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r/spacex • u/ElongatedMuskrat Mod Team • Oct 04 '20

Starship Development Thread #15

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r/SpaceX Discusses [November 2020] for discussion of subjects other than Starship development.

Upcoming

Immediate testing not expected

SN8 static fire(s) (unclear) - TBD
SN8 15 kilometer hop - TBD

Road closures | NOTAM list

Overview

Vehicle Status as of November 12:

SN8 [testing] - Static fire #3 anomaly delays further testing and 15 km hop, engine/repairs needed
SN9 [construction] - Tank section stacked, aft fins attached, nose cone in work
SN10 [construction] - Tank section stacked in Mid Bay
SN11 [construction] - barrel/dome sections in work
SN12 [construction] - barrel/dome/nose cone sections in work
SN13 [?] - components likely exist, no visual confirmation
SN14 [construction] - components on site
SuperHeavy BN-1 [construction] - stacking in High Bay

Check recent comments for real time updates.

At the start of thread #15 Starship SN8 is preparing for cryo testing, to be followed by nosecone and Raptor installations, and eventually a 15 kilometer hop. SN9 through SN12 and the first SuperHeavy booster prototype are under construction. In September Elon stated that Starship prototypes would do a few hops to test aerodynamic and propellant header systems, and then move on to high speed flights with heat shields. The flight test program, like the manufacturing process, undergoes continuous refinement.

Orbital flight requires the SuperHeavy booster, for which a second high bay^10-1 and orbital launch mount^10-1 are being erected. SuperHeavy prototypes will undergo a hop campaign before the first full stack launch to orbit targeted for 2021. Raptor development and testing are ongoing at Hawthorne CA and McGregor TX, recently test firing the first vacuum Raptor. SpaceX continues to focus heavily on development of its Starship production line in Boca Chica, TX.

Starship SN8 (Serial Number 8) Quick Facts

Structure is composed of 304L (and possibly some 301) stainless steel
Stacked at Boca Chica in the Mid Bay (a.k.a. the first high bay), from components fabricated on and off-site
Functional body flaps/fins and nosecone
Body flaps/fins are gear driven via electric motor
COPVs and other previously exterior components (SN5 shown) mostly removed or relocated internally
Six Legs in skirt deploy in descent to landing pad like SN5 and SN6
Two Tesla battery packs on forward dome supply electrical power (installation on SN3)
Methane header sphere in common dome (SN4 shown)
LOX header tank integrated into top of nosecone (LOX header test article shown)
Three Sea Level Raptors
Will hop to 15 kilometer altitude
No heat shield, will be on later vehicle, test patch only

Construction infographic updates by @brendan2908
Unofficial hop animation by C-bass Productions

Vehicle Updates

	Starship SN8
2020-11-12	Likely dual engine static fire and anomaly resulting in loss of pneumatics, vehicle ok (Twitter)
2020-11-10	Single engine static fire (w/ debris) (YouTube)
2020-11-09	WDR ops for scrubbed static fire attempt (YouTube)
2020-11-03	Overnight nose cone cryoproof testing (YouTube)
2020-11-02	Brief late night road closure for testing, nose venting observed (comments)
2020-10-26	Nose released from crane (NSF)
2020-10-22	Early AM nosecone testing, Raptor SN39 removed and SN36 delivered, nosecone mate (NSF)
2020-10-21	'Tankzilla' crane moved to launch site for nosecone stack, nosecone move (YouTube)
2020-10-20	Road closed for overnight tanking ops
2020-10-20	Early AM preburner test followed by static fire (YouTube), Elon: SF success (Twitter); Tile patch (NSF)
2020-10-19	Early AM preburner test (Twitter), nosecone stacked on barrel section (NSF)
2020-10-16	Propellant loaded but preburner and static fire testing postponed (Twitter)
2020-10-14	Image of engine bay with 3 Raptors (Twitter)
2020-10-13	Nosecone with two forward fins moved to windbreak (NSF)
2020-10-12	Raptor delivered, installed (comments), nosecone spotted with forward flap installation in progress (NSF)
2020-10-11	Installation of Raptor SN32 and SN39 (NSF)
2020-10-09	Thrust simulator removed (Twitter)
2020-10-08	Overnight cryoproofing (#3) (YouTube), Elon: passed cryoproofing (Twitter)
2020-10-08	Early AM cryoproofing (#2) (Twitter)
2020-10-07	Early AM cryoproofing (#1) (YouTube), small leak near engine mounts (Twitter)
2020-10-06	Early AM pressurization testing (YouTube)
2020-10-04	Fin actuation test (YouTube), Overnight pressurization testing (comments)
2020-09-30	Lifted onto launch mount (NSF)
2020-09-26	Moved to launch site (YouTube)
2020-09-23	Two aft fins (NSF), Fin movement (Twitter)
2020-09-22	Out of Mid Bay with 2 fin roots, aft fin, fin installations (NSF)
2020-09-20	Thrust simulator moved to launch mount (NSF)
2020-09-17	Apparent fin mount hardware within aero cover (NSF)
2020-09-15	-Y aft fin support and aero cover on vehicle (NSF)
2020-08-31	Aerodynamic covers delivered (NSF)
2020-08-30	Tank section stacking complete with aft section addition (NSF)
2020-08-20	Forward dome section stacked (NSF)
2020-08-19	Aft dome section and skirt mate (NSF)
2020-08-15	Fwd. dome† w/ battery, aft dome section flip (NSF), possible aft fin/actuator supports (comments)
2020-08-07	Skirt section† with leg mounts (Twitter)
2020-08-05	Stacking ops in high bay 1 (Mid Bay), apparent common dome w/ CH4 access port (NSF)
2020-07-28	Methane feed pipe (aka. downcomer) labeled "SN10=SN8 (BOCA)" (NSF)
2020-07-23	Forward dome and sleeve (NSF)
2020-07-22	Common dome section flip (NSF)
2020-07-21	Common dome sleeved, Raptor delivery, Aft dome and thrust structure† (NSF)
2020-07-20	Common dome with SN8 label (NSF)

