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My daily summary from the [Starship Dev thread on Lemmy](https://oldsh.itjust.works/post/17253379) > Starbase activities (2024-05-09): > > - LR11000 crane [moves toward the S30 on the test pad](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1788471989247578569). Ship lifting jig rolls back out to the launch pad, and is ([eventually](https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1788566765292658854)) connected to S30 ([NSF](https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1788565467574980893), [LabPadre](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1788605153232248949)). > - An SPMT [rolls to the launch site](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1788680859790327857) to [retrieve the ship lifting jig stand](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1788680862894076332). A different lifting jig rolls [into the Highbay](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1788724546570178934), and the stand [returns to the test pad](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1788740114366992811). > - [Removal of the berm](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1788701334927007794) between the suborbital tank farm and the test pad begins. Likely an indication that all further ship testing will be at Massey's. > - Drilling and rebar installation for the second orbital pad continues. > - Convoy of vacuum trucks continue to remove perlite insulation from GSE-2 outer tank. > - [Late-morning build site tour video](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1788615381927498046): Parking garage [construction continues](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1788617942189359323). [Workers observed at the gap in glass panels](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1788617939333120492) on Starfactory. Gap still present [as of late afternoon](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1788697257132376543). > - A ring segment [enters Megabay 2](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1788211070907162725), following the May 7th and 8th deliveries of a [triple](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787876064191983911) and [single](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1788654159752724631) segment. It is thought that these are to test welding robots. > - May 9th road closure [cancelled](https://botsin.space/@bocaroad/112411245896240415). [New road closures posted](https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/order-temporarily-closing-boca-chica-beach-and-state-hwy-4-may-14-2024-from-8-a-m-to-8-p-m/) for May [14th](https://botsin.space/@bocaroad/112413601268707456), [15th](https://botsin.space/@bocaroad/112413601625508398), and [16th](https://botsin.space/@bocaroad/112413601964008287), all 08:00 to 20:00. > - New road delays posted for [May 10th](https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/temporary-and-intermittent-road-delay-of-a-portion-of-state-hwy-4-on-may-10-2024-between-300-p-m-to-530-p-m/) (15:00 to 17::30 and 22:00 to midnight), [11th](https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/temporary-and-intermittent-road-delay-of-a-portion-of-state-hwy-4-on-may-11-2024-between-1200-a-m-to-300-a-m/) and [12th](https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/temporary-and-intermittent-road-delay-of-a-portion-of-state-hwy-4-on-may-12-2024-between-1200-a-m-to-300-a-m/) (both 00:00 to 03:00).

[New intermittent closures-](https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/spacex/) May 10- 3pm to 5:30pm, 10pm to 12am (Launch site) May 11- 12am to 3am (Massey’s) May 12th- 12am to 3am (Launch site) And now testing closures- May 14th, 15th and 16th 8am to 8pm

To add to that, the intermittent transport closure for the 10th is likely S30 rollback to the build site (overnight it was lifted onto the transport strand). The one for the 11th specifically mentions booster transport to Massey's (https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Road-Delay-Press-Release.05.11.2024.pdf). The only booster lacking cryo testing is B14 but unsure how ready it is right now other than it's fully stacked and it's recently been having the CO2 tanks installed. Overnight a booster transport stand was taken to the build site and parked outside MB1. The closure for the 12th is perhaps for B11 to rollout to the launch site.

Just released regarding 39A - Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (filed on May 9th 2024) - the following is a direct link to the PDF: https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2024-10149.pdf Some of the highlights: *Super Heavy Catch Tower (their words, not mine - I assume that they mean launch and catch tower, but then again .....) - it then goes on to state booster and ship landings at 39A or on a barge in the Atlantic or expendable in the Atlantic. No mention of ship catching even though they mention Super Heavy (booster) catching by inference* *Deluge system* *Up to 44 launches per year occurring during the day and the night* and there's plenty more.

Wasn't there speculation here about use of 39C, instead of anything Starship-related at 39A?

NASA have abandoned the environmental application for LC-39C aka LC-49. It was always likely to be difficult to get approved as it would involve the conversion of untouched conservation land into a launch site.

Yes, but there's been all kinds of speculation.

The reason why an EIS is needed is probably because they added the Gas Liquified Plant on the plans (the one they had to drop on Boca Chica to be able to get the mitigated FONSI there). It's not a start from 0 study tho. It seems to be an extension to their 2019 EA on LC39-A, the changes for this EIS are explained in the context: >In September 2019, NASA completed the Final Environmental Assessment for the SpaceX Starship and Super Heavy Launch Vehicle at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) (“2019 EA”) to evaluate the potential environmental impacts resulting from construction and operations associated with utilization of LC-39A for the SpaceX Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle in practical applications. LC-39A is a SpaceX-leased launch site located on northern KSC property, approximately 3 miles east of NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building. LC-39A currently supports SpaceX Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches. >The 2019 EA established the purpose and need for Starship-Super Heavy at KSC and LC-39A, which was to develop and implement formal agreements with SpaceX for use of NASA assets and to provide services and commodities to enable Starship-Super Heavy launches. Commercial use of KSC real property supports NASA’s mandate to encourage the fullest commercial use of space, supports the goals of the National Aeronautics and Space Act, and advances the National Space Policy that Federal agencies shall ensure that United States (U.S.) Government space technology and infrastructure is made available for commercial use on a reimbursable, noninterference, and equitable basis. The need for Starship-Super Heavy at KSC aligns with NASA’s Commercial Space Launch Act, as amended, which is to support the U.S. goal of encouraging activities by the private sector to strengthen and expand U.S. space transportation infrastructure. ... >SpaceX proposes that the Starship-Super Heavy at KSC serves to increase the company’s operational portfolio diversity (i.e., the ability to support multiple customer missions at different locations) and capabilities through multiple Starship-Super Heavy launch sites, reduce space transportation costs (including within the Artemis and HLS programs), enhance exploration, support national leadership in space, and make space access more affordable. **Within the context of the 2019 EA, the scope of the Proposed Action was defined as infrastructure development and Starship-Super Heavy operations. Infrastructure development included construction of a launch mount for the Starship and Super Heavy Booster, a liquid methane farm, transport road leading from the pad entrance gate to the launch mount, high- pressure gaseous commodity lines, a deluge water system, and a landing zone (including pad). The 2019 EA assessed approximately 24 Starship-Super Heavy launches per year, including lunar and Mars missions, satellite payload missions, and human spaceflight. Starship design at the time of the 2019 EA consisted of seven raptor engines, while the Super Heavy booster consisted of 31 Raptor engines. Starship landing locations included Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS), downrange on a droneship (converted barge), and a new landing pad at LC-39A. Landings for Super Heavy, the first stage booster, were proposed to occur downrange on a droneship. Super Heavy booster returns to LC-39A were not considered in the 2019 EA. NASA’s resultant Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) issued on September 19, 2019, concluded that the environmental impacts associated with Starship-Super Heavy infrastructure development and operations, within the scope of the 2019 EA, would not individually or cumulatively have a significant impact on the quality of the biological or physical environment.** >**Since 2019, SpaceX has undertaken infrastructure improvements at LC-39A (e.g., construction of a launch mount) consistent with the scope of the 2019 EA. However, while the purpose and need for Starship-Super Heavy at LC-39A have not changed, the Starship-Super Heavy concept of operations has evolved from the original 2019 EA scope. SpaceX now proposes to construct additional launch infrastructure not previously contemplated in the 2019 EA: a Super Heavy booster catch tower, a natural gas liquefaction system and air separation unit for propellant generation, and stormwater/deluge ponds. SpaceX also proposes to launch an advanced design of the Starship and Super Heavy vehicle (up to nine raptor engines for Starship and up to 35 raptor engines for the Super Heavy booster), operate at a projected higher launch tempo (up to 44 launches per year), and land the Super Heavy booster at LC-39A in support of its reusability concept. Starship landings are no longer proposed to occur at Landing Zone 1 at CCSFS**.

