After Hurricane Beryl passed through the Brownsville area without causing any significant damage to Starbase, preparations for Starship Flight 5 advanced to a new level with the deployment of Booster 12 to the orbital launch site on Monday, July 15, followed by geostationary launch.
While Booster 12 testing is taking place, stacking of Starbase’s second launch tower at Pad B is also currently underway, and new equipment is being delivered to the Star Factory. Also, with Starship Block 2 hardware being confirmed, SpaceX is proposing to increase the frequency of Starship flights from Starbase to 25 flights and landings per year.
Booster 12
The Super Heavy Booster (Booster 12) used for Flight 5 was transported from Mega Bay 1 to the Orbital Launch Site on Tuesday, July 9th, ready for a crucial test that would prove the booster’s suitability for flight. The booster was lifted by Mechazilla’s “chopstick” arms onto its orbital launch mount on Pad A that evening.
Booster 12 testing began on Thursday, July 11, with a partial propellant fill, possibly testing the ejection of propellant after the Mechazilla arm got caught. On Friday, July 12, the booster performed a spin prime test of the 33 engine. A “spin prime” is when propellant is filled and the engine’s turbopumps are spun up to flight speed, but the engines are not ignited.
This was the first spin prime conducted on a Super Heavy since Booster 9 did so in August 2023, and was likely done to test internal upgrades for the booster or out of caution to ensure the craft was operating properly in preparation for the catch attempt on Flight 5.
Spin Prime’s next step was the static fire, which took place at 10:13 a.m. Central Daylight Time (15:13 UTC) on Monday, July 15, and lasted for eight seconds.
The booster’s grid fins, which are used to steer the rocket through the atmosphere and recover it at the launch site, were moved through their full range of motion and tested. The rocket’s quick-disconnect arm, located high in the tower, was also moved several times to test its functionality.
Booster 12 appears to have been upgraded from the previous Super Heavy vehicle, including a new Flight Termination System box designed to quickly destroy the rocket if an anomaly occurs. There are also new “remove before flight” covers for the four Starlink antenna fittings and the Raptor Boost quick disconnects.
There are planned closures this week that could be used for testing, including the static launches that have already been conducted. The primary closure was from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM Central Daylight Time (11:00 to 23:00 UTC) on Monday, July 15. Secondary closures are planned for the same times on Tuesday, July 16 and Wednesday, July 17, but may not be used if the tests are successful.
Tower Module 1 is lowered onto the base of the B-Pad tower at the Orbital Launch Site. (Credit: Jack Beyer for NSF/L2)
Launch Pad B
The orbital launch site will house a second launch pad, allowing SpaceX to increase the frequency of launches for the Starship program. This pad, known as launch pad 2, could also be useful if some issue renders launch pad A unavailable for an extended period of time.
The launch tower for Pad B already has its foundation in place, and this foundation appears to incorporate lessons learned from Pad A. The first element of the new launch tower is currently being installed on the foundation, which was installed on July 11, with Tower Module 2 currently deployed at the Pad B site.
In other Tower section news, Tower Modules 4 and 5, which feature additional equipment that will allow the quick disconnect arm to be moved higher up the Tower to support future versions of Starship, have been moved from the Port of Brownsville to Starbase. All nine modules of the new Tower, pre-fitted with electrical and fluid lines, are now at Starbase Sanchez site, or Pad B.
The tower module in motion after arriving in Texas. (Photo by Jack Beyer, NSF/L2)
Pad B is a key component to increasing the frequency of Starship launches from Starbase. SpaceX is currently proposing to increase Starship system launches to 25 times per year and Starship and Super Heavy landings to 25 times per year. SpaceX has asked the FAA to increase the launch frequency from the currently permitted 10 times per year, and a draft phased Environmental Assessment (EA) is expected to be released later this month. Public meetings on the draft EA are scheduled for Tuesday, August 13, Thursday, August 15, and Tuesday, August 20, 2024.
Two meetings are scheduled for August 13th. The first will be from 1pm to 3pm CDT (18:00 to 20:00 UTC), and the second from 5:30pm to 7:30pm CDT (22:30 UTC on Tuesday to 00:30 UTC on Wednesday, August 14th). Both meetings will be held at the Convention Center in the City of South Padre Island.
We are committed to evaluating the environmental impacts of FAA-authorized commercial space activities. We will hold the following public meetings: @SpaceXA proposal to increase the frequency of Starship/Super Heavy vehicle launches and landings at Boca Chica, Texas. https://t.co/nqmmKrVMcB pic.twitter.com/PGzamCSHa0
— FAA ✈️ (@FAANews) July 12, 2024
The next two meetings are scheduled for August 15th, the first from 1pm to 3pm CDT (18:00 to 20:00 UTC), the second also from 5:30pm to 7:30pm CDT (22:30 UTC Thursday to 00:30 UTC Friday, August 16th), but this time the meeting will be held at the Port Isabel Events & Cultural Center.
The final public meeting on the draft EA is an online virtual meeting scheduled for August 20 from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM CDT (Tuesday, August 21, 22:30 UTC to Wednesday, 12:30 UTC). In addition to flight cadence, the EA will also address vehicle upgrades.
In addition to the request for up to 25 launches per year from Starbase, SpaceX also plans up to 44 Starship launches per year from Kennedy Space Center’s LC-39A and up to 76 launches per year from SLC-37B, for a total of 145 Starship launches per year. Starship is a more powerful rocket than the Saturn V that launched the Apollo missions to the moon.
A possibly redesigned fixed arm for the new orbital launch mount, photographed during a flyover of SpaceX’s McGregor, Texas, facility. (Photo by Gary Blair, NSF)
STARFACTORY, SHIP 33, etc.
The gigantic Star Factory is nearing completion, with the gantry cranes now being installed. Besides the Star Factory, work is also underway to upgrade the tank farm at the Orbital Launch Site. Work is still continuing on the heat-resistant tiles for Ship 30 in the High Bay, while Ship 31, which was tested at Massey’s, is in Mega Bay 2. Additionally, the nose section of Ship 33, the first Block 2 vehicle, has been spotted at Starbase.
The new version’s forward fin is mounted further forward on the nose and further away from the belly and its heat shield tiles, and is thinner than the fin on the original flying version. A possible flight cover of the Block 2 ship’s operational payload bay has also been seen, indicating SpaceX is getting closer to operationally flying the system. Full-sized Starlink v3 satellites are expected to be the first operational payloads flown by Starship.
Starbase night skyline. (Photo by Sean Doherty for NSF/L2)
The tests Booster 12 is undergoing are critical to the takeoff of Flight 5, but the timing of the flight could depend on how long it takes to upgrade the heat shield on Ship 30. Also, the FAA must approve a license change because the booster is scheduled to catch mid-flight.
While preparations for Flight 5 continue, the next version of Starship is taking shape and being prepared for flight in 2025. The company’s current operational satellite launch vehicle, the Falcon 9, is working to return to flight after the July 11 failure of Starlink 9-3, but operational flights and its hardware are taking shape.
(Main image: Booster 12 test launch on July 15, 2024. Courtesy of NSF’s Sean Dougherty)
