FAQ
- When is the next Integrated Flight Test (IFT-2)? Booster 9 + Ship 25 launched Saturday, November 18 after slight delay.
- What was the result? Successful lift off with minimal pad damage. Successful booster operation with all engines to successful hot stage separation. Booster destroyed after attempted boost-back. Ship fired all engines to near orbital speed then lost. No re-entry attempt.
- Did IFT-2 Fail? No. As part of an iterative test programme, many milestones were achieved. Perfection is neither expected nor desired at this stage.
- Next launch? IFT-3 expected to be Booster 10, Ship 28 per a recent NSF Roundup. Probably no earlier than Feb 2024. Prerequisite IFT-2 mishap investigation.
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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 51 | Starship Dev 50 | Starship Dev 49 | Starship Dev 48
Status
Road Closures
Type | Start (CDT) | End (CDT) | Status |
---|---|---|---|
Primary Date | 2023-12-16 06:00 | 2023-12-16 15:00 | Closure Scheduled. HWY 4 and Boca Chica Beach will be closed. |
Primary Date | 2023-12-18 08:00 | 2023-12-18 20:00 | Closure Scheduled. HWY 4 and Boca Chica Beach will be closed. |
Alternative Date | 2023-12-19 08:00 | 2023-12-19 20:00 | Possible Closure |
Alternative Date | 2023-12-20 08:00 | 2023-12-20 20:00 | Possible Closure |
Up to date as of 2023-12-14
Vehicle Status
As of 2023-12-14
Follow Ring Watchers on Twitter and Discord for more.
Ship | Location | Status | Comment |
---|---|---|---|
Pre-S24, 27 | Scrapped or Retired | S20 in Rocket Garden, remainder scrapped. | |
S24 | Bottom of sea | Destroyed | April 20th (IFT-1): Destroyed by flight termination system after successful launch. |
S25 | Bottom of sea | Destroyed | Mostly successful launch and stage separation |
S26 | Rocket Garden | Resting | Static fire Oct. 20. No fins or heat shield, plus other changes. Completed 3 cryo tests, latest on Oct 10. |
S28 | Launch Site | Pending static fire | Cryo test on July 28. Raptor install began Aug 17. Completed 2 cryo tests. |
S29 | High Bay | Fully stacked, completed 3x cryo tests, awaiting engine install. | |
S30 | High Bay | Under construction | Fully stacked |
S31 | Rocket Garden | Fully stacked, awaiting flaps | Stacking in progress. |
S32 | High Bay | Under construction | Stacking in progress. |
S33-34 | Build Site | Being scrapped | To be scrapped in preparation for Starship V2 |
Booster | Location | Status | Comment |
---|---|---|---|
Pre-B7 & B8 | Scrapped or Retired | B4 in Rocket Garden, remainder scrapped. | |
B7 | Bottom of sea | Destroyed | Destroyed by flight termination system after successful launch. |
B9 | Bottom of sea | Destroyed | Successfully launched, destroyed during Boost back attempt. |
B10 | Rocket garden | Engine install? | Completed 4 cryo tests. Moved to Massey’s on Sep 11, back to Megabay Sep 20. |
B11 | Megabay | Finalizing | Completed 2 Cryo tests. |
B12 | Megabay | Finalizing | Appears complete, except for raptors, hot stage ring, and cryo testing. |
B13 | Megabay | Stacking | Lower half mostly stacked. |
B14+ | Build Site | Assembly | Assorted parts spotted through B15. |
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
Starbase activities (2023-12-08):
- S26 was hooked up to a crane last night, and remained connected throughout the day.
- Road closure for December 8th revoked.
- Temporary and intermittent road delay posted for the night of December 10th/11th.
- Road delay is likely for S28 rollout.
- Another horizontal tank heading to Masseys
- SQD arm was swung away, and the chopsticks were slowly raised.
- Work on S28 TPS and the OLM continues
Thanks for this! Really want to keep up with the goings on in space but it’s really hard without Reddit.
Glad to hear that people find these threads useful! Feedback and suggestions are always welcome.
When do you think we’ll see IFT-3? January? February? March?
I’m really hoping for before '24 of course because of the yearly launch limit, but realistically I think January is possible and February is most likely. I’d be surprised if it isn’t before March unless there’s extenuating circumstances, e.g. FAA or lawsuits.