That's good news. It means the EIS does not need to be completed for launches from LC-39A to begin.

> up to 35 raptor engines for the Super Heavy booster Sooooo... where are the extra two engines going to go? Possibly they are just covering their bets so that number of engines went from 31 to 33 last time so lets make it 35 this time to cover future changes. Alternatively the second ring of engines could be fixed like the outer ring of 20 which would enable them to be pushed outwards and leave room for five engines gimballing in the center. Given the five fold symmetry for each ring this would be a single ring of five engines with no center engine. Five engines should give enough gimbal control to cope with a limited number of engine out events and if more is required they can throttle down or shut down engines on the opposite side to the failed engines.

Hmm, [this](https://www.faa.gov/space/stakeholder_engagement/spacex_starship_ksc) should be the site to follow the EIS according to the PDF, but doesn't seem to exist yet. Those interested to follow it should save it for the future. (The [Stakeholder Engagement's Current Projects list](https://www.faa.gov/space/stakeholder_engagement) hasn't been updated since Nov 2021.. so maybe the link is just wrong, we'll see).

From the report the phrase "Starship-Super Heavy" struck me oddly. We're now going to ssh to LEO... ssh to Mars.... I like it!

Or to use its full name: Starship-Super Heavy Interplanetary Transport System, or SSHITS for short.

Additional highlight: It mentions Super Heavy may have up to 35 engines.

I saw a post with a tighter second boost ring

Where the hell are they going to add more engines? Unless they remove the gimbal center group and all of them gimbal..

STUBBY NOZZLES FOR EVERYONE!

Now that poses an interesting scenario: Would a bigger group at the center with stubby nozzles be more efficient than the current setup? Or all of the engines having stubby nozzles? Not sure though if Sea Raptors would benefit for this or if they would get an smaller profile by doing that at all..

As we have seen from the collectively created exhaust plume shock diamonds, I suspect there is room for improvement by playing around with nozzle configurations. Shortening inner nozzles could balance out that overexpansion

>Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement That's....not good imo

The fact that's it's an intent or the fact that a new EIS is required?

EIS ofc

Isn’t this process alot easier/simpler at the cape given it’s already been vetted?

Or 39A specifically since it was originally built for Nova? Maybe EISs weren't a thing in the '60s.

>Maybe EISs weren't a thing in the '60s. [NEPA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Environmental_Policy_Act) was enacted in 1970.

It should be, yes.

[Satellite picture of the Orbital launch mount ring outside of hangar M in Florida yesterday](https://x.com/harry__stranger/status/1788556092110500061?s=46&t=HTzlpa7RYXtyIMbQX7Ou8g)

It was detected out of Hangar M months ago on some low res way, radar? don't remember. So it was brought out of the hangar to stay outside for months for? probably space for OLM-3 construction inside? Or OLM-4 if we are really outdated in the public info domain.

I wonder if it's just sitting there in the weather, waiting for scrapping, as the design has moved on (along with the legs).

Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Jf5uKJVYNT27SpkZ7 Note the nearby dock for ships. If that one is not big enough, Port Canaveral is just down the road to the south.

[Starbase live-](https://www.youtube.com/live/mhJRzQsLZGg?si=L5cO3jta5lmQm0j1) 11:30pm- S30’s flaps close 11:37pm- 2 lifts go up to S30. Right aft flap chained closed 11:55pm- Forward flaps chained closed 12:07am- Left aft flap chained closed 6:38am- Rebar cage lifted 6:43am- Drill rig starts new hole 6:51am- Vacuum trucks still coming and going 7:12am- Another rebar cage lifted 7:41am- 2 point lifting jig is lifted off its stand 7:47am- Lifts go up to S30 8:06am- 2 point lifting jig moved into place at the top of S30 8:10am- Lifts were up to both chopsticks, the top of the orbital launch mount, the top of the staircase, the dance floor, and the paint crew were up to the Orbital launch mount legs. 8:40am- Seem to be having some issues getting the jig attached this morning 8:43am- Jig is swung away from S30 8:48am- After being rotated 180 degrees the jig is being swung back in 8:51am- What appears to be a new hydraulic actuator (for the left chopstick?) was delivered to the launch site before being turned around and sent back towards the build site 9:17am- Lifts go down, lifting jig attached 10:15am- 2 lifts to chopsticks carriage, 2 to the top of the orbital launch mount, 1 to the staircase, and 1 to the leg just right of the staircase 10:18am- Raptor install truck up under S30 10:28am- S30’s stand rolls away from pad b 10:42am- Rebar cage lifted 11:03am- It looks like something is lifted up to the dance floor 12:00pm- Lifts have been up to the top of the orbital launch mount, both chopsticks, the top of the staircase, and the leg to the right of the staircase 1:20pm- Lifts have been up to both chopsticks and the top of the orbital launch mount 2:15pm- Scissor lift up under S30. 2 lifts up to the top of the orbital launch mount and 1 to the back staircase 3:00pm- Single SPMT headed to the launch site 3:15pm- Scissor lift up under S30 and a lift up to it’s QD. Lifts are also up to the back staircase, top of the orbital launch mount, and the right chopstick 3:29pm- The single SPMT picks up the 2 point lifting jig up in the storage area and rolls it towards the gate (Maybe S30 is going to end up sticking around at the launch site for awhile) 3:34pm- Rolling on to Hwy 4 3:57pm- Turns towards the storage yard 4:24pm- Crane at the storage yard puts the 2nd 2 point lifting jig onto the stand 5:35pm- 2 lifts have been up to the top of the orbital launch mount and a scissor lift has been up under S30 6:36pm- 2nd 2 point lifting jig headed to the build site 6:41pm- Jig turns into the build site 7:20pm- Scissor lift has been up under S30 and a regular lift to its base. Lifts have also been up to the right chopstick, the back staircase, and the top of the orbital launch mount. 7:32pm- After dropping the 2nd 2 point lifting jig off at the high bay, the stand is on its way back to the launch site 7:53pm- Stand arrives back at the storage area at the sub orbital launch site 8:50pm- Lift up to the top of the orbital launch mount

Closure canceled for today.

[Night photo](https://i.imgur.com/1l6iAhl.png) of the near-completed mirror corner on the Starfactory (still missing 2 small panels on the bottom right) - credit: LabPadre Rover Cam. [Day photo](https://i.imgur.com/cHlCGmz.png) on afternoon without the sun blinding them for comparison. - same credit as above. (and [Morning sunny photo](https://i.imgur.com/XK4aWpC.png) also for comparison.) - same credit as above. So visibility at night looks good, while at the day its very questionable if we will be able to see stuff moving inside, and on the morning it would be even harded, I guess it depends if the sun makes the sections glow, or there's still light inside or something. We'll see. **It's not the night photo's final form yet though**, they still need to paint white and add lights to a big chunk of the nosecone zone of the factory (the closest to the corrner, precisely. Visibility inside should get even better.)

Looks like S30's testing is done - overnight some SPMTs with counterweights and the two point lifter have gone to the launch site, also the LR11000 crane has moved over to pad B. The ship transport stand has since been chained to the SPMTs and S30's flaps have been closed and chained up. There's currently no transport closure to roll S30 back but one will likely pop up (they may though just modify and use part of today's full road and beach closure backup I guess, they've done it before).

