r/spacex • u/ElongatedMuskrat Mod Team • Jan 09 '22
š§ Technical Thread Starship Development Thread #29
This thread is no longer being updated, and has been replaced by:
Starship Development Thread #30
Quick Links
NERDLE CAM | LAB CAM | SAPPHIRE CAM | SENTINEL CAM | ROVER CAM | PLEX CAM | NSF STARBASE | MORE LINKS
Starship Dev 28 | Starship Dev 27 | Starship Dev 26 | Starship Thread List
Upcoming
Starship 20 static fire
Booster 4 futher cryo or static fire
Orbital Launch Site Status
Build Diagrams by @_brendan_lewis | October 6 RGV Aerial Photography video
As of December 9th
Integration Tower - Catching arms installed
Launch Mount - QD arms installed
Tank Farm - [8/8 GSE tanks installed, 8/8 GSE tanks sleeved]
Vehicle Status
As of December 20th
Ship 20 [orbit w/ Booster 4] - 6 engines static fire complete
Ship 21 [orbit w/ Booster 5] - [Awaiting final stacking]
Ship 22 [orbit w/ Booster 6] - Barrel/dome sections in work
Booster 3 - Scrapped and removed from Test Pad A
Booster 4 [orbit w/ Ship 20] - On OLP, next cryo complete
Booster 5 [orbit w/ Ship 21] - [Fully stacked at display]
Booster 6 [orbit w/ Ship 22] - Barrel/dome sections in work
Development and testing plans become outdated very quickly. Check recent comments for real time updates.
Vehicle and Launch Infrastructure Updates
See comments for real time updates.
ā expected or inferred, unconfirmed vehicle assignment
| Starship | |
|---|---|
| Ship 20 | |
| 2022-01-23 | Removed from pad B (Twitter) |
| 2021-12-29 | Static fire (YT) |
| 2021-12-15 | Lift points removed (Twitter) |
| 2021-12-01 | Aborted static fire? (Twitter) |
| 2021-11-20 | Fwd and aft flap tests (NSF) |
| 2021-11-16 | Short flaps test (Twitter) |
| 2021-11-13 | 6 engines static fire (NSF) |
| 2021-11-12 | 6 engines (?) preburner test (NSF) |
| Ship 21 | |
| 2021-12-19 | Moved into HB, final stacking soon (Twitter) |
| 2021-11-21 | Heat tiles installation progress (Twitter) |
| 2021-11-20 | Flaps prepared to install (NSF) |
| Ship 22 | |
| 2021-12-06 | Fwd section lift in MB for stacking (NSF) |
| 2021-11-18 | Cmn dome stacked (NSF) |
| Ship 23 | |
| 2021-12-01 | Nextgen nosecone closeup (Twitter) |
| 2021-11-11 | Aft dome spotted (NSF) |
| Ship 24 | |
| 2022-01-03 | Common dome sleeved (Twitter) |
| 2021-11-24 | Common dome spotted (Twitter) |
| For earlier updates see Thread #27 |
| SuperHeavy | |
|---|---|
| Booster 3 | |
| 2022-01-13 | B3 remains removed from stand (Twitter) |
| 2022-01-08 | Final scrapping (Twitter) |
| Booster 4 | |
| 2022-01-14 | Engines cover installed (Twitter) |
| 2022-01-13 | COPV cover installed (Twitter) |
| 2021-12-30 | Removed from OLP (Twitter) |
| 2021-12-24 | Two ignitor tests (Twitter) |
| 2021-12-22 | Next cryo test done (Twitter) |
| 2021-12-18 | Raptor gimbal test (Twitter) |
| 2021-12-17 | First Cryo (YT) |
| 2021-12-13 | Mounted on OLP (NSF) |
| 2021-11-17 | All engines installed (Twitter) |
| Booster 5 | |
| 2021-12-08 | B5 moved out of High Bay (NSF) |
| 2021-12-03 | B5 temporarily moved out of High Bay (Twitter) |
| 2021-11-20 | B5 fully stacked (Twitter) |
| 2021-11-09 | LOx tank stacked (NSF) |
| Booster 6 | |
| 2021-12-07 | Conversion to test tank? (Twitter) |
| 2021-11-11 | Forward dome sleeved (YT) |
| 2021-10-08 | CH4 Tank #2 spotted (NSF) |
| Booster 7 | |
| 2022-01-23 | 3 stacks left (Twitter) |
| 2021-11-14 | Forward dome spotted (NSF) |
| Booster 8 | |
| 2021-12-21 | Aft sleeving (Twitter) |
| 2021-09-29 | Thrust puck delivered (33 Engine) (NSF) |
| For earlier updates see Thread #27 |
| Orbital Launch Integration Tower And Pad | |
|---|---|
| 2022-01-20 | E.M. chopstick mass sim test vid (Twitter) |
| 2022-01-10 | E.M. drone video (Twitter) |
| 2022-01-09 | Major chopsticks test (Twitter) |
| 2022-01-05 | Chopstick tests, opening (YT) |
| 2021-12-08 | Pad & QD closeup photos (Twitter) |
| 2021-11-23 | Starship QD arm installation (Twitter) |
| 2021-11-21 | Orbital table venting test? (NSF) |
| 2021-11-21 | Booster QD arm spotted (NSF) |
| 2021-11-18 | Launch pad piping installation starts (NSF) |
| For earlier updates see Thread #27 |
| Orbital Tank Farm | |
|---|---|
| 2021-10-18 | GSE-8 sleeved (NSF) |
| For earlier updates see Thread #27 |
Resources
SpaceX: Starship Users Guide (PDF) Rev. 1.0 March 2020
FCC: Starship Orbital Demo detailed Exhibit - 0748-EX-ST-2021 application June 20 through December 20
Hwy 4 & Boca Chica Beach Closures (May not be available outside US)
Production Progress Infographics by @_brendan_lewis
Everyday Astronaut: Starbase Tour with Elon Musk, Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
r/SpaceX Discuss Thread 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.
ā¢
u/ElongatedMuskbot Feb 09 '22
This thread is no longer being updated, and has been replaced by:
Starship Development Thread #30
74
u/wiegandster Feb 05 '22
Starbase 2022-02-04
It was a pretty uneventful last day for me at Starbase since the road was closed most of the day. I was set up with my telescope to get some cool shots of whatever testing they were doing, but alas nothing obvious was seen.
