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-
11:07pm- 2 fondag trucks
11:13pm- Grinding over in the draw works shed
11:27pm- Shower of sparks off the OLM
12:40am- 5 Fondag trucks
3:07am- Excavator leaves. 7 trucks
5:49am- Dog house is moved next to the crane
7:47am- Workers shoveling dirt out of the dog house
8:37am- Straps attached to the dog house
8:40am- Forklift with more rebar on the right side of the OLM
9:15am- Lift up at S15
9:30am- Aerial work platform arrives between OLM and OLT
9:54am- More formwork is going up between the OLM and the retention pond
10:30am- Crane lifts doghouse and flips it over
10:54am- Doghouse re rigged and lifted
11:03am- Crane carried it over and lowered it back in place at the bottom of the cryo pipe lid
11:42am- Pump truck is up over at the old landing pad area
12:56pm- 3rd piece of shielding goes up in the left side of the stairs
1:10pm- Pump truck folds up
1:36pm- Excavators digging to the left of the pad that was just poured. Looks like they are making a dirt ramp beside the edge of the concrete so it’s not a 3ft drop off.
1:44pm- Pump truck goes back up by the retention pond. End of boom goes behind the OLT
1:52pm- Paint crew is back at it
2:13pm- Pump truck folds up again
3:54pm- Lift up at the lower left side skid of the chopsticks
4:04pm- Forklift lifts metal plate over towards the data cable leg
4:15pm- Crew back up at B9’s methane tank
7:27pm- RIP SN15. You proved to the world it was possible and paved the way for all that is to come. Your legend will live on when the story of starship is told.
9:07pm- Forklift brings over another inspection hole cover plate to the data cable leg
9:18pm- 3rd inspection plate brought over
9:32pm- 4th plate
9:43pm- 5th plate
10:05pm- Crane lifts a piece of plastic pipe up on to the OLM from the dirt off to the side. One worker then picks it up and drags it off to the side
10:21pm- Crane lifts a remote controlled trench roller up onto the OLM from same area as pipe
10:56pm- There’s just something about a shower of sparks flying off the top of the OLM at night that makes me smile.
(This gets synced)