Weird, no deorbit single engine burn test with s30?

The reason there was no deorbit simulation burn on IFT-3 wasn't an engine problem, but instead the out of control roll rate.

~~We all think this but there was no confirmation if I don't remember bad, at least until this point.~~ Edit: Bad memory lol.

You are mistaken. " Starship did not attempt its planned on-orbit relight of a single Raptor engine due to vehicle roll rates during coast." https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-3

Oh, completely forgot about this. Thanks!

They might be confident in the process now.

Will we ever see starship lying horizontal?

If Starships that are manufactured at Boca Chica, TX Starfactory have to be sent to KSC in Florida, then the Booster and the Ship while vertical would be attached to a strongback and lowered into the horizontal position. They would be transported up Highway 4 to the dock on the Brownsville Ship Channel, loaded onto a barge, and then sent to KSC in Florida via the Intercoastal Waterway. SpaceX has a lot of experience with strongbacks that are used to move Falcon 9 launch vehicles onto the launch pad. And SpaceX uses barges all the time for landing the F9 first stages.

Why couldn’t they be transported vertically? Nothing prohibits them from dropping a transport mount into the bottom of a bulk carrier hold. They could even drop cryo tanks into another hold to keep it pressurized during the boat ride. A ship can travel faster than a barge, and in worse weather.

Maybe that's what Elon will decide to do. Who knows? I can envision dozens of Starship Boosters and Ships standing vertically side-by-side in the hold of a large container ship looking like IRBMs without their warheads in a Navy boomer boat. That might be a good way to transport a large number of Starships from the Starfactory at Boca Chica to KSC in Florida.

Elon said no. That's for operational Starship. It will be transported horizontally on a barge.

My daily summary from the [Starship Dev thread on Lemmy](https://oldsh.itjust.works/post/17253379) > Starbase activities (2024-05-08): > > - Overnight, S26 [rolls from the build site](https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1788075656321843301) to Massey's. Photos from Starship Gazer ([tweet 1](https://twitter.com/StarshipGazer/status/1788094180863967597), [tweet 2](https://twitter.com/StarshipGazer/status/1788283087559754007)), Doherty ([tweet 1](https://twitter.com/SeanKD_Photos/status/1788087788560080943), [tweet 2](https://twitter.com/SeanKD_Photos/status/1788115468236070980), [tweet 3](https://twitter.com/SeanKD_Photos/status/1788116642607636879)), LabPadre ([tweet 1](https://twitter.com/LabPadre/status/1788077237943599357), [tweet 2](https://twitter.com/LabPadre/status/1788077937775776151)), and [Cargile](https://twitter.com/GroundTruthPics/status/1788091351730422143), > - **Main event, S30 testing**: Overpressure notice [published](https://twitter.com/BocaChicaGal/status/1788171423606878569), road closure [scheduled](https://botsin.space/@bocaroad/112405650446538151), [NSF livestream](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENxjR--cVHg). Tank farm [venting](https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1788226338614050900), [SQD frost](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1788232632985063701), frost line ([LabPadre](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1788234302792081808), [NSF](https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1788235311346045180)), frost line [grows](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1788237674874044570), [engine chill](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1788245556910756348), static fire ([LabPadre](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1788253006384742627), [NSF](https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1788252547217514635)), and road closure [concluded](https://botsin.space/@bocaroad/112407380760955511). > - [NSF timelapse](https://twitter.com/ENNEPS/status/1788306065257320637) of the test, [LabPadre with sound synced](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1788273506947383438), photos from [Cargile](https://twitter.com/GroundTruthPics/status/1788327628618822110) and Ramirez ([tweet 1](https://twitter.com/texas_lizard/status/1788320832348959022), [tweet 2](https://twitter.com/texas_lizard/status/1788315070239256948)). SpaceX posts [drone videos](https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1788310386846179345) and [photos](https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1788310589548405224), and confirms it was a six-engine static fire. > - Lab Padre shares infrasound data from static fire: [Tweet 1](https://twitter.com/LabPadre/status/1788256174858461583), [tweet 2](https://twitter.com/LabPadre/status/1788260479451676925). > - [Mid-afternoon](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1788303193505480970) and [late-afternoon](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1788318055103107334) build site video tours: Parking garage progress continues. Starfactory glass panel installation is completed [slightly out of order](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1788274648674619406), with a couple gaps being [filled later in the afternoon](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1788327553410765136). > - OLM BQD door [closes](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1788354834288009254) and [opens](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1788356590694756610). > - [Recent photo](https://twitter.com/cnunezimages/status/1788392985886888371) of a ship (S29?) in the Highbay. Tile work is looking good.

Some (static) [fiery pics](https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1788310589548405224) of s30 from SpaceX

Spacex tweet of the static fire All six engines https://x.com/spacex/status/1788310386846179345?s=46&t=-n30l1_Sw3sHaUenSrNxGA

Ship 30 - 10 Minutes to Static Fire! Static fire! 11:58:50 CDT

[Video by LapPadre](https://twitter.com/CSI_Starbase/status/1788255989680017764)

No major tile loss is apparent on the main body of the ship except in the areas of the aft flaps where some appear to be missing near at least one hinge.

What's the implication of that result? How many is too many? How representative of actual launch stresses is the static fire?

i think it’s 23?

>How representative of actual launch stresses is the static fire? It's more stressful.

My apologies... I don't read this subreddit on a daily basis but I do try to check in periodically and especially as the next IFT appears to be nearing. To that end it would be very helpful if the summary at the top of this thread could be kept updated with a current rough guess for a launch date; for a while now it's been saying "May 2024 1, 2, or end of may" which I can't even parse, and I suspect there are better estimates now? Also I'm noticing for the first time that the term "Massey's" is being thrown around as if everyone knows what that means but I can't find a definition here anywhere.

1 and 2 are references. I'll edit it to make it clearer

> I suspect there are better estimates now? There are not. Elon and insiders are giving us "sometime during May" and that is now late May given the current date and the fact that SpaceX are testing hardware for Flight 5 rather than stacking Flight 4.

HLS team are suggesting it is likely going to push into June.

> HLS team are suggesting it is likely going to push into June. Interesting. Did you read that somewhere (if so, can you link?); or is that your own sources?

I´d also like a reference to add June to the wiki.

The SpaceX Starbase is located within an environmentally protected area around Boca Chica, TX. The land on which Starbase is built was private land that SpaceX bought about 12 years ago and is adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico close to where the Rio Grande River flows into the Gulf. Same for the Massey site. It was private land that SpaceX bought a few years ago. It's sited upstream on the Rio Grande a few miles from Starbase. Highway 4 connects the two SpaceX sites. Massey's is being converted into the primary ground test site for Starship. It's very difficult to obtain permits from the Federal Government and from the State of Texas to purchase land within that environmentally protected area for commercial use, like launching rockets to Mars. SpaceX was fortunate that existing private property was available to build Starbase, the Starship manufacturing facility, and the Massey's facility. SpaceX sited the Starship operations at Boca Chica because of its far South location within the U.S. mainland and the proximity to the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf functions as a 2000-mile tracking range for Starship launches in the ~eastward direction from Boca Chica. The Atlantic Ocean provides the same function for launches out of Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida.

Masseys location https://maps.app.goo.gl/rSnAL1T98SND6uQa8 Formerly a shooting range. https://starship-spacex.fandom.com/wiki/Massey_Outpost

Thank you, kind Redditor!

