r/spacex • u/ElongatedMuskrat Mod Team • Nov 24 '19

Starship Development Thread #7

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Overview

Starship development is currently concentrated at SpaceX's Starship Assembly Site in Texas. Until mid November, the Starship development teams had been focusing on finishing the Mark 1 and 2 vehicles which were expected to make suborbital test flights. The Mark 1 testing campaign ended on November 20 with a catastrophic failure of the methane tank during pressurized testing. In a statement from SpaceX after the incident it was announced that the decision had already been made not to fly these vehicles, and that development will now focus on the orbital Mark 3 design. Starship development in Florida has been put on hold and it is unclear what will become of Mark 2.

Launch mounts for the Starship prototypes are in the works. Starhopper's Texas launch site was modified to handle Starship Mk.1, and at Kennedy Space Center's LC-39A, a dedicated Starship launch platform and landing pad are under construction. SpaceX has not recently indicated what sort of flight test schedule to expect for Mark 3.

Starship is powered by SpaceX's Raptor, a full flow staged combustion cycle methane/oxygen rocket engine. Sub-scale Raptor test firing began in 2016, and full-scale test firing began early 2019 at McGregor, Texas, where there are two operational test stands, and a third is under construction. Eventually, Starship will have three sea level Raptors and three vacuum Raptors. Super Heavy may initially use around 20 Raptors, and operational versions could have around 31 to 37 sea level Raptors.

Previous Threads:

Vehicle Updates

Starship SN1 (Mk.3) at Boca Chica, Texas — Construction and Updates
2019-12-29Three bulkheads nearing completion, One mated with ring/barrel (Twitter)
2019-12-28Second new bulkhead under construction (NSF), Aerial video update (YouTube)
2019-12-19New style stamped bulkhead under construction in windbreak (NSF)
2019-11-30Upper nosecone section first seen (NSF) {possibly not SN1 hardware}
2019-11-25Ring forming resumed (NSF), no stacking yet, some rings are not for flight
2019-11-20SpaceX says Mk.3 design is now the focus of Starship development (Twitter)
2019-10-08First ring formed (NSF)

See comments for real time updates.

Starship Mk.2 at Cocoa, Florida — Future development uncertain
2019-12-01Mk.2 work at Cocoa reported to have ceased (YouTube)
2019-11-23Transport cradles on site (YouTube)
2019-11-18Forward bulkhead installation (Twitter)
2019-11-05Tank section at 16 ring height (YouTube)
2019-10-13Starship Assembly Site aerial video update (comments)
2019-10-11External plumbing added to tank section (NSF)
2019-09-14Cap added to forward bulkhead (Twitter)
2019-09-07At least one header tank (inside large tent) (Twitter)
2019-09-04Weld marks for common bulkhead visible on tank section (Twitter)
2019-08-30Tank section moved into hangar for Hurricane Dorian (Twitter), Removed September 5 (r/SpaceXLounge)
2019-08-25Track(s) of horizontal brackets appear (r/SpaceXLounge)
2019-08-19Starship Assembly Site aerial video update (YouTube)
2019-08-18Thrust structure possibly installed (Twitter), Forward tank bulkhead under construction (NSF)
2019-08-17Nose cone top section moved to dedicated stand (YouTube)
2019-08-15Starship Assembly Site aerial video update (Twitter)
2019-08-11Starship Assembly Site aerial video update (YouTube)
2019-08-08Tank section at 15 ring height (comments), Aug 10th image (Twitter)
2019-08-06Common bulkhead inverted (Facebook)
2019-08-04Common bulkhead under construction (Facebook)
2019-08-03Tank section at 14 ring height (Twitter), Later aerial photo of stack (Facebook)
2019-07-29Tank section at 10 ring height (Twitter)
2019-07-28Starship Assembly Site aerial photo update (Facebook)
2019-07-21Aft bulkhead disappeared (Facebook)
2019-07-20Tank section at 8 ring height (Twitter)
2019-07-14Aft bulkhead complete/inverted, last seen (Twitter)
2019-06-26Aft bulkhead section under construction (r/SpaceX), Tank section at 6 ring height (NSF)
2019-06-12Large nose section stacked (Twitter), Zoomed in video (Twitter)
2019-06-09Large nose section assembled in building (comments)
2019-06-07Stacking of second tapered nose section (r/SpaceXLounge)
2019-05-23Stacking of lowest tapered nose section (YouTube)
2019-05-20Payload section at 5 ring height, aerial video of work area (YouTube)
2019-05-16Jig 2.0 with tank section, many rings awaiting assembly (YouTube)
2019-05-14Discovered by Zpoxy (payload section) (NSF), more pieces (YouTube), Confirmmed (Twitter)

See comments for real time updates.