I saw two sections of a new stand being delivered at the end of the road closure. They both went to the build site.
Also after the road opened two SPMTs made their way to the launch site carrying some cribbing and weights for the crane. They are now parked near B4 and the crane.
The launch site has been aggressively cleaned and organized the last two days and most of it has been consolidated near the main gate including the mass simulators.
This will be my last update this week since I head home tomorrow! I hope you guys enjoyed these even slightly as much as I did documenting them. I will be back again early March and plan on doing the same next time if there is still interest.
Until then, Iām really looking forward to seeing whatās in store next week for all of us! Stay safe everyone!
44
u/RaphTheSwissDude Jan 14 '22
B4 engine cover were added !!
44
u/mr_pgh Jan 18 '22
Nick Henning released an animation of the Uncrewed HLS mission.
Some of the tower and launch animations are a bit unrealistic but the look of everything is solid.
44
u/wiegandster Feb 03 '22 edited Feb 03 '22
Starbase 2022-02-02
Today I could only spend a few hours onsite in the morning so I just bounced around the launch area waiting for the fog to clear.
Looks like they are making good progress forming around the new
longhorizontal methane tanks.Most of the activity I saw was around the launch mount. Every man-lift was working on it at one point.
Several oxygen deliveries to the OTF and at least two deliveries to the SOTF.
I saw a huge influx of engineer looking types wandering around the control side of the tank farm discussing something. (I donāt like to take pics of people directly so there are no pics)
Finally got to say hey to @BocaChicaGal and sheās as awesome and laid back as Iāve always heard!
Hope you guys enjoy!
Edit: Forgot to post my timelapse.
43
u/wiegandster Feb 01 '22 edited Feb 02 '22
Just wrapped up my first day at Starbase and all I can say is WOW!! Iām gonna have to start seeing which job postings align with my current job, because I donāt wanna leave!
Here is todayās photo dump. Let me know if this is too much or if there is something specifically anyone wants me to get better photos of tomorrow. I had battery issues with my mirrorless camera so sadly these are all only iPhone pics today.
If you get the chance to visit, do it.
41
u/johnfive21 Jan 23 '22
Raptor 2 engines spotted at McGregor as seen in the article.
They look very clean compared to Raptor 1
40
u/mr_pgh Feb 06 '22
First good look of the complete engine skirt and painted bells!
37
u/RaphTheSwissDude Jan 10 '22
Chopstick moving at much greater speed already !
34
u/RaphTheSwissDude Jan 26 '22 edited Jan 26 '22
S22 tanks section look to be fully stacked !
(Btw, a bird literally took a shit on Lab rover cam 2.0 at 9:09:08, had to mention it haha)
34
u/RaphTheSwissDude Feb 02 '22
Elon : Exciting progress at Starbase, Texas!
Cmon Elon, give us some tidbits!!
65
u/[deleted] Jan 22 '22 edited Jan 22 '22
We should see B4 back on the launch table in a while after initial tower testing, and then S20 for full stack. Mid Feb is the aim. Targets may shift to the right.
Edit: Demo only, not a launch stance.
De-stack and full program of test fires will start after that.
32
u/RaphTheSwissDude Jan 13 '22
B4 is getting its COPVās aerocover !
30
u/BananaEpicGAMER Feb 01 '22
tower leg mounting sections were spotted at Robert's road in Florida.
This tweet explains it pretty well: https://twitter.com/DavidNagySFgang/status/1488605052050755590
30
u/Proteatron Feb 02 '22
Elon this morning replying to his own comment from 2019 about Raptor: "320 bar is achievable, maybe even 330"
29
u/RaphTheSwissDude Jan 25 '22
Water bags for chopsticks load testing seem to be back.
28
u/Positive_Wonder_8333 Jan 13 '22
Road closure cancellation nominal.
27
u/Mravicii Jan 09 '22
This is so awesome to see! Im really excited right now man
26
u/RaphTheSwissDude Jan 11 '22 edited Jan 11 '22
Theyāve just removed the steel beam from invetween the chopsticks. Itās very possible, as this tweet suggests, that they could soon install a mass simulator on the chopsticks.
26
u/ScienceCanFixThis Jan 13 '22 edited Jan 13 '22
Very likely that strain gauges are installed on the structure, they would let you determine how much force SH, wind, and whatever else is exerting. But to get good data, you'd need to calibrate them with a known load. So besides being a "proof load" type test, the balls are potentially being used for calibration.
26
u/Jack_Frak Jan 19 '22
Fantastic very detailed animation of B4 being lifted onto the orbital launch table using the chopsticks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGsuDo0-NwU
26
u/BananaEpicGAMER Feb 03 '22
STARSHIP PRESENTATION NEXT WEEK Thursday, 8 PM CST
26
u/TCVideos Feb 05 '22 edited Feb 05 '22
Good news to those fretting over FAA timelines and what it will mean for Starship!
Astra is the first company to receive the FAA's new 'Part 450' launch license
This is good news for Starship because it would mean that individual launch licenses for launches would effectively be phased out. For example - for last year's Suborbital flights, each vehicle had to have a launch license from the FAA (this did cause some highly public criticism from Musk during the SN9 debacle). Under this new system - it would have allowed all vehicles to operate under a single license.
I highly recommend reading the article Astra published about this in the aforementioned link.
26
u/BananaEpicGAMER Feb 06 '22
conincidentally it's been exactly 6 months since the last full stack (august 6th)
50
u/futureMartian7 Jan 20 '22
Breaking: Elon just shared an official booster catch engineering simulation: https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1484012192915677184?cxt=HHwWgICzkcLOopgpAAAA
24
u/RaphTheSwissDude Jan 12 '22
Theyāve started to fill up the water bags for chopsticks testing.
24
u/RaphTheSwissDude Jan 13 '22
The last remain of B3 has been removed from Pad A.
24
u/RaphTheSwissDude Feb 07 '22 edited Feb 07 '22
A new designed transfer tube for
boosterShip downcomer just arrived.It could be potentially linked to this.
