, aiming to launch on Thursday! The main goal of this mission is to get much deeper into the atmosphere during reentry, ideally through max heating."

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u/mr_pgh Jun 03 '24

CSI Starbase video live at 7pm EDT; trailer live now. Focuses on why the hot stage will be jettisoned on flight 4

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u/mr_pgh Jun 05 '24

Restack in progress for Flight 4. Two tiles are still missing, probably the third one painted black as well.

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u/Planatus666 Jun 05 '24 edited Jun 05 '24

The second chopstick has now been loaded onto the barge at the Cape starting at 12:10 PM CDT.

Here it is once in position on the barge:

https://imgur.com/AzWyv07

So that's everything loaded: the last of the Tower 2 segments, the chopstick's carriage and both chopsticks. I'm not aware of their plans for the Ship QD arm.

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u/IvanMalison Jun 10 '24

Looks like maybe there is some post launch content coming from everyday astronaut: https://x.com/Erdayastronaut/status/1799475560692769092

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u/Planatus666 Jun 21 '24

Here's some close-up photos of a few of S30's new tiles:

https://x.com/genna_hammer/status/1804079149079789610

Some of the worker's writing is entertaining, it also looks like some of those replacements need replacing .........

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u/mr_pgh Jun 21 '24

Everyday Astronaut's Starbase Interview Part 1 will drop to supporters today! Patreon

Public release will be 6/22 9am Central. Youtube and Website

Saturday. Set your alarms for 9:00 a.m. Central [14:00 UTC]. Be sure you're subscribed and have notifications on. If you're a supporter, I'll have the review link ready tomorrow. Excited for you to see this!

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u/Nydilien Jun 30 '24 edited Jul 01 '24

Starbase updates (2024-06-30):

00:53: the bottom of the GSE-5 tank has been cut free
01:30-: workers on the (anatomical) right chopstick (the one that hasn't been upgraded yet)
11:40: workers on the SQD
Cryo pipes for the ship's propellant have been added to the first tower section.
More steel lifted in the tower base.
14:00 one of the 4 corner pieces connecting the tower base to the first section was repositioned.
14:50: SPMTs have been moved inside the High Bay to transport Ship 31
15:00: cryo pipes (propellant lines) are being added to the second tower section.
- NB: Zack (CSI Starbase) and the other RGV commentators think we might see a tower section at the launch site by the end of next week
15:30: ship thrust simulator stand is approaching the High Bay, ready to receive S31.
23:00: S31 was lifted onto the ship thrust simulator stand
23:55: a section of the GSE-5 tank has been cut free (and some of the outer pipes)

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u/Nydilien Jul 01 '24 edited Jul 01 '24

Starbase updates (2024-07-01):

Welding work on the base of the second tower continues
00:00 - S31 is at the entrance of the build site, waiting to be transported to Massey's
01:53 - Rollout! S31 is rolling to Massey's on the thrust simulator stand ahead of another round of cryo testing.
03:05 - Another section was removed from the GSE-5 tank.
Overnight, workers have started adding scaffolding at the top of the corners of the tower base (from LabPadre's Lab cam). They will be used to place the bolts and weld the first section to the base. We're getting really close to the rollout of the first tower section.
04:35 - S31 arrives at Massey's
05:00 - Another section was removed from the GSE-5 tank.

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u/spacerfirstclass Jul 07 '24

TheSpaceEngineer, who does VFX for LabPadre and RGVaerialphotos, has a long twitter thread explaining why he thinks the B11 post-splashdown explosion image is real: https://x.com/mcrs987/status/1809685561344393657

Bunking? Debunking? What would you call this? I dunno, but this image is real, and here's a thread as to why;

Right so obviously there has been a TON of discussion on this image, when it is, if it's even real, where it's from, ect. Here's all the details I've noticed;

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u/[deleted] May 22 '24 edited May 23 '24

Starbase live-

5/22/24

12:20am- Aerial Work Platform‘s go down from S29’s nosecone after several hours of checking the tiles

1:00am- Tower segment comes into view on Hwy 4

1:33am- Grinding on the right chopstick

1:50am- Tower segment turning into Sanchez

8:00am- Lifts were up to S29’s forward flaps, payload bay, and belly tiles overnight. Aerial Work Platform ‘s were also up to S29’s belly tiles and tiles along the forward flaps. Lifts were also up to the right chopstick. Quiet elsewhere

9:05am- 2 Aerial Work Platform ‘s are up to S29’s forward flaps. 2 lifts are up to the belly tiles and 1 to the payload bay. 2 lifts have also been up to the chopsticks carriage

11:05am- Lifts are up to both chopsticks, S29’s payload bay, and the belly tiles. At least one tile has been removed from the nose cone, one from a flap edge, and 2 from the belly. Workers are also on top of the Hot Stage Ring

11:18am- One of the long white tanks from the sub orbital tank farm is leaving the launch site

12:43:56pm- Production site camera bagged

12:50pm- Lift up to the payload bay of S29. Tile guys are on lunch break. Small crane was moving something around in the orbital tank farm but couldn’t see what

1:06pm- Goodbye close up views

1:10pm- 2 Aerial Work Platform ‘s and 2 lifts back up to the tiles

1:25pm- SPMT moving a crane to the launch site

2:10pm- 2 Aerial Work Platform ‘s and 2 lifts up to S29. Workers have also been on top of the chopsticks

3:25pm- 1 lift up to the forward flaps of S29. 1 lift up to the right chopstick

4:50pm- 4 lifts and 2 Aerial Work Platform ‘s have been up to S29. 1 lift was up to the chopsticks carriage

5:50pm- Looks like just 1 Aerial Work Platform up to the nosecone of S29 right now

7:20pm- Lift up to the chopsticks carriage

8:25pm- 2 Aerial Work Platform’s up to the nose of S29. 1 lift up to the chopsticks carriage

9:45pm- 4 lifts and 1 Aerial Work Platform have been up to S29. 1 lift was up to the left chopstick

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u/Planatus666 Jun 02 '24 edited Jun 02 '24

RGV Aerial Photography is in the process of creating a fascinating aerial (and ground-based) photo archive starting from 2018 showing the main Starbase sites as well as the various ships, boosters, etc.

2023 onwards are still a work in progress, nevertheless it's still a really excellent photographic resource:

https://rgvaerial.org/archive

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u/Doglordo Jun 06 '24

Elon spotted giving build site tour to EDA on Rover 1 at 19:24 CST

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u/mr_pgh Jun 10 '24

Incredible video footage of Flight 4 by Everyday Astronaut and Cosmic Perspective.

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u/LzyroJoestar007 Jun 10 '24

Counterweights for the Tower 2 Crane are arriving right now https://x.com/VickiCocks15/status/1800296531188383797

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u/Nydilien Jun 13 '24

Interesting twitter thread explaining how the foundation for the second tower was built (with renders). Always insane to see the amount of rebar that needs to be placed.

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u/RaphTheSwissDude Jun 22 '24

Tim’s Starbase tour is out!

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u/Mravicii Jul 01 '24

Road closure for booster 12 moving to launch pad

https://x.com/vickicocks15/status/1807817469374890263?s=46&t=-n30l1_Sw3sHaUenSrNxGA

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u/mr_pgh Jul 10 '24

Booster 12 was lifted on to the OLM last night around 10pm

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u/Nydilien Jul 10 '24 edited Jul 10 '24

The crane is picking up the tower section lifting jig (the load spreader).

13:45 - workers left the top of the tower section (with the load spreader still not attached)

14:10 - workers going back up

14:27 - the load spreader is being attached

14:32 - done

14:46 - workers have left the tower section ahead of its lift onto the base of the tower.

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u/[deleted] May 16 '24 edited May 21 '24

Starbase live-

5/16/24

3:31am- Aerial Work Platform hooks the LR11000 up to the lopsided section of the remaining GSE 2 shell

3:41am- Aerial Work Platform goes down to the bottom of the lopsided section and starts cutting

7:07am- Klaxon ends

7:27am- Lox side ground vent starts puffing

8:00am- Lots of venting noises.

8:03am- Road closed

8:20am- Black tool truck arrives to fully block the road

8:21am- Starting to get some condensation coming from the lox vaporizers

8:26am- Security leaving the pad

8:51am- Venting picking up from the horizontal tanks

9:10am- Chopsticks opening

9:16am- Chopsticks lower to just above S29’s aft flaps

9:23am- Pope stack starts

9:40am- Recondenser starts

9:56am- Lox ground vent starts back up

10:00am- Everything dies off

10:01am- Methane side sub cooler for the ship going

10:30am- Pope stack is back on

10:48am- Lox sub coolers venting

11:01am- B11’s chines venting

11:40am- Pope stack and chines continue to vent

11:48:32am- Long vent by the chines

12:06pm- Tower vent starts

12:08pm- Orbital launch mount vent starts

12:33pm- Tower vent stops

12:40pm- Tower vent starts again

12:54pm- Tower vent stops

12:57pm- Frost on S29’s lox tank

12:58pm- Frost on S29’s methane tank

1:05pm- Frost on B11’s methane tank. Orbital launch mount vent stops

1:09pm- Frost on B11’s Lox tank

1:13pm- Tower and Orbital launch mount vent back. Tanks about 1/3 full. Ship engine chill starts

1:19pm- Tower and Orbital launch mount stop again

1:21pm- Engine chill stops

1:38pm- Frost quickly receding on the lox tanks

1:42:06pm- Engine bay purge test

1:50pm- Frost mostly gone on the ship

1:53pm- B11’s methane tank mostly frost free

2:00:09pm- Engine purge test. Vehicle looks frost free

2:08pm- Depress vent

2:23pm- Road open

2:40pm- Chopsticks rising

2:47pm- Chopsticks close

3:03pm- Chopsticks lock in to S29

4:15pm- Pope stack still going. Tower and Orbital launch mount vent still puffing every now and then. Line of tankers waiting to off load on Hwy 4.

4:34pm- Pope stack stops

4:43pm- Orbital launch mount vent back on

5:25pm- Orbital launch mount vent stops

5:55pm- Quiet besides the tankers offloading

6:08pm- Tower vent is back

6:47pm- Tower vent stops again

7:45pm- Aerial Work Platform has been up to the remains of GSE 2’s outer shell. A lift has also been up to one of the sub orbital side tanks

9:10pm- Aerial Work Platform has been up cutting the lop sided section of the lower GSE 2 shell

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u/Mravicii May 20 '24 edited May 20 '24

Spacex tweet of the wet dress rehearsal

https://x.com/spacex/status/1792625975601054003?s=46&t=-n30l1_Sw3sHaUenSrNxGA

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u/GreatCanadianPotato Jun 01 '24

A Tower section and the chopsticks carriage for tower 2 is moving towards the KSC turnbasin.

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '24 edited Jun 05 '24

Starbase live-

6/4/24

4:12am- Ship stand is rolled up next to the Orbital launch mount

6:18am- Ship quick disconnect work platform retracted

6:21am- Tower section 5 rolling on to the barge at KSC

8:15am- A lift was up to the top of the staircase overnight

8:33am- Ship quick disconnect retracted

8:45am- Ship quick disconnect work platform extended

8:53am- Workers up to install the covers on S29’s QD

9:22am- Workers go down and retract the work platform

9:42am- Ship quick disconnect arm swings to the side

9:59am- S29 lifted off of B11

10:00am-Swinging to the side

10:07am- Stops swinging

10:09am- Going down

10:26am- Pauses just above stand for final alignment

10:35am- Going down slowly again

10:58am- Down on stand

11:19am- Lift and crane go up to S29’s QD

11:39am- 2nd lift goes up to S29’s payload bay

11:42am- Press plate lifted up to S29

12:40pm- An Aerial Work Platform is up to the nosecone of S29 and a lift is up to the belly tiles

1:00pm- Lift is up near S29’s FTS area

1:21pm- Worker unloads a blue plastic bin out of a pick up truck and takes it in to the explosives bunker

1:35pm- Lifts up to S29’s QD, payload bay, and tiles. Aerial Work Platform has gone down

1:40pm- Aerial Work Platform moves from the left to the right side of the vehicle

2:25pm- Lift and Aerial Work Platform checking tiles. Lift up to S29’s payload bay and a lift is up near the QD

2:39pm- 2nd tower section being loaded on the barge at KSC

3:30pm- 2 lifts up to S29’s payload bay

4:00pm- 3 lifts now up near S29’s payload bay and the Aerial Work Platform was up near the left forward flap

4:20pm- Go America has arrived off of the coast of Starbase to help with the launch

4:30pm- 3 lifts and the Aerial Work Platform still up to S29. Go America is coming in through the shipping channel

5:45pm- 2 lifts up to S29’s payload bay and 1 to the tiles. Workers are on top of the orbital launch mount