No one can say for sure the exact date it will be because spacex hasn’t announced anything yet. All we have is the end of may estimate, and to put a rough guess for a launch date would be useless as it could be misleading. Massey’s is the test facility they are building out just down the road from the build site. They will be moving ship static fires there very soon, once the flame trench and static fire stand there is ready. The boosters and ships already conduct cryo testing there. This is to move testing away from the launch site, to free up time for construction/upgrades (pretty much constantly happening whenever they’re not launching) as well as to not disrupt flight cadence once that starts to speed up.

Flight 4 is still slated for May. "May 2024 1, 2, or end of may" is accurate. 1, 2 are hyperlinked sources to the general "May" timeline; "end of may" is also hyperlinked sourced. Starship facilities are comprised of the Launch Facility, Production Site, and the Massey's testing site. Massey's has existed for years and is being built out to include static fires.

I read “May 2024 1, 2…” as aspiring to 1st week, or 2nd week, or now as the link suggests “end of May”

Thanks to those replying, and I now understand that (1) the text "1, 2, or end of may" actually contains invisible hyperlinks, and (2) I'm not the only person to miss them. In fact I now realize that all unread hyperlinks in this subreddit appear as regular text to me (until I hover my mouse over them). Is this a feature or a bug? Is it customizable? I understand that nobody here can give an exact date but I was just hoping that at this point, those who are closely following progress on the ship and booster could come up with something a bit more specific than "May", even if just a "no earlier than" date?

If you scroll way down to a thread started by u/ArtOfWarfare, someone speculates maybe late May, but probably mid June.

If we add the normal adjustments to Elon's statements, that would put it June 15. Today, it is reported that the SEC is calling him out on his exaggerations, saying that his boasts about FSD at Tesla may constitute securities fraud. So I am not the only one who recognizes that his statements are usually too optimistic. He's still one of my heroes though.

Unopened hyperlinks have an are blue, previously opened are purple. This is common across computung. Are you viewing from some obscure browser/theme/app that doesn't follow the convention?

I am using an obscure browser from Google called Chrome. It shows the 1 and 2 in black, the same as the rest of the text and in purple once you click on them.

I am seeing the same thing in Safari on Mac. All unread r/spacex hyperlinks are black text, no underline. In my other subreddits, links are the usual blue with underlines. Seeing that it's not a universal phenomenon, I discovered that one workaround is to go to Reddit's user settings, and in Feed Settings, disable "Community themes". Meanwhile I did some Googling and found that "links are the color of the sub's accentuation color". Apparently moderators can change this... how about it, mods? Black seems like a poor choice for the "accentuation color".

FWIW I am seeing the same thing since the recent Reddit format updates.

Are you using old or new Reddit? Edit: I am trying to change the accentuation color options for New Reddit but currently cannot access it as the security certificates are out of date. This was a problem that Old Reddit had a few months ago and it took them several weeks to update the certificates. I will keep trying.

New Reddit

This is why I'll cry when Reddit decides to kill off the old.reddit.com.

I'm guessing it'll happen relatively soon. They recently made it so you have to go to the New Reddit sign in screen to log in and added a little button on the top suggesting you try New Reddit. Now that reddit is publicly traded there is going to be a push to actually be profitable which means more enshittification and cost cutting. This is why I'm grateful we have the Lemmy guy posting, giving us a fallback location if things get really bad.

[Starbase live-](https://www.youtube.com/live/mhJRzQsLZGg?si=L5cO3jta5lmQm0j1) 10:56pm- Aerial Work Platform up disconnecting S26 from the bridge crane 11:31pm- S26 rolling out of mega bay 2 11:43pm- Stops in front of the high bay 12:13am- Rolling again 12:15am- Turns on to Hwy 4 1:34am- Turns into Massey’s 5:50am- I can’t tell who it is but one of the photographers is putting a camera out on the side of the road pointed at S30 7:45am- Lifts were up to the top of the orbital launch mount, the top of the staircase, and both chopsticks overnight. Vehicles have started leaving the pad in preparation for testing today. 8:17am- Road closed 8:53am- Security leaves the pad 9:58am- Sub orbital tank farm spooling up 10:45am-Frost on S30’s lox tank 11:30am- Engine chill 11:49am- Siren 11:58:33am- Deluge 11:58:49am- Static fire 11:59:49am- Depress 12:30pm- Frost receding 1:00pm- Frost only about 1 ring tall 1:34pm- Frost free 2:35pm- Road open 2:40pm- Photographer picks up his camera (I think they’re from WAI) 3:00pm- Still quiet 4:05pm- No activity at the pads yet 6:05pm- Looks like first shift got the day off for the test. Let’s see if 2nd shift does anything 7:38pm- LR11000 rotates towards the road. Quiet everywhere else 7:49pm- LR11000 starts rolling back in front of the horizontal tanks towards the sub orbital side. Looks like we won’t be getting a single engine static fire 8:12pm- Turns in through the gate area 8:22pm- 2 point lifting jig headed back towards the launch site along with a SPMT with counter weights 8:30pm- LR11000 reaches pad b 8:51pm- 2 point lifting jig turns into the launch site 9:00pm- 2 lifts up to the top of the orbital launch mount and 2 scissor lifts up under S30 9:29pm- S30’s stand rolls over from the storage area 10:58pm- Drilling rig is headed back out to get to work

Another static fire attempt today https://x.com/bocachicagal/status/1788171423606878569?s=46&t=-n30l1_Sw3sHaUenSrNxGA

Can confirm.

Why / how can you confirm?

It was revealed to them in a dream.

We need source for that dream, quickly, take Neuralink and hook that guy.

As of 2:30 AM CDT, S26 is at Massey's.

I accidently watched in on it. The new transport stand looks marvellous.

Is the new design for the static fire test stand?

Yes it is a combined transport and static fire stand. The advantage is that they will not need a crane at the Massey’s test site and can use the mega bay cranes to get the ship on and off the stand. The transport stand will be driven over the test flame trench and then the transporters will lower themselves and drive away.

Much like the crawler transporters and mobile launcher platform used by Saturn V, STS and SLS.

With the great advantage over STS and SLS that it does not have to haul a couple of heavy SRBs around.

My daily summary from the [Starship Dev thread on Lemmy](https://oldsh.itjust.works/post/17253379) > Starbase activities (2024-05-07): > > - Overnight, the Massey's ship stand arrives at the build site ([LabPadre](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787777626456625503), [Starship Gazer](https://twitter.com/StarshipGazer/status/1787723873070301417), [Cargile](https://twitter.com/GroundTruthPics/status/1787838462441267687)). This stand [should be capable](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787777628532789459) of supporting both [transport and testing](https://twitter.com/CSI_Starbase/status/1787724657929359833). Ship stand [enters Megabay 2 late-afternoon](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787964775558758639), and S26 is [lifted onto it](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787975133350490383) ([closeup](https://twitter.com/DeffGeff/status/1787975005420077115)). > - Build site video tours from [dawn](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787833821984903583), [early morning](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787841388173738065), and [mid-morning](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787849098294395126): Parking garage construction continues, [glass panel installation](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787871998569312580) on Starfactory nearly completed. > - B14 [CO~2~ tanks arrive](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787835635581034657). Are these for the onboard fire suppression system? > - A [ring segment](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787876064191983911) doth [enters Megabay 2](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787880697631326542), possibly to test welding robots. [Mary's closeup](https://twitter.com/BocaChicaGal/status/1787867339226030336) and [Zack's thoughts](https://twitter.com/CSI_Starbase/status/1787888254106177702). > - Soft road closure [in place](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787836131255455925). > - **Main event, S30 testing:** [Grass vent](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787878794231005378), [engine chill(?)](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787887450599129372), [frost line](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787882065834172865), [detank](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787907961592983827) ([timelapse](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787935379468824616)). [Recycle](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787935379468824616), [NSF livestream](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7Ialipbgw4), frost line ([LabPadre](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787937370483855502), [NSF](https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1787937376083362093)), [frost line grows](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787941300341297487) ([but very slowly](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787945199286603918)), [engine chill](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787952209239420949), venting from [multiple locations](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787956788396257449), [detank](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787955153334923520). [NSF timelapse](https://twitter.com/ENNEPS/status/1787993279935471952) of both tests. > - Orbital tank farm and tower plumbing [are tested](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787862528485101794). [Tower venting](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787910258146361462) and [more venting](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787967790734823432). > - Chopstick testing [continues](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787913048151216275). > - [Possible typo or change of plans](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787777630973870467) in May 8th road closure notice. Document says "booster transport", but ship transport seems more likely.