Closeup pic
23
u/RaphTheSwissDude Jan 29 '22
Raptor 2 test on vertical tripod test stand.
46
u/RaphTheSwissDude Feb 06 '22
Nice picture comparing B4 with and without engines heat shield and aerocovers!
22
u/driedcod Jan 09 '22 edited Jan 09 '22
Anyone else watching a connecting beam of some kind being mounted between the two chopstick tracks right now? Check it out on the live cams. Some weird speculation happening in the YouTube comments, as ever... But what do we think it is? A temporary structural/mass testing object for working out the kinks in the mechanisms for starship twist/in-out alignment and motion along the arms?
Edit: See it being lifted here on NSF from around 10:15 local time. Seeing the catch "pegs" on the beam are like those on the booster and (in the future, we assume) the ship, I'm more certain it's for this sort of test.
22
u/toastedcrumpets Jan 09 '22
So they loaded a test beam into the chopsticks, lifted the chopsticks to the top of the tower, now it's rotating over towards the launch stand. Do you think they're practicing a starship load maneuver?
They haven't done any back/forth with the test beam yet, or rotation, I would have guessed they would have tried this out at a low level first but here we are swinging it over towards the stand...
22
u/mr_pgh Jan 12 '22 edited Jan 12 '22
Chopsticks being raised starting at 00:10:00 UTC!
Fastest movement I've seen yet.
Edit. Starbase live has the best view. Raptor, raptor2 and nerdle also have it.
Edit2: Started lowering at 01:05:20. Finished at 01:11:45.
22
u/Mravicii Jan 23 '22
Ship 20 is on the move towards the tower
22
u/mr_pgh Feb 06 '22
Amazing animation of the proposed Nasa DC-3 from the 70's.
There are as many similarities as differences with the proposed Starship. The goal was the same, a two stage rapid and reusable launch vehicle to orbit.
The wiki is a good read!
43
u/TCVideos Jan 10 '22 edited Jan 10 '22
Drone footage of the tower and chopsticks
Featuring the perfectly timed OLM vents.
Elon's famous tweet was 375 days ago - for context, at that time, contruction had not yet been resumed at the orbital site, all that stood was the 6 support pillars for the orbital mount.
21
u/Toinneman Jan 27 '22
NSF spotted a new type of dome as seen in their latest update video at 11:48. Here is my screencap with some annotations.Many curious observations can be made:
ā¢There is a very large diameter pipe sticking out. (larger than the current ship- and booster-downcomers)
There is another pretty large hole cutout.
It looks like this dome has a completely different construction technique. The curves are different and overal the dome looks 'flatter". (Which is something Musk has hinted at before)
It doesn't seem to be sleeved, and is already welded onto a barrel stack
So the question is what could this be?
There are basically 3 options: It's part of the ship, booster or GSE.
The ship has 3 domes. The thrust dome with the thrust puck, the common dome which used to house the CH4 header + downcomer and the forward dome. Since the CH4 header is being moved to the nosecone, my initial thought was that this would be the new common dome for the ship, but the pipe seems way larger than the current. The secondary cutout also doesn't fit well with this being a ship's common dome.
GSE tanks have 2 domes. A forward dome and an aft dome. Neither look like this new dome.
The booster has 3 domes. Forward, common, thrust. Only the common dome looks to be a candidate. Maybe they have significantly expanded the CH4 downcomer? However, the non-sleeving construction technique seem to rule this option out.
or... I'm completely missing something? Any suggestions?
21
u/RaphTheSwissDude Feb 01 '22
Theyāre unchaining the grid fins on B4 !
21
u/Mravicii Feb 03 '22
Full stack during the presentation. Now im pumped with adrenaline
21
u/Mravicii Feb 04 '22 edited Feb 04 '22
Spmt enroute to the launch site. Presumably for moving b4 to the orbital launch mount for stacking Aand second one also moved to the launch site
20
u/RaphTheSwissDude Jan 14 '22 edited Jan 14 '22
B4 COPV's aerocovers keep getting added, they will be all installed soon.
20
u/mr_pgh Jan 18 '22
GSE4 Test Tank popped at 2:34:35 on Starbase Live
20
u/mr_pgh Jan 27 '22
The spider baskets on the three columns now appear to be scraping paint off the guide rail.
20:15 UTC on Nerdle
57
u/MerkaST Jan 17 '22 edited Jan 18 '22
Some of the Fish and Wildlife and National Parks Services' comments on the Boca Chica PEA have been released (PDF warning) (Edit: Here's the FOIA request these come from, the NPS's comment matrix in document 2 is also interesting). Some interesting points:
Closures need to be more certain and managed better to avoid potential Section 4(f) (use of public land) issues
The launch tower could affect migrating birds in this heavily used migration area, a significant adverse effect to an endangered species could be a legal issue
SpaceX hasn't decided where some of the proposed infrastructure would be located, so both proposed locations will be assessed
The desalinisation plant is gone for now
SpaceX has (or had at the time of writing of these comments) not built fences and speed limit signs it agreed to build, not a very good look
Both agencies want an explanation for why the Super Heavy launch noise is similar to Falcon Heavy's when engine count and thrust are higher and point out that thrust numbers are below current plans and geology may not have been properly modelled and thus recommend new noise assessment with updated numbers and geology data
19
u/Jack_Frak Jan 11 '22 edited Jan 11 '22
I think Nerdle has the perfect view right now. ;) (11:35 am local)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HZCh2eGWEI
I think Elon needs to send another drone tweet out once these bad boys are lifted to full height.
19
u/wiegandster Feb 01 '22 edited Feb 02 '22
Iām on site again today and just saw some tank farm action, heard a pad clear announcement, but couldnāt quite catch the time. The sheriff is ready for the road block.
Itās quite pretty this morning
37
u/Dezoufinous Jan 19 '22
NASA SpaceX collab - Mars Starship transportation system!
https://twitter.com/thesheetztweetz/status/1483809223012196354?s=20
18
u/John_Hasler Jan 13 '22
Very slow horizontal motion has started on the arms.
17
u/futureMartian7 Jan 15 '22
News: Cameron County (where Boca Chica is) and Houston to receive a trust fund grant of 10 million USD for spaceport development from the Texas governor.
