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 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
- 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
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Elon has posted the list of 63 corrective actions: https://nitter.net/elonmusk/status/1700789411279966339#m
Congrats to SpaceX for completing & documented the 57 items required by the FAA for Flight 2 of Starship!
Worth noting that 6 of the 63 items refer to later flights.
A readable text version of the 63-item list can be see on Reddit here and a reply.
I copied and pasted it here. Thanks to @threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works for pointing me back at the RES extension so I could get the source.
Each item is on its own line. C## is the ID#. If there’s text before it on its line, that’s its Observation / Description section name; if it’s at the start of the line, the Observation / Description string is the next one above.
List of Actions:
Observation / Description ID# Corrective Action Description Status Tank sensing C1 Replace certain fittings with welds inside tank Complete Aft end cavity environment failure C2 Increase fire suppression capacity by 15x Complete C3 Replace certain manifolds with dedicated drain per corresponding valve Complete C4 Replace certain flanges with better seals and improve joint design Complete C5 Replace certain fittings with welds in specific location Complete Booster leak C6 Replace accessible valves of a certain type with new design Complete mitigation C7 Replace certain flange bolts with higher strength bolts and increase torque Complete C8 Disallow certain seal re-use, and add cameras to monitor all engines during ground operations Complete C9 Increased scrutiny on leak checks Complete C10 90+ cameras added to detect leakage during operations Complete C11 Add leak capture and drain hardware for valves of a certain type Complete C12 Add leak check and screen for porosity on igniter units Complete C13 Improved igniter seal design Future Action C14 Weld certain alignment bolt holes shut Complete Raptor leak C15 Reassess k-factor and torque for engine hot joint #1, add leak capture and route overboard Complete mitigation C16 Reassess k-factor and torque for engine hot joint #2 Complete C17 Add safety cable to certain fluid lines on high risk locations Complete C18 Add one methane sensor per engine bay Complete C19 Ground test campaign to better characterize typical engine leakage Complete C20 Improve structural FEA/fatigue analysis for all medium to high criticality lines Complete C21 Add insulation to engine lines sensitive to thermally driven loads Complete Collateral C22 Add insulation to avionic harnessing Complete damage from fire C23 Add backup wire to specific harness Complete C24 Improve thermal protection of avionics tray Complete C25 Change routing to flight computers Complete C26 Replace sensor with more reliable units Complete C27 Coat gimbal assembly with lubricant Complete C28 Add pump pressure sensors to certain location Complete C29 Add pump temperature sensors to certain location Complete Booster reliability C30 Replace certain bolts, and increase torque for certain flanges Complete improvement C31 New seal design for certain areas of booster Complete C32 Add electric actuation system Complete C33 Better manage engine bay pressure by increasing fire suppression capacity by Complete C34 Change certain booster valve timing Future Action C35 Add final leak checks for critical joints Complete C36 Add support bracket for certain sensor Complete C37 Add support bracket for certain sensor Complete C38 Add check valves to certain areas of engine Complete C39 Improve oxygen valve design Future Action C40 Improve oxygen valve seal design Future Action Raptor reliability C41 Improve design of hot manifold Future Action improvement C42 Change nitrogen shutdown usage Complete C43 Change engine shutdown logic Complete C44 Increase capability for ground leakage mitigation Complete C45 Redesign fire suppression system Complete C46 Change conditions around bolts Complete C47 Change timing of specific valve actuation Complete Avionics reliability C48 Eliminate certain type of connector Complete improvement C49 Redesign network architecture Future Action Risk Process C50 Improve risk tracking process Complete C51 Implement improvements to safety system Complete Safety System C52 Verify flight safety system design improvements using additional type of test article Complete C53 Verify flight safety system design improvements via analysis Complete C54 Perform component testing Complete C55 Review and improve operations surrounding flight safety system Complete C56 Improve CAD controls Complete Control C57 Add engineering walkdown Complete Change C58 Improve use of change management system Complete C59 Redesign of launch pad deck Complete Pad Design C60 Improve assumptions for new pad deck design Complete C61 Add water cooled pad deck Complete Pad Design Process C62 Improve pad deck design documentation Complete C63 Improve pad design process Complete Reddit took away the “source” link, which would help any mass editing.
You can restore the “source” link using RES.
I can’t be bothered to try to make it a table here. (I don’t know if or how it can be done
Reddit and Lemmy markdown are almost identical, so you should be able to copy it over with minimal formatting changes.
Thank you for the pointer. Fixed.