this post was submitted on 17 May 2024
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SpaceX

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submitted 5 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 

SpaceX Starship page

Portions of this thread copied from a Starship Dev thread on r/SpaceX.

FAQ

  1. When next launch? (IFT-5) Booster catch NET late July, per Elon.
  2. When previous launch? (IFT-4)? Booster 11 and Ship 29 launched on 2024-06-06.
  3. What was the result? Both booster and ship make it to landing burn and splashdown. Ship flaps took a beating on reentry, but remained in control of the vehicle.

Quick Links

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

IFT-4 launch thread | Starship Dev 55 | IFT-3 launch thread | Starship Dev 54 | Starship Dev 53 | Starship Dev 52 | Starship Dev 51

Official SpaceX Starship Update Video (2024-04-06)


Status

Road Closures - @bocaroad Mastodon bot

Type Start (CDT) End (CDT) Status
Primary Date 2024-07-09 08:00 2024-07-09 20:00 Possible Closure.
Backup Date 2024-07-10 08:00 2024-07-10 20:00 Possible Closure.
Backup Date 2024-07-11 08:00 2024-07-11 20:00 Possible Closure.
Primary Day 2024-07-10 12:00 2024-07-11 00:00 "Clossure" Scheduled.
Alternative Day 2024-07-11 12:00 2024-07-12 00:00 Possible "Clossure".
Alternative Day 2024-07-12 08:00 2024-07-12 20:00 Possible "Clossure".

Up to date as of 2024-07-11

Vehicle Status

As of 2024-06-29

Follow Ring Watchers on Twitter and Discord for more.

Ship Location Status Comment
S26 Rocket Garden Resting Static fire Oct. 20. No fins or heat shield, multiple mysterious changes. Completed 3 cryo tests, latest on Oct 10. Rolls to Massey's May 8th, cryo test May 24th, static fired Jun 3rd, rolls to rocket garden Jun 12th.
S29 Indian Ocean Successful launch and soft water landing Spin prime Mar 11th, Static fire Mar 25th (6 engines) and 27th (1 engine), partial WDR May 16th, full WDR May 20th, full WDR May 28th, FTS installed May 30th, stacked on Jun 1st, launched on IFT-4 Jun 6th.
S30 Highbay Undergoing heatshield upgrade 2x cryo: Jan 3rd and Jan 5th. Engines installed ~Apr 9th. Static fired May 8th.
S31 Megabay 2 Pending engine install Cryo tested May 12th, suffers small electrical fire. Underwent repairs in the Highbay, rolls back to Massey's Jul 1. Cryo tested Jul 2nd and 3rd.
S32 Rocket Garden Resting Fully stacked, fore flaps installed but not aft flaps
S33-35 Abandoned Parts spotted, likely to be scrapped in preparation for Starship v2
S36-37 Build Site Parts spotted Starship v2 forward flap spotted
Booster Location Status Comment
B11 Gulf of Mexico Successful launch and soft water landing Completed 2 Cryo tests. Static fired Apr 5th, hot stage ring installed ~May 3rd, partial WDR May 16th, full WDR May 20th, full WDR May 28th, FTS installed May 30th, launched IFT-4 on Jun 6th.
B12 Pad A Pending static fire Cryo x2
B13 Megabay 1 Testing Cryo tests Apr 26th (methane tank) and Apr 29th (LOX tank)
B14 Megabay 1 Pending cryo Stacked Apr 26th
B14.1 Sanchez Resting Multiple catch simulation "slap tests" performed on Jun 26th and 27th.
B15 Build Site Assembly Potential aft end, common dome section, aft tank section, and forward dome spotted.
B16 Build Site Assembly Parts spotted
B17 Build Site Assembly Parts spotted

Resources

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

This thread probably, next thread perhaps less likely?

Starbase activities (2024-05-16):

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 months ago

Starbase activities (2024-06-14):

Starbase activities (2024-06-15):

IFT-5

[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago

Starbase activities (2024-06-02):

KSC

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Starbase activities (2024-06-13):

Other:

[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago

Starbase activities (2024-06-09):

IFT-5 info from Elon:

  • Launch NET one month from now.
  • S30 heat shield to be replaced with tiles which are twice as strong, and adding an secondary ablative protection.
[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 months ago

Starbase activities (2024-06-16):

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago

Starbase activities (2024-06-08):

KSC:

Other:

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Starbase activities (2024-06-06):

IFT-4:

KSC:

Other:

I need to get some sleep, and you probably should too :)

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago

Starbase activities (2024-06-12):

IFT-4/IFT-5:

  • No mishap investigation: "The FAA assessed the operations of the SpaceX Starship Flight 4 mission. All flight events for both Starship and Super Heavy appear to have occurred within the scope of planned and authorized activities."
[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago

Starbase activities (2024-06-11):

KSC: Zack highlights notable points in the environmental impact statement for LC-39A, and posts additional thoughts.

  • 35 booster engines, 9 ship engines
  • Up to 44 launches per year with both pad and drone ship landings
  • Separate catch and launch towers
  • Liquid methane, LOX, and LN2 produced on site.
  • 3.8 megalitre water deluge planned, 2.5x larger than current Starbase deluge.
[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Starbase activities (2024-06-07):

KSC:

Other:

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago

Starbase activities (2024-05-28):

Other:

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago

Second wet dress rehearsal with S29 and B11 in-progress now. NSF are live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lt2X_568sxc

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Starbase activities (2024-05-17):

Interesting statement by the FAA to NSF regarding IFT-3 mishap investigation:

https://x.com/BCCarCounters/status/1791600893151821827

Statement of FAA provided to @NASASpaceflight about SpaceX led investigation:

"If the FAA agrees no public safety issues were involved in the mishap, the operator may return to flight while the mishap investigation remains open, provided all other license requirements are met."

https://x.com/BCCarCounters/status/1791611426991157438

NSF followed up with the question if this would mean that a positive outcome of this investigation would mean the launch license will be modified before the mishab is closed?