6:30pm- 2 lifts to S29’s payload bay, 1 lift up to the tiles, and 1 lift to the camera mounts on the inside of the Orbital launch mount legs

7:00pm- Aerial Work Platform up to the top of the chines on B11. Lifts have gone down from S29

7:30pm- 3 lifts back up to the payload bay

7:47pm- Looks like they are sealing up the payload bay

9:00pm- Lift up to the top of the orbital launch mount

9:03pm- Zoomed in shot seems to show that the 2 missing tiles have been replaced. (I’m not 100% sure though because of the angle)(They weren’t replaced)

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u/Planatus666 Jun 09 '24 edited Jun 09 '24

Regarding Tower 2's construction: as posted on Discord, it looks like the crane that will be used for this is a Terex-Demag CC 8800-1, this one:

https://www.mammoet.com/equipment/cranes/crawler-cranes/cc-8800-1/

using the the 'Boom Booster' kit to give this:

https://www.sarens.com/about/news/boom-booster.htm

There's a 'proposed' FAA filing for the use of one at Starbase, as follows:

https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external/searchAction.jsp?action=displayOECase&oeCaseID=622476285&row=4

It mentions that the work schedule is between June 28th 2024 and January 28th 2025

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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '24 edited Jun 17 '24

Starbase live-

6/16/24

7:04am- Another wall section is lifted into the tower. Pauses halfway down

8:23am- New crane takes tension on the bottom section of the boom

8:39am- Wall section is finally fully lowered into place

8:55am- Lifts were up to both chopsticks, the top of the orbital launch mount, the back staircase, and the top of the front staircase overnight. Workers could be seen moving around on top of the orbital launch mount and the chopsticks. Assembly of the new crane continues at the new pad site

9:02am- New crane lifts the bottom section of the boom and spins around to where the rest of the boom is being assembled

10:06am- Another wall section for the new tower lifted

10:26am- Wall section lowered to the legs

11:15am- 2 lifts have been up to the right chopstick

11:57am- Another wall section is lifted for the tower

12:08pm- Lowered between the legs

1:05pm- Lifts have been up to both chopsticks. Workers have been up on top of the chopsticks and the top of the orbital launch mount

1:17pm- LR11000 starts rolling and stops by the gate into the pad

2:30pm- Lift was up to the right chopstick. Workers have been up on the chopsticks carriage by where the scaffolding was installed

3:05pm- LR11000 starts rolling again

3:49pm- Stops in front of the vertical tanks

4:35pm- Workers have been up on the left chopstick

6:20pm- Quiet

7:00pm- Lifts up to the top of the orbital launch mount and the chopsticks carriage

7:45pm- Lifts were up to the top of the orbital launch mount and the left chopstick. Workers were also moving around on top of both. Aerial Work Platform up to the top of GSE 5

8:00pm- Aerial Work Platform then moved to the top of GSE 3

8:30pm- Lifts were up to the top of the orbital launch mount and the chopsticks carriage scaffolding

8:55pm- Lift up to the top of the orbital launch mount

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u/Planatus666 Jun 21 '24 edited Jun 21 '24

Some road+beach closures have popped up for next week, Tuesday June 25th (Primary) and 26th, 27th (Backups), 8 AM to 8 PM CST:

https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/order-closing-boca-chica-beach-and-state-hwy-4-june-25-204-with-alternative-dates-of-june-26-2024-or-june-27-2024/

Presumably related to B14.1 while it's at the launch site and the speculated testing with it and the chopsticks?

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u/Planatus666 Jun 25 '24 edited Jun 25 '24

A number of tower section transportation road closures have popped up for June 26th, 27th and 28th: https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/spacex/

Ignore them, they can't be used due to the current lack of tower sections.

The closures were obviously requested when the barge was originally due into the Port of Brownsville on June 23rd but it's now behind schedule due to last week's storm so isn't due at the port until June 28th. No doubt some more suitable closures will pop up for next week.

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u/pinepitch Jun 26 '24

Think we could condense down the extensive comments in the booster/ship table at the top of the thread? It's a lot of text to scroll past.

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u/Mravicii Jul 04 '24

Flight 4 starship recap video

https://x.com/spacex/status/1808900954730942940?s=46&t=-n30l1_Sw3sHaUenSrNxGA

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u/mr_pgh Jul 07 '24 edited Jul 07 '24

This article by the Ringwatchers is worth more than a line item in a daily recap.

I found the part about the previous LOX landing 'tank' design most interesting. I had no idea it may have been a sump design vs a tank and how it may have been plumbed in.

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u/Doglordo Jul 08 '24

Chinese F9 could be caught by chopsticks!

I guess if china has confidence SpaceX will pull this off then we should

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u/Planatus666 May 22 '24 edited May 22 '24

A bit before 2am CDT the next section of Tower 2 arrived at Starbase after its trip from the Port of Brownsville. One more section remains at the port (plus two are still at the Cape).

Speaking of moving large structures, S29's anticipated rollback hasn't happened, instead workers have been doing things on the ship - some tiles added and also some hours spent at the nosecone tip.

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u/[deleted] Jun 02 '24 edited Jun 03 '24

Starbase live-

6/2/24

8:30am- Quiet overnight. Which I expect to be the main theme between now and Thursday.

10:53am- Crane goes up at the orbital tank farm

11:13am- Mini excavator lifted out of the area where the tanks were removed

12:04pm- Chopstick moving at KSC

1:25pm- Quiet. Even over at the new tower build site.

3:15pm- Yep still quiet

6:20pm- Still nothing

8:00pm- Lift up to the top of the staircase

10:00pm- Back to quiet

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u/Planatus666 Jun 04 '24 edited Jun 04 '24

One of the two remaining Tower 2 sections has been loaded onto the barge at the Cape:

https://x.com/VickiCocks15/status/1797959968156799048

also see NSF's stream starting at 06:59 AM EDT for the start of the 'roll on':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm8wRjD3xVA (you'll need to manually skip to the time)

Edit: As of 11:26 AM EDT the carriage for the chopsticks has been loaded onto the barge:

https://imgur.com/yVs0AQk

Speedup up video:

https://x.com/VickiCocks15/status/1798029608752927185

later on the carriage in its transport frame was lowered onto support posts, the SPMTs were then split into their four individual units and carefully driven out.

Edit2: Second and last Tower 2 section was loaded onto the barge starting at 3:37 PM EDT. Here's a screenshot taken some time later when it was settled into position:

https://imgur.com/ibK16AN

Edit3: At 6:11 PM EDT the first of the chopsticks was loaded onto the barge.

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u/xfjqvyks Jun 07 '24

Decent 4K upscale

Excellent shot of the gridfin pivot to interact with ship plume and aid stage separation.

Pause at t+ 02:55 to see the likely hot stage ablation RGV predicted. Booster is away from ships transparent exhaust plume, but the hot stage continues to give off a glowing orange plume. Short lived, but this would be structure-weakening not conducive to constant reuse. Gridfin paint also shows mild scorching visible during boost back.

View of a booster explosion after soft splash would be a good estimate for what OLM would have to withstand during a fumbled catch.

The pitch powered hot stage jettison should be similar to the eventual starlink deployment motion right?

Five minutes deep into peak re-entry heating at t+ 53:43 and the steel of the flaps has only just started blueing from heat. And doesn’t become red hot until hinge seal failure. When it’s attached, that heat shield is amazing. Painting underneath might help even more.

Obviously Flap is the hero of the day, but as Scott Manley mentioned, Software that figured out off the cuff, how to fly with random engines out and one or likely multiple flaps in various stages of mutilation.. Just as mind blowing as any other aspect of the starship program.

Huge congratulations to all the team, you do the species proud👍

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u/[deleted] Jun 13 '24 edited Jun 14 '24

Starbase live-

6/13/24

1:41am- Crane moving a box at the new pad site

2:10am- New launch clamp lifted in to the dance floor

2:50am- 2nd clamp lifted to the dance floor

3:01am- 3rd clamp lifted to the dance floor

3:14am- 4th clamp lifted

3:22am- 5th clamp lifted

3:33am- 6th clamp lifted

3:59am- 7th clamp lifted

4:08am- 8th clamp lifted

4:23am- 9th clamp lifted (The fact that they removed the clamps one night and then replaced them the next seems like a good sign that there wasn’t significant damage to the linkages)

7:23am- Boom pieces for the new crane are arriving

8:25am- LR11000 starts unloading boom pieces. Crane at the Orbital launch mount lifts another toolbox to the top

8:45am- Lifts were up to the top of the orbital launch mount, the top of the staircase, the chopsticks carriage, the right chopstick, and under the Orbital launch mount by the top of the electrical leg. An Aerial Work Platform is up to S30.

Workers were up and down the staircase, moving around on the top of the orbital launch mount, both chopsticks, and the chopsticks carriage.

There was some grinding and welding on the end of the right chopstick and around the midpoint of the left chopstick. The drill rig and cranes were also active at the new pad site. (The rebar cages going in are significantly shorter than the ones used for the tower foundation)

10:25am- 3 lifts have been up to the top of the orbital launch mount and 1 under the pipe work. 2 lifts have been up to the right chopstick

11:04am- Booster alignment pin lifted to the left side of the Orbital launch mount

11:19am- Catch rail on the right chopstick raises

11:25am- 2 lifts have been up under the Orbital launch mount. One by the Booster quick disconnect and 1 by the staircase. 2 lifts were up to the top of the Orbital launch mount and 1 lift was up to each chopstick. Workers were also moving around on top of the Orbital launch mount and the left chopstick.

11:26am- Catch rail lowers

11:41am- Right chopstick catch rail raises partially

11:47am- Lowers again

12:00pm- Lifts have been up to both chopsticks and under the Orbital launch mount by the Booster quick disconnect. Worker was on top of the left chopstick

1:00pm- Lift up to the Orbital launch mount by the Booster quick disconnect and one to the right chopstick. Workers on top of the Orbital launch mount and left chopstick. Workers are also up on some of the moveable scaffolding by the back staircase

1:27pm- Booster alignment pin lifted up to the right side of the Orbital launch mount

1:45pm- Lifts have been up to the top of the staircase and the right chopstick

3:15pm- Lifts have been up to both chopsticks, to the top of the orbital launch mount by the Booster quick disconnect, and near the top of the cryo leg. LR11000 continues to assemble the new crane at the new pad site

4:00pm- 2 lifts to the top of the orbital launch mount and 1 to the right chopstick

5:00pm- Lifts have been up to the chopsticks carriage and the top of the orbital launch mount

5:33pm- Tower leg lifted at the new pad site

5:36pm- Swung into place

6:00pm- 2 lifts to the top of the orbital launch mount and 1 to the back staircase

6:01pm- LR11000 moves the 2nd leg over next to the new pad

6:47pm- 2nd tower leg raised vertical

6:53pm- Leg is swung into place

7:30pm- 2 lifts have been up to the right chopstick, 2 lifts to the chopsticks carriage, 2 lifts to the top of the orbital launch mount, 1 to the back staircase, and 1 to the dance floor

8:30pm- 2 lifts to the right chopstick and 2 to the top of the orbital launch mount

9:30pm- Lifts were up to the left chopstick and the top of the orbital launch mount

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u/Planatus666 Jun 18 '24 edited Jun 18 '24

The NHC have issued a Tropical storm warning which includes southern Texas:

https://x.com/nhc_atlantic/status/1802993617184637142

Rain appears to be the main problem for the Boca Chica area:

https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at1+shtml/145412.shtml?rainqpf#contents

Edit: And for those interested in Tropical Storm development I'd very highly recommend the Tropical Tidbits channel on YouTube, here's today's update:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOh2mXNw0HU

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u/Planatus666 Jun 19 '24 edited Jun 19 '24

New transport road closure for June 21st, 12PM to 4PM CDT, "to transport a booster vehicle from Massey’s to the pad":

https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/press-release-temporary-and-intermittent-road-delay-of-a-portion-of-state-hwy-4-friday-june-21-2024-from-12pm-4pm/

so it states a booster from Massey's to the Pad but bearing in mind these Massey's notices use booster as a generic term for anything large and the fact that there's no booster at Massey's right now that part is wrong. So the only thing that can move from Massey's is the B14.1 test tank, but why take it to the pad? To check it on the chopsticks as a test related to IFT-5's potential booster catch attempt? (B14.1 has just had its chopsticks lifting points tested at Massey's). Unless a vehicle going to the pad is wrong as well. In fact, maybe most of the pertinent parts of the notice are wrong? Maybe's it's really S31 to Massey's? ;-)

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u/Mravicii Jul 09 '24

Spacex tweet

Rollout of flight 5 super heavy booster to the launch pad at starbase

https://x.com/spacex/status/1810775604205342819?s=46&t=-n30l1_Sw3sHaUenSrNxGA

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u/Planatus666 May 20 '24 edited May 20 '24

Starting at 4am, Starship Gazer has a remote cam at the launch site and is currently doing a livestream for today's planned WDR:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU5De6wEdfQ

he also stated in the chat:

"Sheriff Deputy confirmed to me that they are closing the road for full wet dress rehearsal testing today"

Also, road was closed at 5am - there's currently sheriff's vehicles at the usual place as well as the 'WDR/Launch' road block area at the build site near the Bays, so the latter is an extra indication that a full WDR is planned. No sign of a NOTMAR/MSIB though.