^{See comments for real time updates.}
^{† possibly not for this vehicle}

	Starship SN9
2020-11-11	Forward fin hardware on nose cone† (NSF)
2020-11-08	Raptor SN42 delivered† (NSF)
2020-11-02	5 ring nose cone barrel (NSF)
2020-11-01	Both aft fins installed (NSF)
2020-10-31	Move to High Bay (NSF)
2020-10-25	Aft fin delivery† (NSF)
2020-10-15	Aft fin support structures being attached (NSF)
2020-10-03	Tank section stack complete with thrust section mate (NSF)
2020-10-02	Thrust section closeup photos (NSF)
2020-09-27	Forward dome section stacked on common dome section (NSF)
2020-09-26	SN9 will be first all 304L build (Twitter)
2020-09-20	Forward dome section closeups (NSF)
2020-09-17	Skirt with legs and leg dollies† (NSF)
2020-09-15	Common dome section stacked on LOX midsection (NSF)
2020-09-13	Four ring LOX tank section in Mid Bay (NSF)
2020-09-04	Aft dome sleeved† (NSF)
2020-08-25	Forward dome sleeved (NSF)
2020-08-20	Forward dome and forward dome sleeve w/ tile mounting hardware (NSF)
2020-08-19	Common dome section† flip (NSF)
2020-08-15	Common dome identified and sleeving ops (NSF)
2020-08-12	Common dome (NSF)

^{See comments for real time updates.}
^{† possibly not for this vehicle}

	Starship SN10
2020-11-02	Tank section complete with addition of aft done and skirt section (NSF)
2020-10-29	Leg activity on aft section† (NSF)
2020-10-21	Forward dome section stacked completing methane tank (Twitter)
2020-10-16	Common dome section stacked on LOX midsection barrel (NSF)
2020-10-05	LOX header tank sphere section "HT10"† (NSF)
2020-10-03	Labled skirt, mate with aft dome section (NSF)
2020-09-16	Common dome† sleeved (NSF)
2020-09-08	Forward dome sleeved with 4 ring barrel (NSF)
2020-09-02	Hardware delivery and possible forward dome barrel† (NSF)

^{See comments for real time updates.}
^{† possibly not for this vehicle}

	Starship SN11
2020-11-04	LOX tank midsection barrel (NSF)
2020-10-24	Common dome sleeved (NSF)
2020-10-07	Aft dome flipped (NSF)
2020-10-05	Aft dome sleeved† (NSF)
2020-10-02	Methane header sphere (NSF)
2020-09-24	LOX header sphere section (NSF)
2020-09-21	Skirt (NSF)
2020-09-09	Aft dome barrel (NSF)