The FAA answered: "Yes, provided all other license requirements are met."

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Starbase activities (2024-05-29):

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago

Starbase activities (2024-05-30):

Elon tweet on heat shield tiles: https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1796049014938357932

Unless we make the heat shield relatively heavy, as is the case with our Dragon capsule, where reliability is paramount, we will only discover the weak points by flying.

Right now, we are not resilient to loss of a single tile in most places, as the secondary containment material will probably not survive.

I will explain the problem in more depth with @Erdayastronaut next week. This is a thorny issue indeed, given that vast resources have been applied to solve it, thus far to no avail.

Tim Dodd confirms Starbase tour to be filmed before IFT-4.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago

Starbase activities (2024-05-31):

KSC:

  • Empty barge heading to KSC, likely for the two remaining tower segments.
[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Starbase activities (2024-06-01):

KSC:

IFT-4:

Other:

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Starbase activities (2024-06-21):

Other:

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago

Starbase activities (2024-06-04):

KSC:

IFT-4:

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Starbase activities (2024-06-05):

KSC:

  • Second chopstick is loaded onto barge, joining the first chopstick, the chopsticks carriage, and the two tower segments.

IFT-4:

Other:

  • New Ringwatchers article summarizing the history of S29 and B11.
  • Elon and Tim Dodd (EverydayAstronaut) are spotted on LabPadre Rover Cam (bottom left):

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago

Starbase activities (2024-06-10):

IFT-4:

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago

Starbase activities (2024-06-17):

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago

Starbase activities (2024-06-20):

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago

Starbase activities (2024-07-04):

Other:

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Apologies for the delay. Starbase activities (2024-07-05):

Other:

  • Closeup of S30 tile removal process. "Simple tooling to make this fast and repeatable", is in the works, per Elon.
  • Flight 5 in 4 weeks, per Elon. This gives us a new NET date of Aug 2.
[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago (5 children)

Can't wait for Thursday, it's going to be great!

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Starbase activities (2024-07-06):

Other:

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Starbase activities (2024-05-26):

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago

Starbase activities (2024-06-22):

Other:

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago

Starbase activities (2024-06-23):

Other:

  • "The best appendix is no appendix": Lars Blackmore (SpaceX principal landing engineer) belatedly expresses his pleasure at the success of IFT-4. Tweet 1, tweet 2, tweet 3.
  • Elon replies to Tim Dodd, and highlights upcoming changes with Raptor 3. Integrated regenerative cooling channels throughout the engine eliminates the need for engine shielding and reduces the required fire suppression system.
[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Starbase activities (2024-06-26):

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

Starbase activities (2024-07-01):

Other:

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

Starbase activities (2024-06-24):

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Starbase activities (2024-06-25):

Other:

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

Starbase activities (2024-07-09):

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

Starbase activities (2024-07-07):

Other:

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

Starbase activities (2024-07-02):

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago

Starbase activities (2024-05-24):

Other:

six engines that shut down early in the boostback burn were disabled from attempting the landing burn startup, leaving seven engines commanded to start up with two successfully reaching mainstage ignition. The booster had lower than expected landing burn thrust when contact was lost at approximately 462 meters in altitude

likely root cause for the early boostback burn shutdown was determined to be continued filter blockage where liquid oxygen is supplied to the engines, leading to a loss of inlet pressure in engine oxygen turbopumps. SpaceX implemented hardware changes ahead of Flight 3 to mitigate this issue, which resulted in the booster progressing to its first ever landing burn attempt. Super Heavy boosters for Flight 4 and beyond will get additional hardware inside oxygen tanks to further improve propellant filtration capabilities

Several minutes after Starship began its coast phase, the vehicle began losing the ability to control its attitude

likely root cause of the unplanned roll was determined to be clogging of the valves responsible for roll control. SpaceX has since added additional roll control thrusters on upcoming Starships to improve attitude control redundancy and upgraded hardware for improved resilience to blockage

  • Also notable: IFT-4 flight test timeline lists "landing burn". I wonder if this will be a soft-water or a hard-water landing?
  • Comparison of IFT-3 and IFT-4 flight timelines.
  • Zack's thoughts on the recent info: Tweet 1, tweet 2, tweet 3, tweet 4.
[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

Starbase activities (2024-06-29):

IFT-5:

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Starbase activities (2024-07-03):

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago

Starbase activities (2024-05-22):

KSC:

IFT-4:

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Starbase activities (2024-07-08):

Other:

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Starbase activities (2024-05-21):

IFT-4:

  • Will not feature propellant transfer, Pez door opening, Raptor engine restart, or "other items that SpaceX was working to demonstrate", per Lisa Watson-Morgan, manager of HLS at NASA.
[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Starbase activities (2024-05-27):

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Starbase activities (2024-05-20):

IFT-4:

Elon updates on:

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

Starbase activities (2024-06-18):

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

Starbase activities (2024-06-19):

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Starbase activities (2024-05-25 (Happy Towel Day)):

Other:

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