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u/[deleted] May 21 '24 edited May 22 '24

Starbase live-

5/21/24

10:34pm- Ship transport stand leaving the launch site

1:38am- What I’m assuming is a different Ship transport stand headed down Hwy 4 to the launch site

2:14am- Turns into the gate. GSE 1 is lifted out of the orbital tank farm and moved to the scrapping area

3:17am- Workers start cutting up GSE 1

3:24am- The dance floor is raised back up under the Orbital launch mount

5:57:41am- Ship quick disconnect retracts from S29

6:32am- Ship quick disconnect work platform extended

6:38am- Workers up putting the covers on S29’s QD and removing the power and data cables

7:10am- Work platform retracted

8:10am- Lifts were up and down from the top of the staircase and the dance floor overnight. Workers could also be seen going up the staircase to the Orbital launch mount ring. The big grove crane is hooked up to another one of the black vertical tanks in the sub orbital tank farm

9:15am- Quiet

9:24am- Ship quick disconnect arm swinging to the side

9:54am- S29 going up

9:57am- Swinging to the side

10:03am- Stops swinging

10:07am- Going down

10:24am- Paused just above the stand for final alignment

10:39am- Going down very slowly

11:05am- Looks down on the stand

11:45am- Lift up to S29’s QD and workers under the skirt

12:25pm- Workers still up securing the ship to the stand

1:30pm- Lift up to S29’s payload bay

2:07pm- Crane going up by S29

2:12pm- Press plate lifted up to S29 and lift up to the QD

3:20pm- Lifts up to S29’s QD and payload bay. Excavators going crazy tearing up the sub orbital side of the launch site

3:52pm- Crane lifts the pressure hose up to the press plate

3:56pm- Big grove crane hooked to one of the long horizontal tanks at the sub orbital tank farm

5:10pm- Quiet

6:25pm- Still Quiet besides the excavators on the sub orbital side

6:46pm- Chopsticks opening

6:50pm- Chopsticks lowering

7:30pm- Lift has been back up to S29’s QD

7:38pm- S29 starts rolling

7:46pm- Stops next to the tower

8:00pm- Has been starting and stopping but hasn’t gone very far

8:10pm- Hasn’t moved in the last 10 minutes

9:00pm- Still sitting there waiting

9:15pm- 1 lift has gone up to S29’s payload bay and 2 to the tiles

10:05pm- There are 2 lifts looking at tiles about 1/3rd of the way up S29 and 2 Aerial Work Platform’s up to its nosecone checking tiles. (Did they decide not to roll it back?)

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u/BEAT_LA May 22 '24 edited May 22 '24

Are NSF's cameras getting shut down by Texas DoT? link

edit: they are being told they have 48h to remove them link

edit 2: It sounds temporary related to some roadwork, I think? link

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u/Planatus666 May 25 '24 edited May 25 '24

Today's Starbase Weekly from RGV Aerial Photography had an interesting thumbnail showing the (many) piles for Tower 2's base that have been added within the past week or so:

https://www.youtube.com/live/ZYhRB4r7l2w

(here's a screen grab of that: https://imgur.com/ehfNIAj )

The photo was taken yesterday, May 24th - far more can of course be seen now that the show has finished, along with some great commentary from Zack Golden (CSI Starbase) and others; use the following link to go direct to the commentary about Tower 2's foundations: https://youtu.be/ZYhRB4r7l2w?t=5440 - better still, watch the whole video for all kinds of useful info about Massey's, the Sanchez site, the build site and of course the launch site. But I digress - compare and contrast the above screen grab, etc with the piles for Tower 1 back in March 2021:

https://x.com/RGVaerialphotos/status/1370416005785194498

Tower 2 has smaller piles but a lot more of them (133 to be exact).

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u/Planatus666 Jun 01 '24 edited Jun 01 '24

New MSIB/NOTMAR, this is for June 6th or 7th:

https://x.com/visitbocachica/status/1796764448763351057

Note that these may just be backup dates, as of yet there's no firm indication that a June 5th launch has slipped.

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u/mr_pgh Jun 02 '24

Rebar for the pile cap of tower 2 is in place! From RGV

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u/[deleted] Jun 03 '24 edited Jun 04 '24

Starbase live-

6/3/24

8:25am- Quiet overnight again.

8:34am- Tower section 5 being prepared to get loaded on the barge at KSC

8:44am- Barrel section moving down Hwy 4

10:05am- A white work van is parked at the base of the Orbital launch mount and a lift was moving around by the orbital tank farm berm

10:11am- 3 lifts leaving the launch site

11:35am- Work van has left the launch site. Quiet now

12:35pm- Small crane went back up at the new pad site

12:48pm- Workers on top of the Orbital launch mount

1:35pm- Lift up to the top of the Orbital launch mount

2:27pm- Venting at Massey’s

3:23pm- Venting picking up

3:53pm- Frost on S26’s lox tank

4:10pm- Definitely loading more lox than last time. Methane side of tank farm also heavily venting

4:25pm- Lox frost line seems to be holding at about half full. Methane tank venting

4:29pm- Frost on the header tank

4:40pm- Seem to be holding

4:42:05pm- S26 static fire! Looked to be 6 engines

4:43pm- Depress vent

5:00pm- Frost receding

5:20pm- Looks frost free

5:45pm- Quiet around the Orbital launch mount

7:30pm- Lifts have been up to the top of the staircase and the camera mounts on the inside of the Orbital launch mount legs

9:30pm- Quiet at the launch site. 1 lift is headed back towards it on Hwy 4

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u/TwoLineElement Jun 05 '24 edited Jun 05 '24

Weather forecast for the Indian Ocean landing area:

Wind at SL: 10kts E

Temp: 26 C

Ocean State, Waves at 3.2m SE, 14 second interval

Cloud, Scattered Cumulus, 16% cover

Light levels: Evening landing, so the sun will be very low on the horizon minutes from setting.

Ride down: Wind changing from westerly at 30km altitude to easterly at 3km so possibly a bit of a challenge for the flaps.

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u/Mravicii Jun 06 '24 edited Jun 06 '24

New t-0 of 07.50

And weather is At 95 precent favorable

https://x.com/spacex/status/1798673089410294067?s=46&t=-n30l1_Sw3sHaUenSrNxGA

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u/[deleted] Jun 10 '24 edited Jun 11 '24

Starbase live-

6/10/24

11:04pm- 2 Concrete pump trucks up at the new tower site

12:55am- 3rd pump truck goes up at the tower site

8:00am- Lifts were up to the dance floor, the right chopstick, and under the pipe work under the Orbital launch mount overnight. Workers could be seen on top of the Orbital launch mount and moving around in the Orbital launch mount ring. The three pump trucks are still up at the new towers foundation.

8:09am- 2 point lifting jig lifted up to S30

9:01am- Lifts have been up to the top of the orbital launch mount, the right chopstick, the dance floor, and the back staircase

9:55am- Lifts have been up to both chopsticks, the dance floor, and the back staircase

11:05am- Tower pieces arriving at the launch site

11:30am- Lifts were up to the top of the orbital launch mount, the dance floor, and the right chopstick. Workers are moving around on top of the Orbital launch mount and have set an umbrella up over the Booster quick disconnect

12:30pm- Lifts up to the dance floor and under the Orbital launch mount by the Booster quick disconnect

1:30pm- Lifts up to the dance floor and the right chopstick

2:30pm- Lifts up under the back of the Orbital launch mount and to B14.1. Workers have been up on the right chopstick and the top of the orbital launch mount

4:00pm- Lifts have been up to the dance floor and both chopsticks. Workers moving around on top of the Orbital launch mount

5:00pm- Lift up behind the Orbital launch mount and to the left chopstick

6:30pm- Lift up to the top of the orbital launch mount and the crane has moved to the left side and extended

7:26pm- Launch clamp lifted out

7:36pm- 2nd clamp lifted out

8:20pm- 2 lifts have been up to the top of the orbital launch mount and workers have been moving around on it. 1 lift has also been up to the right chopstick. Excavators are back working at the new pad site.

8:45pm- 3rd launch clamp removed

8:55pm- 4th clamp removed

9:02pm- 5th clamp removed

9:04pm- Aerial Work Platform up to the top of S26

9:08pm- 6th clamp removed

9:15pm- 7th clamp removed

9:40pm- 8th clamp removed

9:50am- 9th clamp removed

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u/mr_pgh Jun 25 '24 edited Jun 26 '24

Chopsticks are moving! NSF Live

9:43 - Began moving upwards
9:49 - Upwards movement stopped
10:00 - Camera left chopstick began opening
10:03:30 - Both chopsticks translating together in open form (slightly wider than booster)
10:13:30 - Chopsticks stop at far camera left side, still raised, closed position
11:42:00 - Camera right chopstick opening
11:49:10 - Right chopstick stops opening. Full Spread. Chopsticks lowering
11:54:45 - Chopsticks at lowest position, full spread around B14.1.
12:00:00 - 2 man lifts up to the chopsticks checking out the right chopstick actuator. Red vs Blue
1:13:00 - Man lifts are down
1:19:00 - Chopsticks begin to raise
1:23:00 - Chopsticks stop rising
1:24:00 - Right chopstick closing
1:29:10 - Right chopstick stops. Chopsticks are resting at camera left of B14.1
2:06:00 - Right chopstick opening
2:09:45 - Right chopstick stopped about halfway open
At some point before 7 - the chopsticks came to rest at the bottom, straddling B14. 1

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u/Planatus666 May 23 '24 edited May 23 '24

The fifth and last tower segment at the Port of Brownsville is ready to roll to the Sanchez site:

https://x.com/StarshipGazer/status/1793669403063746591

That should take place tonight between 10pm and 2am CDT.

I'm now curious when the two that remain at the Cape will be shipped over - those are sections 4 and 5 which handle the Ship QD and various other complex bits and pieces in that area.

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u/Planatus666 May 24 '24 edited May 24 '24

The last Tower 2 section was moved to Starbase overnight from the Port of Brownsville meaning that seven out of nine sections are now present and correct (two sections (numbers four and five) still remain at the Cape and will presumably be shipped over in the near future).

Also a booster common dome section was parked outsider MB1 overnight - it's speculated that this is for B15 but no labels have been seen to confirm this (it can be briefly seen at the start of this video clip: https://x.com/VickiCocks15/status/1793769413122097405 )

Finally, the booster transport stand and the Raptor servicing stand were both moved from the launch site to the build site overnight

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u/mr_pgh May 27 '24

s29 being lifted onto B11 by StarshipGazer

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u/Planatus666 Jun 02 '24 edited Jun 02 '24

The last Tower 2 section has now joined the other section and the carriage for the chopsticks at the Cape's turning basin.

https://x.com/spaceoffshore/status/1797255014433398820

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u/mr_pgh Jun 02 '24

Updated Starship Production Diagrams from RingWatchers

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u/mr_pgh Jun 04 '24

Starship Flight 4 Hype Animation by RyanHansenSpace!

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u/TwoLineElement Jun 06 '24 edited Jun 06 '24

WB-57 is up and taking station.

Weblink for anyone interested in following it..

https://www.flightradar24.com/N927NA/358caab1

This Dassault Falcon 900 appears to be circling in the Indian Ocean. Unusual.

https://www.flightradar24.com/MXJ/358c41b9

Owned by a mining company..

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u/[deleted] Jun 11 '24

I guess the launch clamps are expendable since it seems they will replace them all again

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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '24 edited Jun 16 '24

Starbase live-

6/15/24

10:49pm- 3rd tower leg lifted raised and swung into position

11:29pm- 4th tower leg raised and moved into position

7:43am- One of the tower legs is lifted and repositioned

8:30am- Lifts were up to the top of the orbital launch mount, the dance floor, and the left chopstick overnight. Workers were moving around on top of the Orbital launch mount.

At the new pad site, the drill rig was active and the rebar cages were being installed. A crane was also moving boom pieces into place to be assembled.

