SpaceX Starship page

FAQ

  1. When (first) orbital flight? First integrated flight test occurred April 20, 2023. “The vehicle cleared the pad and beach as Starship climbed to an apogee of ~39 km over the Gulf of Mexico – the highest of any Starship to-date. The vehicle experienced multiple engines out during the flight test, lost altitude, and began to tumble. The flight termination system was commanded on both the booster and ship.”
  2. Where can I find streams of the launch? SpaceX Full Livestream. NASASpaceFlight Channel. Lab Padre Channel. Everyday Astronaut Channel.
  3. What’s happening next? SpaceX has assessed damage to Stage 0 and is implementing fixes and changes including a water deluge/pad protection/“shower head” system. No major repairs to key structures appear to be necessary.
  4. When is the next flight test? Just after flight, Elon stated they “Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months.” On April 29, he reiterated this estimate in a Twitter Spaces Q&A (summarized here), saying “I’m glad to report that the pad damage is actually quite small,” should “be repaired quickly,” and “From a pad standpoint, we are probably ready to launch in 6 to 8 weeks.” Requalifying the flight termination system (FTS) and the FAA post-incident review will likely require the longest time to complete. Musk reiterated the timeline on May 26, stating “Major launchpad upgrades should be complete in about a month, then another month of rocket testing on pad, then flight 2 of Starship.”
  5. Why no flame diverter/flame trench below the OLM? Musk tweeted on April 21: “3 months ago, we started building a massive water-cooled, steel plate to go under the launch mount. Wasn’t ready in time & we wrongly thought, based on static fire data, that Fondag would make it through 1 launch.” Regarding a trench, note that the Starship on the OLM sits 2.5x higher off the ground than the Saturn V sat above the base of its flame trench, and the OLM has 6 exits vs. 2 on the Saturn V trench.

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Quick Links

RAPTOR ROOST | LAB CAM | SAPPHIRE CAM | SENTINEL CAM | ROVER CAM | ROVER 2.0 CAM | PLEX CAM | NSF STARBASE

Starship Dev 48 | Starship Dev 47 | Starship Dev 46 | Starship Dev 45

Official Starship Update | r/SpaceX Update Thread

Status

Road Closures

Type Start (UTC) End (UTC) Status
Primary 2023-08-24 13:00:00 2023-08-25 01:00:00 Cancelled
Alternative 2023-08-25 14:00:00 2023-08-26 02:00:00 Concluded
Alternative 2023-08-28 13:00:00 2023-08-27 01:00:00 Cancelled

Up to date as of 2023-09-05

Vehicle Status

As of 2023-09-22

Follow Ring Watchers on Twitter and Discord for more.

Ship Location Status Comment
S20 Rocket Garden Retired
S24 Gulf of Mexico Destroyed Destroyed on during Flight Test 1
S25 Stacked on B9 Spin Prime and Static Fire
S26 Test Stand B Cryo tested
S27 Rocket Garden Scrapped Common dome imploded
S28 Engine Install Stand Raptors installed Previously tested at Masseys
S29 Masseys Awaiting testing
S30 High Bay Under construction
S31 High Bay Under construction
S32 Build Site Parts spotted
S33 Build Site Parts spotted
S34 Build Site Parts spotted

 

Booster Location Status Comment
Pre-B7 & B8 Scrapped or Retired B4 is in the Rocket Garden, the rest are scrapped.
B7 Gulf of Mexico Destroyed Destroyed April 20th in Flight Test 1
B9 Launch mount Hot-stage ring installed Static fire (August 5th)
B10 Megabay 1 Cryo tested
B11 Megabay 1
B12 Megabay 1 Grid fins installed
B13 Megabay 1 Stacking
B14 Build Site Parts under construction
B15 Build Site Parts under construction

Resources

  • LettuceTurnipTheBeet@lemm.eeMEnglish
    3·
    9 months ago

    New comment from /u/santacfan on Reddit:

    Starbase live-

    3:13am- Before leaving the pad, lifts were up to the top of the OLM and to the back right chine of B9

    5:50am- Pad has been cleared of equipment overnight and It looks like they may be removing the tarp covering the deluge plate right now

    7:30am- OLM area looks clear. No sign of pressure washers yet

    7:51:22am- Cyber truck drives in front of the OLM. (Please tell me they didn’t clear this all out for a photo op)

    7:56:40am- Drone and Cyber truck

    8:04:55am-Now 2 people on bikes are riding around the OLM (Tesla bikes?)

    8:10:49am- Cyber truck leaves the launch site

    10:11am- Looks like a manifold for a set of the methane sub coolers being delivered

    12:40pm- Lift was up at the bottom of S26. Still no sign of anyone pressure washing at the OLM. So between that and the tarp going back on, a test is looking doubtful. (It’s normally 5 to 7 hours from the start of pressure washing to a deluge test.)

    1:33pm- New manifold delivered for the Lox side sub coolers .

    2:33pm- Vent hoses are in both of S28’s tanks. Doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere tonight.

    3:15pm- A crane is up over by the orbital tank farm but the tanks are blocking the view of what it’s doing. (Not by the sub coolers)

    4:12:33pm- Cyber truck now pulling an Rvac is back at the OLM with a photo car in front

    4:17:41pm- Round and round it goes. (The tarp was removed again for the video)

    4:34:14pm- Here they come again

    4:40:22pm- Taking the chains down that keep equipment off the deluge plate. They were apparently ruining the shot.

    4:47:24- Left the OLM and now coming back in. Do one lap and leave the pad area again.

    5:05pm- Back to do some still photos

    5:37:45pm- S29 nosecone venting

    5:56pm- I mean, who doesn’t want to drive circles around the OLM?

    6:34pm- Venting from bottom of S29

    6:39pm- And the road closure is for……taking video of Cyber truck pulling the Rvac up and down the road with no one else around

    7:12pm- Drone following the truck down Hwy 4 this pass

    7:45pm- B13’s transfer tube is lifted for install in the mega bay

    8:35pm- Headlights can be seen to the side of the pad but no workers have returned yet

    8:58pm- S25’s stand is moved to beside the OLM. Here comes another de stack

    (This gets synced)