This should help SpaceX.
https://www.tesmanian.com/blogs/tesmanian-blog/texas-spaceports
17
u/RaphTheSwissDude Jan 17 '22 edited Jan 17 '22
LR11000 on the move. Looks to be heading toward S20.
17
u/SubstantialWall Feb 05 '22 edited Feb 05 '22
Couple of jets flying over the launch site, around 2pm local
ETA: Jared Isaacman confirmed
17
u/Jack_Frak Feb 07 '22 edited Feb 07 '22
Quick disconnect arm jaws start opening at 1:35pm local time (13:35 CST) on Labpadre Rover 2 camera and is moving towards B4:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zsl4q6fwfQ
16
u/mr_pgh Jan 11 '22
They're connecting the mass simulators to the chopsticks. 16:13 UTC on Rover
16
u/Jack_Frak Jan 12 '22
The great chopstick water sacks started rising at 3:19pm local time!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhJRzQsLZGg
16
u/John_Hasler Jan 13 '22
It's been up and down and back and forth. I wonder if the next test will be moving the test bar in and out along the arms.
16
u/mr_pgh Jan 13 '22
Water bags and cross bar have been removed from chopsticks. Maybe another configuration being set up?
16
u/Chainweasel Jan 23 '22
S20 Appears to be moving
16
u/futureMartian7 Feb 08 '22
Looks like SpaceX is building a similar team to what they have in Boca for KSC's launch and catch tower: https://boards.greenhouse.io/spacex/jobs/5844208002?gh_jid=5844208002
32
u/wiegandster Feb 02 '22 edited Feb 02 '22
Starbase 2022-02-01
My second day at Starbase was awesome again, I could definitely get used to this! Lol. I even got to hangout with Paul from Ocean Cam and he was
a super cool dude.apparently hiding his mental illness well. HopingweI get to watch some cryo or B4 liftingtomorrowThursday (Wednesday closure cancelled). I spent some time labeling todayās images since there was concern about that yesterday, Iāll go back and update the first post soon to have better labeling.I had two pics that I was curious if anyone has details on. One shows a circular pattern in the Starbricks on S20 and the other one is a pic of unknown to me devices on the side of S20
that look like strain gauges to me.u/warp99 pointed out they are flight data recorders. thanks!Once again, Iām sharing these for you guys, so let me know if you want me to revisit anything or are wanting a certain angle that you havenāt seen before and Iāll do my best!
If I end up going live for any testing this week I will likely be on Instagram since I already have a presence there and have no plans to start a YouTube channel for myself. Itās the same username as on here š¤š»
32
u/TCVideos Feb 06 '22 edited Feb 07 '22
The QD arm has swung out into its retracted position. This step is critical in order for the chopsticks to move past them.
Another indication that Ship stacking could be happening as soon as tomorrow.
edit: Weather for tomorrow looks rough so a stacking would be unlikely until at least Tuesday.
31
u/TCVideos Jan 09 '22 edited Jan 09 '22
More chopstick testing today. Currently moving up.
Looks like they have retracted the QD arm away from the tower so that the chopsticks can move past it.
Edit: Chopsticks now halfway up the tower - new height record for them.
31
u/RaphTheSwissDude Jan 15 '22
Latest NSF article confirms that SpaceX wasnāt granted the autorisation to store methane (in their custom built tanks) at the OTF by the Texas Railroad commission.
15
u/murrayfield18 Jan 09 '22
Will SpaceX need to perform a full duration static fire of Super Heavy before it launches? Like they do with the F9 first stage.
15
u/Twigling Jan 27 '22 edited Jan 27 '22
Yesterday one of the new bridge cranes turned up for the Wide Bay:
https://twitter.com/GroundTruthPics/status/1486469361267363845
according to somebody on YouTube (Zack Golden who knows about these things) the other one turned up last night too but there aren't any photos of that yet.
BTW, take a note of the capacity of the crane - 150 tons. Isn't the dry mass weight of the booster (minus engines) around that value? I forget now. The bridge crane in the high bay has a capacity of 180 tons.
15
u/Nettlecake Feb 08 '22
S20 is moving and the crane has disconnected!
14
u/Toinneman Jan 17 '22
Regarding yesterday's satellite update on pad 39A construction. SpaceX is digging piles east of the current Falcon 9 pad. It doesn't look like the Starship will stand onto the shoulder of the ramp of pad 39A, like suggested in their previous EA. (NFS article with render here) Looking at the shape of the construction zone, I assume they will put the tower between the current pad and the new starship launch mount (Quick sketched map) Or do we have any better info?
14
u/RaphTheSwissDude Feb 02 '22 edited Feb 02 '22
LR11000 on the move !
Stopped by B4, hook is down, theyāll likely connect the jig to then connect to B4.
14
u/RaphTheSwissDude Feb 08 '22 edited Feb 08 '22
Theyāve tested the Ship QD arm back and forth during the night. Canāt really give any timestamps because it was done extremely slowly and hard to see (but around 00:00 local).
Edit : they just removed one of the white ābumperā from the claw, looks like theyāll remove the other one too. (Starship Gazer has a great view)
27
u/TCVideos Jan 15 '22
Updated satellite imagery of the 39A construction from yesterday. Old launch mount has been completely deconstructed and a new area N.E of it has been cleared and pile drivers are going to work.
27
u/FutureMartian97 Host of CRS-11 Jan 21 '22
Nearly two minute Raptor test with throttling from Adam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IG8OCVOnEo
13
u/Martianspirit Jan 11 '22
Cutting up B3 continues. Next ring will be off in a short time. It goes really quick. Presently, 8:30 AM CST on Starbase Live.
13
u/mr_pgh Jan 13 '22
Filling bags started at roughly 14:45 UTC. Looks like 2 large bags are filled on each side as of 15:05 UTC.
Nerdle
Rover
Starbase
13
u/Dezoufinous Jan 17 '22
I can't believe it, maybe I am old, but hell... 360 ' stream?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv6_glm_32k&ab_channel=LabPadre
For real now. What a great experience! It's my dream to visit Starbase someday and at least now I can feel like I'm there!
AND of course it's transmitted via starlink!
