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Starship Development Thread #56
(sh.itjust.works)
submitted
5 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)
by
threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works
to
c/spacex@sh.itjust.works
Portions of this thread copied from a Starship Dev thread on r/SpaceX.
FAQ
- When next launch? (IFT-5) Booster catch NET late July, per Elon.
- When previous launch? (IFT-4)? Booster 11 and Ship 29 launched on 2024-06-06.
- What was the result? Both booster and ship make it to landing burn and splashdown. Ship flaps took a beating on reentry, but remained in control of the vehicle.
Quick Links
RAPTOR ROOST | LAB CAM | SAPPHIRE CAM | SENTINEL CAM | ROVER CAM | ROVER 2.0 CAM | PLEX CAM | NSF STARBASE
IFT-4 launch thread | Starship Dev 55 | IFT-3 launch thread | Starship Dev 54 | Starship Dev 53 | Starship Dev 52 | Starship Dev 51
Official SpaceX Starship Update Video (2024-04-06)
Status
Road Closures - @bocaroad Mastodon bot
| Type | Start (CDT) | End (CDT) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary Date | 2024-07-09 08:00 | 2024-07-09 20:00 | Possible Closure. |
| Backup Date | 2024-07-10 08:00 | 2024-07-10 20:00 | Possible Closure. |
| Backup Date | 2024-07-11 08:00 | 2024-07-11 20:00 | Possible Closure. |
| Primary Day | 2024-07-10 12:00 | 2024-07-11 00:00 | "Clossure" Scheduled. |
| Alternative Day | 2024-07-11 12:00 | 2024-07-12 00:00 | Possible "Clossure". |
| Alternative Day | 2024-07-12 08:00 | 2024-07-12 20:00 | Possible "Clossure". |
Up to date as of 2024-07-11
Vehicle Status
As of 2024-06-29
Follow Ring Watchers on Twitter and Discord for more.
| Ship | Location | Status | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| S26 | Rocket Garden | Resting | Static fire Oct. 20. No fins or heat shield, multiple mysterious changes. Completed 3 cryo tests, latest on Oct 10. Rolls to Massey's May 8th, cryo test May 24th, static fired Jun 3rd, rolls to rocket garden Jun 12th. |
| S29 | Indian Ocean | Successful launch and soft water landing | Spin prime Mar 11th, Static fire Mar 25th (6 engines) and 27th (1 engine), partial WDR May 16th, full WDR May 20th, full WDR May 28th, FTS installed May 30th, stacked on Jun 1st, launched on IFT-4 Jun 6th. |
| S30 | Highbay | Undergoing heatshield upgrade | 2x cryo: Jan 3rd and Jan 5th. Engines installed ~Apr 9th. Static fired May 8th. |
| S31 | Megabay 2 | Pending engine install | Cryo tested May 12th, suffers small electrical fire. Underwent repairs in the Highbay, rolls back to Massey's Jul 1. Cryo tested Jul 2nd and 3rd. |
| S32 | Rocket Garden | Resting | Fully stacked, fore flaps installed but not aft flaps |
| S33-35 | Abandoned | Parts spotted, likely to be scrapped in preparation for Starship v2 | |
| S36-37 | Build Site | Parts spotted | Starship v2 forward flap spotted |
| Booster | Location | Status | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| B11 | Gulf of Mexico | Successful launch and soft water landing | Completed 2 Cryo tests. Static fired Apr 5th, hot stage ring installed ~May 3rd, partial WDR May 16th, full WDR May 20th, full WDR May 28th, FTS installed May 30th, launched IFT-4 on Jun 6th. |
| B12 | Pad A | Pending static fire | Cryo x2 |
| B13 | Megabay 1 | Testing | Cryo tests Apr 26th (methane tank) and Apr 29th (LOX tank) |
| B14 | Megabay 1 | Pending cryo | Stacked Apr 26th |
| B14.1 | Sanchez | Resting | Multiple catch simulation "slap tests" performed on Jun 26th and 27th. |
| B15 | Build Site | Assembly | Potential aft end, common dome section, aft tank section, and forward dome spotted. |
| B16 | Build Site | Assembly | Parts spotted |
| B17 | Build Site | Assembly | Parts spotted |
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
- Old orbital tank farm map | Source.
I will set my expectations pretty low as usual haha, so that I'm at worst satisfied with the outcome, and at best, pleasantly surprised.
So, I'm thinking the ship is not going to make it to splashdown. If Flight 4 is a repeat of Flight 3 minus the tumbling and with the ship going a bit farther into the reentry, then it's already progress. For the booster, from the SpaceX article they published some time ago, it seems that the issue requires a redesign, and that the fix applied on Booster 11 is only partial. I wouldn't be surprised if it still RUDs during the landing burn, but who knows?
What I'm more interested about is the flight rate, which is not so great at the moment.
Flight rate hasn't been too bad. They've reduced the time between each flight to under three months now. If they keep this cadence up, they'll do at least two more flights this year, doubling last year's cadence.
No sure that's already pretty great. It's just that given their objectives and their fly-break-fix methodology, they really need to crank up those numbers!
(And also, I'm a bit impatient haha.)
Haha, same. IFT-5 is now NET July, so even if it slips to August, that would still be an improvement in their flight cadence.