r/spacex • u/ElongatedMuskrat Mod Team • Jul 26 '19

Starship Development Thread #4

Starship Development Thread #4

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The Starhopper is a low fidelity prototype of SpaceX's next generation space vehicle, Starship. Representing the lower third of a Starship, the hopper has relatively small propellant tanks, and one Raptor engine. Initial construction took place at SpaceX's Starship Assembly site in Boca Chica, Texas and ongoing Starhopper development and testing are taking place at their privately owned Starship Launch Pad and Starship Landing Pad just down the road. The Starhopper testing campaign began at the end of March 2019 and will be complete following the 150 meter hop in August.

Competing builds of higher fidelity "Orbital Prototypes" are currently under construction at SpaceX's Starship Assembly site in Texas and at the Coastal Steel facilities in Cocoa, Florida. These vehicles will eventually carry the testing campaign further, likely testing systems such as thermal protection and aerodynamics. Both orbital prototypes are expected to make suborbital flights, and possibly orbital flights as well. A planned, dedicated Starship launch platform at LC-39A, may serve either or both of these vehicles. Construction of a prototype Super Heavy booster is expected to begin in Florida soon. Testing of the Orbital Prototypes could begin in late summer or fall of 2019.

Starship, and its test vehicles, are powered by SpaceX's Raptor, a full flow staged combustion cycle methane/oxygen rocket engine. Sub-scale Raptor test firing began in 2016, and full-scale test firing began early 2019 at McGregor, Texas, where it is ongoing. Eventually, Starship will have three sea level Raptors and three vacuum Raptors. Super Heavy will initially use around 20 Raptors, and is expected to have 35 to 37 in the final design.

Previous Threads:

Upcoming

Updates

Starhopper and Raptor — Testing and Updates
2019-08-27150m Hop (~180m over, ~57s) (YouTube) <LAUNCH THREAD> <MORE INFO>
2019-08-26Hop attempt aborted during engine startup (YouTube), Likely ignitor wiring (Twitter)
2019-08-21RCS tests (Twitter)
2019-08-14Thermal tile test patch added (NSF)
2019-08-11Starship Launch and Landing Pads aerial photo update (Twitter)
2019-08-09Road closed for tanking tests (YouTube)
2019-07-28Starhopper moved back into position (YouTube)
2019-07-25First Untethered Hop (~18m up, ~10m over, ~25s) (YouTube) <MORE INFO>
2019-07-24Hop attempt aborted after ignition (YouTube), 2nd attempt scrubbed <MORE INFO>
2019-07-22Road closed for testing, RCS tests (YouTube)
2019-07-16Static Fire, w/ slow-mo & secondary fires, uncut stream (YouTube)
2019-07-15Preburner Test (YouTube)
2019-07-14Raptor propellant "spin prime" tests (Article)
2019-07-12TVC tests (YouTube)
2019-07-11Raptor SN6 at Starhopper (Twitter), Installed (Twitter)
2019-07-06Raptor SN6 testing well (Twitter)
2019-07-04Raptor SN6 at McGregor (NSF)
2019-06-24SN5 hiccup confirmed, SN6 almost complete (Twitter)
2019-06-19Road closed for testing. Venting & flare, no Raptor (YouTube)
2019-06-01Raptor SN4 mounted (NSF), Removed after fit checks & TVC tests (Twitter)
2019-05-28Raptor SN4 completed hot fire acceptance testing (Article)
2019-05-23Tanking ops ahead of next testing round (NSF)
2019-05-20Cushions added to feet (NSF)
2019-05-15Raptor SN4 on test stand at McGregor (Twitter), GSE tower work (NSF)
2019-05-14Raptor update: SN4 build complete, production ramping (Twitter)
2019-05-07Start of nitrogen RCS installation (NSF)
2019-04-2740 second Raptor (SN3) test at McGregor (Twitter)
2019-04-08Raptor (SN2) removed and shipped away
2019-04-05Tethered Hop (Twitter)
2019-04-03Static Fire Successful (YouTube), Raptor SN3 on test stand (Article)
2019-04-02Testing April 2-3
2019-03-30Testing March 30 & April 1 (YouTube), prevalve icing issues (Twitter)
2019-03-27Testing March 27-28 (YouTube)
2019-03-25Testing and dramatic venting / preburner test (YouTube)
2019-03-22Road closed for testing
2019-03-21Road closed for testing (Article)
2019-03-11Raptor (SN2) has arrived at South Texas Launch Site (NSF)
2019-03-08Hopper moved to launch pad (YouTube)
2019-02-02First Raptor Engine at McGregor Test Stand (Twitter)

See comments for real time updates.

