Starbase activities (2023-12-08):

• S26 was hooked up to a crane last night, and remained connected throughout the day.
• Road closure for December 8th revoked.
• Temporary and intermittent road delay posted for the night of December 10th/11th.
• Road delay is likely for S28 rollout.
• Another horizontal tank heading to Masseys
• SQD arm was swung away, and the chopsticks were slowly raised.
• Work on S28 TPS and the OLM continues

Starbase activities (2023-12-13):

• Cones were deployed in preparation of S28 rollout
• Road closure for Dec 14th was revoked, but a road delay for Dec 14th early morning was posted, likely for S28 transport.
• Pipe prefabrication building is being demolished.
• Today’s road closure was used for GSE testing at the launch site.
• Starfactory expansion continues.
• Work on the OLM and chopsticks continues.
• Two SPMTs enter the Highbay to move S30 out of the way of S28.
• Two more SPMTs are decked out with festive trimmings for S28 transport. Trimmings include a Santa, a Christmas tree, a reindeer, and Christmas lights. Additional festive photos.
• Demolition of suborbital pad A continues
• S30 rolls out of the Highbay
• Festive SPMTs are ready for S28 rollout

Thanks for this! Really want to keep up with the goings on in space but it’s really hard without Reddit.

Starbase activities (2023-12-12):

• Today’s road closure was revoked, and new closures have been scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.
• At the launch site, test stand A appears to be being scrapped. Video of SQD being demolished.
• Some sort of plumbing test involving venting was conducted at suborbital pad B.
• Work on the OLM, chopsticks, and S28 continues.
• Back at the build site, Starfactory is being expanded.
• More horizontal tanks are on their way to Starbase from Florida.

In other Starship news, Kathy Lueders (now general manager of Starbase) states that they are working to shift as much testing as possible from the launch site to Masseys.

Starbase itself is a hotbed of construction activity these days, she said, with a second orbital launch pad on tap as well as a million-square-foot factory, additional employee housing and office space all coming online, she said. The second pad is necessary for SpaceX’s goal of a faster launch cadence, while much of the engine testing is now taking place at SpaceX’s Massey test site on a former gun range west of Starbase, Lueders said.

“That test site is very critical,” she said. “What it allows us to do is keep our test operations … away from the beach. We know that it’s a pain in the butt for everybody when we have to (be) close the beach. And so we’re moving more of our testing over there so that it doesn’t impact operations that are over near the beach.”

She also confirms that the AFTS was triggered on IFT-2:

Lueders said Starship’s anomaly investigation team was still looking into why the Nov. 18 flight’s Automated Flight Termination Systems were activated.

Starbase activities (2023-12-09):

• Chopsticks were lowered and the ship quick disconnect arm was exercised. The chopsticks were later closed.
• S26 still connected to the crane, not being scrapped, not being worked on.
• Work on S28 TPS and the OLM continues
• Two 10-axle SPMTs entered the High Bay, likely for shuffling the ships around in advance of S28’s presumed rollout to the launch site on Sunday night.

Other Starship news:

• Ryan Hansen is working on a computational fluid dynamics simulation of booster propellant slosh during hot-staging. Looks like it could be an interesting analysis.

What are people’s thoughts on the fate of S26? Will it be scrapped? Will they do further modifications or testing?

Daily summary compiled from users on the Starship dev thread over on Reddit

12/15/23

It appears that Tower Pieces are being moved from Florida to Texas. The launch ring in Hangar M at the Cape might roll out onto a barge soon. There was a second tower under construction at 39A, and parts at Roberts Road were intended for a second Starship tower at KSC. SpaceX initially planned a second tower at Boca Chica but dropped the permit request. Now, it seems the tower segments at Roberts Road are destined for a second Starship tower in Boca Chica, possibly for launching and landing Tanker Starships in a rapid salvoing process. It seems like the limiting factor might be the tank farm’s capacity to fill Tankers with methalox. The ultimate goal may be controlling multiple Ships in LEO for refilling missions. Tower segments are being transported to Starbase, with various activities observed throughout the day.

Starbase activities (2023-12-20):

• Overnight, BQD attaches to B10 and back shell of BQD hood is reinstalled.
• Main event: S28 performs a static fire at 13:37 CDT. SpaceX confirms all 6 engines ignited for the intended duration, and uploads some drone shots: Top down, slow-mo, additional angle.
• A small handful of S28’s tiles are lost/damaged.
• S28 tests payload door (open-close) after static fire.
• S26 has had lots of external stringers added to its payload section. The mystery of S26 continues.
• B10 grid fins are exercised.
• Mary receives overpressure notice for December 21st. B10 testing?

