Starship program at critical moment as Flight 9 and infrastructure work in focus

Date:
Thu, 22 May 2025 20:48:53 +0000

Description:
The Starship program is entering a critical period as Flight 9 preparations continue for a The post Starship program at critical moment as Flight 9 and infrastructure work in focus appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .

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The Starship program is entering a critical period as Flight 9 preparations continue for a launch now likely toward the end of May after the Memorial Day holiday in the United States. After two consecutive setbacks with the early terminations of Flight 7 and 8 over the Caribbean, a great deal is riding on how Flight 9 performs.

Recent testing on Ship 35 featured three static test firings, one of which clearly showed to be problematic, while Booster 14-2 rolled back to the production site during preparations for its second and last flight. Recent notices point to a slip in Flight 9s launch until past May 26, Memorial Day
in the U.S.



Although Flight 9 preparations ran into some issues, the Starship program recently marked a major milestone with the rollout and installation of a redesigned orbital launch mount to its second orbital launch pad at Starbase. Work is also underway to make space for new Giga Bay facilities in Texas and Florida.

A new test section for the Block 3 Super Heavy booster rolled out to Masseys for testing as well, while several boosters and ships are being processed in the two Mega Bay buildings at the Starbase production site. Elements of the first Block 3 flight booster are also now in Mega Bay 1.

Flight 9 Preparations

Ship 35, the latest Block 2 Starship to be scheduled for flight, was
initially rolled out to the Masseys test site on April 29 for static test firings prior to Flight 9. The ship successfully static fired one of the sea-level Raptor engines the next day to simulate an in-space engine firing, one of the objectives of Flight 9.

The ship fired all six of its engines on the evening of May 1, but the test ended with a clearly problematic shutdown after 30 seconds due to issues with one of the vacuum-optimized Raptors. Ship 35 rolled back to the production site on the following day for an engine swap. Ship 35 rolling out to Masseys on May 10. (Credit: Jack Beyer for NSF)

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Ship 35 rolled back out to Masseys on May 10 for a repeat of the static fire test. On May 11, the ship attempted a static fire but aborted at the time of water deluge activation. The ship successfully fired all six engines for a 60 second long static fire on May 12, and rolled back to the production site on May 13.

A Raptor engine recently moved to Mega Bay 2, for a possible new engine swap on Ship 35.

Ship 35 then returned to Masseys where it was prop loaded, potentially underwent a Spin Prime test, and was then detanked. There is a road closure for the Ship to return to the Production Site later on Thursday.

Booster 14-2 is back in Mega Bay 1 after being rolled out to Pad A on May 12 for stacking prior to Flight 9. At the time, notices showed May 21 as a possible launch date. Booster 14-2 with venting in the foreground. (Credit: Ceaser G for NSF)

Mechazillas chopstick arms lifted Booster 14-2 off Pad As orbital launch
mount (OLM) on May 16. The booster rolled back to the production site, arriving there in the early morning hours on May 17. Booster 14-2s next rollout to Pad A will be one of the watch items before Flight 9s revised launch date.

On Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a license modification noting there wont be a catch attempt for the booster. Booster 14-2 will end its career in the waters off Starbase, possibly to test the limits of its return abilities. A lack of storage space for boosters could also be a factor in the decision.

SpaceX turned in its mishap report for Flight 8 on May 13, and the FAA confirmed on Thursday a sign-off on the mishap report through a safety determination, permitting a return to flight. The Flight 8 mishap investigation is currently still open. Starbases Pad B during NSFs May 7 flyover. (Credit: Jack Beyer for NSF)

Orbital Launch Site Pad B

While Flight 9 preparations continue, SpaceX is making progress on getting
the second orbital launch pad Pad B at Starbase ready to fly Starship missions. The most notable progress was with Pad Bs OLM, which was installed this month. Another key system for Pad B, the Mechazilla chopstick arms, recently tested its ability to handle heavy loads.

The OLM is of a newer design than Pad As OLM. Pad Bs OLM is a square
structure with a circular fitting for the Super Heavy booster in the middle, and is fitted on four legs welded to the flame trench walls. A similar OLM
and flame trench are now under construction in Florida for Pad 39A Starship operations. The OLM mounted in its location at Pad B. (Credit: Jack Beyer for NSF)

The hulking OLM moved to Pad B on three large self-propelled mobile transporters on the night of May 6-7. SpaceX needed to wait for acceptable wind conditions and to install a large number of counterweights on two cranes before they could lift the OLM onto the large rectangular legs. The lift was finally performed on May 12, and workers welded the OLM to the legs.

