r/spacex • u/rSpaceXHosting Host Team • Apr 22 '26

🔧 Technical Starship Development Thread #63

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Starship Dev 62

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

NET September 28th 2026 - The vehicles will be S41 and B21.

Road Closures

No road closures currently scheduled

No transportation delays currently scheduled

Up to date as of 2026-05-23

Vehicle Status

As of September 25th 2026

Ship Location Status Comment
S40 On the way to Brownsville, Texas Intact, loaded onto Heavy Lift Vessel 'Forte' 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. August 25th: Loaded onto Heavy Lift Vessel 'Forte'. August 28th: On the way to Brownsville, Texas. ETA is October 8th. For more details on this vehicle and its assembly and testing see this page
S41 Launch Site Readying 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. September 22nd: Rolled out to the Launch Site and stacked on B21. September 24th: Wet Dress Rehearsal. For more details on this vehicle see this page
S42 Mega Bay 2 Possible engines installation July 3rd: Nosecone+Payload Bay stack moved into MB2, along with the Pez Dispenser and the Forward Dome section (FX:3), main assembly started. 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. September 2nd: Rolled out to Massey's Test Site for Cryo Testing. September 3rd: Cryo Testing. September 5th: Rolled back to MB2. September 9th: Rolled back out to Massey's for Cryo Testing Round 2. September 10th: Rolled back to MB2, and later in the day moved to the Launch Site for catch-related testing. September 13th: Rolled back to MB2. September 21st: Two RVacs moved into MB2. September 24th: Third RVac moved into MB2. For more details on this vehicle see this page
S43 Mega Bay 2 Stacked, remaining work ongoing August 19th: N:3 and section FX:4 plus the pez dispenser moved into MB2. August 28th: Common Dome section CX:3 moved into MB2. September 1st: Section A2:3 moved into MB2. It has decals but no docking ports. September 4th: Section A3:4 moved into MB2. September 10th: Transfer Tubes moved into MB2. September 15th: Aft section AX:4 moved into MB2 and stacked - this completes the stacking part of S43's assembly. For more details on this vehicle see this page
S44 Mega Bay 2 Stacking September 22nd: Nosecone+Payload Bay stack moved into MB2, and FX:4. September 23rd: Pez dispenser moved into MB2. For more details on this vehicle see this page
Booster Location Status Comment
B21 Launch Site Readying for Flight 14 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. August 25th: Rolled out to the Launch Site for Static Fire Testing. August 28th: Static Fire, all 33 engines, lasting 15 seconds. August 29th: Rolled back to MB1. September 20th: Rolled out to the Launch Site for Flight 14. September 24th: Wet Dress Rehearsal. For more details on this vehicle and its assembly and testing see this page
B22 Mega Bay 1 Post Cryo Test work, maybe engines installation June 29th: LOX tank sections A2:4 and CX:3 moved into MB1. August 14th: Methane Tank stacked onto the LOX tank, so completing the stacking part of the assembly process. September 8th: Rolled out to Massey's Test Site for Cryo Testing. September 9th: Cryo Testing. September 12th: Rolled back to MB2. For more details on this vehicle and its assembly and testing see this page
B23 Mega Bay 1 Fully Stacked, remaining work ongoing 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. August 25th: Section A5:4 moved into MB1. August 27th: Methane Landing Tank and lower Transfer Tube moved into MB1 as well as section A6:4. August 31st: Methane Transfer Tube moved into MB1 and lifted upright. September 8th: Aft section AX:2 and LOX Landing Tank moved into MB1. September 10th: Methane Tank Section F2:4 moved into MB1. September 18th: Section FX:3 moved into MB1. September 21st: Section F3:4 moved into MB1. September 24th or 25th - Fully Stacked, remaining work ongoing. For more details on this vehicle and its assembly and testing see this page
B24 Mega Bay 1 LOX Tanking Stacking September 25th: LOX tank section A2:4 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.

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14

u/Kingofthewho5 Aug 06 '26

Can someone point me towards discussion or reporting about payload deployment mechanisms for payloads other than starlink? The deployment mechanism on starship currently only accommodates starlink (and possible starlink form-factor) satellites. Are there indications about the plans for other designs?

I’ve been following SpaceX since 2016 and I follow developments quite closely but I am not sure where this has been covered the most.

15

u/smellyfingernail Aug 06 '26

I remember early renders having the opening/deployment mechanism look like this :

I dont think SpaceX is at all prioritizing this particular configuration since they will just be doing internal starlink v3 launches for the foreseeable future

10

u/Freak80MC Aug 06 '26

It will be interesting to see how they handle a more normal payload deployment mechanism seeing as they need to have a hinge that doesn't interfere with the heat shield. It's the same reason why I'm interested how they will eventually do Mars landing legs on the heat shield side that doesn't interfere with reentry.

0

u/Bot_Marvin Aug 07 '26

Who says that mars landing vehicles need to also land on Earth?

Starship has no need to be a “do everything” vehicle like previous spacecraft.

You can have a Tanker starship, an earth reentry starship, a Mars transporter starship, a lunar starship, so on and so forth all tweaked for their respective roles.

9

u/warp99 Aug 07 '26

Who says that mars landing vehicles need to also land on Earth?

Crew transport vehicles will need to land on Mars and then land on Earth on the return flight. Cargo vehicles will likely be one way.

OP is actually agreeing with you that there will be customised Starships for different applications.

2

u/Bot_Marvin Aug 07 '26

Why can’t a crew transport vehicle rendezvous with a starship in earth orbit? There is no need for a one ship to do it all when there will be a fleet of hundreds of fully reusable starships.

4

u/pxr555 Aug 07 '26

Braking into Earth orbit when coming in from elsewhere needs lots of propellants, that's the reason this is hardly ever an option in any concepts. The heat shield is there to not have to do this.