Starbase activities (2024-03-08):

• Flight Termination System team shows up (close up). Placeholder “dummy” FTS boxes are removed. Top and bottom boxes are installed. Installation complete or maybe not.
• S28 tile work touch-ups continue.
• Build site: Starfactory progress continues. More glass panels are installed. A peek into Megabay 1.
• March 11th road closure shifts from 08:00 to 20:00 to 06:00 to 18:00.

IFT-3:

• No launch license yet.

This thread maybe, next thread definitely!

Starbase activities (2024-03-01):

• S29 rolls out to launch complex (LabPadre timelapse, NSF livestream), and moves towards… the orbital pad? (NSF) S29 eventually starts rolling back towards suborbital site. S29 pez dispenser closeup.
• Ship lifting jig is connected to the Black LR 11000 crane.
• Main event: S28 is lifted up with the chopsticks (noisy) and placed on B10 with a clunk (LabPadre, NSF). LabPadre/Vicki timelapse. Workers spotted on SQD arm. Mid-lift picture (LabPadre), and glamour shots (photo 1, photo 2, photo 3, photo 4) from StashipGazer, Sean Doherty, and Mary. Ship quick disconnect deployed with some difficulty, connected, disconnected, and reconnected.
• B10 hot stage ring, and ship QD arm closeup.
• Build site: Work on tower segment and Starfactory continues. Window installation on Starfactory.
• New possible road closures scheduled for Mar 3rd, 4th, and 5th.

Starbase activities (2024-03-04):

• SpaceX tweet regarding WDR. Sounds like it went well. Next up would be FAA launch license, destack, arm the FTS, restack, then launch.
• S29 unhooked from black LR 11000 crane.
• B10 grid fins tested.
• Tower venting.
• Construction of second orbital launch pad continues: Excavators with stitchers on their booms installing wick drains.
• More cryo tanks inbound for Brownsville.
• Land swap approved with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

Starbase activities (2024-03-15):

• Workers continue to inspect the pad and OLM. Reported damage is minimal.
• Starfactory expansion nears the western end.
• Nice shot of S31 in High Bay.

KSC activities (2024-03-15):

• Orbital Launch Mount possibly prepping for rollout to 39A.

IFT-3:

• Ringwatchers speculation on results of the payload door test.
• Side-by-side comparison to IFT-1 and IFT-2.

Other:

• Elon on current and future Starship capabilities.
• Elon on timelines (taken with a grain of salt, as always. :)

Starbase activities (2024-03-20):

• Rear section of BQD cover is removed. BQD methane and LOX hoses are removed. NSF closeup and removal.
• Build site: Starfactory progress continues.
• Crane is rigged up to the ship engine install stand.
• B4: Workers inspect the top and midsection. Scaffold points sprayed white. Scaffold bracket installation begins.
• Sometime during the fog between 12:12 and 14:39, the top of the engine installation stand at Sanchez is removed.
• Megabay 2 prep for door installation :(

Other:

• Phil Metzger paper on dust from IFT-1 is released on ArXiv.

Starbase activities (2024-03-05):

• Overnight: Loud venting from Ship QD arm.
• Main event, S28 destack: Ship pressurization trailer arrives at launch complex. Ship quick disconnect arm is disconnected from S28 (NSF closeup). S28 destacked from B10 (LabPadre, NSF).
• Ship quick disconnect arm extends towards the now-exposed hot stage ring on B10. Workers spotted on the arm shortly after.
• Slight movement of the black LR 11000 crane and the chopsticks.
• Build site: Two booster segments emerge from Starfactory. These include B14’s aft section per LabPadre. Weld marks for additional slosh baffles not observed on this segment. Progress on Starfactory itself continues.
• Coyote sighted.
• Road closures for Mar 4th and 5th finally revoked.
• New road closures posted for Mar 7th and 8th from 08:00 to 20:00.
• Possible internal IFT-3 date of Mar 14th. WB-57 plane also scheduled for Mar 14th.

Starbase activities (2024-03-02):

• Quiet day.
• Overnight, S29 moves from orbital pad back to suborbital pad and is lifted onto test stand.
• LOX valve testing at the orbital tank farm.
• Road closure still possible for this afternoon (Mar 3rd).

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:

21 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 10 acronyms.

[Thread #33 for this sub, first seen 5th Mar 2024, 05:50] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]

Starbase activities (2024-03-03):

• S29 still connected to black LR 11000 crane.
• Main event: Full stack WDR of S28 and B10
• D2 gate is closed.
• New siren and pad evacuation announcement. Regular klaxon and pad clearing announcement. Village also evacuated, per Vicki and Mary.
• Chopsticks open and lower. (NSF 1, NSF 2)
• Tower and OLM venting. Multiple angles from LabPadre Rover 2, Nerdle, Lab, and Plex. Tower vent (LabPadre, NSF). OLM vent. OLM vent stops, and propellant load begins. (NSF livestream)
• Ship frosty, booster frosty, both nearly full. Propellant loading timelapse from Zack/NSF.
• FireX is tested.
• Detanking underway.
• New Ringwatchers diagram.
• Road closures still listed as possible (archive) for Mar 4th and 5th, but since Mar 3rd is still listed as “possible” not “scheduled”, I suspect the website has not been updated.

