Starship Development Thread #56

@threelonmusketeers · edit-2 12 hours ago

@threelonmusketeers · edit-2 19 days ago

Starbase activities (2024-05-20):

May 19th addendum, suborbital site dismantling: Several of the tall thin vertical tanks were removed the previous day (tank 1 and 2, tank 3, tank 4, tank 5), and transported in the evening.
Overnight, the last piece of GSEC-5 (cover of GSE-1) is ~~removed~~ scrapped.
Tower segment 3 of 5 rolls from Brownsville to Sanchez. This is believed to be the bottom segment, and Benedikt posts an interesting analysis ( tweet 1, tweet 2, tweet 3, tweet 4, tweet 5), on what might be expected regarding cryo pipes and tower cladding.
Main event: S29/B11 Wet Dress Rehearsal: NSF and Starship Gazer livestreams. Road is closed, tank farm venting, chopsticks open and lower (NSF, LabPadre), roadblock retreats, tower venting (NSF, LabPadre, propellant load begins and progresses quickly, chopsticks raise and close, both vehicles are fully loaded, roadblock advances ahead of detank, depress vent.
SpaceX confirms successful rehearsal, and posts some drone photos. NSF timelapse.
Suborbital site dismantling continues: Miscellaneous equipment is removed.
LR11000 crane prepares to remove GSE-1.

IFT-4:

One of NASA’s WB-57 planes is scheduled for Imagery Support on Jun 1st, 4th, and 5th.

Elon updates on:

IFT-4 timeline: “2 weeks” :)
Rocket garden may be relocated
“Staeship” launch pad plans: Two pads at Starbase, one at 39A, and one more TBD.

Type	Start (CDT)	End (CDT)	Status
Primary Date	2024-06-06 00:00	2024-06-06 14:00	Possible Flight. Closure Scheduled.
Backup Date	2024-06-07 00:00	2024-06-07 14:00	Closure revoked.
Backup Date	2024-06-08 00:00	2024-06-08 14:00	Closure revoked.

Ship	Location	Status	Comment
S26	Rocket Garden	Resting	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.
S29	Indian Ocean	Successful launch and soft water landing	Spin prime Mar 11th, Static fire Mar 25th (6 engines) and 27th (1 engine), partial WDR May 16th, full WDR May 20th, full WDR May 28th, FTS installed May 30th, stacked on Jun 1st, launched on IFT-4 Jun 6th.
S30	Highbay 1	Static fire completed	2x cryo: Jan 3rd and Jan 5th. Engines installed ~Apr 9th. Static fired May 8th.
S31	Build site	Under repair	Cryo tested May 12th, suffers small electrical fire.
S32	Rocket Garden	Resting	Fully stacked, fore flaps installed but not aft flaps
S33-35		Abandoned	Parts spotted, likely to be scrapped in preparation for Starship v2
S36-37	Build Site	Parts spotted	Starship v2 forward flap spotted

Booster	Location	Status	Comment
B11	Gulf of Mexico	Successful launch and soft water landing	Completed 2 Cryo tests. Static fired Apr 5th, hot stage ring installed ~May 3rd, partial WDR May 16th, full WDR May 20th, full WDR May 28th, FTS installed May 30th, launched IFT-4 on Jun 6th.
B12	Megabay 1	Finalizing	Cryo x2
B13	Megabay 1	Testing	Cryo tests Apr 26th (methane tank) and Apr 29th (LOX tank)
B14	Megabay 1	Pending cryo	Stacked Apr 26th
B14.1	Massey’s	Testing
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

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