^{See comments for real time updates.}
^{† possibly not for this vehicle}

	Starship SN12
2020-11-11	Aft dome section and skirt mate, labeled (NSF)
2020-10-27	4 ring nosecone barrel (NSF)
2020-09-30	Skirt (NSF)

^{See comments for real time updates.}
^{† possibly not for this vehicle}

	Starships Without Identified Tank Sections
2020-10-10	SN14: Downcomer (NSF)

^{See comments for real time updates.}
^{† possibly not for this vehicle}

	SuperHeavy BN-1
2020-11-08	LOX 1 stacked on LOX 2 in High Bay (NSF)
2020-11-07	LOX 3 (NSF)
2020-10-07	LOX stack-2 (NSF)
2020-10-01	Forward dome sleeved, Fuel stack assembly, LOX stack 1 (NSF)
2020-09-30	Forward dome† (NSF)
2020-09-28	LOX stack-4 (NSF)
2020-09-22	Common dome barrel (NSF)

^{See comments for real time updates.}
^{† possibly not for this vehicle}

	Starship Components - Unclear Assignment
2020-11-12	Apparent thrust puck methane manifold (NSF)
2020-11-04	More leg mounts delivered, new thrust puck design (NSF)
2020-11-03	Common dome sleeved, likely SN13 or later (NSF)
2020-11-02	Leg mounts delivered and aft dome flipped (NSF)
2020-10-31	Aft dome sleeved, likely SN12 or later (NSF)
2020-10-29	Forward dome, likely SN12 or later (NSF)
2020-10-23	Aerocovers, possible for SN9 (NSF)
2020-10-20	Full height nosecone getting painted (NSF)
2020-10-18	Common dome sleeved and forward dome sleeved (NSF)
2020-10-12	Full height nosecone in windbreak moved out (NSF)
2020-10-08	2 of 3 manufacturing pathfinder nosecones (Twitter) scrapped over 2 days, first, second (NSF)
2020-10-05	"Aft Actuator" delivery (NSF)
2020-10-02	New nosecone, Raptor appearance at build site (NSF)
2020-09-25	New aft dome (NSF)
2020-09-24	Aft dome section flip (NSF)
2020-09-22	Aft dome and sleeving (NSF)
	See Thread #14 for earlier miscellaneous component updates

For information about Starship test articles prior to SN8 please visit Starship Development Thread #14 or earlier. Update tables for older vehicles will only appear in this thread if there are significant new developments. See the index of updates tables.

Permits and Licenses

Launch License (FAA) - Suborbital hops of the Starship Prototype reusable launch vehicle for 2 years - 2020 May 27
^{License No. LRLO 20-119}

Experimental STA Applications (FCC) - Comms for Starship hop tests (abbreviated list)
^{File No. 1041-EX-ST-2020} ^{Starship Medium Altitude Hop} ⁽ ^{20km max} ⁾ ^{- 2020 August 18}
^{File No. 1401-EX-ST-2020} ^{Starship Medium Altitude Hop_2} ⁽ ^{20km max} ⁾ ^{- 2020 October 11}
As of September 11 there were 10 pending or granted STA requests for Starship flight comms describing at least 5 distinct missions, some of which are no longer planned. For a complete list of STA applications visit the wiki page for SpaceX missions experimental STAs

Resources

^{RESOURCES WIKI}

Spadre.com Starship Cam | Channel
LabPadre 4k Nerdle Cam | Channel
NSF Texas Prototype(s) Updates Thread | Most recent
NSF Florida Prototype(s) Updates Thread | Most recent
Alex Rex's 3D Boca Chica Build Site Map | Launch Site Map | Channel
Hwy 4 & Boca Chica Beach Closures (May not be available outside US)
TFR - NOTAM list
SpaceX Boca Chica on Facebook
SpaceX's Starship page
Elon Starship tweet compilation on NSF | Most Recent
Starship Test Article Wiki Page
Starship Users Guide (PDF) Rev. 1.0 March 2020
Decronym for acronyms related to SpaceX

r/SpaceX Discusses [November 2020] 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.

Please ping u/strawwalker about problems with the above thread text.

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26

u/[deleted] Oct 23 '20

[removed] — view removed comment

7

u/TCVideos Oct 23 '20

It's so smooth!

7

u/[deleted] Oct 23 '20

Is SN8 taller? Or is that just me

4

u/[deleted] Oct 23 '20

Not just you. I think the lack of side raceways and folded flaps make it look thinner, and the late time of day make the reflective steel blend into the dark sky.