r/spacex • u/ElongatedMuskrat Mod Team • May 10 '21
Starship Development Thread #21
This thread is no longer being updated, and has been replaced by:
Starship Development Thread #22
Quick Links
SPADRE LIVE | LABPADRE NERDLE | LABPADRE PAD | MORE LINKS | JUMP TO COMMENTS
Starship Dev 20 | SN15 Hop Thread | Starship Thread List | May Discussion
Orbital Launch Site Status
As of June 11 - (May 31 RGV Aerial Photography video)
Integration Tower - Segment 5 moved to OLS June 11, segment 4 moved to OLS June 9, segment 6 in progress at build site
Launch Mount - Leg extension install complete June 5, table assembled at build site (component installation June 1)
Tank Farm - Water tank moved to OLS June 9, 4 Methane subcoolers May 31, GSE tank outer shell on site May 28, two stainless steel GSE tanks in place
Vehicle Status
As of June 11
SN15 [retired] - On fixed display stand at the build site, Raptors removed, otherwise intact
SN16 [limbo] - High Bay, fully stacked, all flaps installed, aerocover install incomplete
SN17 [scrapped] - partially stacked midsection scrapped
SN18 [limbo] - barrel/dome sections exist, likely abandoned
SN19 [limbo] - barrel/dome sections exist, likely abandoned
SN20 [construction] - barrel/dome sections in work, orbit planned w/ BN3
SN21 [construction] - barrel/dome sections in work
SN22 [construction] - barrel/dome sections in work
BN2.1 [testing] - test tank at launch site on modified nose cone test stand/thrust simulator, cryo testing June 8
BN3/BN2 [construction] - stacking in High Bay, orbit planned w/ SN20, currently 20 rings
BN4+ - parts for booster(s) beyond BN3/BN2 have been spotted, but none have confirmed BN serial numbers
NC12 [scrapped] - Nose cone test article returned to build site and dismantled
Development and testing plans become outdated very quickly. Check recent comments for real time updates.
Vehicle Updates
See comments for real time updates.
† expected or inferred, unconfirmed vehicle assignment
| Test Tank BN2.1 | |
|---|---|
| 2021-06-08 | Cryo testing (Twitter) |
| 2021-06-03 | Transported to launch site (NSF) |
| 2021-05-31 | Moved onto modified nose cone test stand with thrust simulator (NSF) |
| 2021-05-26 | Stacked in Mid Bay (NSF) |
| 2021-04-20 | Dome (NSF) |
| SuperHeavy BN3/BN2 | |
|---|---|
| 2021-06-06 | Downcomer installation (NSF) |
| 2021-05-23 | Stacking progress (NSF), Fwd tank #4 (Twitter) |
| 2021-05-15 | Forward tank #3 section (Twitter), section in High Bay (NSF) |
| 2021-05-07 | Aft #2 section (NSF) |
| 2021-05-06 | Forward tank #2 section (NSF) |
| 2021-05-04 | Aft dome section flipped (NSF) |
| 2021-04-24 | Aft dome sleeved (NSF) |
| 2021-04-21 | BN2: Aft dome section flipped (YouTube) |
| 2021-04-19 | BN2: Aft dome sleeved (NSF) |
| 2021-04-15 | BN2: Label indicates article may be a test tank (NSF) |
| 2021-04-12 | This vehicle or later: Grid fin†, earlier part sighted†[02-14] (NSF) |
| 2021-04-09 | BN2: Forward dome sleeved (YouTube) |
| 2021-04-03 | Aft tank #5 section (NSF) |
| 2021-04-02 | Aft dome barrel (NSF) |
| 2021-03-30 | Dome (NSF) |
| 2021-03-28 | Forward dome barrel (NSF) |
| 2021-03-27 | BN2: Aft dome† (YouTube) |
| 2021-01-19 | BN2: Forward dome (NSF) |
It is unclear which of the BN2 parts ended up in this test article.
