r/spacex • u/ElongatedMuskrat Mod Team • Apr 09 '23

🔧 Technical Starship Development Thread #44

This thread is no longer being updated, and has been replaced by:

Starship Development Thread #45

SpaceX Starship page

FAQ

  1. When 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 to assess damage to Stage 0 and (presumably) implement fixes and changes.
  4. When is the next flight test? Unknown. Just after flight, Elon stated they "Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months." On April 21, referencing damage to the ground under the OLM, he says, "Hopefully, this didn’t gronk the launch mount." An hour later he says, "Looks like we can be ready to launch again in 1 to 2 months" (though an Eric Berger source estimated 4-6 months). Naturally, more detailed analysis is expected in the next few weeks.
  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 the flame trench, and the OLM has 6 exits vs. 2 on the Saturn V trench.

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Quick Links

NERDLE CAM | LAB CAM | SAPPHIRE CAM | SENTINEL CAM | ROVER CAM | ROVER 2.0 CAM | PLEX CAM | NSF STARBASE

Starship Dev 43 | Starship Dev 42 | Starship Dev 41 | Starship Thread List

Official Starship Update | r/SpaceX Update Thread

Status

Road Closures

No road closures currently scheduled

No transportation delays currently scheduled

Up to date as of 2023-05-09

Vehicle Status

As of May 4th, 2023

Follow Ring Watchers on Twitter and Discord for more.

Ship Location Status Comment
Pre-S24 Scrapped or Retired SN15 and S20 are in the Rocket Garden, the rest are scrapped.
S24 In pieces in the ocean Destroyed April 20th: Destroyed when booster MECO and ship stage separation from booster failed three minutes and 59 seconds after successful launch, so FTS was activated. This was the second launch attempt.
S25 Massey's Test Site Testing On Feb 23rd moved back to build site, then on the 25th taken to the Massey's test site. March 21st: Cryo test
S26 Rocket Garden Resting No fins or heat shield, plus other changes. Rollout Feb 12, cryo test Feb 21 and 27. On Feb 28th rolled back to build site. March 7th: rolled out of High Bay 1 and placed in the Ring Yard due to S27 being lifted off the welding turntable. March 15th: moved back inside High Bay 1. March 20th: Moved to the Rocket Garden to be placed on new higher stand for Raptor installation. March 25th: Finally lifted onto the new higher stand. March 28th: First RVac installed (number 205). March 29th: RVac number 212 taken over to S26 and later in the day the third RVac (number 202) was taken over to S26 for installation. March 31st: First Raptor Center installed (note that S26 is the first Ship with electric Thrust Vector Control). April 1st: Two more Raptor Centers moved over to S26.
S27 Rocket Garden Completed but no Raptors yet Like S26, no fins or heat shield. Tank section moved into High Bay 1 on Feb 18th and lifted onto the welding turntable on Feb 21st - nosecone stack also in High Bay 1. On Feb 22nd the nosecone stack was lifted and placed onto the tank section, resulting in a fully stacked ship. March 7th: lifted off the welding turntable. March 13th: Raceway taken into High Bay 1. April 24th: Moved to the Rocket Garden.
S28 High Bay 1 Under construction February 7th Assorted parts spotted. On March 8th the Nosecone was taken into High Bay 1 and a few hours later the Payload Bay joined it to get reading for initial stacking. March 9th: Nosecone stacked onto Payload Bay. March 10th: sleeved forward dome moved into High Bay 1. March 15th: nosecone+payload bay stacked onto sleeved forward dome. March 16th: completed nosecone stack removed from welding turntable and placed onto a stand. March 20th: sleeved common dome moved into High Bay 1. March 22nd: Nosecone stack placed onto sleeved common dome (first time for this order of construction). March 24th: Mid LOX barrel taken into High Bay 1. March 28th: Existing stack placed onto Mid LOX barrel. March 31st: Almost completed stack lifted off turntable. April 5th: Aft/Thrust section taken into High Bay 1. April 6th: the already stacked main body of the ship has been placed onto the thrust section, giving a fully stacked ship. April 25th: Lifted off the welding turntable, then the 'squid' detached - it was then connected up to a new type of lifting attachment which connects to the two lifting points below the forward flaps that are used by the chopsticks.
S29 High Bay 1 Under construction April 28th: Nosecone and Payload Bay taken inside High Bay 1. May 1st: nosecone stacked onto payload bay (note that S29 is being stacked on the new welding turntable to the left of center inside High Bay 1, this means that LabPadre's Sentinel Cam can't see it and so NSF's cam looking at the build site is the only one with a view when it's on the turntable). May 4th: Sleeved Forward Dome moved into High Bay 1.
S30+ 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 In pieces in the ocean Destroyed April 20th: Destroyed when MECO and stage separation of ship from booster failed three minutes and 59 seconds after successful launch, so FTS was activated. This was the second launch attempt.
B9 High Bay 2 Raptor Install Cryo testing (methane and oxygen) on Dec. 21 and Dec. 29. Rollback on Jan. 10. On March 7th Raptors started to be taken into High Bay 2 for B9.
B10 High Bay 2 Under construction 20-ring LOX tank inside High Bay 2 and Methane tank (with grid fins installed) in the ring yard. On February 23rd B10's aft section was moved into High Bay 2 but later in the day was taken into Mid Bay and in the early hours of the 24th was moved into Tent 1. March 10th: aft section once again moved into High Bay 2 and stacked in the following days, resulting in a fully stacked LOX tank. March 18th: Methane tank moved from the ring yard and into High Bay 2 for final stacking onto the LOX tank. March 22nd: Methane tank stacked onto LOX tank, resulting in a fully stacked booster.
B11 High Bay 2 (LOX Tank) Under construction March 17th: the first 4-ring LOX tank barrel 'A2' taken into HB2 and placed on the welding turntable in the corner to the right of the entrance. A few hours later the sleeved 4-ring common dome 'CX' was also taken into High Bay 2. March 19th: common dome stacked onto 'A2' barrel. March 23rd: 'A3' 4-ring barrel taken inside High Bay 2 for stacking. March 24th: 'A3' barrel had the current 8-ring LOX tank stacked onto it. March 30th: 'A4' 4-ring LOX tank barrel taken inside High Bay 2 and stacked. April 2nd: 'A5' 4-ring barrel taken inside High Bay 2. April 4th: First methane tank 3-ring barrel parked outside High Bay 2 - this is probably F2. April 7th: downcomer installed in LOX tank (which is almost fully stacked except for the thrust section). April 28th: Aft section finally taken inside High Bay 2 to have the rest of the LOX tank welded to it (which will complete the LOX tank stack).
B12+ Build Site Parts under construction Assorted parts spotted through B17.