[S26 on Massey's Test Stand](https://x.com/DeffGeff/status/1787975005420077115)!

Wait so is that a new transport stand or did the actually build a portable test stand? It certainly looks chonky enough to hold a loaded ship.

It's both. Starship gets loaded onto it at the production site and is transported to Massey's. SPMTs move it over the static fire flame trench for static fire testing. Removes the requirement of having a crane at Massey's.

And it's the reason a trench is needed.

Sorry for stupid question but why is it needed in this case? I figured it was to do with the site having a lower water level/being higher up but I’d like to know the testing/SPMT connection.

So that one set of SPMTs can pass on each side of it as they carry the test stand plus ship into place. They would have to use a crane to lift the ship onto a platform. A platform allows flames to go in all directions so they would also need open space that may not be available at Massey's.

How do they get it off the SPMTs without a crane? I wouldn't expect they like getting cooked. Do they have like a bunker alongside the trench to drive into?

They raise and lower. They lower, move under the stand, pickup, move to Massey's then the reverse.

Ah of course.

I have an odd question (I'm also very much a layman, so forgive me if I'm missing something obvious). Is a "Starship heavy" possible? IE, could a similar set up to a falcon heavy be made for oversized loads of some kind? Is it worthwhile? 

There will never be a Starship heavy. The reason is that Starship is designed for high cadence, I.E. the booster is caught and swung onto the launch pad. Then the orbiter caught and swung onto the booster. A Falcon heavy would require more complex stacking away from the pad so would negate fast cadence. A larger diameter Starship however has been talked about.

Hey thank you all for the replies. 

Agree with the other posters. I think it was Musk who said it best: Falcon Heavy isn't one rocket, it's actually three rockets that fly in formation. Because if you think about it, if one of those rockets wanted to go in another direction from the other two - those little bracing arms are not going to stop it from doing so. That's basically why Falcon Heavy was so difficult to do, and why SpaceX probably has no interest in making a "Starship Heavy". Rockets designed for solid rocket boosters or expendable side boosters usually are designed for that from the beginning.

I agree with what others have said with the SH side boosters. As a really "outside the box" idea, though, consider strap on solids, perhaps disposable, perhaps recoverable à la Shuttle. But all this only makes sense for "oversized loads" and I think we have a long way to go to before that is a practical concern. Beside, it really messes with config of Stage 0 (aka OLM).

It's not worthwhile because the existence of orbital refueling means you don't need it to send big things far. And if you need to go bigger fuel reusability makes on-orbit assembly better.

Elon has said no. After the hell of developing Falcon Heavy (crossfeed to the core so it staged with full tanks was so onerous they gave up on it), It is not worth the hassle. Besides, a single booster 1st stage saves weight over a pair of side stages, due to the square cube law for the tanks; and for a reusable single first stage you only need to carry one set of landing / catch hardware, instead of the duplicated weight of two sets if you had side boosters. The extra structural mass the side boosters need to lift the core stage. The extra infrastructure to catch two instead of one first stage. And above all, Elon Musk has already said the successor is an even larger diameter version of Starship. I am guessing they will start with a larger diameter booster Hyperheavy sending up even further stretched Starships, and then develop the larger diameter 2nd stage Superstarship using lessons learned from the Hyperheavy development.

Wouldn't Ultraheavy come between Superheavy and Hyperheavy? Or does "Ultra" come after? I need to brush up on my prefixes...

I tried looking but not very hard and it is unclear.

A single booster with a larger diameter might be a better option. I remember Elon disclosing how difficult it is to control a multi-core rocket ... Which means nearly a hundred raptors packed together

The new stage-0 complexities to accommodate a 3x Booster configuration makes me think this wouldn't be practical. Starship as currently configured already can take so much more than what has previously been possible, that I think any future super-massive structures we would want would be constructed in-orbit from sub-components launched by Starship(s).

You're talking about taking a thing the size of a skyscraper, and strapping two more skyscrapers to it. And somehow transferring all the loads. That's certainly thinking big

Crazy that they have nearly completed the test campaign for flight 5! I keep getting the flight 4 and flight 5 vehicles confused. Looks like B12 still needs raptors + static fire. Assuming the info at top of thread is current.

If flight 4 goes well, should not take long to get approval for flight 5. My guess is they hit another anomaly on at least one vehicle, and that flight 5 happens about 90 days later or mid-September.

B11 will fly IFT4

Yeah, that’s what’s nuts. The IFT4 pair is ready and S30/B12 is almost ready. Hopefully pad fixes hold out after this next flight

Ahhh gotcha! I thought you were thinking B12 was gonna fly IFT4 but still needed testing

[Starbase live-](https://www.youtube.com/live/mhJRzQsLZGg?si=L5cO3jta5lmQm0j1) 12:45am- New ship static fire stand rolling down Hwy 4 1:19am- Turns into the production site 1:26am- Painters are up at the legs 5:42am- Security blocking pad entrance 6:50am- New vaporizers creating a fog bank 7:48am- Lox ground vent on the orbital fires up 8:00am- There was some grinding and welding by the top of the cryo leg and by the Booster quick disconnect. Lifts were up to the top of the orbital launch mount, the top of the cryo leg, and the chopsticks. The painters were up to the staircase and the leg to the right of the staircase. An Aerial Work Platform was up to B11 in the mega bay and a scissor lift was up under S30. 8:15am- Road closed 8:29am- Those are some weird sounding vents 8:54am- Security leaves the pad 9:42am- Pope stack going on the orbital tank farm side 10:01am- Tower vent is going 10:07am- Orbital launch mount vent is going 10:40am- Orbital launch mount still venting. No signs of life from the sub orbital side 11:11am- Orbital launch mount vent stops. Pope stack still going 11:15am- Engine chill vent going on the sub orbital pad. (No real venting from the Sub orbital tank farm) 11:26am- Frost forming on S30’s lox tank 11:40am- Looking more like a cryo proof than a static fire right now 11:46am- Seem to be holding. Frost line hasn’t moved in 12 minutes 12:13pm- Frost line receding 12:30pm- Frost almost completely gone 12:55pm- Completely frost free 1:01pm- Tower vent back 1:08pm- S30 disappearing in the fog as the orbital tank farm goes crazy 1:19pm- Tower vent stops 1:32pm- Orbital launch mount vent starts. 1:50pm- orbital tank farm still going strong 2:30pm- Sub orbital tank farm going 2:56pm- Condensation coming off the prop lines on pad b’s QD 3:02pm- Frost forming on the lox tank 3:30pm- Lox frost line slowly growing 3:41pm- Cool frost pattern showing the stringers 3:42pm- Methane tank venting 3:46pm- Engine chill vent 4:00pm- Orbital tank farm still going with the pope stack, lox ground vent, and Orbital launch mount still venting 4:02pm- Appears to be a depress vent. All vents going (Single engine relight test?) 4:04pm- Vent stops 4:09pm- Vent stack going. (Usually means de tanking) 4:29pm- Frost receding 4:56pm- Tower vent, Orbital launch mount vent, and pope stack still going. Frost still receding on S30 5:10pm- Lox tank about 2/3 empty now 5:56pm- Depress vent from S30 6:12pm- Road open 7:24pm- Security opens the main gate to the pad 8:35pm- Workers are filtering back but no work has restarted yet 9:45pm- Lifts have been up to the left chopstick and the dance floor. The paint crew is back up working on the Orbital launch mount legs [Rover 1-](https://www.youtube.com/live/Rg7kw-KLDL8?si=wEmUVDXkw8wtTf_P) 17:09- S26 lifted off the engine install stand 17:13- Translating forward 17:16- Lowered on the new static fire stand 17:18- Down on stand

