FAQ
- 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.”
- Where can I find streams of the launch? SpaceX Full Livestream. NASASpaceFlight Channel. Lab Padre Channel. Everyday Astronaut Channel.
- 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.
- 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.”
- 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.
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 |
Resources
- LabPadre Channel | NASASpaceFlight.com Channel
- NSF: Booster 7 + Ship X (likely 24) Updates Thread | Most Recent
- NSF: Boca Chica Production Updates Thread | Most recent
- NSF: Elon Starship tweet compilation | Most Recent
- SpaceX: Website Starship page | Starship Users Guide (2020, PDF)
- FAA: SpaceX Starship Project at the Boca Chica Launch Site
- FAA: Temporary Flight Restrictions NOTAM list
- FCC: Starship Orbital Demo detailed Exhibit - 0748-EX-ST-2021 application June 20 through December 20
- NASA: Starship Reentry Observation (Technical Report)
- Hwy 4 & Boca Chica Beach Closures (May not be available outside US)
- Production Progress Infographics by @RingWatchers
- Raptor 2 Tracker by @SpaceRhin0
- Acronym definitions by Decronym
- Everyday Astronaut: Starbase Tour with Elon Musk, Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
- Everyday Astronaut: 2022 Elon Musk Interviews, Starbase/Ship Updates | Launch Tower | Merlin Engine | Raptor Engine
New comment from /u/santacfan on Reddit:
Starbase Llive-
3:13am- Work starts back up
4:31am- Crane picks up a light tower from in front of the OLM and swings it over to the pit on the left side
5:08am- They are using the long reach excavators bucket to move concrete from a delivery truck to the gaps between the legs and the manifolds
5:12am- Crane swings a load of long straight rebar over to the pit
5:32am- Crane swings another load of rebar over to the pit
6:49am- Final segment of the 4th level of the new mega bay is lifted
7:45am- More rebar lifted over to the pit
8:08am- Another load of rebar, looks like one more load sitting there waiting.
8:23am- Workers carrying sticks of rebar over to the area between the cryo pit lid and the OLM. Other workers appear to be getting more of the gaps between the legs and manifolds ready for concrete
9:23am- Load of rebar lifted to the pit
9:38am- Pump truck goes up by the new cryo pit
9:40am- Crane lifts a big ball of what looks like twisted metal out of the pit. Ghost of SN11?
10:24am- Workers up at the SQD
10:58am- More rebar lifted over
11:04am- Yep you guessed it, more rebar
11:31am- Even more rebar. (When we saw the wire mesh mats lifted over yesterday, I thought they were close to done. I was wrong)
1:34pm- Rebar magically continues to appear out of no where. (Okay it was probably just a new delivery )
1:36pm- Worker on top of the chopsticks looking at the rail
2:23pm- Crane lifts black object over to the pit
4:04pm- Pump truck folds up
4:22pm- Crane lifts a load of supplies off of the top of the OLM
4:35pm- Crane lifts another load off the top
4:38pm- More rebar lifted over to the pit
4:56pm- 3rd load off the top of the OLM. (Maybe the scaffolding out of the center? There are people climbing around on the scaffolding on the top but it doesn’t look like they are actually taking anything apart)
6:10pm- Lift up looking at the cameras at the end of the stabilizer arms
7:19pm- Second crane comes in and lifts what looks to be a new dog house and sits it off to the side. Looks longer like the one for the cryo leg.
7:44pm- Second crane leaves. Doesn’t look like it’s going to install the new doghouse
8:55pm- 2 people back up working on the SQD
9:00pm- Gravel being dumped over by the pit on the left side. Just outside of the form work.
9:10pm- Long reach excavator returns. Looks like it’s dumping concrete between the legs and manifolds again.
9:25pm- Definitely doesn’t look like they are preparing for any testing tonight.
9:45pm- I may have spoke to soon. Pad starting to clear out some. There are still people welding, grinding, and people over in the pit though
10:14pm- More rebar lifted into the pit
(This gets synced)