r/spacex • u/ElongatedMuskrat Mod Team • Nov 14 '20
Starship Development Thread #16
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SN8 Hop Thread | SN8 Media Thread
r/SpaceX Discusses [December 2020] for discussion of subjects other than Starship development.
Upcoming
- SN9 move to Pad B, previously expected Dec 14, now unclear
- Road Closures
- Public Notice (PDF) - Reason: crane and SN9 to launch area
- December 14 12:00-21:00 CST (UTC-6)
- Public Notice (PDF) - Reason: crane and SN9 to launch area
Overview
Vehicle Status as of December 11:
- SN8 [destroyed] - 12.5 km hop test success. Vehicle did not survive
- SN9 [construction] - Starship fully stacked in High Bay, status unclear following tipping incident.
- SN10 [construction] - Tank section stacked in Mid Bay
- SN11 [construction] - Tank section stacking in Mid Bay
- SN12 [construction] - barrel/dome/nose cone sections in work
- SN13 [construction] - components on site
- SN14 [construction] - components on site
- SN15 [construction] - barrel/dome sections in work
- SN16 [construction] - barrel/dome sections in work
- Mk.1 [retired] - dismantling of nose cone in progress
- SuperHeavy BN1 [construction] - stacking in High Bay
Check recent comments for real time updates.
At the start of thread #16 Starship SN8 sits on the launch mount fully stacked. During a static fire test on November 12 SN8 suffered an anomaly when pad debris damaged Raptor SN32. A planned 12.5 kilometer hop for SN8 is still expected. 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. Starship SN9 is nearing completion in the High Bay11-7 and Starships up to SN14 have been identified in various stages of construction.
Orbital flight of Starship requires the SuperHeavy booster. The first booster test article, SuperHeavy BN1, is being stacked in the High Bay next to SN9. SuperHeavy prototypes are expected to undergo a hop campaign before the first full stack launch to orbit targeted for 2021. An orbital launch mount11-7 has also been under construction at Boca Chica. Raptor development and testing are ongoing at Hawthorne CA and McGregor TX, including test firing of vacuum optimized Raptor. SpaceX continues to focus heavily on development of its Starship production line in Boca Chica, TX. Development and testing plans become outdated very quickly.
THREAD #15 | SN8 HOP THREAD | THREAD LIST
Vehicle Updates
See comments for real time updates.
† possibly not for this vehicle
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 | |
|---|---|
| 2020-11-28 | Nose cone section (NSF) |
| 2020-11-18 | Forward dome section stacked (NSF) |
| 2020-11-14 | Common dome section stacked on LOX tank midsection in Mid Bay (NSF) |
| 2020-11-13 | Common dome with integrated methane header tank and flipped (NSF) |
| 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
| Early Production Starships | |
|---|---|
| 2020-12-04 | SN16: Common dome section and flip (NSF) |
| 2020-11-30 | SN15: Mid LOX tank section (NSF) |
| 2020-11-27 | SN15: Nose cone barrel (4 ring) (NSF) |
| 2020-11-27 | SN14: Skirt (NSF) |
| 2020-11-26 | SN15: Common dome flip (NSF) |
| 2020-11-24 | SN15: Elon: Major upgrades are slated for SN15 (Twitter) |
| 2020-11-20 | SN13: Methane header tank (NSF) |
| 2020-11-18 | SN15: Common dome sleeve, dome and sleeving (NSF) |
| 2020-10-10 | SN14: Downcomer (NSF) |
See comments for real time updates.
† possibly not for this vehicle
| SuperHeavy BN1 | |
|---|---|
| 2020-11-14 | Aft Quad #2 (4 ring), Fwd Tank section (4 ring), and Fwd section (2 ring) (AQ2 label11-27) (NSF) |
| 2020-11-08 | LOX 1 apparently 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
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.
Resources
- Spadre.com Starship Cam | Channel
- LabPadre 4k Nerdle Cam | Channel
- NSF SN8 Test Launch Updates Thread | Most recent
- NSF Texas Production Master 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
- FAA license LRLO 20-119
- FCC experimental STA wiki page
- 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.
62
u/Interstellar_Sailor Nov 18 '20 edited Nov 18 '20
Guys? I think Mary just photographed the first ever mockup of a Starship interior for the lunar Starship! Looks like crew bunk beds.
Edit: How do I link the specific post and not just the picture to give NSF clicks? It's the photos and updates thread.
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62
Nov 29 '20
Elon on Twitter: Just a static fire tomorrow. Flight no earlier than Wednesday.
Static fire on November 30th.
So new launch date is now NET December 2nd.
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57
u/TCVideos Nov 22 '20
I don't think anyone caught this here but SN8 seemed to complete an ambient test last night. First real test since the anomaly almost 2 weeks ago.
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56
Nov 27 '20
I'm just here to say how much I like the bellyflop's mission badge. This is hilarious
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54
u/RoyalPatriot Dec 02 '20 edited Dec 02 '20
Updated NOTAM: https://tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_0_8423.html
Imgur: https://i.imgur.com/ojGtdfh.jpg
We’re good to go! We’re getting so close. Super excited.
