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Starship Development Thread November 2024 (self.spacex)
submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by threelonmusketeers to c/spacex
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SpaceX Starship page

Portions of this thread copied from a Starship Dev thread on r/SpaceX.

FAQ

  1. When next launch? (Flight 7) NET Jan 11th according to recent documentation NASA filed with the FAA. (Alejandro Alcantarilla Romera 1, Alejandro Alcantarilla Romera 2)
  2. When previous launch? (Flight 6)? Booster 13 and Ship 31 launched on 2024-11-19.
  3. What was the result? Booster catch attempt aborted, performed soft splashdown in the Gulf. Ship performs in-space raptor relight, survives reentry, and makes an on-target splashdown.

Quick Links

Nerdle Cam | Lab Cam | Sapphire Cam | Sentinel Cam | Rover Cam | Rover 2.0 Cam | Rocket Ranch Cam | Plex Cam | NSF Starbase Live

Starship Dev October | IFT-5 launch thread | Starship Dev 57 | Starship Dev 56 | IFT-4 launch thread | Starship Dev 55

Official SpaceX Starship Update Video (2024-04-06)

Road closures

Cameron County website - @bocaroad Mastodon bot

*As of 2024-11-19

  • 2-hour road delays are posted for Nov 1st (01:00 to 04:00) and 2nd (00:00 and 03:00) for transport from Massey’s to factory. (Presumably S33 rollback)
  • 1-hour road delays are posted for Nov 11th (19:00 to 22:00) and 12th (10:00 to 13:00) for transport from factory to pad, likely B13 rollout.
  • 1-hour road delays are posted for Nov 13th (00:00 to 03:00 or 12:00 to 15:00) and 14th (00:00 to 03:00) for transport from factory to pad, either backups for B13 rollout or for S31 rollout.
  • 8-hour road closure is scheduled for Nov 17th (08:00 to 16:00) for non-flight testing activities.
  • 14-hour road closures are posted for Nov 18th, 19th, and 20th (all 08:00 to 22:00), for flight testing activities, presumably IFT-6.
  • Nov 20th road closure is revoked.
  • 1-hour road delay was posted for Nov 21st (00:00 to 03:00) for transport from factory to pad, but then revoked.

Vehicle Status

*As of 2024-11-21

Follow Ring Watchers on Twitter and Discord for more.

Ship Location Status Comment
S20 Rocket Garden Pending scrapping?
S26 Rocket Garden Scrapping 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. Moves to Megabay 2 Aug 13th, raptors removed Aug 14th. Scrapping began Nov 20th.
S30 Indian Ocean Successful splashdown 2x cryo: Jan 3rd and Jan 5th. Engines installed ~Apr 9th. Static fired May 8th. Heatshield replacement completed by Jul 20. Static fired Jul 26th. Raptor replacement Aug 3rd. Spin prime Aug 6th. Full stack cryo tests Sep 23rd and Oct 7th. FTS installed Oct 9th. Launched Oct 13th, with on-target splashdown in Indian Ocean.
S31 Indian Ocean Successful splashdown 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. Engines installed by Jul 26th. Rolls to Massey's Sep 6th. Partial (aborted) cryo test Sep 8th. Static fired Sep 18th. Preflight checkouts completed Nov 17th. Launched as IFT-6 on Nov 19th. In-space raptor relight was successful, ship survived reentry and performed soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
S32 Rocket Garden Pending scrapping? Fully stacked, fore flaps installed but not aft flaps
S33 Megabay 2 Pending engine install First V2 Starship. Nosecone spotted Jul 14th. Forward section spotted Jul 27th. Stacking completed Aug 23. Cryo tested Oct 29th (partial), 30th (full), and 31st (full). Raptor installation begins Nov 9th.
S34 Starfactory Stacking Methane header tank spotted Aug 14th. Nosecone stacked on payload bay Sep 20th.
S35 Starfactory Parts spotted Parts spotted Sep 20th.
Booster Location Status Comment
B12 Megabay 1 Post-flight inspection Cryo x2, Static fire Jul 15th. Full stack cryo tests Sep 23rd and Oct 7th. FTS installed Oct 9th. Launched as IFT-5 on Oct 13, returned to launch site for successful chopstick catch. Moved to Megabay 1 Oct 15th.
B13 Gulf of Mexico Successful splashdown Cryo tests Apr 26th (methane tank) and Apr 29th (LOX tank). Static fired Oct 24th. Preflight checkouts completed Nov 17th. Launched as IFT-6 on Nov 19th. Chopsticks catch attempt was aborted, performed soft splashdown in the Gulf.
B14 Megabay 1 Pending gridfin install Stacked Apr 26th, Cryo tested Oct 4th and 5th.
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

