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 47 | Starship Dev 46 | Starship Dev 45 | Starship Dev 44
Official Starship Update | r/SpaceX Update Thread
Status
Road Closures
Type | Start (UTC) | End (UTC) | Status |
---|---|---|---|
Primary | 2023-08-24 13:00:00 | 2023-08-25 01:00:00 | Cancelled |
Alternative | 2023-08-25 14:00:00 | 2023-08-26 02:00:00 | Concluded |
Alternative | 2023-08-28 13:00:00 | 2023-08-27 01:00:00 | Cancelled |
Up to date as of 2023-09-05
Vehicle Status
As of 2023-09-05
Follow Ring Watchers on Twitter and Discord for more.
Ship | Location | Status | Comment |
---|---|---|---|
S20 | Rocket Garden | Retired | |
S24 | Gulf of Mexico | Destroyed | Destroyed on during Flight Test 1 |
S25 | Stacked on B9 | Spin Prime and Static Fire | |
S26 | Rocket Garden | Cryo tested | |
S27 | Rocket Garden | Scrapped | Common dome imploded |
S28 | Engine Install Stand | Raptors installed | Previously tested at Masseys |
S29 | High Bay | Under construction | Flap installation in progress |
S30 | High Bay | Under construction | |
S31 | High Bay | Under construction | |
S32 | Build Site | Parts spotted | |
S33 | Build Site | Parts spotted | |
S34 | Build Site | Parts spotted |
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 | Launch mount | Hot-stage ring installed | Static fire (August 5th) |
B10 | Megabay 1 | Cryo tested | |
B11 | Rocket Garden | Resting | |
B12 | Megabay 1 | Grid fins 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-
10:45pm- Crane removes a piece manifold at the deluge tank farm
11:52pm- Crane removes another big chunk of the manifold from the deluge tank farm
2:48am- Forklift removes one of the light towers from around the OLM
2:54am- LR11000 picks up the lifting squid
8:58am- Crane lifts another beam up to the new mega bay
9:44am- S26 starts rolling
9:49am- Pauses at the entrance to the rocket garden
9:51am- Turns on to Remidos
10:05am- Turns on to Hwy 4
10:35am- They aren’t taking any chances today. Have an extra power pack for the SPMT’s and a forklift in the motorcade.
11:20am- Turns into the launch site
11:33am- Arrives at the sub orbital pad
11:57am- Squid lowers to just above S26
12:12pm- Lift goes up to connect the squid
12:51pm- Squid connected. Lift goes down
2:45:52pm- Ignitor test at the OLM
2:55pm- Chopsticks release S25 and open a bit
2:57pm- Chopsticks lower a few feet
3:02pm- Chopsticks open wide and lower to their launch position
3:15pm- Chopsticks raise back up and close part way again
4:46pm- Lift up at the nosecone of S20 at the rocket garden. (Reinstalling lift hooks so it can be lifted and scrapped? Or practicing installing tiles on nosecones?)
5:22pm- S26 lifted off its transport stand and swung over to pad B
5:37pm- Making final adjustments to get it lined up on the pad
5:49pm- Gap disappears. Looks like it’s down
9:04pm- Single lift goes up to the OLM
(This gets synced)