Hello, we are TheSpaceXFans and welcome to TheSpaceXShow, the place where you can stay
up to date with everything SpaceX.
We will begin today’s episode by looking at a bunch of different SpaceX news.
Then, it’s over to Boca Chica with infrastructure and Starship updates, plus some exciting testing
information.
So let’s head straight in and get up to date…
To begin with, we have this awesome shot of B1049.6 which returned to Port Canaveral on
Friday after setting a new record.
There were a couple of Tweets from Elon Musk with information about Falcon reusability.
Everyday Astronaut asked him if after 6 flights he still thinks 10 is possible.
Musk responded to say “I don’t want to be cavalier, but there isn’t an obvious
limit.
100+ flights are possible.
Some parts will need to be replaced or upgraded.
Cleaning all 9 Merlin turbines is difficult.
Raptor is way easier in this regard, despite being a far more complex engine.”
Somebody responded to Musk’s tweet and asked if SpaceX will push to go beyond 10 flights
or put the booster on display.
Elon Musk said that the company would be pushing for 10 flights with Starlink.
SES who have been a long time partner of SpaceX have booked further Falcon 9 missions for
their next constellation.
Apparently, the company will be launching four of the SES O3b mPOWER satellites.
For the upcoming launch of 4 astronauts to the ISS for the Crew-1 mission, SpaceX and
NASA are continuing to prepare.
The capsule that will be used has apparently arrived in Florida with lift off currently
slated for no earlier than October 23rd.
However, moving onto the Boca Chica infrastructure updates, we will start over by the Super Heavy
launch pad area.
You can see that the first tube has been placed over the rebar structure.
Not far away is the Starship launch mount and tank farm where they’ve recently been
doing some work.
Something they were seen doing is moving and lowering this metal structure.
With all sorts of other work happening over here, you can see they’ve also been pouring
concrete by the mount.
Also, with the SN6 static fire coming up very soon, the Raptor installation stand was spotted
to install Raptor SN29.
In a recent video, SpaceX had moved the unused test stand over to the lower part of the pad.
Since then, it’s been reoriented so it's upright and work has begun to prepare it for
what I assume is going to be SN7.1 sitting on it.
On top of this, lots of groundwork and preparations appear to be happening near to this pad which
is Pad B. Some new bunker style buildings were constructed not that long ago, and now
some doors have been added to these.
Further to this, SpaceX have also been working on constructing more of these bunker structures.
They’re now beginning to construct the walls with some rebar having been put together.
Nearer the construction area of the facility, I recently showed work going on with an old
gas well.
Looks like they’re continuing to do groundwork over by that area, but it’s still not clear
what for though.
Talking about groundwork, SpaceX are still clearing up the dirt just outside the production
area.
It also looks like they’ve got pallets containing sheets of grass so maybe that could indicate
what they’re doing.
Not only that, but we now also have some trees that have been planted, so I guess they’re
just trying to make the place look nicer.
Hopefully we’ll still get some great views of what’s going on in the yard.
Still in the production area, the high bay is continuing to grow with the 4th level near
enough done.
I can’t imagine there is much more to do before this building reaches full height.
Engineers were also seen working on a new metal structure over by one of their new buildings.
I believe this is the building where they were constructing it, and looks like they’re
currently beginning to construct yet another building.
So now that we’ve seen a bunch of updates around the facility, let’s look at Starship
pieces.
First up is a single ring, that interestingly, was moved out of the scrap pile since apparently
it’s not scrap.
Then, just behind the fabrication tents, we have a new tapered section sitting outside.
With an already large collection of noses, maybe they’re in the process of constructing
even more.
Then, also behind the tents were 2 more Starship sections with a 3 ring stack as well as the
SN7.1 leg skirt.
This aft section of SN7.1 was seen being placed onto a mount, so we could start to see this
stack soon.
There’s another quite interesting section spotted inside a tent which has a whole load
of TPS tile mounting points at the bottom.
Looks like they could wrap all the way around, so we could soon see a section soon with lots
of heat shield tiles.
However, moving onto Starship serial number news, we will begin with SN6 which should
be hopping very soon.
It’s been chilling out on the launch mount whilst engineers work to prepare it for its
static fire.
Here you can see the current road and beach closures posted by Cameron County.
With a primary road closure date of today, we could expect to see a static fire imminently.
Alternatively, there are backup dates of August 24th and August 25th should they need to delay
the test.
You will likely have also noticed there was another primary date of August 28th, with
backup dates of 29th and 30th.
That’s because, as you can see here, SpaceX are planning to hop this prototype on Friday
28th.
Next up, we have a bunch of SN8 action as the tank section is continuing to grow.
Firstly, you can see part of the thrust section was moved outside near the mid bay and you
can see that at the top it has those lead-ins.
A crane was hooked up to this stack so that it could be lifted and attached to the engine
stack.
Then, the lower ring stack was moved outside as well for the stacking process to begin.
So, with both parts of the thrust section outside, the first stack was lifted and welded
to form the lower part of the Liquid Oxygen tank.
Engineers are working on getting this section fully welded together to be stacked with the
rest of the tank.
Meanwhile, the company also moved the upper section for the Methane tank outside and over
to the mid bay.
Then, this section was lifted and placed on top of the tank already sitting inside the
mid bay.
Now they will work to get these bits welded together before they lift the whole thing
and attach the thrust section.
Here we have the latest SN8 build diagram from Brendan Lewis.
I’m so excited, we could possibly very soon see the first full size Starship since Mk1.
Finally, whilst there’s almost no SN9 updates, we do have an upper bulkhead that was spotted
outside on the sleeving mount.
As always, an enormous thank you to Mary, known as BocaChicaGal for her time and dedication
filming this.
Also a massive thanks to the whole NSF team for their work behind the scenes.
Just a reminder that if there is a test today, NASASpaceflight will definitely be streaming.
After this video, make sure to check if they’re live, they usually begin when testing activity
starts to happen.
That’s it for this episode of TheSpaceXShow, I hope you enjoyed the video, if you did,
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Thanks for watching and have a great day!