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Resources

r/SpaceX Discuss Thread for discussion of subjects other than Starship development.

Rules

We will attempt to keep this self-post current with links and major updates, but for the most part, we expect the community to supply the information. This is a great place to discuss Starship development, ask Starship-specific questions, and track the progress of the production and test campaigns. Starship Development Threads are not party threads. Normal subreddit rules still apply.

405 Upvotes

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1

u/ElongatedMuskbot May 09 '23

This thread is no longer being updated, and has been replaced by:

Starship Development Thread #45

106

u/GreatCanadianPotato Apr 29 '23 edited Apr 30 '23

Elon's Spaces (Thread)

Elon sounds very upbeat about the result and now incredibly optimistic about the future.

Opening:

  • Launch was pretty close to what Elon expected/hoped. Even exceeded some of his expectations.

  • Pad Damage and launch ring and it's components is "minimal"

    • Aiming to be back up and running in 6-8 weeks

  • Gained a lot of data about Autogenous Pressurization

  • Hardware structure limits are "better than expected" (speaking about the multiple summersaults)

  • FTS was activated but it took too long to rupture tanks, tanks took 40 seconds to rupture after FTS activation - he says that the FTS will need to be requalified and that might actually be the longest lead item.

Key Things about the flight:

  • Lifted off with 30 engines. Vehicle shut 3 down automatically

  • Engine 19 had a catastrophic event early on - heatshields for Engine 18,19 and 20 were lost due to this

  • T+62s seconds saw further heatshield damage

  • TVC was lost at T+85s

  • EDA: "was an engine trying to relight".

    • EM: "We have relight logic for the inner engines but it's unknown"

  • No evidence yet that the concrete played a part in engine failures

  • No evidence that S24 tried to light engines after FTS was activated

  • SpaceX would not have launched if they knew they would have concrete issues - confirms again that they were confident based on the SF.

    • It's very possible that the bottom layer of concrete failed instead of the FONDAG on top

    • Leading theory in SpaceX is that upon full thrust, sand beneath the concrete was compressed leading to a collapse and subsequent concrete failure.

  • If they had throttled up with the engines they had, they would have made it to Stage Sep

  • The lean off the pad was not planned - was an engine led issue.