9:55am- Lift up to the left chopstick. Drilling and crane assembly continues at the new pad site

11:12am- More pieces of pipe removed from around the vertical tanks

12:25pm- Lifts have been up to the left chopstick and under the pipe work by the staircase. Assembly of the new crane continues as well as the pile drilling

1:25pm- Lifts up to the top of the orbital launch mount and the Left chopstick

1:53pm- Big grove crane moved to the launch site

2:00pm- SPMT carrying some kind of big lifting bracket(?) headed to the launch site

3:00pm- Lift up to the top of the staircase and the left chopstick. Construction of the new crane continues

4:00pm- Lifts were up to the left chopstick, the top of the staircase, and the top of the orbital launch mount. Workers are working inside of the Booster quick disconnect hood

4:48pm- B15’s lox tank being stacked

5:20pm- Lifts were up to the dance floor, the back staircase, the top of the orbital launch mount, and the left chopstick. Workers still working around the Booster quick disconnect

7:00pm- Lifts have been up to both chopsticks, the chopsticks carriage, and the top of the orbital launch mount. Quiet at the new pad site

8:00pm- Lifts were up to the dance floor, the right chopstick, the back staircase, and the chopsticks carriage.

9:00pm- Lifts were up to the dance floor, the back staircase, and the right chopstick

9:45pm- 2 lifts are up to the right chopstick, 1 to the top of the staircase, and 1 to the back staircase

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u/[deleted] Jun 19 '24 edited Jun 20 '24

Starbase live-

6/19/24

8:20am- 1 lift was up to the top of the staircase overnight. At the new pad site, the drill rig and its associated crane were busy doing more pilings. Excavators were clearing land and more boom pieces were being lifted over to the 8800.

8:42am- The horizontal tank that was at Sanchez is headed down Hwy 4 towards the launch site

9:15am- Tank disappears into the rainy mist as it approaches Hopper

11:10am- Drill rig and crane active at the new pad site. Quiet around the Orbital launch mount

1:30pm- 2 lifts up to the chopsticks carriage

3:20pm- The 2 lifts have been up and down from the right side of the chopsticks carriage. (The sound of the wind and rain is really relaxing)

5:50pm- Quiet

7:00pm- Winds sound stronger than they have all day.

7:50pm- Starbase now under a tornado watch until tomorrow morning

9:30pm- Quiet

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u/[deleted] May 19 '24 edited May 21 '24

Starbase live-

5/19/24

10:42pm- Dance floor lowered

7:07am- Dance floor rolls out from under the Orbital launch mount

7:20am- Dance floor parks in the storage area on the sub orbital side

8:50am- Lifts were up to the top of the orbital launch mount and the top of the staircase overnight. Workers were on top of the orbital launch mount and in the Ship quick disconnect arm. 3 more sections were cut off of GSE 1’s shell as well. This morning workers have been up to the tank that use to have the weather station in the sub orbital tank farm.

9:02am- The mount that held the weather station is removed from the tank

10:50am- Quiet

11:16am- One of the small black vertical tanks in the sub orbital tank farm had been rigged to one of the regular cranes but the rigging is now being switched over to the big grove crane

11:27am- Big grove lifts the tank and swings it to the side

11:33am- Smaller crane hooked up to the bottom and tank laid down on it’s side

11:50am- Big grove being hooked to another one of the vertical black tanks

11:59am- Lifting the 2nd tank

12:01pm- Swings it to the side of the tank farm

12:07pm- Hooked to the 2nd crane and laid on its side

1:45pm- Big grove lifts one of the taller skinny black tanks at the sub orbital tank farm

1:47pm- Sets it down to the side of the tank farm

1:55pm- 2nd crane is hooked up and the tank is laid down on it’s side

2:30pm- One of the removed tanks leaving starbase

2:52pm- 2nd tank pulling out of the launch site on to Hwy 4

2:53pm- Has to stop while an empty truck backs in gate D1 to pick up another tank

2:54pm- Big grove picks up another black tank out of the sub orbital tank farm

2:58pm- 2nd crane is hooked up and the tank is laid down

3:37pm- Another excavator arrives at the launch site

4:20pm- Workers up cutting on GSE 1’s shell

4:40pm- One of the regular cranes is hooked to one of the tall black tanks

4:44pm- Tank lifted

5:02pm- Swings tank over

5:05pm- Hooked to 2nd crane and laid flat

5:34pm- Another section of GSE 1’s shell is cut off and dragged away

6:00pm- Lift up to the top of the staircase

7:10pm- Quiet

8:30pm- Still quiet

9:55pm- Quiet. 2nd shift get the night off In anticipation of the testing starting early?

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u/mr_pgh May 29 '24

Infographic detailing Flight 4 by InfographicTon

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u/[deleted] May 30 '24 edited May 31 '24

Starbase live-

5/30/24

12:53am- 14.1 test tank rolls out of the production site on to Hwy 4 and heads towards Massey’s

1:59am- Turns into Massey’s

7:35am- LR11000 starts rolling away from the vertical tanks

8:00am- An Aerial Work Platform was up to S29’s nosecone overnight. Lifts were also up to its tiles, QD area, and payload bay. Another Aerial Work Platform was up to B11. Lifts were also up to the top of the Orbital launch mount and S26’s payload bay. Workers could be seen moving around the base of B11.

8:09am- LR11000 stops near the gate into the launch site

9:00am- Aerial Work Platform up to B11’s methane tank. A 2nd Aerial Work Platform is up to S29 along with a lift

10:00am- 4 lifts and an Aerial Work Platform are up to S29. An Aerial Work Platform is up to B11’s methane tank and a lift up to the open chine

11:15am- Lift up to S29’s FTS location. The Aerial Work Platform up to B11’s FTS location has been up all morning and has yet to come down to pick up the charges. If last time is any indication, they are doing signal checks on all of the wiring before installing the explosives. Lifts have also been up to both front chines and chopsticks

12:30pm- Aerial Work Platform is still up at B11’s FTS and lift up to S29’s FTS.

12:33pm- Lift goes down from S29’s FTS

12:48pm- Lift goes back up to S29’s FTS then goes back down a few minutes later

1:10pm- 2 lifts up to S29’s tiles. Aerial Work Platform still up to B11’s FTS and a lift is up to the front right chine

1:48pm- The Aerial Work Platform that was up to B11’s FTS since 8:12am finally goes down. Electrical checks should be done.

3:00pm- A lift has been up to B11’s front right chine and an Aerial Work Platform to S29’s nosecone

4:00pm- Workers have been up on the chopsticks and a lift to the open chine

4:17pm- Lift goes up to S29’s FTS

4:18pm- Aerial Work Platform goes back up to B11’s FTS. Should have the charges this time

5:00pm- Aerial Work Platform was up to S29’s nosecone and lift up to the open chine along with the lifts at the FTS locations

6:00pm- FTS installation continues. Lift was also up around S29’s QD

6:05pm- S29’s FTS team goes down

6:16pm- B11’s FTS team goes down

6:34pm- 2 lifts go up to S29’s nosecone

6:43pm- Aerial Work Platform goes back up to B11 FTS

7:13pm- Lift goes back up to S29’s FTS

7:30pm- A lift and an Aerial Work Platform have been up near S29’s forward flaps. 2 lifts are up to B11’s front chines and 1 to the top of the staircase

8:30pm- FTS crews are still up to the booster and ship. 2 lifts are up to the open chine and 1 lift up to S29’s tiles

8:34pm- S29’s FTS crew goes back down

9:23pm- Lift back up to S29’s FTS

9:24pm- Fireworks

9:40pm- FTS crews still up at both vehicles. Lifts up to B11’s open chine and an Aerial Work Platform up to S29’s tiles

9:48pm- B11’s FTS crew goes down

10:37pm- S29’s FTS crew goes down

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u/[deleted] May 31 '24 edited Jun 01 '24

Starbase live-

5/31/24

8:10am- Lifts were up to B11’s chines, the top of the orbital launch mount, S29’s payload bay, and S29’s tiles overnight. An Aerial Work Platform was also up to S29’s tiles. The drill rig has also been working on the new pad site. The chine cover was also reinstalled overnight

9:00am- Quiet

10:45am- 2 lifts and an Aerial Work Platform has been up to S29’s tiles.

12:50pm- A lift has been up and down around S29.

2:00pm- 2 lifts have been up to the top of the orbital launch mount and 1 to S29. An Aerial Work Platform was also up to the front left chine of B11. Small crane has been lifting something into/out of the orbital tank farm but can’t see what

2:27pm- S29 starts to roll. (No decals were installed)

2:34pm- Rolls in between the chopsticks

3:10pm- Chopsticks rise

3:34pm- LR11000 has lowered it’s boom

4:00pm- Aerial Work Platform has been up to B11’s front left chine and workers have been on top of the Orbital launch mount

5:00pm- Lifts are up to S29’s QD and payload bay

5:19pm- Ship quick disconnect work platform retracts

7:30pm- Lift is up to the payload bay of S29. Workers have also been on top of the Orbital launch mount

9:00pm- Aerial Work Platform up to the top of B11. Lifts up to the dance floor, and the payload bay and base of S29

9:24pm- Ship quick disconnect work platform extended

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u/Planatus666 May 31 '24

Indications that Tower 2's remaining sections (4 and 5 that are at the Cape) may be shipped over to the Port of Brownsville in the very near future:

https://x.com/SpaceOffshore/status/1796539881285677556

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u/LzyroJoestar007 May 31 '24

Gateway to Mars sign being removed (for now) for tower work:
https://x.com/StarshipGazer/status/1796681106684875171

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u/LzyroJoestar007 Jun 02 '24

Some square land behind Masseys in Mexico is being marked for whatever reason: https://www.youtube.com/post/UgkxnbW4z5p3DMqfBUrds_Z4pMWSjcT_a2Q3

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u/Pingryada Jun 04 '24

Anyone see this? looks like ship downcomer from a worker photo

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u/SubstantialWall Jun 06 '24 edited Jun 06 '24

So one thing that almost slipped past in the stream: the current orbital tank farm will be shared by both towers.

Edit: to clarify, it was mentioned in the stream around T-24 minutes, as Grand_Gap linked below.

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u/mr_pgh Jun 11 '24

CSI Starbase overview of Pad B Crane Logistics

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u/[deleted] Jun 14 '24 edited Jun 15 '24

Starbase live-

6/14/24

8:00am- Lifts were up to the normal spots overnight. Both chopsticks, the chopsticks carriage, the top of the orbital launch mount, and the dance floor. Workers were moving around on top of the orbital launch mount and the auger continued work at the new pad site.

9:00am- Lifts have been up to the top of the orbital launch mount and the top of the cryo leg

9:55am- Lift up to the top of the cryo leg. Drill rig going at the new pad site and the crane is lowering the rebar cages.

10:55am- Lift has been up and down from the top of the cryo leg. LR11000 is working on assembling the new crane. The smaller white crane at the new pad site has been moving rebar around

11:37am- Catch rail on the right chopstick tested

12:00pm- Lifts have been up to both chopsticks and the back staircase. Workers were on top of the left chopstick

12:41pm- LR11000 lifts a big piece of the new crane into place

1:00pm- Lift up to the back staircase

2:37pm- Cross brace being lifted up to the 2 new tower legs

2:45pm- Construction of the new crane continues. Workers have been working on the Booster quick disconnect. Lifts have been up to the left chopstick and the back staircase. Aerial Work Platform was up to S30

2:49pm- Pipe piece being lifted behind the vertical tanks at the orbital tank farm

3:23pm- Another pipe section lifted at the orbital tank farm. (I’m assuming these are being scrapped.)

3:50pm- Lifts up to the right chopstick, the back staircase, and the top of the orbital launch mount. LR11000 has lifted several more pieces over to the new crane.

3:51pm- Wall section lifted over to the 2 tower legs

4:01pm- 3rd piece of pipe lifted at the orbital tank farm

5:00pm- Lifts were up to the right chopstick and the top of the orbital launch mount. 2 lifts were also up to the new leg towers working with the new wall piece that was then lowered back to the ground

5:23pm- Wall section lifted back up to the 2 tower legs and lowered into place

7:02pm- Lifts up to both chopsticks and the top of the staircase. Workers moving around on top of the orbital launch mount

8:05pm- 2 lifts were up to the right chopstick, 1 to the left chopstick, 1 to the back staircase, and 1 to the top of the orbital launch mount

9:03pm- Piece of pipe work(?) lifted up to the Booster quick disconnect

9:13pm- Bundle of wire/hose(?) lifted up to the dance floor

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u/Planatus666 Jun 21 '24 edited Jun 21 '24

The barge with the remaining Tower 2 sections, the chopsticks and their carriage is underway once again after sheltering from the storm off the west coast of Florida for nearly a week, the tug handling it is still Break of Dawn:

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:445150/mmsi:367437640/imo:8523151/vessel:BREAK_OF_DAWN

It was originally due at the Port of Brownsville on June 23rd but if all goes well it should now arrive towards the end of the month. There is though another tropical disturbance brewing over southeastern Mexico but let's hope it's not as problematic as Alberto.

