SpaceX Starship page

FAQ

  1. 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.”
  2. Where can I find streams of the launch? SpaceX Full Livestream. NASASpaceFlight Channel. Lab Padre Channel. Everyday Astronaut Channel.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.”
  5. 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.

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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 47 | Starship Dev 46 | Starship Dev 45 | Starship Dev 44

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 2023-09-05

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 Rocket Garden Cryo tested
S27 Rocket Garden Scrapped Common dome imploded
S28 Engine Install Stand Raptors installed Previously tested at Masseys
S29 High Bay Under construction Flap installation in progress
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 Rocket Garden Resting
B12 Megabay 1 Grid fins installed
B13 Build Site Parts under construction
B14 Build Site Parts under construction
B15 Build Site Parts under construction

Resources

  • @pigeonberryEnglish
    4•1 year ago

    SpaceX @SpaceX 2:42 PM · Aug 17, 2023

    Long duration test fire of Raptor while gimbaled 15 degrees

    Lots of discussion about why there was such a test. Some suggesting that it was for Starship for hot staging. Others saying that the new hot-staging ring has such a high dome in it that the sea-level engine gimballing so far wouldn’t actually help.

    Some comments about how 15 degrees is really high, like Saturn V first stage having 5 degrees, and 3-8 is more common. The Space Shuttle has 12.5 for the RS-25, but the new ones are certified for only 6. The suggestion was that this is because the stages need to be able to flip.