The OLM is mounted above a flame trench, unlike Pad As OLM, which relies on a large deluge system and water-cooled plate to dampen the sound energy and
heat from a Starship launch. Pad B relies on a pair of flame deflector
buckets with a ridge cap between them to help dampen energy. Pad A initially did not even have that, but Flight 1s rock tornado demonstrated the need for stronger measures to preserve the launch pad infrastructure. Deluge tank farm work at Pad B. (Credit: Ceaser G for NSF)

The Pad A deluge-and-plate solution so far works well, but newer iterations
of the Super Heavy booster will generate greater thrust from the stages
Raptor engines to launch heavier ships and payloads to low-Earth orbit. The flame trench incorporated into the Pad B design will handle sound and heat loads from these newer boosters.

A recent NSF flyover showed major progress on the Pad B flame trench. Piping is mostly installed, and the green deluge pipes are mostly routed with more work still to be completed. The side concrete walls are done, while the
deluge tank farm for Pad B is still being worked on and hooked up.



Pad Bs one-tonne OLM during lifting and stacking operations. (Credit: Jack Beyer for NSF)While Pad B now has its OLM, much more work is still needed before it is ready to host Starship launches. The ship quick disconnect arm for Pad B still needs to be installed, but NSFs flyover showed workers around the structure. The rest of the OLMs 20 hold-down arms still need to be added, as well as other items necessary for launch operations, like a booster quick disconnect fitting.

The tank farm at Pad B is also a critical item that needs to be ready before flights start. Control modules were recently delivered, as well as a large pump and staircases for the expansion of the tank farm, which originally supported suborbital flight tests of the ship earlier in the decade. Empty mass simulator bags hanging from the Mechazilla arms at Pad B. (Credit: Jack Beyer for NSF)

Pad Bs Mechazilla chopstick arms also need to be ready for flight and catch operations. To that end, workers outfitted the arms with four water-filled bags two on each arm to simulate heavier loads than the arms would expect
to handle during ship and booster lifts. The tests with these bags, each holding over 100 tonnes of water, appeared to go well, with the arms moving
up and down with the heavy load.

Pad B could be operational by the end of this year, though timelines are always subject to change in spaceflight. Once flights begin from this pad, they will involve Starship Block 3 boosters and likely ships, and not the Block 1 or Block 2 iterations that have flown so far. Pad A will likely undergo modifications of some sort if it is still used after Pad B starts launch operations. The High Bay at Starbase being torn down. (Credit: Ceaser
G for NSF)

Future of Starship

While Pad B is undergoing post-installation work on its OLM, SpaceX is
working to clear space for the upcoming Giga Bay at Starbase as well. The
High Bay, a smaller building than the two Mega Bays, continues to be torn down. The company also cleared space where the former STARGATE building was located as part of this process.

The Giga Bay looks like it will connect directly to the Starfactory so that boosters and ships do not need to go outside to move from the factory floor
to processing for flight. This required that a portion of the Starfactory and its glass facade be torn down, and that was accomplished recently. While
these alterations are ongoing, Starfactory is still operational and producing booster and ship elements. A corner of the Starfactory after tear down operations to make way for a direct connection of the Giga Bay to the building. (Credit: Ceaser G for NSF)

Block 2 of Starship is an intermediate step between the Block 1 Starships
that flew in 2023 and 2024 and the Block 3 Starships that will take humanity to the Moon and Mars in the future, if SpaceXs plans for the ship come to fruition. While Block 3 is the future of Starship, SpaceX is actively working on getting Block 2 past its issues and to payload deployment, engine ignition in space, and reentry tests.

New Block 2 ships are being processed in the production sites Mega Bay 2 for missions after Flight 9. Their fate will depend on Flight 9s progress, but
for now, Ship 36 is on a work stand in the bay with forward flaps and much of its heat shield installed. Ship 37 is also stacked there while Ship 38 stacking is underway. Some parts for Ship 39 have also been seen recently, along with elements of Ships into the 40 designations. Ship 37 seen in Mega Bay 2 at night. (Credit: Jack Beyer for NSF)

Booster 14 was the first Block 2 Super Heavy, and other Block 2 boosters are waiting for assignment. Booster 15 is currently in Mega Bay 1 after it was successfully caught during Flight 8. Booster 16 is also in that bay, and it may become the booster for Flight 10. Booster 17, the final Block 2 booster, is in the rocket garden along with Booster 12, a Block 1 booster which is unlikely to fly again.

There are no noticeable differences between the Block 1 and Block 2 boosters, though it is possible there were internal improvements. Booster 14 was the first booster to fly a Block 2 ship, back in January, with the ill-fated Flight 7. SpaceX heavily redesigned the Block 3 booster, incorporating
lessons from prior variants of Super Heavy. Booster 18.1 in its test cell at the Masseys test site. (Credit: Ceaser G for NSF)

Booster 18.1, with its community name of Test Tank 17, is the first Block 3 Super Heavy article to be built and tested. The Block 3 booster has a redesigned thrust puck, with the center engines mounted noticeably lower than the outer engines. There are metallic thermal protection system tiles mounted on the puck as well, possibly due to the fact that the Raptor 3 engines do
not have built-in thermal protection.

