SpaceX Starship page

FAQ

  1. When (first) orbital flight? First integrated flight test occurred April 20, 2023. “The vehicle cleared the pad and beach as Starship climbed to an apogee of ~39 km over the Gulf of Mexico – the highest of any Starship to-date. The vehicle experienced multiple engines out during the flight test, lost altitude, and began to tumble. The flight termination system was commanded on both the booster and ship.”
  2. Where can I find streams of the launch? SpaceX Full Livestream. NASASpaceFlight Channel. Lab Padre Channel. Everyday Astronaut Channel.
  3. What’s happening next? SpaceX has assessed damage to Stage 0 and is implementing fixes and changes including a water deluge/pad protection/“shower head” system. No major repairs to key structures appear to be necessary.
  4. When is the next flight test? Just after flight, Elon stated they “Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months.” On April 29, he reiterated this estimate in a Twitter Spaces Q&A (summarized here), saying “I’m glad to report that the pad damage is actually quite small,” should “be repaired quickly,” and “From a pad standpoint, we are probably ready to launch in 6 to 8 weeks.” Requalifying the flight termination system (FTS) and the FAA post-incident review will likely require the longest time to complete. Musk reiterated the timeline on May 26, stating “Major launchpad upgrades should be complete in about a month, then another month of rocket testing on pad, then flight 2 of Starship.”
  5. Why no flame diverter/flame trench below the OLM? Musk tweeted on April 21: “3 months ago, we started building a massive water-cooled, steel plate to go under the launch mount. Wasn’t ready in time & we wrongly thought, based on static fire data, that Fondag would make it through 1 launch.” Regarding a trench, note that the Starship on the OLM sits 2.5x higher off the ground than the Saturn V sat above the base of its flame trench, and the OLM has 6 exits vs. 2 on the Saturn V trench.

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Quick Links

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

Starship Dev 46 | Starship Dev 45 | Starship Dev 44 | Starship Dev 43

Official Starship Update | r/SpaceX Update Thread

Status

Road Closures

Type Start (UTC) End (UTC) Status
Primary 2023-08-04 13:00:00 2023-08-05 01:00:00 Possible
Alternative 2023-08-06 13:00:00 2023-08-07 01:00:00 Possible
Alternative 2023-08-07 13:00:00 2023-08-08 01:00:00 Possible

Up to date as of 2023-08-04

Vehicle Status

As of July 28th 2023

Follow Ring Watchers on Twitter and Discord for more.

Ship Location Status Comment
S15 Rocket Garden Scrapped
S20 Rocket Garden Retired
S24 Gulf of Mexico Destroyed Destroyed on during Flight Test 1
S25 Launch Site Testing Spin Prime and Static Fire
S26 Rocket Garden Resting No fins or heat shield, plus other changes.
S27 Rocket Garden Scrapped Common dome imploded
S28 Rocket Garden Pending Raptor install Previously tested at Masseys
S29 High Bay 1 Under construction
S30 Build Site Under construction
S31 Build Site Parts under construction Assorted parts spotted through S34.

 

Booster Location Status Comment
Pre-B7 & B8 Scrapped or Retired B4 is in the Rocket Garden, the rest are scrapped.
B7 Gulf of Mexico Destroyed Destroyed April 20th in Flight Test 1
B9 Mega bay Pending raptor swap and hot-stage ring install Static fire (August 5th)
B10 Masseys Testing Cryo testing
B11 Rocket Garden Resting
B12 Megabay Raceways installed
B13 Build Site Parts under construction
B14 Build Site Parts under construction
B15 Build Site Parts under construction

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Resources

  • LettuceTurnipTheBeetEnglish
    5·
    1 year ago

    New comment from /u/santacfan on Reddit:

    Starbase live-

    12:57am- Short piece of pipe lifted into the pit

    7:27am- Rebar lifted over by the deluge area. No idea where this is going. Maybe just staging it for the OLM pit?

    7:33am- More rebar lifted

    7:40am- Possible metal imbed lifted

    7:43am- Another imbed. Square piece of metal

    7:49am- Another imbed. 90 degree angle piece

    7:52am- Crane moving the rebar lowers

    9:15am- Large straight rebar lifted over to the pit

    9:22am- More rebar

    10:26am- Crane on left side disconnects from whatever it was supporting. (Most likely the small section of pipe that was lifted in last night)

    11:00am- Left crane lifts something into the pit. Can’t tell what it is

    11:09am- Deluge pipe lifted over. Has to be one of the feed pipes coming in from the bunker.

    11:47am- LR11000 lifts large metal frame to the ship QD. Looks like it went to the little side wing

    1:09pm- More rebar lifted over

    1:15pm- More rebar

    1:26pm- More rebar

    2:03pm- LR11000 goes for a walk

    2:15pm- More rebar

    2:24pm- Long reach excavator tamps down bottom of pit

    2:54pm- More rebar

    3:08pm- LR 11000 arrives next to S25

    3:14pm- Load of scaffolding pieces lowered to the top of the OLM

    3:31pm- More rebar moved

    3:34pm- LR11000 picks up the squid

    3:39pm- More rebar swung over

    3:48pm- Squid swung over to S25

    3:55pm- Lift goes up at S25

    4:01pm- Workers start connecting the squid

    4:22pm- Squid connected

    4:23pm- Crane lowers something between OLM and OLT. Can’t see what though

    4:43pm- Grover goes up in the background and moves 3 loads. Looks like the counterweight tray and 2 more counterweights

    5:05pm- More rebar

    5:45pm- Crane on the left side lifts deluge feed pipe and repositions it

    6:20- Lift goes up at S25

    6:29pm- Deluge pipe lifted out and sat by side of pit. Workers gather around the end

    6:36pm- Lift at S25 goes down

    6:37pm- Lift goes up to Chopsticks, near pivot point by the tower

    6:43pm- Deluge pipe lifted back into the pit

    6:49pm- Forklift drives under OLM

    7:06pm- Appears to have another one of the plate extensions. Goes between cryo pipe leg and new stairs leg

    7:39pm- Disconnected from the forklift

    8:45pm- Scaffolding and tarps being set up under the OLM. The great weldathon continues.

    9:15pm- Grover moves back closer to the deluge tank farm and starts lifting counterweights back on

    10:02pm- Grover finishes stacking counterweights and turns towards the water deluge tank farm

    (This gets synced)