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[–] threelonmusketeers 5 points 1 week ago

Starbase activities (2024-11-19):

IFT-6:

  • Launch pad clearing begins. (ViX 1, ViX 2)
  • Road is closed. (LabPadre)
  • A few cryo deliveries continue. (ViX 1, ViX 2)
  • Chopsticks open to launch position. (LabPadre, ViX, NSF)
  • Booster transport stand arrives at the roadblock. (ViX, NSF)
  • Chopstick landing rails are raised. (LabPadre, ViX)
  • Frost and venting are observed on the vaporizers to the left of the D2 gate. (ViX)
  • Helicopter and fast boats are spotted, presumably for range duty. (ViX, NSF, RGV Aerial)
  • Tank farm, tower, and launch mount venting. (LabPadre, ViX, NSF 1, NSF 2, Golden)
  • Frost on ship and booster, propellant is loaded. (LabPadre, SpaceX)
  • IFT-6 happens. The payload is a single banana. (ViX, Cornwell)
  • Booster catch attempt is aborted. B13 performs a soft splashdown, propellant tanks rupture when booster tips over. (LabPadre, ViX, NSF)
  • SpaceX marine assets approach B13. (Cornwell)
  • B13 continues to to belch fire over an hour after splashdown. (LabPadre, Golden)
  • In-space raptor relight test is successful. (SpaceX, LabPadre)
  • Slight warping of the hull is observed during reentry. (Golden)
  • S31 survives reentry and performs a soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean. (SpaceX, courtesy of marine assets)
  • S31 had an older heatshield design, fewer tiles, and flew a steeper reentry profile. (Tankwatchers, Maxarick 1, Maxarick 2)
  • Cause of catch abort: Although "Tower is go for catch", was called out during the webcast, it seems like a later check identified an issue which triggered the abort: "Following a nominal ascent and stage separation, the booster successfully transitioned to its boostback burn to begin the return to launch site. During this phase, automated health checks of critical hardware on the launch and catch tower triggered an abort of the catch attempt. The booster then executed a pre-planned divert maneuver, performing a landing burn and soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico." (Golden's thoughts](https://x.com/CSI_Starbase/status/1859074034698183118))

Non-IFT-6:

  • Nov 18th cryo delivery tally.
  • Build site: A Bigge BG-28H drill rig, Bigge Tadano crane, and drill bits are delivered. (ViX 1, ViX 2, ViX 3, Golden)
  • Minor damage to the lighting and communications pole on Tower A. (NSF, Golden)
  • Booster load spreader moves into Megabay 1. (ViX)

Other:

  • Elon shares flight 6 objectives. (Elon)
  • SpaceX share updated HLS renders. (SpaceX, Golden)
  • SpaceX share photos of heatshield tests in simulated martian atmosphere. (SpaceX)
  • Elon shares some numbers: "Flight 6 liftoff thrust is ~7500 tons and mass is ~5000 tons. The tanker version of Starship V3 will weigh over 7000 tons."
  • Elon shares more Starship V3 info: "Same diameter of 9m (~30 ft), but longer and at least 2 versions. The propellant tanker version will be especially heavy, as the payload volume in the forward section will mostly contain propellant. Thrust goal will be ~10k tons (3X Saturn V) and liftoff mass of tanker version ~7k tons. This should be capable of ~200 tons of orbital refilling. Note, 3% of liftoff mass as useful cargo would be insanely good for a fully reusable orbital rocket. Most expendable rockets aren’t that good."
  • Elon regarding flight 7 and 8: "We will do one more ocean landing of the ship. If that goes well, then SpaceX will attempt to catch the ship with the tower." This puts S34 as potentially the first RTLS ship.