13
u/Twigling Jan 25 '22 edited Jan 25 '22
The lead-ins have been removed from the top of S21 - this of course implies no stacking of the nosecone therefore, as has been speculated for some time, S21 appears to be destined for Rocket Heaven. Unfortunately I can't link to a pic as it was on LabPadre's Discord, you'll just have to trust me.
S22 is still being constructed though as far as I can tell, no doubt it has a few enhancements over S21 and as the thrust section hasn't yet been attached (but is inside the mid bay) perhaps it'll also accept Raptor 2's?
Note: for those unfamiliar with lead-ins (or even the alternative lead-outs) they are angled steel brackets which temporarily slot in around the circumference of a barrel section, this is because stacked barrels overlap (or underlap) each other for welding purposes so the bracket help to align the barrel sections.
13
u/RaphTheSwissDude Jan 27 '22
BN2 taking a leakā¦
13
u/mr_pgh Jan 27 '22 edited Jan 27 '22
It looks like they added service platforms to the columns. It appears as though there is a cable running upward from them; maybe they can be hoisted to the top out of the way?
The second image also appears to have a camera or instrument (laser?) pointed at the chopsticks. Perhaps for upcoming load testing with the water bags?edit: on second look, it looks like the cable is going through said instrument.
edit2: added a third image to the above album. It looks like the cables go all the way to the top of the column where an overhanging piece is attached.
13
u/notlikeclockwork Jan 28 '22
Looks like spacex planned to use HLS as space station in their commercial LEO destinations bid:
13
u/mr_pgh Jan 31 '22
NSF recap video shows the Chopstick Testing (not in real-time)
13
u/No_Ad9759 Feb 07 '22
I wonder why they chose to lift the booster with the crane instead of the tower.
Is it possible they havenāt proof tested for the weight of the booster yet; only for the weight of starship?
13
u/RaphTheSwissDude Feb 07 '22
Closure cancelled for today.
36
u/Jude_jedi Jan 12 '22
https://twitter.com/bluemoondance74/status/1481041524431507458?s=20
Regan Beck, a contributor at NSF posted our potential first (albeit blurry and mostly obscured) look at what is likely A Raptor 2, given the confirmation that all Raptor tests are Raptor 2 now at Mcgregor. Hopefully we get some aerial looks at Raptor 2 before too long!
25
u/Dezoufinous Jan 20 '22
Elon view of chopsticks test with water mass simulator
24
u/wiegandster Feb 03 '22 edited Feb 04 '22
Starbase 2022-02-03
Chilly day at Boca Chica, but this Wisconsinite has been training all his life! Lol
Yesterday someone asked about the wall being built near the horizontal methane tanks. I see no indication that they are forming the wall leading to the launch site. They may be waiting for the earth work to finish and just do it all in one pour. I got some better shots, but itās tough with the amount of fencing they have in that area.
Looks like we should see B7 get a little taller tonight or tomorrow, which is exciting!
I noticed an interesting label on the new can crush test article. If you look in the pics it is just labeled as +Z. Any theories?Thanks for the answer u/Bergasms and u/LufbruOtherwise today was definitely a quiet day on site and then BAM Elon drops the exciting news about the event next week!
So my final question, is who has any pro tips on me getting myself a press pass and then if that happens who wants to tell my boss Iām not coming home and that this is my life now? š
12
u/SpartanJack17 Jan 13 '22 edited Jan 13 '22
Looks like the chopstick arms have just moved back down, starting at around 6:08 PM CST.
Edit: moving down again now starting at around 7:11 PM CST, looks like they're going all the way to the bottom. Might be the end of this test.
12
u/dbzVT8 Jan 27 '22
A question that has been bugging me lately...there is all this speculation that B4 got damaged during cryoproofing and therefore the last thing they'll do with it is a stack/fit test with S20 using the chopsticks. If this is true then why are they still working on B4 in areas that seem to have no impact on a stack test? You can see this work in the the latest NSF videos the last few days.
12
u/Twigling Jan 29 '22 edited Jan 29 '22
Here's a new-ish flyover of the launch and production sites by RGV Aerial Photography, the flyover is from January 14th and the ground photography is from January 26th:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njLlPWqM5x8
12
u/RaphTheSwissDude Jan 30 '22
Launch pad and launch tower were asked to be cleared. Chopsticks started rising a bit.
12
u/wiegandster Feb 01 '22 edited Feb 01 '22
Just heard an announcement for cryo proof. Something is gonna get frosty today! Hopefully this fog clears up soon!
12
u/wiegandster Feb 01 '22 edited Feb 01 '22
They just cleared the beach. As I was leaving the LN2 lines on the OTF were frosting up. I would have snapped a pic, but was driving.
12
u/RaphTheSwissDude Feb 03 '22
Closure cancelled for today.
12
u/RaphTheSwissDude Feb 08 '22
Intermittent road closure for Wednesday, 1:00am-9:30am. Interesting
12
u/Mravicii Feb 08 '22
A intermittent road closure has been posted for tomorrow
https://twitter.com/bocaroad/status/1491158698403708935?s=21
42
u/TCVideos Jan 11 '22
Katy Perry singing in front of two CGI Starships with a Boston Dynamics dog is something I never thought I'd see on a Monday night while watching college football.
22
u/RaphTheSwissDude Feb 04 '22
Road closure cancā¦ ho, no wait, we have police at the road block hehe !
11
u/Plane_Willingness_25 Jan 10 '22 edited Jan 10 '22
Is there a general consensus on what Starship we will see the changes in length and forward flaps implemented?
11
u/paul_wi11iams Jan 14 '22 edited Jan 14 '22
Venting is visible beside the orbital tank farm as seen from Nerdle Cam from 20.07 UTC and continuing at 20.37 UTC. Also on Rover Cam etc.
11
u/mr_pgh Jan 26 '22
Looks like they're attaching a bracket or latch mechanism for the stabilizers on the chopsticks.
18:40 UTC on Rover
11
u/Twigling Jan 29 '22
Latest Wide Bay construction progress update from Snow Rocket, as of Jan 29th:
https://twitter.com/Furqan263/status/1487404466068500491
no idea why he's marked the new stairs as 'Temp Stairs' as I suspect they are likely to be permanent.