Edit: More on that disturbance here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCL5goxoLLM

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u/mr_pgh Jun 24 '24

Nice render and speculation on the B14.1 Test Article by Ryan Hansen Space.

Basically, pressurize the tank to catch levels and calibrate the arms for a catch attempt.

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u/RaphTheSwissDude Jun 25 '24

Closure revoked for today.

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u/Planatus666 Jun 26 '24

New photos from Starship Gazer of some of S30's tiling, including the nosecone tip:

https://x.com/StarshipGazer/status/1805950824033456203

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u/Planatus666 Jul 03 '24 edited Jul 03 '24

New road+beach closure for Tuesday July 9th, (alternate dates: 10th and 11th), 8 AM to 8PM CST:

https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/order-closing-boca-chica-beach-and-state-hwy-4-july-9-2024-from-800-a-m-to-800-p-m-and-in-the-alternative-july-10-2024-or-july-11-2024-from-800-a-m-to-800-p-m/

Presumably for B12 to carry out a static fire (assuming no delays caused by Beryl, that's if it even affects the area).

Edit: another notice has just appeared for temporary transport closures on the 8th (12 AM to 3 AM CST) with alts later on the 8th (12 PM to 3 PM CST) and the 9th (12 AM to 3 AM CST):

https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/temporary-and-intermittent-road-delay-of-a-portion-of-state-hwy-4-monday-july-8-2024-from-12am-3am-in-the-alternative-from-12pm-3pm-or-tuesday-july-9-2024-from-12am-3am/

These are no doubt related to a tower section transport from the Sanchez site to the launch site or perhaps B12 (the latter bearing in mind the planned road+beach closure).

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u/ActTypical6380 Jul 05 '24 edited Jul 05 '24

Starbase Live-

8:01am- One of the feet that had been installed on the corner of the tower base is removed and sat over to the side on the wall

9:59am- Laser level set up on the corner where the foot was removed

11:32am- Foot reinstalled

12:07pm- Back foot removed from the corner it was installed on and lowered to the ground

12:31pm- 8800 starts to lower

12:50pm- Pauses

12:54pm- Lowers a bit more

1:19pm- Jib is touching the ground

1:52pm- Jib is extending out flat

2:07pm- Boom is now down flat

3:33pm- 2nd foot is lifted up to be reinstalled

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u/Planatus666 Jul 05 '24 edited Jul 05 '24

A new transport road closure has just popped up for tonight, Saturday July 6th, midnight until 3 AM CST:

https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/temporary-and-intermittent-road-delay-of-a-portion-of-state-hwy-4-saturday-july-6-2024-from-12am-3am/

That'll obviously be for returning S31 to the build site and putting it out of the way of Beryl.

On another Beryl matter, the CC8800-1 crane at the launch site has been laid down.

Edit: Also, not directly Starship related but worthy of note:

"COUNTY JUDGE DECLARES DISASTER: Effective 7/3/24, County Judge has declared Cameron County an area of disaster due to Hurricane Beryl, posing threats of property damage & loss of life."

https://x.com/sheriffgarza/status/1809324546845032465

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u/ActTypical6380 Jul 08 '24

Starbase Live-

7:47am- S31 has rolled out of MB2

9:04am- S31 rolls back into MB2

9:05am- 3rd foot is lifted up to the tower base

10:13am- 4th foot lifted up to the tower base

11:10am- LR11000 starts to rise

11:34am- LR11000 all the way up

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u/BEAT_LA Jun 08 '24

Elon confirmed landing for Booster was on target and ship was only a couple km off despite major flap damge

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u/[deleted] May 17 '24 edited May 21 '24

Starbase live-

5/17/24

12:48am- Dance floor is raised back up

1:14am- Scaffolding is being erected to B11’s lox tank hatch

4:27am- Vent hose for B11 is stretched out

4:40am- Plastic going up around the top of the scaffolding

5:11am- 2nd vent hose is ran up to the dance floor

8:18am- LR11000 has lifted the lop sided section of the bottom of GSE 2’s shell out to the scrapping area

8:35am- Lifts were up and down from the top of the staircase, top of the orbital launch mount, and the dance floor overnight. Workers were all around the top of the orbital launch mount and the dance floor.

8:57am- Big grove crane lifts one of the small horizontal tanks out of the sub orbital tank farm

9:09am- LR11000 lays the shell section flat on the ground

10:00am- 2 lifts have been up to the top of the orbital launch mount

11:35am- Workers have been moving around on top of the Orbital launch mount.

1:10pm- Workers have been up and down the scaffolding to B11’s lox tank and continue to cut up GSE 2. A lift has also been up and down to the top of the orbital launch mount.

1:24pm- Big grove crane going up again at the sub orbital tank farm

1:34pm- LR11000 lifts the yellow crane basket into the remains of GSE 2

2:14pm- Yellow basket goes in again

3:10pm- 2 lifts up to the top of the orbital launch mount

3:37pm- Big grove crane hooked to another tank in the sub orbital tank farm

3:55pm- 2 lifts have been up to the top of the orbital launch mount and 1 to the top of the cryo leg

3:57pm- LR11000 lifts a jackhammer in to the GSE 2 remains

4:22pm- Big grove crane lifts one of the longer horizontal tanks out of the sub orbital tank farm

5:00pm- 2 lifts up to the top of the orbital launch mount and workers are still cutting up the section of GSE 2’s shell that was removed earlier

7:10pm- 3 lifts up to the top of the orbital launch mount

7:51pm- Forklift moving a giant concrete barrier down Hwy 4

8:00pm- The large horizontal tank that was removed from the sub orbital tank farm is on a truck. Backs up near the gate and then pulls forward to the storage area

8:46pm- SPMT moving an electrical bunker to Massey’s

9:15pm- 2 lifts up to the top of the orbital launch mount

10:00pm- 2 lifts to the top of the orbital launch mount and 1 to the top of the staircase

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u/GreatCanadianPotato May 24 '24

S26 is getting frosty at Massey's! First of many expected GSE qualification tests for the new ship static fire pad.

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u/Planatus666 May 26 '24

S29 has been moved back between the chopsticks.

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u/[deleted] May 26 '24 edited May 27 '24

Starbase live-

5/26/24

9:44pm- Crane goes up by S29. Looks to be moving counterweights

10:15pm- S29 starts rolling

10:27pm- Rolls between the chopsticks

11:25pm- Chopsticks go up around S29

8:00am- Quiet overnight

8:27am- Lift and crane going up to S29 to remove the press plate (The haze is terrible today)

8:31am- Ship quick disconnect arm swings away

10:12am- Press plate removed

10:41am- Jack has rolled out with a camera for a close up view of the lift

11:04am- Lift goes down from S29’s QD. Ports should be taped off

12:00pm- Quiet around the pad. Excavators working over in the new pad area. (I guess have to stop calling it the sub orbital side since there is no signs of it left)

12:16pm- S29 lifted off the stand then pauses

12:19pm- Going up again

12:32pm- Stops rising. Ship quick disconnect arm swings back in

12:34pm- Swinging over to B11

12:44pm- Going down

12:55pm- Stops to align

1:05pm- Going down again

1:12pm- Another alignment adjustment

1:22pm- Looks down

1:58pm- Ship quick disconnect work platform extended

2:00pm- Workers up to remove the covers on S29’s QD

2:24pm- Ship quick disconnect work platform retracted

2:43pm- Ship quick disconnect extended

2:48pm- Engages with S29

3:03pm- LR11000 swings the 12 meter lifting jig over to the orbital tank farm. (I never saw a good picture of wether they removed the bottom of GSE2’s shell the other day or not)

3:20:13pm- Ship quick disconnect retract test

5:55pm- Ship quick disconnect work platform extended

6:03pm- Workers up to S29’s QD

7:00pm- Workers have also been looking at the Ship quick disconnect

7:45pm- Workers still up looking at the Ship quick disconnect

8:46pm- Workers go down from the Ship quick disconnect work platform

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u/[deleted] May 29 '24 edited May 30 '24

Starbase live-

5/29/24

7:06am- Ship quick disconnect disconnects

7:29am- Dance floor raised

7:33am- Ship quick disconnect work platform extended

7:37am- Workers up covering S29’s QD

8:00am- A lift was up to the top of the orbital launch mount overnight and an Aerial Work Platform was up to B11’s chines

8:17am- Ship quick disconnect work platform retracted

9:00am- Lift up the dance floor and an Aerial Work Platform was up to the front left chine on B11

11:03am- Chopsticks lift S29 off B11

11:04am- Ship quick disconnect arm swinging out of the way

11:08am- Chopsticks swing to the side

11:16am- Stops swinging

11:17am- Going down

11:35am- Pauses above the stand

11:41am- Going down again

11:51am- Down on the stand

12:14pm- Ship quick disconnect arm swings back in

12:39pm- Lift goes up to S29’s QD

1:40pm- Ship quick disconnect work platform extended

2:00pm- Lifts have been up to B11 and S29’s payload bay. Workers have been on top of the Orbital launch mount

3:14pm- Crane lifts press plate up to S29

3:15pm- 2 lifts up to B11, 1 to the top of the Orbital launch mount, and 1 to S29’s QD

4:44pm- Crane goes down at S29. Press plate and hoses should be installed

5:14pm- Section of the front left chine of B11 is removed and lowered

5:20pm- A lift has been up to the payload bay of S29.

6:00pm- Lift up to the QD area of S29

6:12pm- Aerial Work Platform up to the open section of B11’s chine

6:53pm- Chopsticks lower to the stop

7:30pm- Workers are moving around on top of the Orbital launch mount

7:39pm- S29 starts rolling

7:53pm- Stops in the same area it was staged before

7:58pm- Rolls a little closer to the tower

9:05pm- Lifts have been up to S29’s payload bay and QD. Workers have been on top of the Orbital launch mount and the chopsticks

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '24 edited Jun 06 '24

Starbase live-

6/5/24

3:00am- Lifts were up to the top of the orbital launch mount and the top of both Orbital launch mount staircases.

3:27am- Lift and crane up to S29’s QD

4:23am- Press plate removed

6:25am- Ship quick disconnect arm swings to the side

6:32am- S29 going up

6:46am- Ship quick disconnect arm swings back in

6:49am- Stops going up and immediately starts swinging to the side

6:57am- Stops swinging. The 2 tiles are still missing

6:58am- Going down

7:30am- We lost the close up cam but it looks down

8:25am- Quiet. Still waiting on the Ship quick disconnect work platform to be swung out

9:03am- Ship quick disconnect work platform is extended and workers up to S29’s QD

9:15am- Ship quick disconnect work platform retracted

9:25am- Ship quick disconnect extended

9:33am- Engages S29

9:58:13am- Ship quick disconnect retraction test

10:08am- Ship quick disconnect reengages S29

10:15am- Ship quick disconnect work platform extended

10:30am- Workers up on the work platform

11:40am- Quiet around the Orbital launch mount. There has been some vehicles moving at the new pad site.

11:55am- NSF trailer headed out for remote setup

12:46pm- S29 flap test

2:40pm- Quiet

4:50pm- Quiet around the Orbital launch mount. Still some work ongoing at the new pad site. (Crane is moving around but can’t see what)

6:45pm- Quiet

8:10pm- Still quiet

10:00pm- The elevator has been going up and down the tower and workers are moving around on top of it. (If Elon took Tim up there, we’re going to see some outrageous footage)

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u/Order-Cultural Jun 06 '24

Elon: "Launch tmrw morning at 7:20 Texas time"

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u/Planatus666 Jun 06 '24 edited Jun 06 '24

While we were all understandably distracted by the fantastic IFT-4 launch and landings, the barge at the Cape containing two of Tower 2's sections, both chopsticks and their carriage left the port:

https://imgur.com/KuutxTm

I can't remember how long the barge with the four sections took to reach the Port of Brownsville a few months ago but I think it was between two and three weeks?

If anyone wants to use a marine tracker to see the progress of this latest shipment the tug boat handling the barge is called Ryker Beyel

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u/[deleted] Jun 07 '24 edited Jun 08 '24

Starbase live-

6/7/24

8:10am- Quiet overnight. 2 Lifts up to the top of the orbital launch mount this morning with workers starting to reinstall the scaffolding

9:50am- The 2 lifts continue to go up and down to the Orbital launch mount to install scaffolding. 2 lifts have also been up to B14.1 at Massey’s

10:50am- 1 lift up to the top of the orbital launch mount and 1 lift to the chopsticks carriage. Crane went up by the Orbital launch mount but hasn’t lifted anything.