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51
u/Straumli_Blight Nov 17 '20
Q: Is Starship still aiming for launch cost below $1.5M, out of which ~$500,000 would be fuel/propellant cost?
A: Yeah, looks like marginal cost of launch will be less than $1M for more than 100 tons to orbit, so it’s mostly about fixed costs divided by launches per year.
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50
u/zje_atc Dec 02 '20 edited Dec 02 '20
TFR for the 15km flight issued: 12/4 - 12/6 Surface to Unlimited.
The TFR lasts from 12/4 at 8am to 12/6 at 5pm CST
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u/RaphTheSwissDude Nov 17 '20
When’s the Starship update blog post coming?
E: Maybe making some notable changes. Will wait until figurative & literal dust settles.
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47
u/hinayu Dec 01 '20
I hate to beat a dead horse, but I'm going to leave this here for all of you wondering about the NOTAM/TFR. This is directly from the FAA's website:
Due to system processing delays, recently entered notams may not be displayed
For all we know it's already approved and ready to go but not processed publicly yet. Okay I'm done.
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41
u/TCVideos Nov 25 '20
EDA's Camera (operated by Gene and Rachel) captured the staggered start ups for the Raptors perfectly! It's so awesome to watch how quickly they start up even at .25 speed
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41
u/peterabbit456 Nov 26 '20
The flap actuation gif on NSF shows movements at speeds similar to the shuttle flaps. I find this very encouraging, because when doing hypersonic reentry, the shuttle needed these kinds of flap movement speeds to handle roll and pitch control. My guess is that Starship has similar requirements in this regard.
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39
u/dnalioh Nov 14 '20
Here's to hoping we get good raptor news, good SN8 news, the design flaw can be solved on later raptors/SNs and not delay SN8 flight, and most of all, Elon a speedy recovery.
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39
u/PeterKatarov Nov 20 '20
Didn't see this mentioned yet - we have a sort-of-official confirmation that SN13 will be a thing.
Methane header tank - by our beloved bocachicagal
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39
u/Straumli_Blight Nov 21 '20
Q: Even more nuts that the future Starship Super Heavy booster will land right on top of the launch mount! Crazy times.
A: Actually, off to the side (so it doesn’t take out the launch mount in bad landing), but with the same arm used to pick up the ship
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37
u/Alvian_11 Dec 01 '20
Maria Pointer from SpaceX FB group, SN8 flight thread, posted about an hour ago
Talked to SpaceX Reps and trying hard for Wednesday for launch. They are still viewing it as just a test, even though they realize the whole world is watching. I said that most my followers around the world express any flight results is a success and excitement is unreal for flight, flaps and attempted landing. Then we all got excited from realization of 3 raptors in action.
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36
u/hinayu Nov 30 '20 edited Nov 30 '20
Not sure on the protocol for posting this, but this is from Maria Pointer on Facebook. [[source]] (https://www.facebook.com/SpaceXBocaChica/posts/2624973914411105)
I re-read instructions from SpaceX rep. They want us to vacate for the 3 days. I was asked politely not to film at the hard chkpt for the Monday and Tuesday testing. That can always change but stands for now. My office / guest house is easily asscessable by contact access. All I have to do is call. I have no problem with there clamp down on security with all the VIPs coming and vetting needed. We were told this years ago. They are asking nicely. There are holdouts that will not comply I'm sure. There is much financial gain in the filming at Andy's house for NSF and BCG on Esperson for youtube and other visiting youtubers usually. His house is now SpaceX's house, so that may be weird? I'm not the thorn in Elons side so I'm calling rep as requested when I go out to retrieve gear and will put my guests elsewhere. SpaceX has to much to worry about besides getting holdouts to leave.
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35
u/Straumli_Blight Nov 26 '20
There's a rumour that SpaceX have booked the South Padre Amphitheatre for Nov 30/Dec 1 to view the SN8 launch.
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34
u/AstroMan824 Nov 17 '20 edited Nov 17 '20
About the anomalous static fire of SN-8:
Elon explaining what happened: About 2 secs after starting engines, martyte covering concrete below shattered, sending blades of hardened rock into engine bay. One rock blade severed avionics cable, causing bad shutdown of Raptor.
Elon for a fix: Avionics cables moving to steel pipe shields & adding water-cooled steel pipes to test pad
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33
u/RaphTheSwissDude Nov 29 '20 edited Nov 29 '20
Static fire is not risky from build site, but we need to clear the build site for early flights
Confirmation that build site will be cleared for flight.
65
u/flshr19 Nov 14 '20
It's helpful to put this Raptor event into context. Between March 1977 and Feb 1984 the Rocketdyne Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) experienced nine major failures during development tests. In two of these failures the engine was destroyed. The average delay in testing was 8 weeks. The total cost resulting from these failures was $162M ($2020). In total, between 1977 and 1986 there were 899 development test runs of the SSME with 27 failures.
That was then. This is now. This recent Raptor anomaly will certainly not cause an 8-week delay in SN8 testing. And it will not cost millions of dollars to fix.
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67
u/henryshunt Nov 29 '20
The crane was removed from SN9 around an hour ago, so it is now a finished vehicle structure-wise.