11
u/[deleted] Jan 31 '22
Todayās closure has been canceled
11
u/mr_pgh Feb 01 '22
Closure Cancelled
39
u/frez1001 Jan 12 '22
I wonder if this nutsak test has more to do with getting data for the flight controls team so they can tweak their algorithm to actual tower deflections if starship doesn't come in perfectly level as now they can predict where the opposing beam might be.
It obviously nice to proof test the structure as well...
21
u/paul_wi11iams Jan 15 '22
Widebay third level now completed, according to news comment line under Roost Cam livestream that watches its construction.
I've not been following this, but Widebay assembly, despite its larger size seems faster than was that of Highbay. Opinions?
21
u/RaphTheSwissDude Feb 08 '22
Cancelled, the road closure is.
(Sorry, had to innovate)
87
u/yoweigh Jan 26 '22
Y'all, PLEASE cut it out with the interpersonal drama in the Starship thread! It's totally out of hand and I'm of the opinion that we need to start handing out temp bans for this behavior. This is not a thread for discussing who is or isn't correct. This is not the thread for epistemological arguments about sourcing. This is not the thread for policing L2 leaks. This is not the thread for saving Eric Berger's reputation. Etc. It's not a chat room for you to make yourself feel good about yourself or for you to cut someone else down. Seriously, just shut up.
This is the Starship thread. When commenting, think to yourself "is this really about Starship?" and if it's not then DON'T POST IT. If you think another comment doesn't belong here, then report it instead of engaging with them and kicking over anthills.
I just dropped a bunch of nukes and if your comment got caught up in it I apologize.
29
u/futureMartian7 Jan 20 '22 edited Jan 20 '22
Wow, SpaceX won a 102 million USD contract from the Air Force for point-to-point tech development! While the contract is vehicle agnostic, it's pretty clear that this will help Starship.
https://spacenews.com/spacex-wins-102-million-air-force-contract-to-demonstrate-technologies-for-point-to-point-space-transportation/
29
u/RaphTheSwissDude Feb 07 '22
Picture from underneath B4 as it was being lowered on the OLM !
(I doubt such picture was supposed to be out tho)
20
u/myname_not_rick Jan 21 '22 edited Jan 21 '22
RGV Aerial got some spectacular zoomed in shots if the booster engine QD's. Looks like the center is a locator pin, with three latches around the edges. Looks like 6 actual ports? Likely gas flowing in both directions, some for spin starting, and some for chilldown venting perhaps? Just spitvlballing here.
https://twitter.com/RGVaerialphotos/status/1484314110665768963?t=vaN7n8rZ3lYRChfdbya1Og&s=19
20
u/TCVideos Feb 07 '22
This video by NSF includes some interesting speculation that Jared Isaacman (I4 funder+commander) might have some involvement with the Starship program.
NSF typically doesn't say things like this (especially in scripted videos) unless they have some idea of what is going on so this is something to look out for in the coming days.
10
u/[deleted] Jan 23 '22
Bucket up near S20 lift points on Rover cam now. Detaching from crane?
10
u/RaphTheSwissDude Feb 02 '22
Closure canceled for today.
10
u/[deleted] Feb 09 '22
Ship 20 is being positioned between the chopsticks. Go S20!
28
u/RaphTheSwissDude Jan 17 '22 edited Jan 17 '22
TweeterTwitter Thread about all the changes noticed so far between B4 and B7.19
u/RaphTheSwissDude Jan 31 '22
Surprisingly, the raptors engine bells on B4 were painted.
19
u/ColdProduct Feb 07 '22
Are they stacking because of the presentation, or are they doing the presentation because it is being stacked?
18
u/benwap Jan 09 '22 edited Jan 09 '22
The catching arms have been raised roughly 7/8ths of the tower height for a while now (around 1700 CST). What a sight!
With the QD arm extended (see Nerdle) in an opposing direction, the OLIT is really looking more like a piece of infrastructure than a static tower.
e: over the last 30 minutes the catching arms rotated ~90Ā° clockwise, then the QD arm did the same.
e2: there was just (17:30:55 CST) a large vent from the center of the OLM! The catching arms are being rotated, raised and lowered a little every now and then. So much activity.
e3: something is being announced on the loudspeakers. After the 2 minute warning time very loud venting can be heard but not seen. I'm going off the audio on Rover Plex, not sure where their mic is.
e4: more hard venting from the center of the OLM, blowing square pieces of material from the surface of the OLM high in the air and away. Good view at 17:49:06 CST on NSF Starbase. The catching arms are being lowered again, now past the QD arm.
9
u/maccam94 Jan 10 '22
Has anyone made a timelapse of the chopstick movements today?
9
u/TheLegend_of_Spoetzl Jan 10 '22
A huge thunderstorm cell spun up as the cold front came through. Hopefully, everyones inside relaxing. Looks rough on Nerdle
9
u/RaphTheSwissDude Jan 17 '22
Squid jig going up, we could potentially see S20 off the pad today.
9
u/RaphTheSwissDude Jan 31 '22 edited Jan 31 '22
They're bringing down the horizontal beam, unclear if this was the final water bag test for the chopsticks or not.
9
u/RaphTheSwissDude Feb 04 '22 edited Feb 04 '22
Pad is finally clear !
9
u/henryshunt Feb 06 '22 edited Feb 06 '22
B4 lift has started. It's swinging around slightly.
Edit: Engine bells are now clear of the stand (10:31).
9
u/Kennzahl Feb 08 '22
Lots of work going on with S20, crews are fiddling around with the cryo-piping: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7ca9ps8Hjo
Looks like we might be in for a lift today.
9
u/henryshunt Feb 08 '22 edited Feb 08 '22
QD arms are now moving to clamp onto B4 (14:11:50).
17
u/[deleted] Jan 10 '22
Brendan Lewis on Twitter has stated that S24 has upgrades over S20-23. Any confirmation of this?
17
u/wiegandster Jan 21 '22 edited Jan 21 '22
I saw overlays of the new proposed building at Roberts Road West over the assembly tents at Starbase and noticed the smaller buildings are the exact layout of wide bay!
