FAQ
- 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.”
- Where can I find streams of the launch? SpaceX Full Livestream. NASASpaceFlight Channel. Lab Padre Channel. Everyday Astronaut Channel.
- 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.
- 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.”
- 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.
Quick Links
RAPTOR ROOST | LAB CAM | SAPPHIRE CAM | SENTINEL CAM | ROVER CAM | ROVER 2.0 CAM | PLEX CAM | NSF STARBASE
Starship Dev 46 | Starship Dev 45 | Starship Dev 44 | Starship Dev 43
Official Starship Update | r/SpaceX Update Thread
Status
Road Closures
| Type | Start (UTC) | End (UTC) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary | 2023-08-04 13:00:00 | 2023-08-05 01:00:00 | Possible |
| Alternative | 2023-08-06 13:00:00 | 2023-08-07 01:00:00 | Possible |
| Alternative | 2023-08-07 13:00:00 | 2023-08-08 01:00:00 | Possible |
Up to date as of 2023-08-04
Vehicle Status
As of July 28th 2023
Follow Ring Watchers on Twitter and Discord for more.
| Ship | Location | Status | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| S15 | Rocket Garden | Scrapped | |
| S20 | Rocket Garden | Retired | |
| S24 | Gulf of Mexico | Destroyed | Destroyed on during Flight Test 1 |
| S25 | Launch Site | Testing | Spin Prime and Static Fire |
| S26 | Rocket Garden | Resting | No fins or heat shield, plus other changes. |
| S27 | Rocket Garden | Scrapped | Common dome imploded |
| S28 | Rocket Garden | Pending Raptor install | Previously tested at Masseys |
| S29 | High Bay 1 | Under construction | |
| S30 | Build Site | Under construction | |
| S31 | Build Site | Parts under construction | Assorted parts spotted through S34. |
| 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 | Mega bay | Pending raptor swap and hot-stage ring install | Static fire (August 5th) |
| B10 | Masseys | Testing | Cryo testing |
| B11 | Rocket Garden | Resting | |
| B12 | Megabay | Raceways installed | |
| B13 | Build Site | Parts under construction | |
| B14 | Build Site | Parts under construction | |
| B15 | Build Site | Parts under construction |
Resources
- LabPadre Channel | NASASpaceFlight.com Channel
- NSF: Booster 7 + Ship X (likely 24) Updates Thread | Most Recent
- NSF: Boca Chica Production Updates Thread | Most recent
- NSF: Elon Starship tweet compilation | Most Recent
- SpaceX: Website Starship page | Starship Users Guide (2020, PDF)
- FAA: SpaceX Starship Project at the Boca Chica Launch Site
- FAA: Temporary Flight Restrictions NOTAM list
- FCC: Starship Orbital Demo detailed Exhibit - 0748-EX-ST-2021 application June 20 through December 20
- NASA: Starship Reentry Observation (Technical Report)
- Hwy 4 & Boca Chica Beach Closures (May not be available outside US)
- Production Progress Infographics by @RingWatchers
- Raptor 2 Tracker by @SpaceRhin0
- Acronym definitions by Decronym
- Everyday Astronaut: Starbase Tour with Elon Musk, Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
- Everyday Astronaut: 2022 Elon Musk Interviews, Starbase/Ship Updates | Launch Tower | Merlin Engine | Raptor Engine
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Starship Gazer @StarshipGazer 5:21 PM - Jul 20, 2023
New Booster Hot Staging section spotted earlier today. - 7/20/23 - https://starshipgazer.com
SpaceX made a prototype like this, with lots of vertical slits, and then scrapped it. It was suggested at the time that it might have been for hot staging. Well, that’s looking more likely. The current article has the outlines of the vertical slits but they haven’t been snipped out.
Potentially basic question: does anyone know if this section is structural and needs to hold all the weight (plus various forces during flight) of the second stage? As in, there’s no hidden scaffolding in the center of the engines?
I think once it’s done it will be structural. But it needs a lot more reinforcement.
SpaceTwitter 5:02 PM - Jul 27, 2023:
After initial activation, a full-pressure test of the new Starship flame deflector is planned for Friday
With it is a great picture, taken from a height, of the recent test.
I feel they’ve started communicating more, that’s great to see.
Static fire!
Announcements on the webcast:
- Test duration 2.74 seconds, with 4 engines shutting down prematurely.
- Vehicle and pad look good. Preparing for propellant offload.
Plate seems to have survived this very well. Didn’t see any bits flying up either, and white cloud seems good, so very positive overall.
But 4 engines shut off and I think John mentioned they were aiming for 5 seconds, so I bet they’ll go for another run in the next few days.
If I remember correctly, they can launch with up to three engines missing. I guess the early shutdown of the fourth engine after ~2.74s triggered an abort of the static fire, which was supposed to last for 5 seconds?
Booster 9 completed a successful spin prime: https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1687551185509888000
I hope we see a static fire and test of the deluge system soon!
Great progress!