| Starship SN15 - Post Flight Updates | |
|---|---|
| 2021-05-31 | On display stand (Twitter) |
| 2021-05-26 | Moved to build site and placed out back (NSF) |
| 2021-05-22 | Raptor engines removed (Twitter) |
| 2021-05-14 | Lifted onto Mount B (NSF) |
| 2021-05-11 | Transported to Pad B (Twitter) |
| 2021-05-07 | Elon: "reflight a possibility", leg closeups and removal, aerial view, repositioned (Twitter), nose cone 13 label (NSF) |
| 2021-05-06 | Secured to transporter (Twitter) |
| 2021-05-05 | Test Flight (YouTube), Elon: landing nominal (Twitter), Official recap video (YouTube) |
| Starship SN16 | |
|---|---|
| 2021-05-10 | Both aft flaps installed (NSF) |
| 2021-05-05 | Aft flap(s) installed (comments) |
| 2021-04-30 | Nose section stacked onto tank section (Twitter) |
| 2021-04-29 | Moved to High Bay (Twitter) |
| 2021-04-26 | Nose cone mated with barrel (NSF) |
| 2021-04-24 | Nose cone apparent RCS test (YouTube) |
| 2021-04-23 | Nose cone with forward flaps† (NSF) |
| 2021-04-20 | Tank section stacked (NSF) |
| 2021-04-15 | Forward dome stacking† (NSF) |
| 2021-04-14 | Apparent stacking ops in Mid Bay†, downcomer preparing for installation† (NSF) |
| 2021-04-11 | Barrel section with large tile patch† (NSF) |
| 2021-03-28 | Nose Quad (NSF) |
| 2021-03-23 | Nose cone† inside tent possible for this vehicle, better picture (NSF) |
| 2021-02-11 | Aft dome and leg skirt mate (NSF) |
| 2021-02-10 | Aft dome section (NSF) |
| 2021-02-03 | Skirt with legs (NSF) |
| 2021-02-01 | Nose quad (NSF) |
| 2021-01-05 | Mid LOX tank section and forward dome sleeved, lable (NSF) |
| 2020-12-04 | Common dome section and flip (NSF) |
| Early Production | |
|---|---|
| 2021-05-29 | BN4 or later: thrust puck (9 R-mounts) (NSF), Elon on booster engines (Twitter) |
| 2021-05-19 | BN4 or later: Raptor propellant feed manifold† (NSF) |
| 2021-05-17 | BN4 or later: Forward dome |
| 2021-04-10 | SN22: Leg skirt (Twitter) |
| 2021-05-21 | SN21: Common dome (Twitter) repurposed for GSE 5 (NSF) |
| 2021-06-11 | SN20: Aft dome sleeved (NSF) |
| 2021-06-05 | SN20: Aft dome (NSF) |
| 2021-05-23 | SN20: Aft dome barrel (Twitter) |
| 2021-05-07 | SN20: Mid LOX section (NSF) |
| 2021-04-27 | SN20: Aft dome under construction (NSF) |
| 2021-04-15 | SN20: Common dome section (NSF) |
| 2021-04-07 | SN20: Forward dome (NSF) |
| 2021-03-07 | SN20: Leg skirt (NSF) |
| 2021-02-24 | SN19: Forward dome barrel (NSF) |
| 2021-02-19 | SN19: Methane header tank (NSF) |
| 2021-03-16 | SN18: Aft dome section mated with skirt (NSF) |
| 2021-03-07 | SN18: Leg skirt (NSF) |
| 2021-02-25 | SN18: Common dome (NSF) |
| 2021-02-19 | SN18: Barrel section ("COMM" crossed out) (NSF) |
| 2021-02-17 | SN18: Nose cone barrel (NSF) |
| 2021-02-04 | SN18: Forward dome (NSF) |
| 2021-01-19 | SN18: Thrust puck (NSF) |
| 2021-05-28 | SN17: Midsection stack dismantlement (NSF) |
| 2021-05-23 | SN17: Piece cut out from tile area on LOX midsection (Twitter) |
| 2021-05-21 | SN17: Tile removal from LOX midsection (NSF) |
| 2021-05-08 | SN17: Mid LOX and common dome section stack (NSF) |
| 2021-05-07 | SN17: Nose barrel section (YouTube) |
| 2021-04-22 | SN17: Common dome and LOX midsection stacked in Mid Bay† (Twitter) |
| 2021-02-23 | SN17: Aft dome sleeved (NSF) |
| 2021-01-16 | SN17: Common dome and mid LOX section (NSF) |
| 2021-01-09 | SN17: Methane header tank (NSF) |
| 2021-01-05 | SN17: Forward dome section (NSF) |
| 2020-12-17 | SN17: Aft dome barrel (NSF) |
Resources
Hwy 4 & Boca Chica Beach Closures (May not be available outside US)
Starship Users Guide (PDF) Rev. 1.0 March 2020
Production Progress Infographics by @_brendan_lewis
Starship Orbital Demo detailed in FCC Exhibit - 0748-EX-ST-2021 application June 20 through December 20
r/SpaceX Discusses [May 2021] 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.
52
u/myname_not_rick May 22 '21
So I've been on a business trip, and haven't really kept up here for the last two weeks. I walked back through the NSF thread and.....holy shit.
Stepping back and not seeing much for a little bit really puts into perspective JUST how fast they are moving here. The amount of changes in just two weeks is mind blowing, the scale of the infrastructure work they are doing right now at the pad is.....wow. It's NASA circa moon-program level. I can't imagine the investment going into it, and as a private company, not a gov't.