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-
10:52pm- More rebar to the pit
1:46am- Something was tested on the OLM
2:34am- Yep more rebar. (Pretty quiet night except for work in the pit)
3:08am- More rebar into the pit. Long reach excavator appears done with the concrete
4:17am- Forklift brings a generator over to the pit area
4:19- B9 rolls down Remidos to Hwy 4
4:55am- Rebar work continues around the deluge pipe pit in the cryo leg area
6:14am- Forklift brings in a new light tower and blinds view under the OLM
6:29am- B9 starts rolling
7:29am- B9 turns into the launch site
7:42am- A giant rocket rolling in isn’t going to stop the rebar work
7:45am- B9 arrives at the pad
7:54am- Chopsticks start rising
7:59am- Chopsticks open
8:12am- Booster moves closer to lift area
8:24am- Chopsticks lower into lift position
8:31am- More rebar lifted over
8:50am- B9 moves in between chopsticks
9:06am- Basket lifted up to the top of the OLM
9:30am- Basket lowered
9:36am- Square Piece of equipment lifted off the top
9:41am- Piece of equipment lifted out of the pit
9:45am- More rebar lifted over
10:18am- More rebar. They’re really pushing on it today
10:29am- Yep another batch of rebar. The next concrete pour has to be coming soon
10:56am- Crane moves to right side of the OLM and lifts a rebar cage structure. Moves it over by the new stairs. I’d assume just staging for later. Then crane moves back to left side.
11:21am- Rebar
11:23am- PA announcement- Overhead drone work
12:05pm- Workers up at the base of B9
12:15pm- Pad clearing
12:23pm- Chopsticks closing around B9
12:28pm- Closing in tighter to latch on
12:33pm- Starting to raise up to the pins
12:54pm- Sounds like the drone that warned Jack the other day is out warning people again today
1:03pm- Ship 28 moves to the entrance of the high bay
1:37pm- Clamps on the stand retracting from booster
2:02pm- LR11000 lowering at the build site. Most likely being reconfigured to finish building the new mega bay
2:06pm- One of the tall aerial work platforms arrives at the launch site
2:10pm- Workers climbing on to the stand
2:18pm- (14:18) Rover 2- Sounds like somebody’s radio by the camera. Lift will be attempted again in 2 hours.
2:20pm- Looks like some of the clamps are stuck?
2:23pm- Aerial work platform goes up to the top of the booster
2:30pm- Workers climbing on top of B9
2:46pm- When you got some unexpected free time, you grab a broom and try to get rid of some of that dust
3:00pm- Aerial work platform comes down
3:27pm- Workers back on top of the OLM
3:58pm- Workers climbing off B9’s stand. Finally unstuck?
4:02pm- Ship 28 lifted in the high bay
4:08pm- Pad clearing again. Looks like 5 people still working on the booster
5:30pm- Stabilizer arms going in
5:48pm- One guy still walking around on the stand
6:31pm- People are back on top of the OLM. Not looking good for the lift. The stand appears to be afraid to let B9 go after seeing what happened to B7.
8:10pm- It moved!!!
8:11pm- S28 unhooked from the bridge crane
8:17pm- Clamps releasing
8:27pm- Clears the stand
8:34pm- Stabilizer arms going in once again
8:37pm- Drone up
8:54pm- Guide pins retract back into the stand
8:55pm- Up we go at a good pace and then it paused
9:00pm- That SpaceX drone has quite the spotlight
9:04pm- Booster is rotating
9:06pm- Going up again
9:09pm- Clears the OLM. Pauses. Drone checking underside of the booster
9:11pm- Starts rotating over the pad
9:18pm- Starting to lower
9:27pm- Engines starts going below the lip of the OLM
9:32pm- Drone checking out one of the skates on the right side of the chopsticks
9:45pm- Engines below the lip of the OLM. Making final adjustments
Rover 1-
16:47- New puck shucker is rolled in under Ship 28
17:05- S28 touches down on stand
(This gets synced)