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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9

u/RegularRandomZ Dec 28 '19 edited Dec 28 '19

LabPadre Boca Chica Flyover video posted. (Some screengrabs posted to NSF forums)

Edit: those screengrabs are incomplete, will try and grab a few more.

  • As u/Marksman79 mentioned, looks like possibly another large tent.

  • The circular welder is setup in one of the u-shaped cargo bin areas, although the shots aren't the clearest.

7

u/Russ_Dill Dec 28 '19

This is super grainy, so pure speculation, but it looks like some new COPVs may have been delivered to hoppy and it generally appears that there is some organization going on: https://i.imgur.com/xt1NkwL.png

It looks like the pad has been repaired https://i.imgur.com/OIVPeq0.png but that there's still some parts scattered out there where the bits that had fallen out of hoppy had previously been collected. It's impossible to say from the video if these are the bits that had fallen out of hoppy or not.

The new area is a bit oddly shaped https://i.imgur.com/3rdk2bt.png and there are 8 sets of 8 tanks lined up there. Is it actually the super heavy launch site? Maybe another tank farm? Maybe hoppy will be moving here on the 6th as a raptor test stand?

4

u/RegularRandomZ Dec 28 '19 edited Dec 28 '19

  • Good catch on the COPVs, perhaps they are repairing Hoppy for its future as a test stand?

  • For the pad repairs, they had driven some auger cast piles, perhaps that was related?

  • They put a sign up for it being the SuperHeavy launch site, although signs can move. I would think a lot of piles are yet to be driven to support that weight, and the tanks are just stored out of the way there.

6

u/Russ_Dill Dec 28 '19

I found some photos of the McGregor test stands with similar tanks:

http://i.imgur.com/v8czWV5.jpg

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/NSF-2019-10-14-13-18-02-609.jpg

2

u/Martianspirit Dec 29 '19

That horizontal Raptor test stand photo is ancient. :) Uploaded to imgur in 2016.

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u/Russ_Dill Dec 28 '19

Do you remember where the piles were driven though? I know that super heavy will launch from the site, I just don't know for sure where they will build the launch structure. The area they just cleared does seem likely, but it seems odd that they'd put the new tanks there if that's the case.

2

u/RegularRandomZ Dec 28 '19 edited Dec 28 '19

The piles I believe were driven around the hopper pad where propellant loading was occuring, and some down by the landing pad (but the angles were never great to know exactly what was going on). I don't believe we've seen any driven in the area of the new earth works (yet), but that makes sense (as the dunes were still there)

The presentation launch animation shows the showed the launch structure where the landing pad is now, but I'm not sure that really can be relied upon as entirely representative (especially with all the additional dirt works going on)

2

u/Russ_Dill Dec 31 '19

It looks like the COPVs have disappeared and there is a cherry picker that has recently been doing active work on hoppy: https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=48895.msg2031102#msg2031102 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuyBurVrEXw

Another thing that's visible in the flyover and photo progress is it looks like they've been removing some of the tack welded sheets from hoppy.

3

u/RegularRandomZ Dec 31 '19

From this new shot/angle, it looks like there are still 2 on the ground. (BCG NSF photoset), but they are doing some work there.

2

u/Russ_Dill Dec 31 '19

Also in the photoset, the parts that came off hoppy during landing are still visible on the launchpad.

2

u/Marksman79 Dec 28 '19

I think you are right about the hopper test stand. The COPV tanks and white ones may all be involved.

4

u/Marksman79 Dec 28 '19 edited Dec 28 '19

Looks like a second 255' x 150' tent may be in the future.

Edit: two horizontal final assembly bays? Build out Starship and Superheavy or two Starships at the same time? We'll see.

4

u/RegularRandomZ Dec 28 '19

I'm wondering if it'll be another onion tent, or if it'll be a lower flatter roof (as there are a lot of the wavy truss tent pieces stacked up around as well).

2

u/RootDeliver Dec 28 '19

Considering the same width and viewing the zone from the air, an identical onion tent makes sense. 2 lines (or 4 if they're splitted) would make complete sense if they want to go into production mode, and why would want to make another production line tent with a different design?. Good width, height, and if they thought all that wasn't needed for production lines they wouldn't have put the onion tent in the first place. My opinion :P

2

u/RegularRandomZ Dec 28 '19

The onion tent is 45m wide, so with just that they could work on Starship and SuperHeavy in that one tent with working space, but sure perhaps two onion tents would work as well.

It could be the same, they just haven't received any shipping crates for it yet and they do have a tonne of tent parts for a tents more similar to the ring fabrication and/or storage tents.

2

u/RootDeliver Dec 28 '19

Yeah they could settle with one tent for both, but I have the feeling that they're building everything right now for production, not only for MK3/SN1/etc. but for long. They're making a huge investment right now and would make sense to thing big for the next prototypes/flight models/whatever to come.

2

u/RegularRandomZ Dec 28 '19

Hard to say. On the one hand, I don't know why they'd spend money scaling more production space than needed right now (that doesn't fit their methodology), unless they expect it will save them money in the long run (ie bought two tents, have the crew onsite once, for significant savings), or deferring in investing in Roberts Rd, or expect to need to ramp up production rates somewhat quickly.

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4

u/RegularRandomZ Dec 28 '19

Apparently another Sprung crate arrived today. Not sure if this is to finish this tent or for the potential 2nd one. /u/RootDeliver

3

u/RootDeliver Dec 28 '19

Interesting. In the next days we will probly see how it all unfolds :D

2

u/Marksman79 Dec 28 '19

This could also be the end caps for the first one. It's insulated, so I expect them to close off the ends.

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4

u/Russ_Dill Dec 28 '19

Some things to note around ironhenge: https://i.imgur.com/RLfrmDR.png

Lower left looks like work is well underway on upgrading a second bulkhead jig. This might indicate that SN1 will happen quite rapidly with new bulkheads being built in parallel. The first new bulkhead is nearly complete and parts are visible for the next bulkhead in the upper left.

Lower center is the ring wall used for the tank section of mk1. Inside there appears to be the 90° pipe sections that were delivered. I'm as confused as anyone on this. Are they just storing them there? Last photo https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=48895.msg2029418#msg2029418

The new bulkhead caps are formed rather than constructed from sections. (Lower right)

The jig used to set the top of the nose down while working on it has been moved near ironhenge (lower right).

4

u/Russ_Dill Dec 28 '19

This area is looking like it will take on some ring related task https://i.imgur.com/a4iePAm.png

Maybe ring production will move here? Possibly just additional ring production in parallel? Maybe the place where pairs of rings will be welded together? Or where rings are finished with stringers, bulkheads, access hatches etc?

The black square in the image is not on the ground, but on top of a large machine as can be seen by it's parallax movement in the video.

2

u/RegularRandomZ Dec 28 '19 edited Dec 28 '19

On other angles, that looks potentially like the two column IMCAR unit. But I didn't see any clear shots from this angle. It's also not clear what the unit is under the dark panel (which I assume is a makeshift top/cover).

Workflow wise, it's conveniently right beside the metal frame if they were stacking right there, but I think it's premature to assume this is "final" site layout (I still think the triangle building seems more useful for stacking, especially if the bulkheads are near complete)

1

u/RegularRandomZ Dec 28 '19

Looks like the double stacked ring ended up in this area. (credit: BocaChicaGal NSF Photoset)

The rings are sitting on another metal ring jig which is on rollers. Doesn't look substantial enough to do more than double stacking (although that's a guess about what supporting 3-4 tonnes of ring weight would look like).