Rumours are that February is the internal target date, so I wouldn’t be too surprised if it slipped to March. End of '23 would definitely be a treat though!
extenuating circumstances, e.g. FAA or lawsuits
I’m hoping this shouldn’t be as long of an issue as last time, given that there wasn’t a delayed FTS, and there was minimal damage to ground infrastructure.
Kathy Lueders said that this month is unlikely but seems to think that there’s a chance for January. I’ll go with that.
I think that a launch this year is still possible but I wouldn’t want to give odds. I think that before the end of January is likely. It would be cool for it to happen on my birthday but I’d rather see it earlier.
Starbase activities (2023-12-12):
- Today’s road closure was revoked, and new closures have been scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.
- At the launch site, test stand A appears to be being scrapped. Video of SQD being demolished.
- Some sort of plumbing test involving venting was conducted at suborbital pad B.
- Work on the OLM, chopsticks, and S28 continues.
- Back at the build site, Starfactory is being expanded.
- More horizontal tanks are on their way to Starbase from Florida.
In other Starship news, Kathy Lueders (now general manager of Starbase) states that they are working to shift as much testing as possible from the launch site to Masseys.
Starbase itself is a hotbed of construction activity these days, she said, with a second orbital launch pad on tap as well as a million-square-foot factory, additional employee housing and office space all coming online, she said. The second pad is necessary for SpaceX’s goal of a faster launch cadence, while much of the engine testing is now taking place at SpaceX’s Massey test site on a former gun range west of Starbase, Lueders said.
“That test site is very critical,” she said. “What it allows us to do is keep our test operations … away from the beach. We know that it’s a pain in the butt for everybody when we have to (be) close the beach. And so we’re moving more of our testing over there so that it doesn’t impact operations that are over near the beach.”
She also confirms that the AFTS was triggered on IFT-2:
Lueders said Starship’s anomaly investigation team was still looking into why the Nov. 18 flight’s Automated Flight Termination Systems were activated.
Starbase activities (2023-12-13):
- Cones were deployed in preparation of S28 rollout
- Road closure for Dec 14th was revoked, but a road delay for Dec 14th early morning was posted, likely for S28 transport.
- Pipe prefabrication building is being demolished.
- Today’s road closure was used for GSE testing at the launch site.
- Starfactory expansion continues.
- Work on the OLM and chopsticks continues.
- Two SPMTs enter the Highbay to move S30 out of the way of S28.
- Two more SPMTs are decked out with festive trimmings for S28 transport. Trimmings include a Santa, a Christmas tree, a reindeer, and Christmas lights. Additional festive photos.
- Demolition of suborbital pad A continues
- S30 rolls out of the Highbay
- Festive SPMTs are ready for S28 rollout
Lmao the SPMT reminds me of the festive raptor engine from a couple years ago
I had forgotten about this! “Christmas tree” indeed. They’ve certainly simplified the Raptor engines since then.
Starbase activities (2023-12-09):
- Chopsticks were lowered and the ship quick disconnect arm was exercised. The chopsticks were later closed.
- S26 still connected to the crane, not being scrapped, not being worked on.
- Work on S28 TPS and the OLM continues
- Two 10-axle SPMTs entered the High Bay, likely for shuffling the ships around in advance of S28’s presumed rollout to the launch site on Sunday night.
Other Starship news:
- Ryan Hansen is working on a computational fluid dynamics simulation of booster propellant slosh during hot-staging. Looks like it could be an interesting analysis.
What are people’s thoughts on the fate of S26? Will it be scrapped? Will they do further modifications or testing?
Starbase activities (2023-12-10):
- Not too much action today.
- No observed changes to S26. Still connected to up to a crane in the rocket garden.
- Work on the OLM continues
- The SpaceX LR 11000 crane was rolled over to the launch tower. Later in the day, the crane was connected to the Ship Quick Disconnect arm. Looks like they’re planning on lowering at least a portion of it. (Rover 2.0 Cam)
- For the first time in several days, I didn’t spot any lifts at S28. Perhaps this means it is ready for rollout tonight?
Disconnect arm. Looks like they’re planning on lowering at least a portion of it. (Rover 2.0 Cam)
They removed the flex pipes.
Starbase activities (2023-12-15):
- The new horizontal tanks at the launch pad are getting connected up and tested
- New BQD hoses arrived at the launch site, and were installed later in the day
- B13 aft section was spotted and moved to Megabay 1
- S28 flaps were exercised
- Weird panels were welded to S26. Interesting speculation by Ringwatchers, but S26 remains a mystery.