Workers lifted Booster 18.1 into its testing cell at Masseys on May 12 after its rollout to the test site on the night of May 10. More than 50 hydraulic pistons are installed in the test cell for upcoming testing to demonstrate
its ability to handle flight loads.

During flight, Super Heavy boosters showed a noticeable amount of heating between the Raptor engines on the thrust puck during and after reentry back into Earths atmosphere. The metallic thermal protection tiles between the engines are likely to be a measure to keep the engines functioning and to allow for rapid reuse after flight. Booster 14-2 at Pad A during the golden hour before sunset. (Credit: Jack Beyer for NSF)

The first Block 3 booster, Booster 18, is now under construction in Mega Bay 1. Workers moved a barrel section consisting of four stainless steel rings into the bay, followed by the common dome section a few days later. The
common dome is where the methane and liquid oxygen tanks meet.

SpaceX designed Block 3 boosters and ships to use the Raptor 3 engine, and Raptor 3 testing continues at SpaceXs facility in McGregor, Texas, near Waco. A Raptor 3 marked with serial number 20 rolled out at the facility, meaning that the company has at least more than half of the Raptor 3 engines required for a booster to fly. SpaceX achieved over 700 seconds of run time on Raptor
3 last week alone as well.

There was also the usual fireball seen during testing, which is an element of testing new engines at test sites. This is why rocket companies have test stands. SpaceX's newest test stand, McGregor Raptor South, with a potential Raptor 3 RUD or test stand GSE (Ground System Equipment) issue causing the fire, which was soon put out. https://t.co/Eh5oaibOBY pic.twitter.com/RkvCQMyoXC

NSF NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight) May 21, 2025



The Block 3 booster currently uses 33 engines, the same as on the current Block 2 boosters. The 33 engines on Block 3s Super Heavy booster will
generate up to the order of 99 mN of thrust. The environmental assessment allows for the use of up to 35 engines on the booster, with a total of 103 mN of thrust, using 4,100 metric tons of propellant. By comparison, the Saturn
Vs first stage generated 33.36 mN of thrust with five Rocketdyne F-1 engines. The maiden launch of the Saturn V from LC-39A in November 1967. (Credit:
NASA)

The environmental assessment allows the ship to use nine engines as opposed
to Block 2s six, generating a total of 28.7 mN of thrust, and will allow a ship requiring 2,650 metric tons of propellant. It is not yet known for sure whether Block 3 ships will use six or nine engines. For comparison, the
Falcon 9 first stage and its nine Merlin engines generate 5.885 mN of thrust at liftoff.

The fully stacked Block 3 vehicle can be up to 150 m tall, as opposed to the Saturn Vs 111 meters, with the Super Heavy being 80 m tall and the ship being 70 m tall; all elements are nine meters wide, whereas the Saturn V was 10 meters wide. Ship 35 during its May 1 test firing. (Credit: Gage/Rough Riders Show for NSF)

While Starship flight processing and testing continues, the FAA approved a finding of no significant impact for SpaceXs plan to increase Starships maximum launch cadence from five launches per year to 25 launches per year. Three of these launches can be at night, compared to just one under the previously approved flight cadence.

The recent FAA approval allows up to 25 Starship launches per year from Starbase, as well as 50 landings per year 25 for the booster and 25 for the ship. Three launches can occur at night but no catches are permitted.
However, the approval also reduces the amount of booster and ship static fire time allowed for the site. Super Heavy is allowed up to 70 seconds of test firing per year while the ship is allowed a total of 90 seconds per year, all in daylight. Ship 35 next to Booster 17 and Booster 12 by the rocket garden
at Starbase. (Credit: Jack Beyer for NSF)

Notably, the three night landings permitted for the booster and the three permitted for the ship must take place in the Gulf, the Pacific, or the
Indian Ocean, or on a floating platform. Finally, the approval does not allow suborbital atmospheric launches along the lines of the atmospheric test flights in 2020 and 2021.

Starbases basic infrastructure beyond the launch pads and production site is also getting attention, on the heels of a successful vote by residents to incorporate itself as a city. The facility needs all of its water to be trucked in, but that could change with a new water main being built along Highway 4. This measure, along with a roundabout under construction at the
end of the road, will likely ease traffic issues on the road.

After Flight 9 lifts off, regardless of its ultimate result, the new launch pads at Starbase and the Kennedy Space Center, along with testing and construction for Block 3 Starships and Raptor 3 engines, will be a focus of program activity throughout 2025.

( Lead image: The Orbital Launch Site at Starbase is seen against a stunning sunset backdrop. Credit: Ceaser G for NSF)



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