The ship static fire test stand for Massey's has been rolled from there to the build site and is now parked near MB2: https://twitter.com/StarshipGazer/status/1787723873070301417 Very likely the plan is to use S26 as a test article for the new setup at Massey's - probably as a kind of fit check before testing a flight worthy ship, also of course GSE testing. And, depending on the state of S26's Raptors (remember it's been sitting outside with exposed engine bells for six months) perhaps they may also static fire it as some stage? (or roll back to the build site and replace the Raptors first to do that). There's another (primary) transport closure from midnight tonight for Massey's so that's when they plan to roll out the stand and ship: https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/spacex/ We don't yet know if all of the paperwork has gone through to allow a static fire at Massey's. Time will tell. On a separate matter, painting continues on the OLM legs.

What kind of paperwork would be needed for SF testing at Massey's? Also do any of the livestreamers have good views of the stand? I know it's quite far away from the highway.

> What kind of paperwork would be needed for SF testing at Massey's? Permissions for the exhaust from the ship to vent over Mexico is one that I've read about. Naturally that exhaust is going to be a mix of CO2, water vapor, particulates, etc - a rocket expert would know more. When you say 'the stand' I assume you mean when it's at Massey's? There's no great 24/7 live cam views of that area due to its location, only distant shots.

> Naturally that exhaust is going to be a mix of CO2, water vapor, particulates, etc - a rocket expert would know more. Everyday Astronaut has [a good article](https://everydayastronaut.com/rocket-pollution/) about this. A quote from there: > Methalox is probably the next most clean after hydrogen, which makes sense since it is such a similar compound. So when burnt, methane just becomes CO2 and water vapor along with a bit of NOx as well. NOx makes sense - it gets so hot that we're cracking N2 from the atmosphere.

> NOx makes sense - it gets so hot that we're cracking N2 from the atmosphere. SpaceX did an analysis of the exhaust plume from the SH booster to work out the amount of NOx generated as part of the Starship EA. It turned out to be really low. The exhaust plume only gets nitrogen added as it is entrained in the edges of the plume and that same mixing with ambient air reduces the plume temperature below the point where NOx is formed. They even allowed for lower purity LOX and liquid methane with up to 0.5% N2 by mass and still got low values of NOx formation.

That tracks too, that it's not that much and it's only around the edges. The exhaust is pretty purely "exhaust products" and it's also very very hot _and_ it's almost entirely greater than 1 atm pressure. So the nitrogen is comparatively pretty cold and diffuse. It's only where the atmosphere starts impinging on the exhaust - mainly at the tail of the exhaust - that the pressures equalize and the nitrogen can even interact with the hot exhaust. And the exhaust has been expanding and cooling down already, and, as you say, the interaction cools down the exhaust even further, so it's really just at the fringes. It's like this "thin skin" of NOx production happening at the outside of the exhaust, and mostly at the tail. You can actually see the NOx in some pictures (along with impurities in the propellant) as a trail of brown after the bluish-purple exhaust. [Like this](https://spaceflightnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/20231120-Starship-IFT-2-Adam-Remote-6.jpg).

I am fairly sure that the brown colour is due to finely divided soot from film cooling methane. This is injected through slots just before the throat and decomposes into carbon and hydrogen but the exhaust plume is reducing at this point so the carbon does not burn. The hydrogen may well react with CO2 to form OH and CO. Since the carbon is on the outside of the plume some of it gets mixed with ambient air and carried away before it burns.

My daily summary from the [Starship Dev thread on Lemmy](https://sh.itjust.works/post/17253379) > Starbase activities (2024-05-06): > > - [Build site video tour](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787619851881652402): Parking garage construction continues. Final row of glass panels on Starfactory is now [half completed](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787575288236273753). A nice [alternate angle of Starfactory](https://twitter.com/cnunezimages/status/1787647030656901364) from cnunez. > - RGV non-Aerial photos indicate that Starfactory intersects with Megabay 2 ([tweet 1](https://twitter.com/RGVaerialphotos/status/1787584871851852166), [tweet 2](https://twitter.com/RGVaerialphotos/status/1787585405971316751)). > - S26 [lifted off of transport stand](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787420338134892677) in Megabay 2. The mystery of S26 [continues](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787580756404924800). > - Launch pad A: SQD [is tested](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787604824277614948), and another [excavator is lifted](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787558094207148518) nearby. > - Launch pad B [footprint grows](https://twitter.com/cnunezimages/status/1787567970950025667). Hole drilling and rebar placement continues. > - S30: [Flaps are tested](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787414774336180359). The continuous flight auger [is relocated](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787590067206205851), possibly in preparation for S30 testing. > - [Road closure](https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/order-closing-boca-chica-beach-and-state-hwy-4-may-7-2024-with-alternative-dates-of-may-8-2024-or-may-9-2024/) still scheduled for "non-flight testing activities" on May 7th. Mary [receives ~~evacuation~~ overpressure notice](https://twitter.com/BocaChicaGal/status/1787621584481489227).

Just a note for the future, might be worth stating overpressure notice, not evacuation notice. The evacuation notice is the one for flight days etc where the residents have to leave the village. The overpressure notice, which Mary received in this instance, allows residents to remain in the village, but advises they stay outside the house during the actual test.

Thanks; noted!

Possible ship 30 static fire tomorrow Mary has recieved an overpressure notice https://x.com/bocachicagal/status/1787621584481489227?s=46&t=-n30l1_Sw3sHaUenSrNxGA

~~NSF is reporting it's for Ship 29, not 30.~~ ~~Edit: logic suggests this is an error but their phrasing is certain enough for me to doubt that.~~ They just edited it to say Ship 30.

Dunno how S29 is gonna static fire at the production site

Best test stand is no test stand

~~The best comment is no comment.~~

[удалено]

Is NSF specfically saying it's 29 **not** s30, or is it possibly just an error and whover wrote it meant to write s30?

[удалено]

Yeah that's pretty clear, I was thinking if all they'd said was 'SpaceX plans to static fire s29" it could've been a mistake. I wonder why they think that, I don't think there's any opportunity to move it back to the launch site.

This would mark the first time a Ship gets through a test campaign without any spin prime!

The best spin prime....

Yes, ship static fire tomorrow. Still tracking for a launch attempt this month for flight 4.

And there we have it folks! We are so back! I should add that it would be quite a feat to pull off another launch ~2 months from the last.

The username still lives. 

Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated

Always a good day when space\_rocket\_builder posts!

Yessir

Lets goooo, thank you. You’re a legend.