- The SQD has festive lights now too
Starbase activities (2023-12-14):
- S28 rolls out to the pad in the early morning. Festive, festive, festive! (NSF livestream with commentary)
- Highbay ship shuffle: S29 rolls out of Highbay, S30 rolls back into Highbay, S29 rolls back into Highbay.
- S28 was lifted onto the remaining suborbital test stand (pad B) at the launch site, though not without some difficulty.
- New road closures posted for Dec 16th, Dec 18th, 19th, and 20th.
- Work on the OLM and chopsticks continues.
Starbase activities (2023-12-11):
- Last night’s road delay went unused and today’s road closure was revoked.
- A couple cryo deliveries to the launch site.
- B12 moved from front left corner to back left corner of Megabay, where B10 was previously.
- Small(ish) cryo tank delivered to the launch site.
- S26 disconnected from crane. Perhaps it won’t be scrapped after all?
- Quite a bit of activity at the SQD arm.
- The Booster Quick Disconnect (BQD) was also tested (Peekaboo!)
- Work on the OLM and the chopsticks continues.
- A couple lifts were observed near S28, so perhaps the ship isn’t quite ready for rollout yet.
The LR11000 has moved into the space near gate D2 where they recently demolished the storage sheds. I think it’s there to handle the last three horizontal tanks (unless it’s just there to compact the new asphalt…)
Thanks for posting! For posterity, here a link to the video of the crane movement.
Vicki and Zack speculate that it could be there to remove one of the old vertical tanks currently used for water storage.
That looks like a long reach from where it’s parked.
Daily summary compiled from users on the Starship dev thread over on Reddit
12/15/23
It appears that Tower Pieces are being moved from Florida to Texas. The launch ring in Hangar M at the Cape might roll out onto a barge soon. There was a second tower under construction at 39A, and parts at Roberts Road were intended for a second Starship tower at KSC. SpaceX initially planned a second tower at Boca Chica but dropped the permit request. Now, it seems the tower segments at Roberts Road are destined for a second Starship tower in Boca Chica, possibly for launching and landing Tanker Starships in a rapid salvoing process. It seems like the limiting factor might be the tank farm’s capacity to fill Tankers with methalox. The ultimate goal may be controlling multiple Ships in LEO for refilling missions. Tower segments are being transported to Starbase, with various activities observed throughout the day.
Thanks for posting this! Looks like this is OLT #3 segment 7.
Videos of rollout and loading onto a barge at the KSC Turning Basin.
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:
Fewer Letters More Letters AFTS Autonomous Flight Termination System, see FTS FAA Federal Aviation Administration FCC Federal Communications Commission ~ (Iron/steel) Face-Centered Cubic crystalline structure FTS Flight Termination System GSE Ground Support Equipment KSC Kennedy Space Center, Florida LEO Low Earth Orbit (180-2000km) ~ Law Enforcement Officer (most often mentioned during transport operations) NSF NasaSpaceFlight forum ~ National Science Foundation OLM Orbital Launch Mount SPMT Self-Propelled Mobile Transporter TPS Thermal Protection System for a spacecraft (on the Falcon 9 first stage, the engine “Dance floor”) Jargon Definition Raptor Methane-fueled rocket engine under development by SpaceX Starlink SpaceX’s world-wide satellite broadband constellation methalox Portmanteau: methane fuel, liquid oxygen oxidizer
[Thread #25 for this sub, first seen 10th Dec 2023, 02:00] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]
Starbase activities (2024-01-06):
- S26 receives a third row of stringers. From limited available data, Lab Padre makes a humorous extrapolation referencing a certain breakfast cereal. The S26 mystery continues.
- The tank shell removed yesterday is cut into sections and scrapped. Starship Gazer livestreams the process, and Vicki Cocks tracks each section removed.
- A second tank shell is removed. It is carefully disconnected to preserve functionality of the internal tank. Starship Gazer livestreams day 2 of the cutting party. Unclear whether they will continue scrapping more than these two tank shells at this point, or stop for now.
Other:
- SpaceX CEO will give a company talk with Starship updates on January 11th.
Starbase activities (2023-12-25):
- Christmas day delivery (LN2) to the orbital tank farm.
- Very quiet day otherwise.
Starbase activities (2023-12-26):
- Another very quiet day.
- Chopsticks have been lowered.
- Road closure still possible for December 27th.