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 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
- 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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Apparently two engines shut down prematurely. Is that good enough for them to continue stacking? We should see soon enough.
https://x.com/spacex/status/1695158759717474379?s=46&t=Mj914Aam14loAYQOISZ9zQ
“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.
I’m looking forward to some journalist FOIAing this report so we don’t have to keep guessing about what’s in it.
Static fire!
Edit: Full duration (~6 seconds), targeted 50% thrust. Exact number of engines to be confirmed.
Yes looked great. Now hopefully a stack of ship 25 next week. A launch in September looks realistic, depending on FAA license…
looked good, they seem on a path of great progress this week
Pics of the hot staging ring from SpaceX!
https://x.com/spacex/status/1692610662604702138?s=46&t=Mj914Aam14loAYQOISZ9zQ
Looks great to me, can’t wait to see this thing fly. Hope they get to staging.
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!”
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”
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”
SpaceX is live for today’s static fire test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENxZS6PUDuI
Starship Gazer @StarshipGazer 11:31 AM · Aug 29, 2023:
A close look at Starship 25 tiles this morning. 8/29/23
Specifically, the tip of S25’s nosecone. In images 3 and 4, note that two tiles have cracked-off chunks.
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
Looks like we have a tentative date for the next flight! August 31st. Obviously won’t hold, but this and the FAA Mishap report finally show some movement on the paperwork side.
https://x.com/nasaspaceflight/status/1691829712203497738?s=46&t=Mj914Aam14loAYQOISZ9zQ
set expectations accordingly
Got it: skyhigh, blocking off my calendar, starting the watch party planning
Nice picture of Starship 29 rolling out of a high bay. Courtesy of Starship Gazer @StarshipGazer here.
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)
In re the 15-degree engine firing gimbal test mentioned here:
Musk xeexed 3:11 AM · Aug 18, 2023: “Landing burn max gimbal deflection”
Static fire attempt scheduled for tomorrow (Friday, 24 August 2023). Mary got a notice, pictured here.
This thread maybe… ok, maybe not haha.
4 years ago, Starhopper flew. YouTube video.
It’s pretty incredible to look at the build and launch sites back then vs now. None of the predicted program timelines were close to right, but the progress is still really impressive.
I remember that day, good memories.
Zack Golden @CSI_Starbase (Nitter link) Sep 2, 2023 · 3:45 AM UTC has a multi-post speculation about Super Heavy testing at Boca Chica.
I am now 95% confident that SpaceX is in the process of building not one, but two Super Heavy Static Fire Test stands. One will be located near the Suborbital tank farm, and the other will be at the Massey’s test site.
These test stands are essentially mini versions of the Orbital Launch Mount. There are a few major differences though:
- These stands will not have launch capability so they will be much simpler…
- Because of the location of these test stands, and severe limitations on space, the method of testing engines will have to be different than how its done on the OLM. [flame trenches]
Why?
- Well at some point, launches will become much more frequent. This means the OLM will be nearly always be busy preparing for the next launch…
- The Orbital Launch Mount, with its new Bidet system is limited to Static fire tests of less than 10 seconds. It is truly designed for Launching Full stacks, and not for long duration tests purely due to the volume of water stored in the tanks.
- The OLM is also believed to be limited to Static Fire tests with thrust values at or around 50%. This is a result of the design of the hold down clamps. Also, the skirt of the booster is likely not designed for the kind of forces it would experience if it was being held down at max thrust…
So if this speculation is true, what should we be on the lookout for?
- The areas where these will be located will either be built up to accommodate a flame trench, or they will soon begin excavating large holes into the ground for this purpose.
- The suborbital tank farm will likely need to be expanded in order to increase its LOX and CH4 storage capabilities. I believe SpaceX is already in the beginning stages of this massive renovation.
- CH4 storage tanks will need to be added to the Massey’s test site. They will also need additional GSE equipment for filling Booster COPV’s. This includes Helium storage, CO2 for the engine skirt purge system.
- There will likely also need to be additional water tanks installed for traditional deluge systems for both of these tests stands…
He says he’d do a video if he weren’t already in the middle of two deep-dives.
u/Alvian_11 in The Other Place says that a “flame diverter/ramp” is different from a “flame trench” and that a flame diverter/ramp makes much more sense.