SpaceX Starship page

FAQ

  1. 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.”
  2. Where can I find streams of the launch? SpaceX Full Livestream. NASASpaceFlight Channel. Lab Padre Channel. Everyday Astronaut Channel.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.”
  5. 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.

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Quick Links

RAPTOR ROOST | LAB CAM | SAPPHIRE CAM | SENTINEL CAM | ROVER CAM | ROVER 2.0 CAM | PLEX CAM | NSF STARBASE

Starship Dev 48 | Starship Dev 47 | Starship Dev 46 | Starship Dev 45

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 2023-09-22

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 Test Stand B Cryo tested
S27 Rocket Garden Scrapped Common dome imploded
S28 Engine Install Stand Raptors installed Previously tested at Masseys
S29 Masseys Awaiting testing
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 Megabay 1
B12 Megabay 1 Grid fins installed
B13 Megabay 1 Stacking
B14 Build Site Parts under construction
B15 Build Site Parts under construction

Resources

  • LettuceTurnipTheBeet@lemm.eeMEnglish
    4·
    9 months ago

    New comment from /u/santacfan on Reddit:

    Starbase live-

    11:12pm- Thrust stand turns into Massey’s

    3:15am- S29 moved to the middle of the high bay

    4:25am- New ship lifting jig raised up to S29

    4:28am- Lifts go up to attach the new lifting jig

    5:29am- Lift goes down. Jig is attached

    8:25am- Several workers arrive at the deluge tank farm and climb up to the pressure pipe on top of the large tanks. 2 lifts up at the OLM and 1 up at S26

    8:54am- LR11000 picks up a ring lifting jig

    9:15am- Swings it over to B9 and worker on top starts connecting it to the hot staging ring

    9:20am- S29 has been lifted in the high bay with the new jig

    9:42am- Ship thrust simulator is being moved into the high bay. Looks like S29 may be headed to Massey’s during tonight’s closure

    10:22am- AWP going up to the hot staging ring

    10:25am- Hot staging ring lifted off of B9

    10:27:30am- Swings over to right side of OLM and starts lowering

    10:38am- Looks like it’s down

    11:01am- Hot staging ring disconnected from the crane

    11:11am- Lifting jig disconnected from crane

    1:25pm- One lift has been up under the OLM and one under the OLM.

    4:35pm- Workers have been on top of B9 but it’s been a pretty quiet afternoon otherwise

    6:27:56pm- 26.1 goes pop at Massey’s

    7:20pm- One lift has been up under the OLM

    9:35pm- Welding can be seen on the dance floor and a lift is up to the staircase platform

    (This gets synced)

    • threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.worksOPMEnglish
      3·
      9 months ago

      Huh, I wonder why they’re removing the hot staging ring. Further upgrades to the ring following the B9+S25 stack test? Better access to the top of B9?