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-
12:48am- Concrete pump truck goes up to right of OLM. Looks like they may be finally pouring that little pad off to the side
4:14am- Basket comes down
4:37am- Crane lowers and leaves from in front of OLM
4:45am- Forklift brings in some kind of united rentals equipment
4:55am- Pick up backs in a giant generator in front of OLM
5:06am- Forklift brings in another united rentals piece of equipment
5:15am- Crane comes back. Looks it just left to make room for the deliveries
7:50am- SPMT headed to the launch site
7:58am- 3rd segment of the 4th floor of the new mega bay lifted
8:20am- Pump truck folding up, concrete truck is backed up to the OLM though so pour continues, Grover removing it’s counterweights (so that’s what the SPMT was for)
8:56am- New crossbeam test fitted at the draw works shed
8:58am- Concrete truck is gone, looks like the pour is over
9:03am- Crossbeam installed
9:11am- Pump truck goes up around the deluge tank farm (can be seen much clearer on Rover 2)
9:24am- More concrete trucks arriving, go to the pump truck
10:13am- Equipment lifted off of the OLM
10:19am- New upper crossbeam installed on the draw works shed
10:27am- Another pump truck goes up between the OLM and OLT
11:00am- Lifts are up at the oxygen and methane tank access hatches of S25
11:51am- Pump truck between OLM and OLT folds up
1:46pm- Crane lifts triangular object to top of OLM
1:54pm- Crane lifts section of pipe to top of OLM
2:04pm- Pump truck at the backside of the OLT goes down
2:30pm- Pad seems to be clearing
2:41pm- BQD hood opens (We are 40 minutes into the intermittent closure)
2:48pm- BQD hood closes
2:54pm- BQD hood opens again
3:01pm- BQD hood closes (Did they clear the OLM area just for hood tests?)
3:37pm- Quick check of Rover 1 shows test tank 24.2 sitting quietly with no SPMT’s in sight. Doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere during this closure
4:13pm- Tweet from Jack- Just got shooed out of the dunes by a drone with a speaker on it because im “in the blast danger area for today’s test”. That’s a first. 🤔 @NASASpaceflight
4:18pm- Still 2 lifts up at S25’s methane tank. Waiting on them to get done?
4:51pm- Drone
5:03pm- Last lift at S25 is going down
5:21pm- Purge of the new water line at the OTF?
6:20pm- Venting sounds but lifts are back up at S25
8:01pm- People back at the OLM and lift at the stabilizer arm on the right chopstick
(This gets synced)