[Starbase live-](https://www.youtube.com/live/mhJRzQsLZGg?si=L5cO3jta5lmQm0j1) 8:15am- Lifts were up to both chopsticks, the top of the orbital launch mount, the dance floor, the top of the cryo and electrical legs, and the top of the staircase overnight. Workers were moving around the top of the orbital launch mount. 8:20am- Rebar cage lowered into a newly drilled hole on the sub orbital side 8:29am- Drill rig working on new hole 8:31am- Aerial Work Platform is up to B11 8:46am- Another rebar cage going in 9:39am- Another rebar cage 9:49am- A new gauge panel lifted into the orbital tank farm 10:30am- Lifts have been up to the top of the cryo leg and the electrical leg 11:10am- Crane lifts a toolbox off of the top of the Orbital launch mount 11:21am- 2nd toolbox lifted off 11:30am- 3 lifts have been up to the dance floor and 2 to the base of the tower. Concrete pump truck is up at the end of the berm between the Orbital launch mount and the orbital tank farm 11:39am- Pipe flange lifted out of the tank farm 11:47am- Lift up to a tower segment by the lox sub coolers 11:57am- Looks like a radio antenna being put on the tower 1:30pm- Lifts up and down from the dance floor 2:25pm- 1 lift up to S30. 2 lifts up to the dance floor. 1 lift looked to be up painting the Booster quick disconnect hood and another at the leg next to the staircase. A lift was also up to the shed on the back of the tower and 2 workers were on top of it 3:30pm- 1 lift up to S30’s payload bay, 3 lifts up to the dance floor, 1 to the leg right of the staircase, and 1 up to the Booster quick disconnect hood for the painter 4:30pm- Workers on top of the Orbital launch mount and inside the Ship quick disconnect arm. 1 lift up to the dance floor. [(Looks like they missed some Ship quick disconnect testing)](https://x.com/vickicocks15/status/1787604824277614948?s=46&t=HTzlpa7RYXtyIMbQX7Ou8g) 5:10pm- Quiet 7:35pm- Lifts have been up to the right chopstick, the dance floor, and the top of the orbital launch mount 8:09pm- 2 point lifting jig headed down Hwy 4 towards the storage yard 8:24pm- Reaches the storage yard 8:40pm- Lifts up to the right chopstick and the back staircase 9:40pm- Aerial Work Platform was up to B11. Lifts have been up to both chopsticks, the top of the orbital launch mount, the back staircase, and Ship 30’s QD

My daily summary from the [Starship Dev thread on Lemmy](https://sh.itjust.works/post/17253379) > Starbase activities (2024-05-05): > > - [Morning build site video tour](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787140988110053749): Parking garage construction continues. Minimal change to glass panels on Starfactory. Alternate angle from [RGV Aerial](https://twitter.com/RGVaerialphotos/status/1787243208239448261). > - S26 [moves to](https://twitter.com/StarshipGazer/status/1787213455134515340) Megabay 2 ([LabPadre](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1787255353278656771), [Starship Gazer](https://twitter.com/StarshipGazer/status/1787221534186037320), [NSF timelapse](https://twitter.com/ENNEPS/status/1787264881365840162)). The S26 mystery continues. > - New weather station [installed on Starhopper](https://twitter.com/StarshipGazer/status/1787158962913349748). > - [New "edome" spotted](https://twitter.com/BocaChicaGal/status/1787141024164241433) labelled "SHIP FWD, 34.1#18, RTC=748Mt". What's an edome? > > Other: > > - New Ryan Hansen twitter thread on Booster Quick Disconnect: [Tweet 1](https://twitter.com/RyanHansenSpace/status/1787165405947088900), [tweet 2](https://twitter.com/RyanHansenSpace/status/1787165407939313746), [tweet 3](https://twitter.com/RyanHansenSpace/status/1787165410569134103), [tweet 4](https://twitter.com/RyanHansenSpace/status/1787165412678844794), [tweet 5](https://twitter.com/RyanHansenSpace/status/1787165414490862072).

>New Ryan Hansen twitter thread on Booster Quick Disconnect: Tweet 1, tweet 2, tweet 3, tweet 4, tweet 5. If you put the first tweet in an unroller like https://unrollnow.com, it will show the whole thread in one piece. [Example](https://unrollnow.com/status/1787165405947088900)

Thanks, good to know. Though after twitter killed off Nitter, I am reluctant to rely on third-party front-ends for archival purposes.

Yeah, good take on that, it wouldn't be the first unroller to dissapear already.

Others have answered what an Edome is but just to add that it's short for Elliptical Dome. The first booster to get one (used as a Common Dome) was B10, and that vehicle started stacking in October 2022.

The flatter profile edomes have been used and tested as the intertank bulkhead but afaik this is the first time they have been used for the forward bulkhead. I also predict that this edome will be trialled as the hot staging flame shield with the new strut based hot staging ring. In other words there will not be a separate flame shield as part of the hotstaging ring. I am not sure how they will keep the forward bulkhead cool enough during stage separation but possibly spraying liquid methane up on the inside of the dome and then venting the extra methane gas produced to help turn the booster.

The Hot Staging Ring shield is something like inch thick steel.

That would be about 12 tonne.

Yep.

I don’t know of any evidence for that or any need for that matter. The heatshield plate is heavily reinforced with ribs underneath.

The description says SHIP FWD. I assume ship in this case is Starship, not Booster?

Yes the specific test article is for the ship. I am assuming they will also use the edome for the booster forward bulkhead.

Hear me out, I'm not sure that a bare faced edome on the booster could or should be subjected to the massive temperatures subjected by a Starship stage sep for the following reasons: * The massive heating would cause a sudden pressure rise in the ullage gas of the CH4 tank, which would be undesirable and another thing to manage. * Differential flash heating would warp and weaken the reinforcing saw plates reducing pressure retention capacity. Same goes for the orange segment welding of the dome under them. * Scouring, pocking and ablation of the surface would make the dome subject to surface defects leading to crack faults on top of the above mentioned * Any carbon/epoxy ablation material applied to protect the edome would have to be removed after each flight to test and inspect the welds. * I haven't done the math, but Starship startup could cause sonic shock frequencies beyond dome stress capacity. (increased by future addition to 9 engines). * Judging by the quite substantial reinforcement of the current exhaust deflection dome, I don't think it's going to be superseded any time. * Introduction of Soyuz style hotstage lattice V frame or X frame strutting requires more point load bearing capacity below the ring, some of which the new edome may be able to bear, thus reducing exhaust deflection dome weight. * In architectural terms this would be called an internal flying buttress, which makes sense with the anticipated lengthening of Starship, higher thrust engines and proposed payloads with resulting increased acceleration mass loading.

They may well have some type of replaceable coating above the edome to provide thermal shielding. The problem with the current hot stage ring is that it is a virtual duplicate of the forward bulkhead and therefore adds too much mass. I assume they had temperature sensors on the bottom of the shield plate and determined that the temperature rise is acceptable or can be mitigated in some way. In any case we should see test articles for Starship 2 in the next couple of months that will confirm this either way. Edit: It is interesting that the propellant for the ship and booster of Starship 2 both increase by 300 tonnes but the length of the ship increases by only 1 ring of 1.8m which holds about 100 tonnes. The booster only increases by 1.5m which is more like an extra 70 tonnes of propellant. The implication is that extra space for 200 tonnes of propellant has been found in the existing length by fitting the flatter edomes and potentially using most of the hotstaging ring to hold propellant by pushing the forward bulkhead up to the top of the ring.

Very good points. By extension, good engineering says that parts experiencing high wear should be easily replaced, whenever possible. Hence, I'd expect SpaceX to use some type of blast shield above the bulkhead.

Correct. Although to be pedantic Starship can mean booster+ship or just the ship (this is even according to SpaceX's web site). In this case though Ship FWD is the second stage, the ship itself.

