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.eeEnglish
    3·
    1 year ago

    New comment from /u/santacfan on Reddit:

    Starbase Live-

    6:25am- Workers returning to the pad

    7:26:54am- SQD retracts

    7:47am- SQD work platform is extended

    7:49am- Worker on the SQD arm climbs up to S25’s QD. Installing covers?

    7:58am- Work platform is retracted

    8:41am- SQD arm swings to the side

    8:54:55am- S25 is lifted off of B9

    8:56:40am- Swinging to the side

    9:04:40am- Going down

    9:21:26am- Starts swinging over the stand

    9:23:44am- Lowering onto the stand

    9:45am- Looks like it’s down

    10:32am- Workers back at the pad

    11:04am- AWP going up to S26

    11:12am- Squid is being disconnected from S26

    11:34am- Lift up behind the cryo leg

    11:54am- LR11000 swings away from S26

    12:40pm- Workers on top of the OLM

    1:55pm- AWP goes up to the Hot stage ring. Lifts up to the top of the OLM and behind the cryo leg

    2:15pm- LR11000 starts moving towards the OLM for HSR removal most likely

    3:30pm- Klaxon, storm warning announcement. Lifts go down

    6:34pm- Some workers return to the pad after one heck of a storm. Over on the NSF discord, they said their weather station showed 48mph winds

    9:58pm- Workers have been on top of the OLM and the AWP has been back up at the HSR.

    (This gets synced)

  • LettuceTurnipTheBeet@lemm.eeEnglish
    3·
    1 year ago

    New comment from /u/santacfan on Reddit:

    Starbase live-

    7:20am- LR11000 finished moving over next to the OLT overnight and their was the ever present lift at the top of the staircase

    10:45am- Workers have been on top of the OLM. AWP went up to the chopsticks.

    3:00pm- Quiet around the OLM

    6:40pm- People have been moving around the base of the OLM and the deluge tank farm. No visible work though

    9:40pm- Still no lift action but workers could be seen going up the stairs and the lights on the dance floor are on for the first time in several nights.

    (This gets synced)

  • LettuceTurnipTheBeet@lemm.eeEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    New comment from /u/santacfan on Reddit:

    Starbase live-

    8:30am- Work continued on the dance floor overnight and I’m beginning to wonder if someone lost the keys to the lifts

    11:55am- Lift has been up and down to the top of the staircase

    1:22pm- Forklift brings in a sheet of metal. Drops it in front of the lift

    5:10pm- Lift was at the top of the stairs and a second lift was up under the right side pipes inspecting

    8:45pm- No lifts and no lights on the dance floor

    (This gets synced)

  • LettuceTurnipTheBeet@lemm.eeEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    New comment from /u/santacfan on Reddit:

    Starbase live-

    8:10am- Small crane was up behind the tower around 3am. Couldn’t see what it was lifting on SBL or Rover 2.

    11:20am- No work around the OLM. Concrete is being poured behind the tower.

    3:15pm- Nothing

    4:15pm- Maybe all of the the workers are over at the fishing tournament at the beach

    8:20pm- Lights are on and movement can be seen on the dance floor

    9:50pm- Mosquito spraying truck

    11:00pm- No lifts have been up all day. Work continues on the dance floor

    (This gets synced)

  • Decronym@lemmy.decronym.xyzBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:

    Fewer Letters More Letters
    C3 Characteristic Energy above that required for escape
    FAA Federal Aviation Administration
    NSF NasaSpaceFlight forum
    ~ National Science Foundation
    OLM Orbital Launch Mount
    OTF Orbital Tank Farm
    QD Quick-Disconnect
    SPMT Self-Propelled Mobile Transporter
    Jargon Definition
    Raptor Methane-fueled rocket engine under development by SpaceX
    dancefloor Attachment structure for the Falcon 9 first stage engines, below the tanks

    [Thread #8 for this sub, first seen 10th Sep 2023, 22:00] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]