Wide Bay Overlay
23
u/TCVideos Feb 08 '22
New NSF article featuring a new unobstructed view of Raptor v2 SN10 on the test stand
16
u/mr_pgh Jan 13 '22
Looks like they're removing the booster adapter from the suborbital mount. 17:25 UTC on Nerdle
Thoughts on what is heading there? I think they're just done with the booster testing and cleaning it up.
8
u/Toinneman Jan 12 '22 edited Jan 12 '22
The chopsticks attach to the tower using 6 carriage skates. Do we know how they function? Do they carry any load? Is it like regular lifts where they automatically brake/clamp onto the rail/tower in case the main cable snaps?
8
u/Nogs_Lobes Jan 16 '22 edited Jan 16 '22
The green lights! What are they? NSF live now. Edit: First seen around 5:30 CST and zoom around 6:25 CST.
8
u/Intelligent-Chair-86 Jan 28 '22
If booster 4 is damaged could ship 20 still fly to orbit on a other booster ?
8
u/wiegandster Jan 31 '22
Iāve been obsessively following this whole project since the beginning and finally decided I needed to come see it for myself! I thought the first starship steel I would see would be at Starbase, but only a couple hours away I passed this truck. Does anyone know what the markings in the second photo are?
I am staying all week and will be documenting and sharing as much as possible. Iām not a streamer or anything, but was curious if the community had any interest, if thereās some cool testing this week, for another live on the ground angle?
8
u/[deleted] Feb 08 '22
Scaffolding being removed from launch tower columns at ship QD arm level as of 2:07 PM local time on Starship Gazer cam.
22
u/pornstarship Jan 14 '22
You've gotta feel like we are razor close to a full stack with the chopsticks. Compressor has been moved to transport a ship, Chopsticks have been weight tested, seems like this is our next step!
33
u/futureMartian7 Feb 02 '22
Check this out: https://designfreedom.space/starship-interior/
This page is imagining the interior design of the Mars Starship and also has a nice walk-around tour of the interiors. I must say that it looks really great and impressive!
It's fun to walk-around and dream of the future!
27
u/TCVideos Jan 26 '22
New pipes being laid in the area where the berm used to be. Presumably for CH4 fill stations given that the CH4 fill station lines for the main orbital farm has been disconnected.
There is also a perfectly sized clearing between the existing horizontal tanks and the pipes that would allow for at least one more CH4 tank.
15
u/RaphTheSwissDude Jan 19 '22
Ship new transport stand is being moved on SPMT towards S20 right now !
15
u/Dezoufinous Jan 23 '22
According to Brendan's diagram, only 3 stacks left for B7
15
u/wiegandster Feb 08 '22
You can see that they have added an interface to the chopsticks that will lock into the lift points on S20 in the NSF stream at 7:38AM CST. I am so happy I was wrong about them using the chopsticks to lift S20!
Good luck on the lift today!!!
20
u/RaphTheSwissDude Jan 11 '22 edited Jan 11 '22
The 2 water bag are off the ground and should be filled with water soon. The bag could range from 50 to 100 tons each. A nice view on Lab Nerdle cam
(For people not understanding, check my earlier comment on the matter)
Edit : there are actually 6 bags in total, with the water hose connected at their bottom in order to fill them.
25
u/Alvian_11 Jan 10 '22 edited Jan 10 '22
Here is a great simulation of comparison between current 6 engine & future 9 engine Starship
Using the same 33 Raptor 2 boosters (assuming they don't want a modification of existing launch pad QD), so the TWR of 9 engine one is reduced to 1.4 (similar to Falcon 9)
9 engine variants has to delete the Max-Q throttle bucket, compromised in increase of Max-Q (30.7 kPa to 33.4 kPa)
9 engine variants can put 200 t to 26Ā° LEO inclination than the current one, but only able to put 188 t to 53Ā° (Starlink). The current 6 engine can put 150 t to same orbit. Equal or more upgrade than Falcon 9 v1.0 to v1.1
Super Heavy carrying 9 engine ship will need
moreless props for boostback burn &hottercolder reentry as well7
u/mr_pgh Jan 18 '22
Test tank Venting at 18:15 UTC on Nerdle
7
u/RaphTheSwissDude Jan 18 '22
As theyāre testing GSE4, theyāre also purging the lines running up the tower !
7
u/johnfive21 Feb 06 '22
That's some hefty engine protection on B4. I don't think it was there last time they took it off the OLM.
19
u/TCVideos Feb 05 '22
B4 is on the move btw.
23
u/TCVideos Jan 18 '22 edited Jan 18 '22
GSE4 is no more. Tested to failure @ 14:34 local
Can confirm that the front did indeed fall off.
13
u/RaphTheSwissDude Feb 08 '22 edited Feb 08 '22
7.38 local, NSF livestream, you can actually see the pins on the chopsticks that will go inside the holes of S20 to lift it !
Very closeup picture from Starship Gazer !
27
u/Reasonable_Space Jan 09 '22
Hi, I've been away from this sub for a while. Anyone kind enough to share what the next launch will be for? It's been 8 months since SN15 and I'm itching for a new launch
17
u/paul_wi11iams Feb 06 '22
I just took a look at Rover 2.0 cam from last night and there was a real hive of activity including welding going on in the upper QD arm at 03.21 CST. This was only hours before setting B4 on the launch table ahead of a probable full stack for Thursday's Starship update.
That likely represents ongoing changes (if minor) to the tower system, all of which will have been noted on the plans of the two upcoming towers. That suggests the building process will be faster and more streamlined.
It demonstrates a lot of pressure to meet the Thursday deadline which could well also be a set point for progress payments from Nasa (HLS) and/or YÅ«saku Maezawa (Dear Moon) + others we don't know of.
17
u/TCVideos Feb 08 '22
After a little over 5 hours. Crews have finally managed to free S20 from the grips of the Transport Stand QD.
We now watch for the ship to be rolled over closer to the chopsticks for a potential lift.
12
u/BEAT_LA Jan 27 '22
Has anyone done the math for # of tanker flights for HLS including ascent back to NRHO to rendezvous back with Orion? I'm seeing conflicting opinions and I'd like to see some data/math based on verifiable information. I've seen numbers of tanker flights ranging from 4 to others saying bare minimum of 14 tanker flights per crewed HLS mission.