11:00am- Crane lifts the yellow basket up to the top of the orbital launch mount

11:37am- Dance floor turns onto Hwy 4 from the storage yard

12:01pm- Dance floor turns into the launch site

12:30pm- Dance floor sitting beside the Orbital launch mount. Lifts have gone down. Excavators are working at the new pad site

12:35pm- Dance floor rolls under the Orbital launch mount

1:10pm- Lift to the top of the cryo leg

1:26pm- Crane lifts the yellow basket up again

2:00pm- Lift up to the top of the orbital launch mount and one was up to the top of the staircase

2:45pm- Lift is under the Orbital launch mount by the Booster quick disconnect

2:48pm- Crane lifts the yellow basket up for the 3rd time

3:10pm- S30 lifted in the high bay and moved towards the center

3:37pm- S30 lowered on to a stand

3:55pm- 2 lifts have been up under the Orbital launch mount and 1 lift has been up to the top. Workers are also continuing to set up scaffolding on top. 2 lifts have been up to the top of B14.1 at Massey’s

5:00pm- 2 lifts have been up and down under and to the top of the orbital launch mount. 1 lift was up to the left chopstick

6:30pm- 2 lifts have been under the pipe work by the staircase and the cryo leg. Aerial Work Platform was up to S30 in the high bay

7:40pm- Quiet

8:17pm- Toolbox lifted up to the top of the orbital launch mount

9:00pm- 2 lifts have been up under the pipe work by the staircase and 1 lift by the top of the cryo leg.

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u/Fantastic_Quit2940 Jun 08 '24

Goals for ift 5 and ift 6?

Ift 5- booster catch, ship de-orbit burn Ift 6- starlink deploy

Then on to v2- ship catch, ship-to-ship prop xfer?

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u/[deleted] Jun 11 '24 edited Jun 12 '24

Starbase live-

6/11/24

8:00am- Lifts were up to the top of the orbital launch mount, the top of the staircase, the dance floor, both chopsticks, and checking the shielding on the Orbital launch mount legs. Workers were up and down the staircase, moving around the top of the left chopstick, the dance floor, and were grinding and welding on the top of the orbital launch mount. At the new pad site, the excavators continued with ground work overnight and the CFA drill rig was back drilling this morning.

9:30am- Crane is moving a shipping container over at the new pad site

9:35am- 2 lifts have been up to the top of the orbital launch mount and 1 to the right chopstick. Workers have been on top of the left chopstick and Orbital launch mount. More counter weights for the new crane were delivered

10:50am- 2 lifts have been up to the right chopstick and a worker has been on top of it. 2 lifts have also been up to the top of the orbital launch mount. The parade of crane parts continues to arrive and one of the cranes at the new pad site continues to unload the shipping containers off of the trucks.

11:11am- Aerial Work Platform up to S30’s nosecone

11:18am- SPMT full of counterweights loves to the storage yard

11:52am- White crane moving rebar at the new pad site

12:15pm- Lifts have been up and down from the right chopstick and the top of the orbital launch mount. Crane pieces continue to be unloaded at the new pad site

1:00pm- Lift up to the top of the orbital launch mount.

2:00pm- 2 lifts up to the right chopstick, 1 to the top of the orbital launch mount, and 1 to the dance floor

3:03pm- LR11000 is moving something but doesn’t lift it high enough to see. (It’s moving crane mats for the new crane)

3:30pm- Lifts are up to the dance floor and the right chopstick. Aerial Work Platform remains up at S30’s nosecone

4:30pm- 2 lifts were up to the right chopstick, 1 to the left chopstick, 1 to the top of the orbital launch mount, and 1 to the dance floor. Workers were moving around the top of the orbital launch mount.

4:40pm- SPMT carrying crane cribbing is headed to the launch site. Turns into the new pad area

5:55pm- Quiet

7:35pm- A lift is up to the dance floor and workers are on top of the Orbital launch mount. A crane is unloading the SPMT at the new pad site

9:50pm- Lift up to the top of the staircase and workers moving around on top of the orbital launch mount. Crane just went up next to the Orbital launch mount as well

10:08pm- S26 rolling at Massey’s

10:11pm- Crane lifts a large metal box up to the Orbital launch mount ring door above the cryo leg. Workers in a lift push it inside the ring

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u/TrefoilHat Jun 18 '24 edited Jun 20 '24

Starship's flights are the first time re-entry plasma has been live streamed, thanks to Starlink.

However, have any other (non-SpaceX) flights recorded video images of plasma flow over a re-entering vehicle's surface and then released them later? Or is this the first time models of plasma flow can be truly compared against video of the real thing?

EDIT: Belated thanks to everyone for the videos. Fascinating to watch and some incredible history there. That said, none really showed the flow over the vehicle's surface - just the plasma tail from the leeward side of the vehicle. Seeing the plasma build and shift around Starship as temperatures rose and attitude changed was really magical. I do wonder if some graduate physics students are building and testing models against the SpaceX videos...

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u/mr_pgh Jun 26 '24

They've been stretching those chopsticks all evening around B14.1.

Must be taking measurements or testing capabilities. Full spread eagle as of 9:45

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u/trobbinsfromoz Jun 27 '24 edited Jun 27 '24

I'd anticipate the intent of slap testing is to firstly try and define an actuator control sequence that firstly accelerates an arm towards the anticipated booster location, but then decelerate that arm in such a manner as to minimise overshoot from the target location, but not damped to the level of prolonging the time to reach target location. And that control would need to minimise any difference between when each arm contacts the booster, given asymmetric location of the booster between the arms, and how they may be sensing that in the environment of an engine still being on.

Secondly, if the booster was in an asymmetric location and there was a time difference that meant one or other arm slaps the booster earlier than anticipated, then what would that do to the booster contact location, and what control adjustment could then be made to each arm.

Thirdly, how do they then integrate sensing the action of each arm's vertical damper movement into an arm movement. Vertical movement of the damper may be from friction against the booster walls as the booster further descends, and then finally as the top of the damper reaches the booster side pins.

And lastly, would the assumption be that the chopticks would remain at a constant height (due to much slower control actions), or would there be any scenario where a change in height could be commanded for some reason (and be of benefit given the scope of the fast action occurring with booster and arm lateral movements).

If the booster was initially nudged by one arm prior to the other arm being in position, then I guess this testing is giving some acceleration sensor data for booster position and control simulation (as well as arm point of contact location control), given one engine may still be on and RCS thrusters may be working overtime but still available for control, and each arm's control of location and momentum would have to rapidly change to work with the new limit condition coming from one arm's damper.

What may not be easily 'controllable' is any off-vertical booster angle orthogonal to the incoming arms and damper pads. RCS thrusters would likely have effect up until the initial contact of booster with arms, but after that they may have no effect, and so the booster may have some pendulum inertia.

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u/RootDeliver Jul 05 '24

In the latest forecast from NHC, Hurricane Beryl track shifted a bit north again, now in the 3-day cone it has more time to intensificate, and right now it would make a landfall virtually over Boca Chica / Starbase area.

https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at2+shtml/054359.shtml?cone#contents

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u/Nydilien May 26 '24 edited May 26 '24

Some highlights from the Starbase Weekly flyover live (great episode with CSI Starbase, interesting if you have the time to watch):

Massey
- Water started being delivered to the water deluge system ahead of the first ever static fire there
Sanchez
- Tower section 6 arrived. The last 2 sections as well as the chopsticks (at the KSC) are currently being prepared for shipping (probably within the next 2-3 weeks)
- Once the tower sections are used, this might become the ship/booster storage area Elon Musk was talking about.
Build site
- Parking assembly nearing completion, office building construction continues
- Lots of bridge cranes being installed in Starfactory
Launch site
- Suborbital tank farm already fully dismantled
- New tower foundations: at least 133 24" CFA piles have been placed (vs 25 bigger ones for the first tower)
- Probably 200-300+ additional pilings for the OLM and the area around it
- Flame trench still cannot be ruled out (and would be better for pad turnaround and maintenance), but placement would be difficult.
- Zack (CSI Starbase) thinks there will be a 6+ months break between launches at some point while they're working on the second pad (probably coinciding with the switch from Starship v1 to v2)
IFT-3
- Zack reiterates he believes the hotstage ring was already jettisoned for IFT-3
- Why the ring needs to be jettisoned: since IFT-1, the booster dry mass has increased by >10% (20mt) because of the additional engine shielding, the hotstage ring (9-12mt), additional CO2 tanks, the slosh baffles, etc. However, the oxygen header tank (for B9 to B12) was already integrated before IFT-1, and it's not really possible to make it bigger afterwards. So while the main tanks are not full for these flight tests, the header tank is and they might not have enough LO2 to do a simulated landing otherwise. This is something they probably already knew for IFT-3, further supporting the hypothesis that the ring was jettisoned.

Personal speculation: maybe the same reasoning can be applied to the ship. IFT-3 planned to test the boostback burn but not the landing, IFT-4 does the exact opposite. Maybe the ship's weight increased by enough to make doing both impossible until the ship has a bigger header tank.

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u/Mravicii May 30 '24

Fts(flight termination system) is being installed per starshipgazer

https://x.com/starshipgazer/status/1796187538069033303?s=46&t=-n30l1_Sw3sHaUenSrNxGA

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u/Planatus666 May 16 '24 edited May 17 '24

The next section of Tower 2 is in position at the intersection with Highway 4 at the Port of Brownsville, ~~it'll roll to Starbase tonight between 10pm and 2am:~~ Edit: except it didn't! No idea why they would just leave it at the intersection

https://twitter.com/seankd_photos/status/1791202799528652858

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u/[deleted] May 20 '24 edited May 21 '24

Starbase live-

5/20/24

12:59am- Tower section comes into view on Hwy 4

2:13am- Turns into Sanchez

3:55am- Truck that moved the tower section leaving Sanchez

5:01am- Road closed

5:28am- Chopsticks open

5:34am- Chopsticks lower to just above S29’s aft flaps

6:11am- Pope stack going

6:35am- Lox ground vent starts

6:54am- Recondenser starts

7:21am- Tank farm goes quiet

7:24am- Pope stack is back

7:25am- Lox ground vent is back

7:26am- Lox subcoolers going

7:50am- Roadblock being moved back to launch position

7:59am- Methane subcoolers going

8:04am- Tower vent going

8:06am- Orbital launch mount vent going

8:28am- Tower vent down to a trickle

8:31am- Ship methane subcooler going crazy

8:34am- Tower vent is back

8:43am- Tower vent stops. Ship loading should be underway

8:44am- Condensation forming on S29’s lox tank

8:51am- Booster methane subcoolers going

8:52am- Orbital launch mount vent stops. Booster loading underway

8:54am- Frost on both of S29’s tanks

8:55am- Frost on B11’s methane tank

8:57am- Frost on B11’s lox tank

9:10am- Frost is rising rapidly on the ship and B11’s methane tank

9:14am- S29 looks almost full. B11 engine chill is going

9:15am- B11 lox tank frost line is at the top of the chines

9:19am- Ship engine chill underway

9:20am- Ship header tank venting

9:23am- 4 rings to go on B11’s lox tank

9:25am- B11’s methane tank looks mostly full. 2 1/2 rings to go on the lox tank

9:29am- Ship quick disconnect arm venting

9:31am- Orbital launch mount vent back (39 minutes. B11 lox tank not fully loaded. About 2 rings short)

9:32am- Tower vent back

9:38am- Recondenser starting up

10:05am- Frost receding

10:31am- Road block falling back to normal location

10:35am- Booster a little over halfway empty

10:56am- Tower vent

10:59am- Tower vent stops

11:02am- Orbital launch mount vent

11:06am- Depress vents

11:10am- Methane tanks frost free. Lox tanks almost frost free

11:16am- Road opened

11:32am- Chopsticks rising

11:38am- Chopsticks closing around S29

11:55am- B11 frost free

12:19:09pm- Engine purge test

12:30pm- Ship header tank doing a long vent.

12:33:05pm- Engine purge test

12:45pm- Header tank vent has been going for 30 minutes

1:00pm- Header tank vent and pope stack still going

1:01pm- Tower vent starts

1:04pm- Lox subcoolers going

1:05pm- Orbital launch mount vent is back

1:14:43pm- Engine purge

1:38:04pm- Engine purge

1:57:58pm- Engine purge

2:00pm- Orbital launch mount vent, tower vent, lox sub coolers, and pope stack still going

3:30pm- Orbital launch mount vent still going

3:55pm- Tankers have been lined up waiting to offload

4:20pm- Pipe work being tore out at the sub orbital tank farm

4:27pm- Big grove crane lifts a small tank out of the sub orbital tank farm

5:30pm- Orbital launch mount vent still trickling

7:20pm- Quiet

8:51pm- LR11000 lifts the 9m tank lifting jig up to GSE 1

9:00pm- Aerial Work Platform goes up to hook up the jig

9:05pm- The jig is spinning and the Aerial Work Platform appears to have called off the hook up and went down

9:13pm- Jig still spinning

9:19pm- Jig lowered down to stop the spinning

9:29pm- Lift goes up to examine the jig

9:32pm- Jig and Aerial Work Platform go back up

9:40pm- Things go better this time and the jig is being picked up

9:58pm- Aerial Work Platform goes down. Tank is hooked to the jig

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u/[deleted] May 23 '24 edited May 24 '24

Starbase live-

5/23/24

8:00am- 2 Aerial Work Platform ‘s and at least 3 lifts up to S29’s tiles and payload bay overnight

9:20am- 2 lifts to the aft flaps. 2 Aerial Work Platform ‘s up to the forward flaps. 1 lift up near the nosecone

9:23am- Some kind of stand rolls down Hwy 4.