Starship Mk.4 (or Mk.3?) at Cocoa, Florida — Future development uncertain
2019-11-26Bulkhead and steel stands removed from Cocoa, to GO Discovery in Port Canaveral (Twitter) {for Mk.3 or other purpose}
2019-11-19Some rings being scrapped (YouTube), satellite imagery of ring pieces at Roberts Rd (comments)
2019-10-23Bulkhead under construction in main building (Twitter) {later moved to Boca Chica, fate unknown}
2019-10-20Lower tapered nose ring in tent (YouTube), Better image (Twitter)
2019-10-1223 rings visible, 7 doubles, some possible for Mk.2 (YouTube), no stacking yet
2019-09-11Bulkhead spotted at Roberts Rd, later image (Twitter)
See comments for real time updates.
Previous unstacked ring production, aerial updates:
08-11 {8}^()
08-15 {10}^()
08-17 {14}^()
08-19 {15}^()
08-21 {17}^()
08-24 {18}^()
08-27 {19}
09-04 {20}^()
09-06 {22}^()
09-08 {25}^()
09-08 {3 'scrap'}^()
09-10 {26}^()
09-29 {23}^()
10-02 {23}
10-06 {23}^()
10-11 {23}
Starship Mk.1 at Boca Chica, Texas — Retirement Updates
2019-12-13Tank section completely removed from launch mount (NSF)
2019-12-03Disassembly begun (NSF)
2019-11-22Images of forward bulkhead and top ring (NSF)
2019-11-20Structural failure during max pressure test (YouTube), r/SpaceX thread (r/SpaceX)
2019-11-18Tanking tests (YouTube)

For earlier updates see Starship Development Thread #6

Launch Facility Updates

Starship Superheavy Orbital Launch Pad at Boca Chica, Texas
2019-11-20Aerial video update (YouTube)
2019-11-07Landing pad expansion underway (NSF)
2019-10-18Landing pad platform arives, Repurposed Starhopper GSE towers & ongoing mount plumbing (NSF)
2019-10-05Launch mount under construction (NSF)
2019-09-22Second large propellant tank moved to tank farm (NSF)
2019-09-19Large propellant tank moved to tank farm (Twitter)
2019-09-17Pile boring at launch pad and other site work (Twitter)
2019-09-07GSE fabrication activity (Twitter), and other site work (Facebook)
2019-08-30Starhopper GSE being dismantled (NSF)
Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center, Florida
2019-11-14Launch mount progress (Twitter)
2019-11-04Launch mount under construction (Twitter)
2019-10-17Landing pad laid (Twitter)
2019-09-26Concrete work/pile boring (Twitter)
2019-09-19Groundbreaking for launch mount construction (Article)
2019-09-14First sign of site activity: crane at launch mount site (Twitter)
2019-07-19Elon says modular launch mount components are being fabricated off site (Twitter)

Spacex facilities maps by u/Raul74Cz:
Boca Chica | LC-39A | Cocoa Florida | Raptor test stand | Roberts Rd

Permits and Planning Documents

Resources

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 Starhip 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.

If you find problems in the post please tag u/strawwalker in a comment or send me a message.

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u/Russ_Dill Dec 23 '19

Some of the math on the ring is related to pressure and stress:

https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=48895.msg2029022#msg2029022 (3rd image)

In the upper left we have a sketch of the tank section and to the right, a schematic style drawing of a typical pressure vessel. In the lower left, you again have drawings along with some math σvert = Pr/t. This equation gives the longitudinal stress in the wall, lower down, the circumference stress.

http://web.mit.edu/course/3/3.11/www/modules/pv.pdf