I think edomes are the ones built with the triangular pieces and are flatter/rounder.  They provide more volume, but I'm not sure the design has been fully vetted yet.  That and the .1 designation would point to it being a test article.

Since B10 they have been used as Common Domes in boosters, good to see that they are expanding their use.

The comment saying the next flight was about 6 weeks away is now 6 weeks, 6 days old. What’s the current NET on the next test flight? Could it happen say, Friday, or is there something that has to happen more than 5 days in advance that we haven’t seen yet? What’s the largest number of days we can confidently say it won’t happen within?

There's not a ton of consistency to base it off of but consider that Booster 10 spent 14 days on the mount and Ship 28 spent 13 days on the booster before launch and booster 11 isn't on the launch mount yet. So we're probably 10+ days out until we see that happen. As far as actual public notice it can come as short as 17hrs22mins, as with before IFT-3. The community picks up on things a bit before that, maybe t-8days or so, as notices to mariners and pilots go out and assets that will assist with the launch are brought to the ready, like NASA's follow plane.

Zero chance. It will most likely be late May if at all. Need SpaceX to submit their final investigation report and FAA approval, which can happen on a relatively short timeline (a matter of days, publicly), but not a chance of Friday. Late May or mid June at this point.

Here's some excellent new Booster Quick Disconnect animations from Ryan Hansen: https://twitter.com/RyanHansenSpace/status/1787165405947088900 Scroll down through the tweets for more.

The more I look at that connector plate the more I think SpaceX is going to try using it as the only connection ~~point~~ area between the Starships during the ship to ship transfer test. Now that I say that out loud, on the orbital version the wider arms that stick out from ~~it~~ previous versions of the ground SQD could easily be beefed up, and the alignment pads replaced with locking pins; Starships mating to it would have sockets for those pins. That said I still think they will try the former before the latter. Edit: strikethru formatting

Bear in mind that this is a model of the *booster* quick disconnect and it is the ship QD plate which will be used for refuelling. So the depot will have the equivalent of a ship QD arm that will be used for unloading tankers and loading regular Starships and HLS which will both just have the regular QD propellant loading port in order to keep the mass down.

oops

The two Starships in the side-by-side configuration in the propellant transfer test would have to be securely clamped together before any type of QD is deployed. The SQD design is not robust enough to handle even the tiny micro g forces required for transferring methalox between those connected Starships when you consider the mass and momentum involved in moving them. See one idea for this design here: How is SpaceX Starship Revolutionizing Our World!? The Epic Future Awaits! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uznjr0oZMOQ Propellant transfer part is at the 4:30 minute mark in this YouTube video.

Securely clamped or a dampened attachment so that no sudden jarring can occur?

Maybe.

The SpaceX generated docking sequence is at 6:26 and seems to involve the two parallel pipes running down the dorsal surface. Most likely the depot will clamp onto these pipes on the tanker and then use rollers to adjust the relative vertical position of the depot and tanker. Once they are aligned the depot arm would extend to engage with the tanker QD fitting. I agree the depot arm would not have the leverage to clamp the depot and tanker together with the likelihood of propellant surges in the tanks. That is why I am expecting a couple of widely spaced clamp points for better leverage.

I agree.

Don't announce your edits. Just do it. Especially with obvious shit.

Your name may need changing in 11 hours. Though knowing starliner, it's probably safe for another few months. 

Only one way to find out!

[Starbase live-](https://www.youtube.com/live/mhJRzQsLZGg?si=L5cO3jta5lmQm0j1) 8:50am- Lifts were up to the top of the orbital launch mount, the dance floor, and the left chopstick overnight. Workers were moving around on top of the Orbital launch mount 9:19am- Workers adding more brackets to the conduit on the left chopstick 11:15am- Lifts have been up to the top of the orbital launch mount, the left chopstick, and the top of S30. Painting continues on the top of the Orbital launch mount. The weather station has been lifted up to the new mount on hopper 12:20pm- Work has continued on mounting the weather station. All quiet at the moment. 1:20pm- 2 lifts up to hopper and 1 to the top of the orbital launch mount 1:48pm- Crane disconnects from the weather station. S26 starts rolling 1:54pm- More counter weights being added to the SPMT’s 2:33pm- S26 rolling again 3:04pm- Turns on to Hwy 4 3:15pm- Turns into production site 3:18pm- Stops before it reaches the high bay 3:20pm- Moving again 3:31pm- Rolls into mega bay 2 3:35pm- Lift up to the right chopstick 4:00pm- No lifts up but workers are on top of the top of the orbital launch mount 4:55pm- Lift was up to the top of the new weather station 7:06pm- S26 lifted off the transport stand 7:09pm- Translates back 7:11pm- Going down to the engine install stand 7:20pm- Down on stand. (Now go get that booster transport stand SPMT’s) 7:40pm- SPMT’s move the transport stand next to the high bay 8:10pm- Lift up to the top of the orbital launch mount 8:37pm- Counterweights are being removed from the SPMT’s that moved S26 and being placed on a third SPMT 9:00pm- Lifts have been up to the dance floor and the top of the orbital launch mount 9:35pm- Lift up to the left chopstick. All of the counterweights were removed and the SPMT rolled away

As of around 1:50PM CDT, S26 moved from its location in the Rocket Garden (then a pause to load more counterweights onto the SPMTs before the trip to MB2). The ship lifting squid has also been taken inside MB2 and hooked up to a bridge crane. So S26 is either going to be enhanced some more, checked over or scrapped. Perhaps it could even be used as a sacrificial ship to test the new flame trench at Massey's (it has engines and electric TVC but only one engine has had a preburner test and static fire). https://twitter.com/starshipgazer/status/1787213455134515340 On another matter, S30's flaps have been deployed (as of a little before 1PM).

I hope she goes to Massey’s. She was the first to try the in flight relight static fire, let her be the first to try out the new stand.

Seems fair, logical too.

Hoppy's new weather station (there's also a camera on the mast): https://twitter.com/StarshipGazer/status/1787158962913349748 It suits him.

Also worthy of note is that the OLM's outer ring was being painted at 9:10 AM CDT - I also noticed a couple of days ago day that they have started to paint at least one of the legs at the base. Always a good sign as it indicates that major OLM work has probably wrapped up and that a launch is approaching.

Seems like the new thread bot is still broken. Over a month since the last new Starship dev thread. I've messaged the mods but no response so far.

What is the point of creating a new thread every month?

Reddit breaks when threads get too long.

I messaged too … no response too

Thanks, we're looking into it.

My daily summary from the [Starship Dev thread on Lemmy](https://sh.itjust.works/post/17253379) > Starbase activities (2024-05-04): > > - Launch pad B: [Drilling continues](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1786723568518091174). > - Starhopper: [Modifications to Starhopper continue](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1786786543920717974), likely [a weather mast](https://twitter.com/StarshipGazer/status/1786760205432447182) rather than lift points as initially assumed. > - GSE-7 outer tank base [is finally removed](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1786797218550157392) and scrapped. > - [Build site video tour](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1786807832882380828) ([slower](https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1786807835709276224)): Installation of the 4th (and final) row of glass panels on Starfactory continues. > > Starbase activities (2024-05-03 addendum): > > - Official document for May 7th and 8th road delays (both 00:00 to 03:00) is [published](https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/countys-temporary-closure-of-boca-chica-beach-and-state-highway-4/). > - Nice shots of [evaporators](https://twitter.com/cnunezimages/status/1786864465687748925), [tower section](https://twitter.com/cnunezimages/status/1786853120284238316), [parking garage](https://twitter.com/cnunezimages/status/1786837576973680846), and [flying excavator](https://twitter.com/AstroRoadie/status/1786814403993653473).