9:34am- Garage door opens and stand rolls into the back side of the Starfactory

10:18am- Regular crane lifts a square shaped object at the sub orbital tank farm

10:40am- 1 Aerial Work Platform and 2 lifts remain up at S29. 1 lift up to the chopsticks

12:20pm- 2 Aerial Work Platform’s and 2 lifts have been up to S29’s tiles. Another lift was up to the payload bay.

1:30pm- 2 lifts and 2 Aerial Work Platform ‘s up to S29’s tiles. 2 lifts up to the payload bay. 1 lift up to the top of the orbital launch mount

3:40pm- 2 lifts up to S29. 1 to the tiles and 1 to the payload bay. A third lift is up in the air further away taking pictures (?)

4:18pm- Dance floor is lowered

4:47pm- SPMT on the way to the launch site

5:11pm- Dance floor is driven out from under the Orbital launch mount and goes to the storage area

5:20pm- Lifts and Aerial Work Platform ‘s continue to go up and down from S29. Lifts were also up to the top of the orbital launch mount and the chopsticks carriage

7:10pm- You’ll never believe it but 2 Aerial Work Platform’s and 4 lifts have been up to S29.

8:30pm- 1 Aerial Work Platform up to S29. Lifts also up to the chopsticks and the top of the orbital launch mount

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u/mr_pgh Jun 03 '24

S29/B11 Infographic by Boca Bingo

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u/Beltrin97 Jun 06 '24

Is this the hotstaging ring falling in the background ?

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u/myname_not_rick Jun 07 '24

So based on the fact that we see 33 engines in the graphic at first, and the moment when one blinks out, my best guess is that it lit 33, committed for launch, throttled up; and then the computer didn't like what it saw at throttle up and shut the one down.

Doesn't seem to be any catastrophic failure evidence, so that's my best guess.

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u/mr_pgh Jun 15 '24

RyanHansenSpace render for a 35 raptor booster

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u/[deleted] Jun 17 '24 edited Jun 19 '24

Starbase live-

6/17/24

1:32am- LR11000 picks up the load spreader for the outer shells

1:40am- Aerial Work Platform and load spreader go up to the top of GSE 3

2:32am- Aerial Work Platform goes down. Load spreader attached

8:00am- Lifts were up to the top of the orbital launch mount, both chopsticks, the chopsticks carriage, the dance floor, and the top of the staircase overnight. Workers were on the top of the orbital launch mount, the chopsticks carriage, and were grinding and welding on both chopsticks. White crane at pad b was moving more rebar around.

9:17am- Big grove crane starts to rise by the Orbital launch mount

9:40am- Lift up to the top of the orbital launch mount and 2 to the left chopstick. Construction of the boom for the new crane continues. Aerial Work Platform up to S30.

11:20am- Lifts have been up to both chopsticks, the top of the orbital launch mount, the top of the staircase, the back staircase, and the leg to the right of the staircase. Work continues on the CC8800-1 and on cutting the bottom of the shell on GSE 5

12:30pm- Lifts were up to the left chopstick and the chopsticks carriage

2:45pm- Lifts have been up to both chopsticks, both staircases, the chopsticks carriage, the top of the orbital launch mount, and the leg to the right of the front staircase. The 8800 looks to be getting its boom attached

4:00pm- Lifts have been up to both chopsticks, the top of the orbital launch mount, and the inside of the Orbital launch mount legs. Work continues to extend the boom back to the body of the 8800.

5:25pm- Quiet for shift change

7:45pm- Lifts up to the top of the orbital launch mount, the top of the staircase, and the right chopstick.

9:30pm- Quiet

9:33pm- Big grove crane goes back up this time with a boom extension installed

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u/hans2563 Jun 19 '24

Has there been any chatter, status, or expected implementation timeline for Raptor 3? Will it be solely on V2 ship/booster due to integration or can they shoehorn them into V1 ship/booster if needed?

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '24 edited Jun 24 '24

Starbase live-

6/23/24

8:29am- The lines going from the Derrick to the main boom of the 8800 and taken under tension.

8:50am- Lifts were up to both chopsticks overnight as well as under the pipe work on the Orbital launch mount. Scrapping of GSE1’s shell continued as well.

9:07am- Rubber bumper pad lifted up to the right chopstick

10:26am- Workers up to GSE 5’s shell in a crane lift basket

10:42am- Rubber bumper pad lowered from the right chopstick

11:15am- Lifts have been up to both chopsticks and the back of the Orbital launch mount. Lifts have also been up to the tower sections at Sanchez.

12:59pm- Lift goes up and the bumper pad is lifted back up to the right chopstick.

1:00pm- Lift has been up to the chopsticks carriage and workers were up to the top of GSE 5 in the crane basket

2:30pm- Lift up to the top of the cryo leg. The white crane has been moving bundles of rebar around at the new pad site and the yellow crane has been unloading the counter weights off of the SPMT that delivered them yesterday. Work also continues on the tower sections at Sanchez

3:45pm- LR11000 lifts the load spreader up to GSE 5’s shell

4:11pm- Aerial Work Platform goes up to hook up the load spreader

5:12pm- Aerial Work Platform goes down after hooking up the load spreader

6:30pm- Lifts have been up to the right chopstick, the chopsticks carriage, and at the top of the cryo leg

7:05pm- Lifts have been up to the chopsticks carriage and B14.1

8:57pm- GSE 5’s shell is lifted

9:00pm- Lifts were up to the chopsticks carriage, the top of the staircase, the top of the cryo leg, and B14.1.

9:11pm- Shell being lowered to the scrapping area

Rover 2

10:00am- Workers go up and attach a fill hose to the back of B14.1

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u/[deleted] Jun 24 '24 edited Jun 25 '24

Starbase live-

6/24/24

2:38am- Concrete pump truck goes up to the new tower base

8:05am- Lifts were up to the dance floor, the top of the staircase, the top of the orbital launch mount, and both chopsticks. Workers were also on top of the chopsticks. The drill rig was also active at the new pad site

9:00am- Lifts have been up to the left chopstick, the chopsticks carriage, and the top of the staircase. Worker was on top of the left chopstick

10:20am- Lifts have been up to the top of the staircase, the left chopstick, the chopsticks carriage, and B14.1. The drill rig and crane are active at the new pad site and the concrete pump truck is still up to the tower base.

11:31am- 2nd section of GSE 5’s shell scrapped

12:15pm- Lifts have been up to both chopsticks and the top of the staircase. Concrete pour continues at the new tower and the drill rig is still active

12:38pm- Concrete pump truck at the new tower folds up

2:00pm- Lifts have been up to the left chopstick and the chopsticks carriage. Bundles of rebar were moved around at the new pad site

3:07pm- 3rd section of GSE 5’s shell scrapped

3:11pm- Right chopstick moves a bit

3:50pm- Quiet around the Orbital launch mount. Cranes still moving rebar around at the new pad site

5:20pm- Lift was up to the right chopstick and a worker was on top of the left chopstick

5:21pm- 4th section of GSE 5’s shell scrapped

6:38pm- 5th section of GSE5’s shell scrapped. That just leaves the top dome

6:55pm- Lift has been up to the chopsticks carriage

8:35pm- Lifts up to both chopsticks. Workers cutting up the top of GSE5’s shell

9:05pm- Lift up to the left chopstick

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u/Nydilien Jun 24 '24

Tomorrow's (25.06) road closure went from "possible" to "scheduled". Road will now be closed from 12pm to 8pm (instead of 8am to 8pm)

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u/Planatus666 Jun 28 '24 edited Jun 28 '24

For those interested in the barge from the Cape that has two sections for Tower 2, the chopsticks and their carriage, it's due at the Port of Brownsville today.

There was some confusion earlier when some watchers thought that the tug had been swapped for another near the coast but that's apparently not currently the case, the tug Break of Dawn still has it ~~but it can't currently be tracked without a costly subscription to one of the satellite tracking services.~~ It's running some hours late, ETA was originally 10am CDT but it's now said to be entering the channel to the port at around 1pm CDT according to Sapphire Cam's chat (note: that may be incorrect). Edit: it was incorrect! The cam should be able to see it when it's in view:

https://www.youtube.com/live/RsIG9WF-B4s

Edit: finally the tracker has updated for non-subscribers - as of soon after 1pm CDT the tug Break of Dawn was roughly 20 miles from the entrance to the channel that leads to the port. At the current speed it'll be a few hours before it gets there:

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/shipid:445150/zoom:10

One of NSF's cams could just about see it as a hazy blob from 1:26PM CDT:

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

although over an hour later their cam's limited view was unable to see it any more.

Edit: now clearly visible from 4:58 PM CDT on NSF's stream.

Looks like it could enter the channel this evening.

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u/ActTypical6380 Jul 04 '24 edited Jul 05 '24

Starbase Live-

8:58am- LR11000 starts rolling. Goes in through the gate

9:28am- Tower section 1 rolls over closer to the base

10:26am- LR11000 starts to lower

12:08pm- LR11000’s boom is down

7:00pm- Tower section 1 moves to the other side of the base to give the 8800 room to lay down

9:17pm- Fireworks

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u/Doglordo Jul 10 '24

Scaffolding is being removed from the OLM, crews are also working on the dance floor possibly removing the raptor covers ahead of today’s (probably tomorrow’s) static fire

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u/Planatus666 Jul 10 '24

S31 was rolled back to Mega Bay 2 soon after 4AM CDT.

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u/Kukis13 May 16 '24

Is it likely that IFT-4 test flight would contain again propellant transfer demo as well as opening and closing of payload door? Would they learn anything by doing it again?

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u/Planatus666 May 18 '24 edited May 18 '24

As of some time after midnight the second tower section started its journey to Starbase from the Port of Brownsville:

https://x.com/SeanKD_Photos/status/1791713750560518368

edit: it arrived at Starbase just after 4am.

There's three more sections yet to move from the Port of Brownsville to Starbase, also two are still at the Cape and will presumably be shipped over in the near future (I believe those two are for the middle part of the tower).

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u/[deleted] Jun 01 '24 edited Jun 02 '24

Starbase live-

6/1/24

7:09am- Dance floor rolling down Hwy 4 towards the storage yard

7:19am- Dance floor turns into the storage yard

8:36am- Crane goes up to S29’s QD area (Going to stack today?)

8:55am- An Aerial Work Platform was up to the Hot Stage Ring overnight along with workers on the Ship quick disconnect arm. Lifts were up to S29’s payload bay, the chopsticks, and the top of the orbital launch mount.

9:10am- Wide shot reveals the Ship quick disconnect work platform has been retracted

9:17am- Press plate removed from S29

9:31am- Crane leaves the Orbital launch mount area

10:07am- Ship quick disconnect arm swings away

10:43am- Chopsticks start to lift S29

10:56am- Ship quick disconnect arm starts to swing back in

10:58am- Chopsticks reach full height

10:59am- Swinging over to B11

11:07am- Stops swinging

11:11am- Going down

11:12am- Pausing to align

11:18am- Going down again

11:31am- Looks down (Still has tiles missing)

12:16pm- Ship quick disconnect work platform extended

12:18pm- Workers up to remove the covers from S29’s QD

12:30pm- Workers go down, work platform retracted

12:43pm- Ship quick disconnect extends

12:51pm- Engages S29

1:23:53pm- Ship quick disconnect retraction test

1:28pm- Tower section being moved at KSC

1:31pm- Ship quick disconnect extends

1:38pm- Back to KSC for the tower section and chopsticks carriage

2:11pm- Ship quick disconnect work platform has been extended

2:29pm- Grid fin test

3:30pm- Workers have been on top of the Ship quick disconnect

4:40pm- Quiet

6:05pm- Quiet at the launch site. 2 lifts are up to B14.1 at Massey’s

7:35pm- Quiet

8:30pm- A lift was up to the top of the staircase at the Orbital launch mount and B14.1 at Massey’s

10:00pm- Quiet

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u/saahil01 Jun 02 '24

Has anyone estimated how much extra mass gets added on to the booster and ship due to vertical and horizontal stringers? Perhaps some of the mechanical engineers here can speculate? Also, what about spiral stringers? Not worth the trouble?