Chris Bergin - NSF @NASASpaceflight 1:24 PM - Jul 17, 2023
WOW! OLM Water Deluge System conducts its first full test! That was super impressive. No more rock tornados, I’d say!
I wonder whether the MP4 will attach here? … edit: Nope, it seems not. See https://imgur.com/a/CQwvvl0 . Audio, but don’t turn it up.
Edit 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgTqqGaU-Bg is a closer view from Starship Gazer @StarshipGazer, but with some unrelated chopstick stuff at the end apparently.
Edit 3: DRAT! I hang out in this thread, not the main group, and didn’t see that @llamacoffee had posted “[Chris Bergin - NSF] WOW! OLM Water Deluge System conducts its first full test! That was super impressive. No more rock tornados, I’d say!” here.
Wow! Didn’t expect them to test so soon!
Wonder what the next steps are, for some reason I expected this to be more violent.
Well, Zack Golden did reply that he thinks they’re holding back, so maybe you’ll get your wish for more violence.
Zack Golden @CSI_Starbase added on 2:09 PM - Jul 17, 2023:
Interesting things to note about this test:
- In the near future this will have an even higher volume of water
- The system appears to be in the process of being expanded and might eventually have double the amount of high pressure gas tanks feeding it.
On point 1, someone asserted (based on “Individuals on various discord servers”) that it was only the center manifold.
Zack had a later tweet, 3:37 PM - Jul 17, 2023:
The purpose of the water system is purely to keep the steel plates from melting.
Without the water, the plates would be disintegrated, but the actual foundation would still survive as long as the booster cleared the pad fast enough.
The upgraded foundation is the key to success here. Had the original foundation been constructed the way it is now, the pad would not have failed during the first launch attempt while using Fondag on the blast surface
IMHO it’s impossible for that type of failure to occur again.
He clarified in a later reply, “As I said, the water is not preventing mechanical forces from being transmitted through the plates and into the foundation. That’s not it’s job. It’s purely for thermal protection.”
I think this test was done without the plates that close the top of the connection to the center section. If I’m correct the next test will look quite different.
Not sure what to make of this crazy contraption: https://twitter.com/nasaspaceflight/status/1678949709661065217?s=46&t=Mj914Aam14loAYQOISZ9zQ
Huh, the tweet seems to be visible even without a login? If not, the underlying image is https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F0zTpR6XwAAnVvl?format=jpg&name=4096x4096
The tweet says
Chris Bergin - NSF @NASASpaceflight 9:09 PM - Jul 11, 2023
Say hello to S24.2 at Starbase. You’re interesting!
Photo by Jack Beyer (@thejackbeyer) for NSF.
I think the naming convention of Snumber.number or Bnumber.number is for a test tank or other test subassembly.
One suggestion is that it’s a test of the lunar Human Landing System. S normally means it’s on Starship, and maybe the reinforced holes at the top of the tank are the landing thrusters, or the openings for the thrusters.
There’s also the suggestion that it’s a hot staging ring, but it was objected elsewhere that that would be on top of a booster, not in a Starship.
Another suggestion is that it’s a “Frankenbarrel”, combining two tests.
A dome above a payload door…???
It must be a test article. But what kind of tests?
I’d hazard a guess at in-orbit refuelling mechanism(s)
Perhaps. What would the holes around the dome be for? And why would there be a pez dispenser? What role would such a slot in the fuel tank serve?
So B9 is at the OLM ready to be lifted. Wonder if they’ll do so today or just let it stand there.
Nice picture from RGV Aerial Photography @RGVaerialphotos 1:45 PM - Jul 20, 2023:
New flyover!
Booster 9 ready for lift operations!
Also an unusual perspective from Mary @BocaChicaGal 7:51 AM - Jul 20, 2023:
It’s great to see Booster 9 rolling to the launch site this morning. 🚀🤩
@NASASpaceflight
And a glamor shot in transit by Starbase Surfer @cnunezimages 10:31 AM - Jul 20, 2023
WOW ! - Image Taken: July 20, 2023
Another glamor shot, this one from Jack Beyer @thejackbeyer 9:57 PM - Jul 20, 2023, of a NASA Space Flight picture.
Super Heavy Booster’s 33 Raptor engines. Looking so clean!
@NASAspaceflight
ANOTHER glamor shot, this one from SpaceX @SpaceX itself, 3:08 PM - Jul 21, 2023:
Booster 9 on the pad
Marcus House retweeted with, “Looks like something right out of your favourite sci-fi movie huh!?”.
There’s a new (lord I hate the new name) thread from The Ringwatchers @Ringwatchers about the Hot Stage Load Head et al. Someone did an unroll and it’s here. I haven’t time at the moment to go over it in detail. It looks like two ring sections will be above and below, and they will be reinforced because they are irrelevant to the hot stage sieve. The Hot Stage Load Head has been reinforced in several ways; there are pictures. The assembly will go into the can crusher.
