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 46 | Starship Dev 45 | Starship Dev 44 | Starship Dev 43
Official Starship Update | r/SpaceX Update Thread
Status
Road Closures
| Type | Start (UTC) | End (UTC) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary | 2023-08-04 13:00:00 | 2023-08-05 01:00:00 | Possible |
| Alternative | 2023-08-06 13:00:00 | 2023-08-07 01:00:00 | Possible |
| Alternative | 2023-08-07 13:00:00 | 2023-08-08 01:00:00 | Possible |
Up to date as of 2023-08-04
Vehicle Status
As of July 28th 2023
Follow Ring Watchers on Twitter and Discord for more.
| Ship | Location | Status | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| S15 | Rocket Garden | Scrapped | |
| S20 | Rocket Garden | Retired | |
| S24 | Gulf of Mexico | Destroyed | Destroyed on during Flight Test 1 |
| S25 | Launch Site | Testing | Spin Prime and Static Fire |
| S26 | Rocket Garden | Resting | No fins or heat shield, plus other changes. |
| S27 | Rocket Garden | Scrapped | Common dome imploded |
| S28 | Rocket Garden | Pending Raptor install | Previously tested at Masseys |
| S29 | High Bay 1 | Under construction | |
| S30 | Build Site | Under construction | |
| S31 | Build Site | Parts under construction | Assorted parts spotted through S34. |
| 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 | Mega bay | Pending raptor swap and hot-stage ring install | Static fire (August 5th) |
| B10 | Masseys | Testing | Cryo testing |
| B11 | Rocket Garden | Resting | |
| B12 | Megabay | Raceways 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
New comment from /u/santacfan on Reddit:
Starbase live-
11:50pm- Lift that had been up at the chopsticks goes down
11:56pm- Lift goes back up to the chopsticks
12:00am- Lift goes back down
1:48am- Lift goes back up to the chopsticks
4:11am- Lift goes back down
6:29am- Basket up top of OLM
6:45am- 2nd segment of the 4th level of the new high bay lifted
7:01am- Basket down
7:30am- Basket up to the door at the top of the new stairs
7:31am- Large L shaped metal object (I think it’s a small diameter pipe) lowered into the pit
7:40am- Basket down
7:50am- Basket up top of OLM
8:19am- 2 lifts go up to the side of S25
8:33am- Basket down
8:53am- Basket up to the door
9:26am- Basket goes down
11:03am- Large L shape pipe that was lowered earlier is repositioned
11:55am- Lift goes back up to the chopsticks
12:21pm- Zoom in on the crew working on the chopsticks. Seem to be working on the hydraulics for the stabilizer arm
12:34pm- Looks like they removed the hydraulic ram
12:44pm- Lift moves over to the other side of the stabilizer arm
1:05pm- Lifts go down at S25. Access hatch is open and vent tube installed
2:25pm- Lift back up at S25
3:38pm- Square piece of metal lifted to the top of the OLM
4:35pm- Concrete pump truck seen in background. Checked Nerdle cam and it looks like it was pouring around the high pressure tanks for the deluge earlier and now it’s over by the old landing pad.
4:40pm- Another piece of metal lifted to the top of the OLM
5:33pm- Pumper truck folds up to leave
6:12pm- Lift goes up to top of chopsticks
6:33pm- 2nd lift goes up to the stabilizer arm
6:46pm- First lift goes down
7:03pm- 1 of the lifts at S25 goes down
7:07pm- Lift at the stabilizer arm goes down. No sign of a new hydraulic piston
7:16pm- Both lifts go back up
7:25pm- Top lift goes back down. Looks like they are just inspecting
7:51pm- Lift at the stabilizer arm goes down. Was working in the piston area but SBL zoomed out and went on a tour
9:18pm- Lift goes up to the side of the drawworks shed. Whoever was hoping that they would replace the shielding soon might be in luck.
10:03pm- Lift at the drawworks goes down. There was definitely sparks flying like they were starting to cut something.
10:46pm- Lift was back at the drawworks shed. Looks like they tried a different method of cutting and then went back down
11:00pm- Concrete pump truck arrives at the right side of the cryo pipe pit. Time to finally pour it’s lid?
11:05pm- Pump unfolds
12:07pm- First concrete truck is at the pump and the arm folds out towards the far side of the cryo pipe trench. The lid it is.
(This gets synced)