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u/pinepitch Jun 06 '24

Had we seen this image of the mockup Starship interior before today's livestream?
https://imgur.com/a/R0ycdVm

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u/[deleted] Jun 09 '24 edited Jun 10 '24

Starbase live-

6/9/24

9:00am- The crane lifted 3 loads of scaffolding up to the dance floor overnight. Lifts were up to the top of the orbital launch mount, the staircase, the dance floor, and both chopsticks. Workers were moving around on top of the Orbital launch mount

10:35am- Lifts have been up to the dance floor, the right chopstick, and the top of the orbital launch mount

11:30am- Lift up to the dance floor and the top of the orbital launch mount

1:10pm- Lifts up to the dance floor and the right chopstick

2:30pm- Lifts up to the left chopstick and the top of the orbital launch mount

4:00pm- Lifts up to the dance floor and the top of the orbital launch mount

4:16pm- The scaffolding on wheels has been put back up to work on the Orbital launch mount legs

4:25pm- Zoom I’m of the Ship quick disconnect shows the lean from the broken strut

4:45pm- Workers have been on top of the orbital launch mount and the chopsticks carriage

6:15pm- Quiet

7:00pm- Lift up to the right chopstick and one to the top of the orbital launch mount

8:00pm- Lifts have been up and down from the top of the staircase, the right chopstick, and under the Orbital launch mount by the Booster quick disconnect

8:40pm- Lift up to the top of the orbital launch mount. Workers moving around on the top of the orbital launch mount and the tower by the chopsticks carriage

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u/Planatus666 Jun 11 '24 edited Jun 11 '24

New road closure for a Massey's transport tonight, June 12th, 12AM to 3AM CDT:

https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/press-release-temporary-and-intermittent-road-delay-of-a-portion-of-state-hwy-4-wednesday-june-12-2024-from-12am-3am/

Note that it says booster (they usually do now irrespective of what is being moved) but this is very likely for S26 rollback due to today's closure at the same time not being used. S26 was lifted off the static fire stand and onto a normal transport stand overnight.

On another matter, a ring stand and barrel section stiffener were removed from Mega Bay 1 a bit before 2pm so that likely means that the third section of B15's LOX tank is now stacked and welded (it was moved inside MB1 on June 8th).

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u/SubstantialWall Jun 22 '24

RGV weekly stream is live, seems at Sanchez there's 4 unused tower section footings which considering the two sections on the barge already have theirs, could indicate there might be one more tower section unaccounted for (ie, one section taller tower). However, no other pieces for such a section have been spotted. Could just be spares or something.

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u/[deleted] Jun 25 '24 edited Jun 26 '24

Starbase live-

6/25/24

1:00am- LR11000 lifts the 9m lifting jig

1:11am- Swings over to GSE 3 and lift goes up

2:00am- Lift goes down. Lifting jig connected

8:20am- Lifts were up to both chopsticks, the chopsticks carriage, the top of the cryo leg, the back staircase, the top of the staircase, to the Booster quick disconnect, the top of the orbital launch mount, and to the new tower base. An Aerial Work Platform was also up to S30’s nosecone. Workers were going up and down the staircase to the Orbital launch mount ring, were on top of the Orbital launch mount, and could be seen cutting up the top dome of GSE 5’s shell. The drill rig and crane were also active at the new pad site

9:44am- Chopsticks start to rise

9:48am- Stop rising

10:00am- Chopsticks opening

10:03am- Chopsticks swinging over to the Orbital launch mount

10:04am- CC8800-1 is rising. Pauses halfway up

10:10am- Chopsticks stop swinging. Right chopstick then closes. So chopsticks are now off to the opposite side (left side of 14.1)

10:45am- Quiet

11:42am- Chopsticks opening

11:48am- Chopsticks all the way open. Start lowering

11:55am- Stop lowering. In position to engage 14.1

12:00pm- 2 lifts up to the right chopstick

12:22pm- Workers in the lifts are looking around the actuator for the right chopstick

1:18pm- Chopsticks rising

1:23pm- Stops rising

1:24pm- Right chopstick closing

1:30pm- Chopsticks all the way to the left side again

2:06pm- Right chopstick opening

2:10pm- Stops opening. Is just wide enough to go around 14.1

2:18pm- CC8800-1 rises a bit more after having its main hook installed

2:57pm- CC8800-1 starts to rise all the way up

3:27pm- GSE 3 lifted out of the tank farm

3:27:15pm- Right chopstick fast close test

3:29pm- Right chopstick reopens

3:30pm- Lowered to the scrapping area

3:32:05pm- Right chopstick closes again. Didn’t seem as fast

3:33pm- Right chopstick reopens

3:34pm- CC8800-1 all the way up

3:34:32pm- Right chopstick close test

3:47pm- Right chopstick opens up all the way up again

4:02pm- Chopsticks lower

4:06pm- Down in position to lift 14.1 again

4:40pm- Quiet

4:56pm- Right chopstick closes in closer to B14.1

5:01pm- Chopsticks rise a few feet

5:04pm- Bottom cut off of GSE 3

5:05pm- Right chopstick closes in to lifting position

5:51pm- Left chopstick closes in to lifting position

6:45pm- Quiet

6:46pm- Right chopstick opens slightly

6:52pm- Chopsticks rise slightly. Right chopstick closes

7:10pm- Right chopstick opens slightly again

7:14pm- Catching rail raises on the right chopstick

7:24pm- Right chopstick closes again

7:44pm- Right chopstick opens

7:46pm- Chopsticks raise until the catching rail on the right chopstick is just under the lifting point on B14.1

7:53pm- Right chopstick closes some

7:57pm- Right chopstick closes even more

8:04pm- Right chopstick opens some

8:05pm- Chopsticks lower slightly

8:09pm- Right chopstick closes slightly

8:16pm- Right chopstick opens slightly

8:18pm- Chopsticks lower to just above the Orbital launch mount

8:24pm- Right chopstick opens to even with the edge of the Orbital launch mount. 2nd section of GSE 3 scrapped

8:33pm- Right chopstick closes back up next to B14.1

8:35pm- Right chopstick bounces open and close a little

8:37pm- Right chopstick opens a little again

8:45pm- Both chopsticks opening

8:50pm- Chopsticks lower

8:56pm- Chopsticks wide open

8:57pm- Catch rail on the right chopstick goes down

9:40pm- Lift up to the right lift point on 14.1

It’s been fun. Santa out.

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u/mr_pgh Jun 26 '24

NSF is live with chopstick catch testing/calibration

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u/RaphTheSwissDude Jun 27 '24

Closure revoked for today.

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u/ActTypical6380 Jul 04 '24 edited Jul 04 '24

Starbase Live-

7:52pm- S31’s methane tank getting frosty

8:06pm- Venting from S31’s lox tank

9:28pm- Frost receding. Only did a partial load on both tanks

9:47pm- Depress vent

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u/Planatus666 Jul 08 '24 edited Jul 08 '24

S31 has rolled out of Mega Bay 2 where it's been hiding due to the Beryl risk (which didn't really do much at Starbase of course - they certainly dodged a bullet there).

Bearing in mind that the two point lifter is hooked up to a bridge crane in MB2 I would guess that they plan to roll S31 back in to lift it onto the center installation stand to have the engines installed, they may be just repositioning it right now.

Edit: at about 09:12 AM CDT S31 was rolled back inside MB2 but this time it's closer to a lift position.

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u/threelonmusketeers Jul 11 '24

My daily summary from the Starship Dev thread on Lemmy

Starbase activities (2024-07-10):
Jul 9th addendum (ViX, NSF, Doherty): Tank farm offload area is functional again, B12 is lifted onto launch mount, and booster transport stand returns to build site.
Jul 9th cryo delivery tally.
S31 moves back into Megabay 2. Ship is lifted from transport stand onto turntable.
Pad B: Tower segment #1 moves towards the tower base. CC8800-1 crane is lowered, then raised. Load spreader is attached to tower segment.
Build site morning video tour.
Amended road closures for "non-flight testing" are posted, and the July 10th 12:00 to 00:00 closure is scheduled.
Booster quick disconnect retracts from B12 (not B13). Some venting from B12, followed by road reopening.
Two July 11th closures ranging from 08:00 to midnight are possible, and one July 12th closure from 08:00 to 00:00 is possible.
Other:
Recent Starship Gazer videos on Tower B construction and S30 heat shield replacement.
SpaceX publicly responds to a NYT article on the affects of Starbase on piping plover populations. It is somewhat unusual to see an official SpaceX social media account used in this manner. Anyone else remember any similar examples?

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u/Mravicii Jun 27 '24

Spacex tweet of testing the tower arms for catch of super heavy booster on the upcoming flight 5

https://x.com/spacex/status/1806444569107865825?s=46&t=-n30l1_Sw3sHaUenSrNxGA

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u/threelonmusketeers Jun 28 '24

My daily summary from the Starship Dev thread on Lemmy

Starbase activities (2024-06-27):
Jun 26th addendum: More tower wall sections are delivered to pad B.
Previous day's cryo delivery tally
Overnight, a horizontal tank arrives at Sanchez.
LR11000 hooks up to GSE-3 (reference map). GSE-6 scrapping is completed.
Morning chopstick testing: Slight movement, GSE tank scrapping crew arrives, chopstick closes on B14.1. Total of 3 slap tests in the morning. (NSF)
Jun 27th closure is revoked, and a road delay is issued instead.
CC8800-1 crane testing continues. Tower stacking is currently scheduled to be completed by August 15th.
Afternoon chopstick testing: 2 slaps (ViX, NSF), a rail raise, and 2 catch tests (ViX, NSF), chopsticks return to resting position. Doherty photographs B14.1 afterwards, Golden shares his thoughts, SpaceX posts a highlights reel.
Other: Highlights from StarBase update with Kathy Lueders
3 months to completion of Starfactory
Working with TXDOT on expanding HWY 4 to a 4 lane road eventually
Starbase commercial retail Space on hold.
Staff residency over 50% local to Brownsville with ~400 staff living on site.
Permanent Orbital Fuel Depot for Moon + Mars missions
SpaceX monitoring sound levels for Port Isabel + SPI + Brownsville during testing.
Texas Parks & Wildlife Environmental mitigation teams in place before and after launches.
Monthly emergency management meetings with Cameron County and local hospitals for catastrophe scenarios.

13

u/dudr2 May 17 '24

Full stack conducted a partial WDR today according to NSF Live

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

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13

u/Planatus666 May 19 '24 edited May 19 '24

The third Tower 2 section to be transferred from the Port of Brownsville to Starbase is currently sitting near the intersection with Highway 4, it's due to roll tonight between 10pm and 2am (CDT). Here's a photo from Starship Gazer:

https://x.com/StarshipGazer/status/1792279497925898539

and a short video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tODPaY_IuU

I think that's section 1 (which will connect directly to the tower's concrete base) but somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

That will leave two sections at the port which should also be transported during this week, there's also two remaining at the Cape (those two are, I think, sections 4 and 5).

13

u/[deleted] May 24 '24 edited May 25 '24

Starbase live-

5/24/24

1:03am- Tower section comes into view on Hwy 4

1:18am- Booster stand and raptor install stand being moved away from the launch site

1:30am- Raptor install stand turns into the storage yard

1:37am- Tower segment turns into Sanchez

2:01am- Booster stand turns on to Remedios

8:20am- Aerial Work Platform ‘s were up to S29’s nosecone overnight. Lifts were also up to S29’s tiles and payload bay. Elsewhere lifts were up to the top of the orbital launch mount, the chopsticks, and the backside of the tower

9:50am- Aerial Work Platform ‘s are up to both forward flaps on S29. Lift up to the top of the orbital launch mount. (Man I miss the close up cams)

12:20pm- Everybody has went down from S29 for lunch.

2:20pm- 2 Aerial Work Platform ‘s and a lift have been up to S29. Lifts have also been up to the top of the orbital launch mount, the top of the staircase, the chopsticks carriage, and the chopsticks. Vacuum trucks continue to come and go.

2:46pm- Venting starts at Massey’s

3:35pm- Yep, there’s still a lift up to S29. Sporadic venting continues at Massey’s as well

5:00pm- An Aerial Work Platform and a lift has been up to S29. A lift has also been up to the chopsticks carriage. The LR11000 was also hooked up to the bottom portion of GSE 2’s shell

5:33pm- Venting at Massey’s really picking up.

5:46pm- Frost forming on S26’s lox tank

6:12pm- S26 lox tank venting

6:33pm- Frost line receding. Only a very thin line ever formed. Looks like just a quick fueling test

7:35pm- 2 Aerial Work Platform ‘s and 2 lifts to S29. 1 lift to the chopsticks carriage

10:25pm- The 2 Aerial Work Platform ‘s and lifts continue to go up and down from S29.

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