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 47 | Starship Dev 46 | Starship Dev 45 | Starship Dev 44

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 2023-09-05

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 Rocket Garden Cryo tested
S27 Rocket Garden Scrapped Common dome imploded
S28 Engine Install Stand Raptors installed Previously tested at Masseys
S29 High Bay Under construction Flap installation in progress
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 Rocket Garden Resting
B12 Megabay 1 Grid fins installed
B13 Build Site Parts under construction
B14 Build Site Parts under construction
B15 Build Site Parts under construction

Resources

  • pigeonberry@lemmy.worldEnglish
    9·
    1 year ago

    “SpaceX Files its Starship Mishap Report to the FAA” by Jack Kuhr at Payload.

    SpaceX has filed a final mishap investigation report to the FAA for its April 20 Starship integrated flight test, the FAA told Payload on Tuesday. …

    SpaceX delayed submitting the final report for months while it implemented significant changes to both the launch vehicle and pad…

    The changes mostly being the booster bidet, but there’s also the Flight Termination System (FTS).

    The FAA did not provide a specific timeline for its review process, leaving the timeframe for potential approval up in the air. SpaceX will need the go-ahead from the FAA before it launches again.

    • burble@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      I’m looking forward to some journalist FOIAing this report so we don’t have to keep guessing about what’s in it.

    • pigeonberry@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      Links to the individual images (I’ve heard that, at one point, people couldn’t see tweets without logging into to Txixxer but could see images):

      Image 1

      Image 2

      Note that there’s someone taking a break on top of the dome in image 2.

  • pigeonberry@lemmy.worldEnglish
    7·
    1 year ago

    According to a SpaceX label, it’s for Human Landing System, presumably a mockup or test article.

    Chris Bergin - NSF @NASASpaceflight 4:20 PM · Aug 12, 2023, “Mary ( @BocaChicaGal) took some cool shots of the Ship 22 nosecone that went on a wander today. Human-sized door on its side!”

    Image 1 – Image 2 – Image 3

    Jack Beyer @thejackbeyer 5:05 PM · Aug 12, 2023, “The former S22 nosecone with a door that was rolled out today has an electrical box that says “HLS” on it… neat. @NASASpaceflight”

    Image 1 – Image 2 – Image 3

    TheSpaceEngineer @mcrs987 5:48 PM · Aug 12, 2023, “This is what we currently believe the interior of the Ship 22 crew cabin article looks like. -lol in the time it took to make this infographic it has now been confirmed to be HLS related”

    Image

  • LettuceTurnipTheBeet@lemm.eeEnglish
    6·
    1 year ago

    New comment from /u/santacfan on Reddit:

    Starbase Live-

    9:30am- There were workers inspecting the pad shortly after the test and then there was 1 lift at the top of the OLM and 1 lift up at the chopsticks overnight. 1st shift started moving equipment back in when they arrived but they haven’t started any meaningful work as of yet. A lift has also been up at one of S25’s lift points this morning.

    10:10am- I thought the lack of work on the OLM might be a sign that B9 would roll during the early closure but no sign of movement yet

    11:45am- Lifts going up and down to the top of the OLM

    1:07pm- Workers at the SQD

    1:17pm- Side wing with the work platform swings away from the SQD

    3:32pm- Crane returns to the launch pad

    3:51pm- Crane removes a load from the dance floor

    4:10pm- Crane removes a 2nd load of what looks like scaffolding pieces

    4:22pm- 3rd load lifted and crane lowers

    4:31pm- Crane leaves

    5:00pm- Second closure window opens. B9 remains tucked away in the mega bay.

    6:22pm- SPMT’s are still sitting outside of the mega bay. I think we can safely say they aren’t going to get B9 moved in the closure window.

    6:32pm- Water truck filling up the plastic barriers around the mid bay.

    8:00pm- Lifts have been up and down at the OLM. Water truck continues to fill the barriers around the mid bay. SPMT’s still sitting outside the mega bay.

    9:30pm- 2 lifts have been up under the right side of the OLM working (on one of the pipes?)

    10:30pm- Same 2 lifts up. Have moved to the back some

    (This gets synced)

    • subtle_inquisitor@aussie.zoneEnglish
      4·
      1 year ago

      Surely they’ll fix them up? Or maybe they’re not that confident it will get to reentry anyway. Or even if it does they want to see how damaged tiles behave. Idk, just spitballing here

    • burble@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      4·
      1 year ago

      set expectations accordingly

      Got it: skyhigh, blocking off my calendar, starting the watch party planning

    • clothes@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      1 year ago

      This was the first time I’ve watched a spin prime live and I think it must be an acquired taste :P

      Can’t wait for the static fire!

  • pigeonberry@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    1 year ago

    Top-level posts just added:

    [SpaceX] September 8, 2023: Upgrades Ahead Of Starship’s Second Flight Test That is, it’s a statement from SpaceX itself about the major problems it saw on Starship test 1, and several changes it has made.

    [Chris Bergin, Abhi Tripathi @SpaceAbhi] SpaceX LEADS the investigation It’s not appreciated that SpaceX did the investigation, decided on corrections, and wrote the report. The FAA provides feedback, but we don’t know how much.

  • LettuceTurnipTheBeet@lemm.eeEnglish
    5·
    1 year ago

    New comment from /u/santacfan on Reddit:

    Starbase Live-

    3:05am- Dance floor lowered on to its carrier

    3:52am- Dance floor drives away

    7:25am- Lifts were up most of the night and workers started to remove equipment from around the OLM.

    10:04am- SQD arm swings out of the way

    10:13am- Chopsticks go up

    11:00am- One lift still at the pad and no sign of pressure washers yet. I also just noticed this morning that they put hesco barriers (the big dirt filled containers) in front of the container they brought over to the side of the pad the other night. Are they really thinking about leaving it there for a launch?

    1:12pm- Workers removing the tarp that covers the deluge plate

    1:25pm- Forklift hauling away the tarp

    1:36:44pm- B9 ambient air depress vent?

    1:37:49pm- Another vent

    1:38pm- Grid fins tested

    2:36:56pm- FireX test

    2:57pm- Sheriff at the road block

    3:16:34pm- Much larger FireX test

    3:46pm- Adrian predicts that it will be at least 7pm cdt before a test occurs

    5:06pm- OTF venting

    5:18pm- Pope stack

    6:16pm- OTF venting really picking up

    6:37pm- OLM vent

    7:25pm- OLM vent stops. Propellant loading should be under way. Appx 30 minutes until spin prime

    7:34pm- Lox frost line

    7:45pm- OLM vent. Propellant load should be done

    7:48pm- Engine venting

    8:11:15pm- FireX

    8:11:34pm- Spin prime

    8:13:31pm- Depress vent

    8:18pm- Recondenser on

    8:30:05- Purge vent test

    8:46:35pm- Tower vent

    8:50:03pm- Another purge vent test

    9:51pm- 3rd purge test

    10:04pm- Another depress vent

    10:05pm- One stream of water from the FireX

    10:42pm- Road open

    (This gets synced)