Starship Development Thread #56

threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works · edit-2 4 months ago

threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works · edit-2 5 months ago

Starbase activities (2024-06-13):

Overnight, the 10 launch mount hold-down clamps which were removed are replaced. The first and second booster stabilization pins are reinstalled on the launch mount.
Parts for the CC8800-1 crane continue to arrive. Aerial photo of assembly from a couple days ago.
Chopsticks: Landing rail on the (anatomical) left chopstick (house right) is raised and lowered. The same chopstick later swings slightly. The sled on the other chopstick is fully extended.
Tower B: Corner 1 of 4 is erected (wide shot, closeup 1, closeups 2, closeup 3). Corner 2 of 4 is erected not long after (closeup).
The barge carrying the remaining tower hardware rounds Florida’s tip on route to Brownsville.

Other:

FAA licence modification followup: “The FAA’s most recent license modification approval for Starship Flight 4 allows for multiple flights of the same vehicle configuration and mission profile. If SpaceX decides to change the mission profile or make other changes that affect the safety analyses, it will need to request a license modification.” It is unclear if a booster catch attempt would require a modification to the launch licence.
Twitter thread from Benedikt summarizing the foundation for the new tower: Tweet 1, tweet 2, tweet 3, tweet 4, tweet 5, tweet 6, tweet 7, tweet 8, tweet 9, tweet 10, tweet 11, tweet 12, tweet 13, tweet 14. u/TwoLineElement’s corrections are noteworthy.

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”.

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

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