SpaceX Super Heavy and Starship updates

[SteveL]

On 17/12/2023 at 22:37, DocM said:

The catch arms grab pins on either side of the booster or ship. Those pins can be moved to a lower location to accommodate a longer vehicle. 

If at some time this relocation poses a problem (balance, etc) they can take the top off the tower and add another segment; they were built using modules. 

And the arms catch only the booster or the starship not both still attached. So I think the height of the tower is not a real issue at the moment.

[DocM]

On 18/12/2023 at 04:03, SteveL said:

And the arms catch only the booster or the starship not both still attached. So I think the height of the tower is not a real issue at the moment.

The arms need to reach high enough to stack a Starship atop the Booster before launch. We already know there will be a longer Starship, be it Starship v2 or the Artemis Depot.

 

Pre-launxh testing for Flight 3 has begun,

 

[DocM]

Overpressure alert, sounds like they'll attempt a static fire of Ship 28

 

 

[DocM]

Ship 28: static fire

 

Edited December 20, 2023 by DocM

[anthdci]

there were a lot of well known improvements between test flight 1 and test flight 2. I am seeing less upgrades between the vehicles used for 2 compared to 3. Is there much information about there about what is new?

[DocM]

YouTube version

 

[DocM]

6 engine static fire, no aborts. Drone shot.

 

[bguy_1986]

On 20/12/2023 at 16:02, anthdci said:

there were a lot of well known improvements between test flight 1 and test flight 2. I am seeing less upgrades between the vehicles used for 2 compared to 3. Is there much information about there about what is new?

I haven't seen much, but I would expect there would be some improvements inside the tanks that we won't see.

I didn't realize this, but apparently this ship has a payload door.

 

 

[DocM]

On 20/12/2023 at 16:02, anthdci said:

there were a lot of well known improvements between test flight 1 and test flight 2. I am seeing less upgrades between the vehicles used for 2 compared to 3. Is there much information about there about what is new?

 

As mentioned by bguy_1986, the payload bay and internal changes. Also the that Starship will have a major upgrade to Starship 2 after the nexr few launches. Major structural changes, so why upgrade an evolutionary dead end? Rumors of changes to the fins, etc, and a statement from Musk the dry mass would be going down at the same time the tanks will be getting larger. 

Speculation: this seems to make sense if SpaceX will be using the new HFS* steel alloy Cybertruck is introducing. It took CT's door panels down from 3 mm to 1.8 mm without sacrificing strength.

* Hard Fracking Steel

 

[DocM]

Booster 10 test stream

SpaceX is putting the pedal to the metal

 

 

[DocM]

Testing over for the day, and two new tanks and a Starship launch tower segment has departed KSC for Starbase

 

 

[anthdci]

On 21/12/2023 at 22:12, DocM said:

Testing over for the day, and two new tanks and a Starship launch tower segment has departed KSC for Starbase

 

 

Do we know what happened? Looked like a lot of venting when it should have been filling, was something broken?

[Xenon]

On 22/12/2023 at 11:47, anthdci said:

Do we know what happened? Looked like a lot of venting when it should have been filling, was something broken?

They did a lot of work on the tank farm to fuel the rocket. Maybe it was something with that. Although they did have a drone checking out a section of the booster. 

[DocM]

I think there's another over pressure notice out for today, but last I checked the road hadn't closed. We'll see if anything comes of it.

Testing a subscale version of the Starship elevator for Artemis 3

 

 

[DocM]

Another road closure after Christmas

 

 

[DocM]

Static fire attempts today, Booster and Ship

 

 

 

[DocM]

Ship: single-engine static fire, looked like a previous test of a de-orbit burn.

Booster: long static fire, about 10 seconds.

If all the data looks good, and the regulatory gods smile on them, Flight 3 could be really close. 

[DocM]

Videos of the dual static fire, should go live in about 22 minutes

 

[DocM]

Drone's eye view of the Starship Booster test

 

[DocM]

Next steps for Starship, and Musk will be giving a SpaceX company talk which will be webcast on X. 

Long post, so full text at bottom

Quote

Overnight Ship 30 rolled to SpaceX's Masseys test site, joining Booster 12 for cryoproofing

 

As it stands:

Booster 10/Ship 28 - tested through to Static Fires. Next up, flight configuration work (likely at prod site), then rollout for integrated stack pre-launch testing.

 

Booster 11/Ship 29 - Cryoproofed, receiving engines, then ready for Static Fire testing.

 

Booster 12/Ship 30 - At Masseys for cryoproof testing.

 

Are you all ready for 2024? 😎

 

Edited December 30, 2023 by DocM

[DocM]

From the recent SpaceX All Hands company meeting,

The causes of the Fight 2 failures are now known. The Booster flip was too rapid, and Ship's liquid oxygen venting caused a fire.  They know how to fix both.

The upcoming Flight 3 will  attempt to achieve orbit, perform an orbital refueling system test, and test a Starlink satellite deployment door. The new Starlink satellites will be much more powerful, further speeding up the network.

After Flight 3, a second Starship launch complex will be built at Starbase. A tower segment is already on the way by barge from the Kennedy Space Center SpaceX Operations Area in Florida.

The new tower will be taller to accommodate an increase in size of Starship V3, the upcoming Starship V2 being a transition vehicle.

Booster + Ship height,

Starship V1: 121 m

Starship V3: up to 150 m

After Tower 2 is complete, Tower 1 will be upgraded. 

------

Starship launch complexes in Florida are already in the approval process (LC-49), LC-39a being partially built. Wouldn't be surprised to see some at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, probably at SLC-6 (aka Slick Six)

 

 

[anthdci]

On 14/01/2024 at 20:51, DocM said:

From the recent SpaceX All Hands company meeting,

The causes of the Fight 2 failures are now known. The Booster flip was too rapid, and Ship's liquid oxygen venting caused a fire.  They know how to fix both.

The upcoming Flight 3 will  attempt to achieve orbit, perform an orbital refueling system test, and test a Starlink satellite deployment door. The new Starlink satellites will be much more powerful, further speeding up the network.

After Flight 3, a second Starship launch complex will be built at Starbase. A tower segment is already on the way by barge from the Kennedy Space Center SpaceX Operations Area in Florida.

The new tower will be taller to accommodate an increase in size of Starship V3, the upcoming Starship V2 being a transition vehicle.

Booster + Ship height,

Starship V1: 121 m

Starship V3: up to 150 m

After Tower 2 is complete, Tower 1 will be upgraded. 

------

Starship launch complexes in Florida are already in the approval process (LC-49), LC-39a being partially built. Wouldn't be surprised to see some at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, probably at SLC-6 (aka Slick Six)

 

 

big changes in the pipeline. It's already an insane size, when it's 150m it'll be evenmore so. 

[DocM]

On 15/01/2024 at 15:59, anthdci said:

big changes in the pipeline. It's already an insane size, when it's 150m it'll be evenmore so. 

The fast pace helps the 'failing forward' process, which is why they have moved so far ahead with reusability. Ditto for Tesla EV development.

Many people don't seem to get this. Those folks need to read John C. Maxwell's book.

[DocM]

New Starship tower segments at KSC, to be shipped to Starbase where a second launch site is being prepared. Needed for redundancy and an increased flight rate. Tower will also be taller to accommodate the larger Starship V2 & V3. The existing Tower will also be stretched.

 

 

[DocM]

NSF Live: Starship activity, WB-57 footage