NSF is live for today’s static fire test: https://www.youtube.com/live/UFKKFt1CQW0
SpaceX livestream for today’s static fire test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHxKhpFUOuo
Currently counting down to 2:08pm CT/19:08 UTC (17 minutes from now). Edit: Live stream is online now.
Bigger deluge test. WARNING: LOUD!
NASASpaceflight: SpaceX Starship Full-Pressure Deluge Test (YouTube). That has
&t=2425sin there to start just before the test. That’s video timestamp 40:25, wall clock at upper left 1:09:50. (Tweet)RGV Aerial Photography (but at ground level) (YouTube). I like this because it’s 3 different views, some zoomed in, some distant. (Tweet)
Andrew C - Rocket Future @TheRocketFuture tweet. A lot like the first. I tried to attach the video but Lemmy wouldn’t take it.
SpaceX tweeted a couple of things. Picture from ground level and close: Full-pressure test of Starship flame deflector (Twitter). Video, up a bit, just outside the legs, slow motion (Twitter). You can see right down the bidet’s butthole. This is the clearest shot showing that the intent is not to spray cold water on hot metal, but that it all looks angled to the sides.
(((Geoff))) @DeffGeff (Twitter) sped up the video to normal speed.
Video posted by He Who Musk Not Be Named, up and further away.
Marcus House @MarcusHouse 7:02 PM - Jul 28, 2023 (tweet) noted about the SpaceX image, “If you look closely, you can see that much of the water is shooting out in the exact pattern needed for the 33 engines. It is a real thing of beauty.”
Oh, and Zack Golden @CSI_Starbase tweeted 1:26 PM CDT - Jul 28, 2023,
Wow! This full pressure test of the flame diverter system was pretty incredible! Crazy there is still an additional water tank missing from this.
I can’t wait to see this during the first Static Fire test. Would not be surprised to see that as early as next week!
This looks great. Can’t wait to see this with a a static fire.
A tweet from Jack Beyer @thejackbeyer with a close-in picture (from the state park?) of the Orbital launch mount.
4:13 PM - Jul 14, 2023 ‘Just got shooed out of the dunes by a drone with a speaker on it because im “in the blast danger area for today’s test”. That’s a first. [emojus] @NASASpaceflight’
Edit: video here, visible to me even in incognito mode.
I think this was what was mentioned in the “New comment from /u/santacfan on Reddit:” thread just a bit ago, around “7:00pm”.
Zack Golden @CSI_Starbase tweeted at 7:54 PM - Jul 15, 2023:
Pretty massive liquid nitrogen or liquid oxygen dump going on. Tough to tell which it is.
I can’t remember ever seeing this occur before outside of a testing event.
Initially thought this was some sort of clean out process but the volume appears to be a bit excessive for that.
Checking The Other Place: chatter there about the massive cryogenic release yesterday.
“the PA mentioned a valve issue”
It’s LOX according to the guys who were sent in to try and close the valve and just happened to stop in front of Rover 2 to make their plan…
They were talking about whether to go in from the front (Hwy 4) or go around through the back.
It was Lox tank 1820. The big boy and they’d have to Spin That Valve
Then at the end it was, we’re going to punch thru, stay together, and if the monitor goes off, get out…
with someone’s long explanation:
Short periods of around an hour in highly elevated oxygen levels at atmospheric pressure is not particularly toxic. You may feel slightly dizzy, and feel dryness in your throat making you cough. You don’t want to stay too many sustained hours in it, as basically the natural antioxidants in your body will deplete and the oxygen will oxidise you, possibly leading to long term tissue damage. Especially the eyes, namely lens and retina.
What you don’t want to be anywhere near whilst working in this environment is an ignition source. If something sparks up or becomes hot, such as an insecure light connection, or grease in a valve spindle, Everything instantly ignites. Living tissue, Everything, including most metals will burn intensely once the heat gets going.
The Apollo 1 deaths of astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee, who perished during a flash fire caused by an electrical spark in pure oxygen levels inside the crew capsule during a launch rehearsal made NASA redesign the whole system.
So several gather that there was only one big valve whose failure caused a complete dump, and they find a bit surprising to have a single point of failure.
There evidently is a manual shutoff but an attempt to reach it was aborted.
More stuff relating to the hot staging system.
TheSpaceEngineer @mcrs987 provided a
tweetXpulsion:Quick rendition of this new ring, it evidently has less material but has more space that could be used to incorporate stringers with the forward section of the booster
they could also do internal stringers and ribs inside the ring, similar to the ship aft skirt
They also provided an Xuding. I gather that the piece had been marked that:
so…that ‘B12 Hot Stage Load Head’ piece came back out of tent 2
THATS A LOT OF STRINGERS
Someone asked, “why are they different from the stringers above? did they put stringers on stringers?”. TheSpaceEngineer replied, “yes”, with a zoom in on the middle, where they really did put larger stringers on top of existing stringers.
A way to make it quite stiff would be to sandwich stringers between an inner and outer ring.
NSF is live for today’s testing: https://www.youtube.com/live/KkZAWzFE5Wg