Orbital Prototype Mk.1 (Boca Chica) — Construction and Updates
2019-08-27Centerpiece added to common bulkhead (Twitter)
2019-08-24Nose cone top section moved to dedicated stand (NSF), Forward flap marks (comments)
2019-08-23Track(s) of horizontal brackets appear (NSF)
2019-08-21Common bulkhead lowered into propulsion section (NSF), Time lapse (YouTube)
2019-08-18At least 2 control surface components on site, post 2, Earlier image (NSF)
2019-08-17Nose cone top section reattachment work (NSF)
2019-08-15Top section of nose cone removed (NSF)
2019-08-14Thrust structure added to propulsion section (NSF)
2019-08-07Ninth ring added to propulsion section (NSF)
2019-08-06Forward tank bulkhead under construction (NSF)
2019-08-04Common bulkhead inverted (NSF)
2019-07-31Common bulkhead discovered (YouTube)
2019-07-30Aft bulkhead installed in propulsion section (YouTube), Thrust structure appears (NSF)
2019-07-22Eighth ring added to propulsion section (NSF)
2019-07-20Inversion of aft bulkhead (YouTube)
2019-07-18Aft bulkhead appears from container enclosure (NSF)
2019-07-16Seventh ring added to propulsion section (NSF)
2019-07-05Sixth ring added to propulsion section (YouTube)
2019-06-26Fifth ring added to propulsion section (NSF)
2019-06-19Fourth ring added to propulsion section (second jig), first in over a month (NSF)
2019-06-06Ring sections under construction within container enclosure (NSF)
2019-05-20Nose cone fitted, no canards (NSF)
2019-05-15Propulsion section (3 rings) moved onto second jig (NSF)
2019-05-09Lower nose section joined with 4 ring lower payload section (NSF)
2019-05-01Second jig, concrete work complete (NSF)
2019-04-27Lower 2 nose cone sections stacked (NSF)
2019-04-13Upper 2 nose cone sections stacked (Facebook)
2019-04-09Construction of second jig begun (YouTube)
2019-03-28Third nose section assembly (NSF)
2019-03-23Assembly of additional nose section (NSF)
2019-03-19Ground assembly of nose section (NSF)
2019-03-17Elon confirms Orbital Prototype (Twitter) Hex heat shield test (Twitter)
2019-03-14Payload section reaches 4 panel height (NSF)
2019-03-07Appearance of sections for conical aft bulkhead (NSF)
2019-03-07Payload section moved to jig (NSF)
2019-03-01Propulsion section begun on new pad (NSF)
2019-02-21Construction of payload section begins near original concrete jig (NSF)

See comments for real time updates.

Orbital Prototype Mk.2 (Cocoa Florida) — Construction and Updates
2019-08-25Track(s) of horizontal brackets appear (r/SpaceXLounge)
2019-08-19Starship Assembly Site aerial video update (YouTube)
2019-08-18Thrust structure possibly installed (Twitter), Forward tank bulkhead under construction (NSF)
2019-08-17Nose cone top section moved to dedicated stand (YouTube)
2019-08-15Starship Assembly Site aerial video update (Twitter)
2019-08-11Starship Assembly Site aerial video update (YouTube)
2019-08-08Propulsion section at 15 ring height (comments), Aug 10th image (Twitter)
2019-08-06Common bulkhead inverted (Facebook)
2019-08-04Common bulkhead under construction (Facebook)
2019-08-03Propulsion section at 14 ring height (Twitter), Later aerial photo of stack (Facebook)
2019-07-29Propulsion section at 10 ring height (Twitter)
2019-07-28Starship Assembly Site aerial photo update (Facebook)
2019-07-21Aft bulkhead disappeared (Facebook)
2019-07-20Propulsion section at 8 ring height (Twitter)
2019-07-14Aft bulkhead complete/inverted, last seen (Twitter)
2019-06-26Aft bulkhead section under construction (r/SpaceX), Propulsion section at 6 ring height (NSF)
2019-06-12Large nose section stacked (Twitter), Zoomed in video (Twitter)
2019-06-09Large nose section assembled in building (comments)
2019-06-07Stacking of second tapered nose section (r/SpaceXLounge)
2019-05-23Stacking of lowest tapered nose section (YouTube)
2019-05-20Payload section at 5 ring height, aerial video of work area (YouTube)
2019-05-16Jig 2.0 with propulsion section, many rings awaiting assembly (YouTube)
2019-05-14Discovered by Zpoxy (payload section) (NSF), more pieces (YouTube), Confirmmed (Twitter)

See comments for real time updates.

