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-
1:12am- S25 starts rolling
1:20am- Turns on to Hwy 4
2:08am- Turns on to to Remidos
2:19am- Arrives at the rocket garden
7:32am- Sheriff at road block
7:52am- FireX test
8:07:20- Deluge test/system prime
8:09am- Pope stack starts venting
8:15:33- Igniter test
8:29am- Grid fin tests
8:50am- NSF going live
9:42am- Booster venting it’s ambient pressure
10:35am- Sub coolers are off. Working a problem in the OTF?
10:39am- Workers head to pad/ Roadblock still in place
10:42am- Ship puck shucker headed back to Masseys
11:00am- Workers at the generator by the Lox sub coolers
11:04am- Pope stack firing back up
11:32am- Workers starting to leave pad
11:35am- All 3 vehicles leave. Pad clear again
11:44am- Lox subcoolers going again
12:15pm- OLM vent
12:53pm- Frost forming on the methane sub coolers
1:01pm- Waterfall mode on the OLM vent. We’re getting close to fueling
1:03pm- OLM vent stopped. Prop load should be underway. Around 90 minutes to test possibly
1:06pm- Engine chill underway
1:08pm- New engine cavity purge vents going
1:09pm- Frost forming quickly
1:10pm- Lox chill pit active
1:18pm- Methane frost line forming
2:02pm- Drone
2:05pm- OLM vent. Loading complete
2:08pm- FireX / Deluge / Fire (Lots of steam)
2:10:30- Deluge stops
2:12pm- Depress vent
2:41pm- Pad looks good but they are going to need some new fencing
3:17pm- Engine compartment and Deluge plate purge
3:47pm- Another purge from the new engine compartment vents
3:53pm- Big depress vent (That should be it)
4:55pm- OLM vent
5:00pm- Road open
6:16pm- OLM vent finally ends
7:59pm- 3 SPMT’s headed to launch site with counterweights and connectors. B9 coming back?
8:04:32pm- SPMT down! Looked like a hydraulic failure? Front went up, back all the way down and to the left where the weight was. They got it leveled back out and going pretty quick though.
9:22pm- Workers return to pad
9:28pm- 3 workers kneel down to look at one spot on the plate
9:48pm- After checking the rest of the pad, they came back for a second look at the one spot
10:15pm- Workers headed up the stairs to check the inside of the OLM
10:21pm- Exit the OLM and drive away
10:52pm- Lift goes back up at OLM (New door)
(This gets synced)