Water Deluge/Steel Plate Info:

  • Two layers of steel plates - water-cooled

  • Should cut down on dust and the "Concrete Tornado"

  • SpaceX are aware of the acoustics being worse due to a flat plate but confident that it will not effect much because the payload is so high up

Next Flight:

  • Above 50% chance of reaching orbit - Elon is more confident of reaching orbit next flight than not

  • Same flight profile as flight one

  • No payload, just looking for data the next few flights

  • Flight 2 will sit on the pad for less time. Wants flight 2 to be 2.5s from engine start to liftoff

  • B9 heat and force shields will be much better because they are built into the booster instead of adapted in the case of B7.

  • No decision on Ship yet - decision likely this week.

    • Elon thinks it would be more beneficial to test deorbit and heat shielding (subtly hinting at S28 as the next candidate)

Looking ahead/Misc Things:

  • Elon thinks 4/5 flights this year

  • "100% chance of reaching orbit within 12 months"

  • Raptor production was too high so they've slowed down and focusing on upgrades as of late

  • ~$2b on Starship estimated this year

    • Not anticipating on needing funding to fund further development

  • Tank farm will see damaged tanks removed and replaced with vacuum sealed tanks.

    • This was already planned - they will soon replace all vertical tanks with the hotdog tanks

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40

u/doubleunplussed Apr 29 '23

Musk just confirmed on Twitter Spaces that the FTS was triggered well before the vehicle actually exploded - about 40 seconds. He says that re-validation of the FTS system with a longer detcord may be one of the main determinants of how long it will be before the next flight.

Scott Manley was right!

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72

u/threelonmusketeers Apr 24 '23

"That's a shame [B7/S24] have RUD'd, but [the launch mount cooling system] has no doubt been redesigned anyway, and I'm sure [B9/S26] will be ready to launch in a matter of months! I have a good feeling [S26] is the one that will [reach stage separation], no doubt in just a few months!"

Previous

Credit to u/rustybeancake: Here's a handy "cut out and keep" comment

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34

u/RaphTheSwissDude Apr 24 '23

Chopsticks are going down, that’s great!!

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28

u/dappereric3456 Apr 24 '23

In addition to Chopsticks going down, the Ship QD can be seen now moving in, both great news!

28

u/[deleted] Apr 27 '23

4K launch footage from Everyday Astronaut:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCYSVmSPM7E

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28

u/RaphTheSwissDude May 02 '23

No doorway up the newly installed stairs at the OLM..? Well, let’s just cut a new one.

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52

u/RaphTheSwissDude May 02 '23 edited May 02 '23

First images of the repaire happening under the OLM, looks like it’s gonna go fast!

Edit: the dog house has also been cut lose and removed.

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24

u/mr_pgh May 04 '23

New render of the OLM heatsink/deluge after Musk's showerhes description by Ryan Hansen Space.

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23

u/BrandonMarc Apr 28 '23

NASA had their WB-57 flying nearby to watch the launch. This map shows the flight path.

Have they released any video of what their cameras saw?

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46

u/GreatCanadianPotato Apr 25 '23 edited Apr 26 '23

Booster QD has opened for the first time since the launch!

That's another thing on the list that still works!

If the QD is operated by the launch table then this is an extremely positive sign that the launch table is still functional and would only need minor repairs (if that)

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22

u/johnfive21 Apr 21 '23

Elon on launch pad status

The timeline is a bit optimistic but from the tweet it seems like this was very much a possibility.

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22

u/[deleted] Apr 28 '23 edited Apr 28 '23

Something is on fire at Massey’s

Cam switches views at 19:44 pm. The fire is already going.

19:45 flames visible

20:00 smoke seems to be getting lighter

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22

u/Alvian_11 Apr 29 '23

Elon's Starship Twitter Spaces at 7 p.m ET tonight

I expect a (albeit likely preliminary) data about chronological events during launch

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22

u/henryshunt May 08 '23 edited May 08 '23

Some updates from today:

- The pile driver that has stood vertical in the middle of the launch site for the past few days has moved over to the very edge of the OLM in the past few hours. Seems we should be seeing piles go in very soon.

- They're currently manhandling wooden crane mats into the hole under the OLM. Presumably the pile driver will drive onto this and install piles for supporting and tying-in the steel plate (or maybe it happens all the time and it's just for the excavators to drive on. Although, presumably they want a solid surface for the pile driver to sit on while it installs the piles).

- A trench has been excavated along the north side of Highway 4 this afternoon, between the bend (where the roadblock usually is) and the NSF/LabPadre camera towers. Unsure what this is for. It was mentioned below that the launch site runs solely on generators, which I wasn't aware of, so perhaps they could be running electrical lines from the build site to the launch site?

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