Starbase activities (2023-12-18):

• Chopsticks were exercised overnight
• In the early morning, B10 rolls out to the launch site, accompanied by another holiday-themed escort. Both vehicles for IFT-3 (S28 and B10) are now at the pad.
• Chopsticks close around B10 and engage the lift points
• Rear cover of BQD returned to launch mount area. (video)
• GSE vertical tank #7 welds cleaned and inspected, possibly in anticipation of tank removal/scrapping.
• Back at the build site, new nosecone welding station set up in the Starfactory expansion
• December 18th and 19th road closures revoked, 20th still listed as possible.
• Workers reattach pressure hoses to B10. NSF commentary livestream for potential B10 lift overnight.

Other related activities:

• Launch tower #3 segment 7 departs from the departs from the KSC Turning Basin

Starbase activities (2023-12-15):

• The new horizontal tanks at the launch pad are getting connected up and tested
• New BQD hoses arrived at the launch site, and were installed later in the day
• B13 aft section was spotted and moved to Megabay 1
• S28 flaps were exercised
• Weird panels were welded to S26. Interesting speculation by Ringwatchers, but S26 remains a mystery.
• The SQD has festive lights now too

Starbase activities (2023-12-16):

• SPMTs leave the launch site, taking S28’s transport stand with them.
• B13’s LOx tank is stacked
• Starkitty sighting.
• Megabay 2 is coming along. Outfitted with some sort of build stand deck.
• Main event of the day: S28 conducted a spin prime test. Full NSF livestream.
• D1 gate to the suborbital tank farm has been opened after a couple months of construction.
• A holiday drone show (sponsored by SpaceX) took place over South Padre.

Starbase activities (2024-01-05):

• S28 moves to high bay.
• S30 performs its 2nd cryo test.
• S31 aft flap installation.
• New booster aft end spotted at Starfactory. Possibly B15.
• Scrapping of the old vertical tanks begins, with the removal of the unused water tank. Zack Golden speculates on why this tank was removed first. Stargazer is live to cover the “cutting torch party”.
• Chopsticks are repainted.
• Some concrete under suborbital pad B is being cut up and removed. Unclear at this point whether this is minor maintenance or the start of a complete teardown with all ship testing moving to Massey’s.
• The red LR11000 is disassembled, following the completion of Megabay 2.
• Starkitty sighted :)

Other:

• Updated Ringwatcher’s Raptor diagram is released.

Starbase activities (2024-01-03):

• Two SPMTs arrive at the launch site for S28 rollback. Squid lifting jig attached later in the day.
• S30 cryo tested at Massey’s.
• Another large tank delivered. Looks like one of the two that arrived with the tower section last week. Likely a vertical tank destined for Massey’s.
• One of the launch site LOx pumps was removed and replaced with the new pump which was delivered yesterday.
• The build site LR11000 crane lies down, likely indicating completion of Megabay 2.
• Excavation work has begun on the Massey’s flame trench.
• Some shrubbery was (seemingly) mistakenly delivered to the launch site.
• Road delay posted for Jan 4th from 15:00 to 17:00.

Starbase activities (2024-01-01):

• New Year’s fireworks
• Very quiet New Year’s day.
• Venting observed at Massey’s, but no major tests are done on B12 or S30.
• Road delay still scheduled for Jan 2nd from 06:00 to 09:00 for transportation operations. I wonder what they’re transporting?

Starbase activities (2023-12-29):

• B12 is moving to Massey’s.

• S26 mystery continues, as a second row of stringers is added.

• S29 moves out of the Highbay and into Megabay 2, where it is hooked up to a 2-point lifting jig.

• Preparations underway to move S30 to Massey’s.

• Tower segment and two (relatively small) horizontal tanks arrive in Brownsville Port.

• Main event: Static fires of both S28 and B10.

• S28 static fire was a single engine for roughly 6 seconds, simulating “flight-like startup for an in-space burn”), likely using the header tanks.

• B10 static fire was 33 engines for roughly 10 seconds. Zack Golden compares to B9 static fire.

• OLM pad looks in good condition, but a shipping container disappeared (and reappeared), and a small sign was damaged.

• Road delay posted for Dec 30th from 00:00 to 03:00.

Other:

• SpaceX posts another aspirational/inspirational video, similar to their original ITS video.
• CEO speculates hourly booster reuse, daily ship reuse, and stresses the importance of ship production rate.

The LR11000 has moved into the space near gate D2 where they recently demolished the storage sheds. I think it’s there to handle the last three horizontal tanks (unless it’s just there to compact the new asphalt…)