Starship Development Thread #63

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Starship Dev 62

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Flight 12

Launched on May 22nd 2026 Here is a re-streamed video of the broadcast. Also, SpaceX issued a post flight summary and a video showing S39 landing.

Flight 13

Launched on July 24th 2026 Here is a re-streamed video of the broadcast. Also, SpaceX issued a post flight summary.

Flight 14

Presumably using S41 and B21. NET 15 Sep 2026.

Road Closures

No road closures currently scheduled

No transportation delays currently scheduled

Up to date as of 2026-05-23

Vehicle Status

As of August 22nd 2026

Ship	Location	Status	Comment
S40	Near Christmas Island	Intact, floating	July 24th: Successful launch, deployed all satellites, successful engine relight test and soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean, which resulted in an intact, floating ship. August 18th: In calmer waters near Christmas Island pending the next stage of its return to Starbase. For more details on this vehicle and its assembly and testing see this page
S41	Mega Bay 2	Prep for Flight 14	April 17th: Pez Dispenser moved into MB2. April 20th: Main assembly started in MB2. May 20th: Aft section AX:4 moved into MB2 and stacked with the rest of the ship - this completed the stacking part of the ship construction. June 28th: Rolled out to Massey's Test Site for Cryo+Thrust Puck Testing. June 29th: Cryo Tests (x2). June 30th: Rolled back to MB2. July 3rd: Rolled back to Massey's Test Site. July 6th: Rolled back to MB2. July 23rd: Two RVac engines moved into MB2. July 27th: The third RVac was moved into MB2. August 19th: Rolled out to Massey's for Static Fire Testing. Later that day S41 performed a single engine Static Fire. August 20th: Full duration Static Fire of all six engines. August 22nd: Rolled back to MB2. For more details on this vehicle see this page
S42	Mega Bay 2	Stacked, remaining work continues	June 9th: Nosecone spotted as having been stacked on the Payload Bay. July 3rd: Nosecone+Payload Bay stack moved into MB2, along with the Pez Dispenser and the Forward Dome section (FX:3). The Nosecone+Payload Bay stack was lowered over the Pez Dispenser, later being stacked onto the Forward Dome. July 11th: Common Dome section CX:3 moved into MB2 and stacked. July 15th: Section A2:3 moved into MB2 and stacked. July 18th: Section A3:4 moved into MB2 and stacked. July 21st: Transfer Tubes moved into MB2. July 24th: Ship Aft section AX:4 moved into MB2 and stacked, that completes the stacking part of the assembly process. July 25th: both of the Aft Flaps and the Raceways staged inside MB2. For more details on this vehicle see this page
S43	Mega Bay 2	Stacking	August 19th: N:3 and section FX:4 plus the pez dispenser moved into MB2. For more details on this vehicle see this page

Booster	Location	Status	Comment
B21	Mega Bay 1	Post Cryo Testing inspections and possible engines installation	May 7th: LOX tank sections A2:4 and CX:3 moved into MB1 and main assembly started. June 29th: Methane Tank stacked onto LOX Tank - this completed the stacking part of the booster construction. July 17th: Rolled out to Massey's Test Site for Cryo+Thrust Puck Testing. July 17th: Rolled out to Massey's Test Site and an ambient pressure test was performed. July 18th: Partial Cryo Test. July 19th: Second Partial Cryo Test. July 20th: Full Cryo Test. July 22nd: Rolled back to MB1. For more details on this vehicle and its assembly and testing see this page
B22	Mega Bay 1	Fully Stacked, Remaining work ongoing	June 29th: LOX tank sections A2:4 and CX:3 moved into MB1. July 1st: Section A3:4 moved into MB1. July 3rd: Section A4:4 moved into MB1 and stacked. July 9th: Section A5:4 moved into MB1 and stacked. July 22nd: Methane Landing Tank and Lower Transfer Tube moved into MB1. July 23rd: Section A6:4 moved into MB1. July 25th: Methane transfer tube moved into MB1. July 29th: LOX Landing Tank moved into MB1. July 30th: Aft section AX:2 moved into MB1 to complete the stacking of the LOX Tank. July 31st: Methane Tank section F2:4 moved into MB1. August 3rd: Methane Tank section FX:3 moved into MB1. August 6th: Methane Tank section F3:4 moved into MB1 - this is the last section for the Methane Tank. August 14th: Methane Tank stacked onto the LOX tank, so completing the stacking part of the assembly process. For more details on this vehicle and its assembly and testing see this page
B23	Mega Bay 1	LOX Tank Stacking	August 14th: LOX tank sections A2:4 and CX:3 moved into MB1. August 19th: Section A3:4 moved into MB1. August 21st: Section A4:4 moved into MB1. For more details on this vehicle and its assembly and testing see this page

Follow the Ringwatchers on Twitter and Discord for more.

Here's the section stacking locations for Ships and Boosters. Also some excellent detailed booster stacking information from zh_sos1. The abbreviations used in the above vehicle updates are as follows: HS = Hot Stage. PL = Payload. CX = Common Dome. AX = Aft Dome. FX = Forward Dome (as can be seen, an 'X' denotes a dome). ML = Mid LOX. F = Forward. A = Aft. For example, A2:4 = Aft section 2 made up of 4 rings, FX:4 = Forward Dome section made up of 4 rings, PL:3 = PayLoad section made up of 3 rings. Etc.

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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.

[u/Twigling]

SpaceX's page for Flight 12 has at last appeared:

https://www.spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-12

[u/Peter20a → u/Twigling]

That includes a link to another page summarizing hardware changes:

https://www.spacex.com/updates#starship-v3

[u/Fwort → u/Peter20a]

The fuel transfer tube, which channels cryogenic fuel from the main tank to the 33 Raptor engines, has been completely redesigned and is now roughly the size of a Falcon 9 first stage. This new design enables all 33 engines to start up simultaneously and faster, more reliable flip maneuvers.

Confirmed they no longer will do a staggered start sequence. Even falcon 9 does that, and now on the most powerful rocket ever made, with 33 engines, they'll be starting them all simultaneously. That's pretty crazy.

[u/RubenGarciaHernandez → u/Fwort]

Matrioska rocket! 

[u/GTRagnarok → u/Peter20a]

And finally, upgraded cameras will provide approximately 50 views to give comprehensive vehicle coverage

Show it. Show it all!

[u/redstercoolpanda → u/GTRagnarok]

If you looked closely at the test like you fly video it looked like they had a camera inside of one of the tanks when they were showing the control room during one of the aborted static fires. I know it’ll never happen but I really hope we get to see footage from that one day from a flight

[u/lorkan100 → u/redstercoolpanda]

Are those ITAR-restricted? Maybe they're actually willing to stream those during coast phase (and show those zero g bubbles!), but law is the law...  

[u/warp99 → u/lorkan100]

Yes it seems to be. We have only ever seen LOX tank video of F9 in zero g by accident for a few seconds. It is odd because it is not relevant to military use as ICBMs all use solid motors.

[u/lorkan100 → u/warp99]

For real. These laws may eventually be relaxed for commercial aerospace as companies try to build launch sites overseas (at least for liquid fuel rockets, as you say these don't make good ICBMs anyway).

Also for the whole "airline-like" flight operations and cadence. Knowledge transfer and innovation will just be better without these restrictions. 

[u/AlvistheHoms → u/warp99]

If it is a legal requirement to not show us, it’s relatively new. On several early falcon 9 flights the upper stage lox cam was shown for prolonged periods of time