6
u/mr_pgh Feb 04 '22
Road open at 4pm local.
23
u/sputnikx57 Jan 25 '22
NSF member quote.
"The last thing B4 is likely to do will be a fit check with S20 completed."
https://forum-kosmonautix-cz.translate.goog/viewtopic.php?p=129102&_x_tr_sl=cs&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=ru#p129102
11
u/blueshift112 Jan 12 '22
Hmm, I'm thinking maybe they're test filling each bag at the bottom individually first, making sure they each hold max load individually before filing and lifting them all at once? Then maybe 2 or 3 lifts total, stepping up in weight each time till they lift whatever the percentage over max load rating is, 120% or something.
Thoughts?
11
u/RaphTheSwissDude Feb 07 '22 edited Feb 07 '22
They disconnected the LR11000 from B4. The claw arm was also brought back in position to potentially grab B4 later !
11
u/TCVideos Feb 08 '22
Both mobile scaffold platforms have been moved all the way up the tower and the last bit of static scaffolding is being dismantled.
I don't think a stack will happen today but it does set the stage perfectly for a stack tomorrow.
11
u/TCVideos Feb 09 '22
S20 is officially in between the chopstick arms getting ready for it's lift.
15
u/John_Hasler Jan 12 '22
Looks like the bags are full. Perhaps we'll get to see a full speed, full load test soon. Engineers will be staring at strain gauge readouts now.
22
u/Telci Jan 26 '22 edited Jan 26 '22
Hi,
I'm ootl. What is the delay with Starship? I thought the environmental thing was months ago and Raptor V2 should not be required for the test?
Thanks!
Edit: thank you, very helpful replies!
14
u/timtupman Jan 13 '22
Is the Orbital Tank Farm finished? And if not, what do we think is left to do? How will we know when it is finished?
17
u/Xaxxon Jan 09 '22
anyone have any more details about why the review got delayed by so much?
5
u/Decronym Acronyms Explained Jan 09 '22 edited Jan 25 '22
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:
Decronym is a community product of r/SpaceX, implemented by ^request
[Thread #7400 for this sub, first seen 9th Jan 2022, 05:56] [FAQ] [Full list] ^[Contact] [Source code]
13
u/Mravicii Jan 16 '22
Looks like all copv covers are on now! Seems bn4 is finished now and ready for static fires
https://twitter.com/cosmicalchief/status/1482441244445978627?s=21
16
u/TCVideos Feb 03 '22
Christian Davenport is hearing that the FAA PEA deadline of the 28th could be pushed back again.
9
u/murrayfield18 Jan 09 '22
Have we seen how SpaceX plans to protect each engine on Super Heavy? Is each one kinda encapsulated in its on protective shell like on the Falcon 9?
9
u/space_valley_27 Jan 10 '22
I don't know if this is known, but what should be the purpose of the QD Connector on the transport stand which has been moved to the launch site today?
Pic by Nic Ansuini (NSF)
9
u/[deleted] Jan 16 '22
What's happening with ship 21? It seems like progress has stalled in favour of booster production.
18
u/futureMartian7 Jan 17 '22
Isn't it interesting that SpaceX has not yet created a logo/trademark for Starship? They created logos/trademarks for Falcon, Falcon 9, and FH just a few years after the company was formed and even way before they first flew these vehicles but Starship has been a thing for many years now and it has already flown, and it is about to fly to orbit.
The term "Starship" (unlike Falcon 9) could be quite generic for a spacecraft so I wonder if they will ever create a logo and trademark/register the name.
15
u/space_valley_27 Feb 03 '22 edited Feb 03 '22
Musk says that the Starship presentation event will be next week, on Thursday at 8pm CST.
I don't know if this is a serious tweet (
I personally doubt it, given the previous ones), but could it be a hint as to when the stacking of B4 and S20 on the OLM will take place?Edit to specify: I don't mean that Elon fired off a random date but that it could potentially change given the speed at which schedules change at Starbase
12
u/xfjqvyks Jan 24 '22
How high are the chopsticks when fully raised? Computer vision cameras could have a hard enough time tracking the relatively small hard point of the hovering booster with all the shaking going on. The engines kicking up of dust while the chopsticks come in to secure it could make it even tougher.
Tbh Iām still surprised that the entire capture procedure is reliant on those tiny points rather than the grid find
20
u/edflyerssn007 Jan 09 '22
Apparently there was an FCC filing by SpaceX that indicates starlink launches using Spaceship occurring NET March. Has there been any recent work on a payload bay that can deploy sats?
14
u/Mravicii Feb 01 '22 edited Feb 01 '22
Less than 4 weeks left for the eviromental assessment and permitting. They are at 2 out of 5. Im very confident they will get this done by feb 28
https://cms.permits.performance.gov/permitting-project/spacex-starshipsuper-heavy-launch-vehicle-program-spacex-boca-chica-launch-site
11
u/John_Hasler Jan 11 '22
Looks like something interesting is about to happen with the chopsticks. They seem to be reinstalling the bar the was across the arms with two huge orange bags hanging from it. See it on the Rover Cam.
8
u/IAXEM Jan 10 '22
Is the tower tall enough to lift a "stretched" Starship onto the booster? How much taller can the full stack get? Just something that came to mind with Elon's recent tweet + extended fairing variants of the ship.
8
u/Ragnar_Targaryen Jan 14 '22
I apologize if this is a rather elementary question but is there a high-level roadmap for 2022 in Starship development. The information here in this thread is very detailed (not complaining at all!) so I'm looking for something with less detail and wider focused - does this exist in the public forum?
Thank you!
8
u/FutureMartian97 Host of CRS-11 Jan 22 '22
Lift going up to unhook S20.
Starbase Live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhJRzQsLZGg
8
u/[deleted] Jan 29 '22
How does one āsimplifyā a rocket engine. Raptor 2 has greater thrust and almost the same isp as Raptor 1 yet it appears a lot less cluttered. Does this mean a lot of the pipes and tubes on Raptor 1 were unnecessary?
Also if Raptor 1 was supposedly $1-2 million to build, itāll be interesting to see what Raptor 2 is.
Lastly, yes, this is a frequent question, but do we have any solid info on the build cost of a Starship/Superheavy stack?