Starbase activities (2024-03-06):

• S28: TPS work and more TPS work, closeup, timelapse.
• B10: A grid fin is removed. OLM stabilisation pins are removed (first pin, second pin). A chine cover is removed (NSF angle).
• S29: Black LR 11000 crane moves away. Flaps are tested.
• Build site: B14 aft section moves into Megabay 1. Some shuffling was required. A grid fin is removed from B4. Starfactory progress continues.
• More cryo tanks inbound for and arrive in Brownsville.
• New road closures posted for Mar 11th, 12th, and 13th from 08:00 to 20:00.

Edit: Grid fin was removed from B4, not B10.

IFT-3:

• SpaceX officially announces March 14th as the NET date for IFT-3.
• Mission page with countdown and flight test timeline is posted on SpaceX website.
• NOTMAR for Gulf of Mexico is posted (PDF). Image 1, image 2, image 3, image 4.
• FAA is “very close” to approving the license modification.

Other:

• HLS speculation renders from mcrs987 (TheSpaceEngineer), (direct links to each tweet in the thread): Tweet 1, tweet 2, tweet 3, tweet 4, tweet 5, tweet 6, tweet 7.

Starbase activities (2024-03-07):

• S29 testing: NSF livestream. Pad cleared for testing, likely attempting a spin-prime. A few tiles come off (close up). Timelapse of testing (LabPadre, NSF). Partial fill, engine chill, attempted spin-prime, abort/depress.
• Build site: Starfactory progress continues, glass panel installation begins (suction lift rig, panel lift). Mystery structure is transported.

IFT-3:

• Mexican NOTAM posted.
• New road closures posted for Mar 14th, 15th, and 16th.
• The orbital police posts the estimated planned trajectory.

Starbase activities (2024-03-13):

• Overnight, booster and ship transport stands removed from launch complex.
• Black LR 11000 crane is lowered.
• S28 flaps tested.
• B10 grid fins tested. (zoom in)
• Jared Isaacman flies by.
• An OV-10 arrives, likely to fly the outline of the TFRs.
• S29 rolls into the High Bay, stops for a bit, then rolls the rest of the way in.

IFT-3:

• Launch licence received: https://www.faa.gov/media/69476 (PDF warning)
• FAA Finding of No Significant Impact for Indian Ocean Landings: https://www.faa.gov/media/76841 (PDF warning)
• FAA Environmental Assessment for Indian Ocean Landings: https://www.faa.gov/media/76836 (PDF warning)
• Gav Cornwell summarizes.
• Mary receives evacuation notice.
• SpaceX tweet.
• Elon’s jet (N628TS) does a quick tour of Europe: Austin, Berlin, Paris, London, currently heading to Teterboro New Jersey.
• New Ringwatchers article: Onward to Flight 3: The Complete History of S28 & B10

Starbase activities (2024-03-14):

• During the night, orbital tank farm starts venting.
• Slight delays due to wayward boats and wind.
• IFT-3 happens.
• Chopsticks close.
• Road open, cars to the pad. The little convoy included the ship transport stand and the OLM work platform.
• Starship Gazer photos of the pad.
• Road closures for Mar 15th and 16th are revoked.

IFT-3:

• SpaceX report.
• Booster makes it to the landing burn, but loses control and insufficient engines relight. RUD occurs at 462 m in altitude.
• S28 makes it to reentry but fails to face the heat shield in the correct direction, followed shortly by RUD.
• Payload door test and propellant transfer demo “complete”. (Is that equivalent to “successful”?)
• S28 rotation stabilized.
• Webcast views matched with Madagascar coast.
• Tim Dodd may have indirectly been responsible for the fate of S28 :)

Starbase activities (2024-03-16):

• Relatively quiet day yesterday.
• Inspections and work continues on the OLM, chopsticks, and pad.

IFT-3:

• Rhin0 posts a list of all known raptor engines on booster and ship.
• Pockn_CG posts a render of Starship orientation and camera angles on reentry.

Starbase activities (2024-03-17):

• Another quiet day, somewhat foggy.
• Inspection and work continues on the OLM, chopsticks, and pad. Some excavation near the orbital tank farm.
• Black LR11000 crane rises again.
• New RGV Aerial flyover: Massey’s test stand, Launch Tower B foundations, Launch Pad A post-launch (alternate angle), (full video).

Starbase activities (2024-03-18):

• Another fairly quiet day. OLM work continues.
• Teams checking the surrounding dune area for debris.

Other:

• New ChromeKiwi render of test stand at Massey’s.

IFT-4+:

• April, Hopefully (Elon Time).
• FAA representative says “no major issues” with IFT-3. SpaceX still aiming for 6 to 9 more Starship launches this year.