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 Llive-
1:15am- Scaffolding on the cryo pipe leg starting to get disassembled
1:27am- Forklift brings rebar over to the left side pit
1:30am- long reach excavator arrives right side of the OLM
1:59am- Excavator starts digging on the back side of the OLM
2:58am- Crane lifts rebar to the back side of the OLM
4:17am- Forklift brings more rebar to the left side pit
4:35am- B9 goes on a walk to the rocket garden
4:43am- Crane lifts more rebar to the backside of the OLM
7:37am- Long reach excavator leaves
8:16am- fixing the silt fence around the left side of the OLM
10:58am- Group of engineers/bosses surveying things
11:32am- Forklift lifted 2 loads out of left side pit. Lift was blocking what they were though
11:36am- Crane lifts load of straight rebar over to the left side pit
11:50am- Lots of lifts going up and down to the top of the OLM all morning. Welders still working under the OLM. Excavators still digging over by the left side pit. Lift up at the LOX tank of S25.
12:38pm- Lift goes up to the top left skate on the chopsticks. Hopefully with some really good grease
1:04pm- Box lifted off the top of the OLM by the crane
1:51pm- BQD hood is getting painted
2:13pm- Scaffolding being removed that went to the door on the right side of the OLM
3:29pm- Wire mesh mats lifted over to the pit on the left
4:05pm- They made pretty quick work of the scaffolding on the right side
4:16pm- Lift goes up to the left chopsticks stabilizer arm
4:42pm- Forklift brings in a load of rebar and drops it off at the dirt berm leading up to the front edge of the pad.
4:52pm- More rebar brought over
7:57pm- Pad clear announcement (Can be heard better on Rover 2)
8:05pm- They don’t appear to be removing all the equipment like yesterday
8:12pm- B10 getting frosty at Massey’s. (Raptor Roost caught it one minute earlier at 8:11. Both tanks already had frost)
8:32pm- Frost receding
8:48pm- Something is rolling towards Starbase from Masseys
8:50pm- Sheriff at the launch site entrance
8:58pm- Big vent at the OTF. (Are we redoing the test from the other night but with a full closure just in case?)
9:05pm- It’s the new puck shucker being moved from Masseys
9:39pm- OLM and OLT venting
9:43pm- FireX
9:49pm- New water nozzles around the underside of the OLM?
10:21pm- Depress vent from the OLT and OLM
10:39pm- Workers to the pad. Road still closed
11:03pm- Workers leaving the pad
11:15pm- Venting picking up again
11:20pm- Venting starts dying off
11:50pm- Picking up again
11:55pm- Dies off again (Just testing the valve over and over?)
12:04am- Cars back to the pad
12:09am- The cars aren’t keeping the venting from increasing again
12:12am- Pope stack
12:20am- Dies off again
12:45am- Bunch of cars to the pad. Road open.
(This gets synced)