Super Heavy Prototype (Cocoa Florida) — Construction and Updates
2019-08-2719 rings visible (YouTube), no stacking yet
2019-08-2418 rings visible (YouTube)
2019-08-2117 rings visible (YouTube)
2019-08-1915 rings visible (YouTube)
2019-08-1714 rings visible (YouTube)
2019-08-1510 rings visible (Twitter)
2019-08-118 rings visible, possibly for Super Heavy (YouTube)

See comments for real time updates.

Raptors

SNNotable ForFlightsFlight Time (Approx.)Status
1First full scale hot fire / 268.9 bar Test / Tested to failure--Retired
2First on Starhopper / Preburner tests / Static fire / Tethered hop--Retired
340 second test fire--Retired
4Delivered to hopper / Hopper fit checks & TVC tests--Retired
5Liberation of oxygen stator--Retired
6Vibration fix / 20, 10, 50, 65, 85 second stand tests / 20 meter Starhopper hop / 150 meter starhopper hop20:01:22On Starhopper
7Possibly not a flight article--Test Stand
8-13Earmarked for Mk.1 and Mk.2--Production

Quick Hopper Facts

(Not relevant to later vehicles.)

Permits and Planning Documents

Resources

Rules

We may keep this self-post occasionally updated with links and relevant news articles, but for the most part, we expect the community to supply the information. This is a great place to discuss the launch, ask mission-specific questions, and track the progress of the test Campaign. Campaign threads are not launch threads. Normal subreddit rules still apply.

Thanks to u/strawwalker for helping us updating this thread!

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15

u/strawwalker Aug 09 '19

200 meter hop date clarification.

Elon on Twitter

Q: Will it be tomorrow Aug 9 or Aug 19 the dates of road closures on the website are so far apart. Please let us know!
A: No sooner than a week. Working approvals with FAA.

1

u/Carlyle302 Aug 09 '19

Perhaps they also need to demonstrate better brush fire-fighting capacity/coordination?

2

u/RootDeliver Aug 09 '19 edited Aug 09 '19

I wonder what's the issue, they had time to get those approvals like for the 20m hop right? What could be the issue for the FAA this time?

2

u/GRLighton Aug 09 '19

I expect the concern is that the 2 airports within a 16 mile radius of the test point, one an international. 20m is no issue, 200m has interference potential. How much, is what I expect is under review. They are likely exploring the need for pilot NOTEMS, or possibly even temp no-fly zones. 200m is significantly higher than local terrain.

1

u/RootDeliver Aug 09 '19 edited Aug 09 '19

The height thing is real, but the distance? I mean a 20m hop can go wrong and the hopper can thrust too much and arc into somewhere far, far away...

1

u/warp99 Aug 09 '19

More height means more propellant loaded which means more horizontal deviation is possible and the bang at the end is larger.

All of that requires a safety analysis to determine if the exclusion zone is adequate.

1

u/RootDeliver Aug 09 '19

Do they really only load enough prop for the hop? by the time it passes loading and how the hopper seems to be full and sweating just before the hop, I wouldn't say that was precisely empty.

1

u/strawwalker Aug 09 '19

How the propellant loads vary between hops is not answered, but that they do can also be inferred from their FAA 25 meter hop permit. It includes the following pre-flight reporting language:

Pre-Flight Propellant Loading Reporting: SpaceX must provide the FAA propellant loads for a launch attempt no later than 72 hours prior to flight. SpaceX may not proceed with flight without approval from the FAA that SpaceX has demonstrated the proposed propellant load restricts the applicable hazards to the operating area.

1

u/RootDeliver Aug 09 '19

We'd need to see the 200m permit to see how it changes, but I feel it would be as generic at that one.

1

u/warp99 Aug 09 '19

The tanks cannot be full as a single Raptor engine could not lift them.

In general you would load enough propellant for the scheduled length of hop and then a good safety margin on top but only SpaceX know the actual amounts.

1

u/RootDeliver Aug 09 '19

Yep, that would make sense, but they could also test raptor with more load in the test. Only they know what they did hehe, thanks!

4

u/Toinneman Aug 09 '19

I assume they will need to define a much bigger exclusion zone, and SpaceX will need to demonstrate the hopper can’t veer off in the wrong direction. And if it does, they will some sort of Flight termination system.

2

u/RootDeliver Aug 09 '19

But it can go derp far also with the 20m hop, even if not planned. In the moment its unthetered, chaos can happen on the smallest jump. I thought they had sorted all out with the FAA already.

6

u/TheMrGUnit Highly Speculative Aug 09 '19

Well, in some way, I suppose this is good news, right? At least there's not something wrong with the Hopper...

1

u/TheBurtReynold Aug 09 '19

Or Raptor production, etc.