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Today amongst other things, I’ll explain to you, what makes SpaceX’s Super Heavy booster special and how SpaceX will build it.
My name is Felix and I am your host for today’s Episode of What about it!?
And as always, there has been a lot going on in the space industry lately, so let’s dive right in!
Starship Updates There’s a difference between “to compete with” and “to keep up with”.
Before SpaceX’s Starship program it was hard for launch providers to compete with SpaceX.
If Starships actually turn out to be a working solution, it won’t be about competition anymore.
For other launch providers it will turn into the mandatory effort of trying to keep up with SpaceX.
But why is that? What makes SpaceX leapfrog the whole industry over and over again?
It doesn’t look like much, right?
If we compare this facility to let’s say Pad 39b at Kennedy Space Center, where NASA right now is preparing their next Moon
Rocket SLS for a possible launch in 2021, it’s very easy to get the impression, that NASA is far ahead of SpaceX.
The same goes for ULA, Blue Origin, Rocketlab, Roscosmos or ESA in French Guiana.
All of their facilities look much more advanced.
More sophisticated. SpaceX’s launch site especially is still a dirty patch of all sorts of stuff really.
A Tank farm that looks like the asset of a backyard company.
A Test stand that looks like it was built by a hobby enthusiast with a lot of money.
A Rocket prototype that doesn’t look anything like the shots we sometimes see from Blue Origins upcoming New Glenn or ULA’s
Vulcan rocket. They build in clean room high tech environments.
So, why is everyone in the industry having trouble competing with SpaceX right now?
The key here is innovation. The design, the construction process… even the whole underlying principle of the rocket.
It will utilize the first ever flown full flow staged combustion cycle methalox engine.
It will be built from stainless steel.
It will be fully reusable. Zero parts thrown away.
No traditional fairing. No booster rockets.
No upper stage to be thrown away.
A self-landing booster and an upper stage that has a heat shield, aerodynamic surfaces, that skydives back down to the surface
and lands. On top of that, Elon Musk and SpaceX are planning to mass produce it at a scale never seen before in the rocket
industry. 1000 of them are supposed to be built in the coming years.
The project can not be compared to anything ever done in the Space Industry.
It won’t just be a bigger and cheaper rocket.
If it works out, it will make all other rocket manufacturers in the world have to develop something similar.
And they have not even started yet.
Two days ago, I tweeted this picture on my Twitter account and asked you the question, how long it would take until we see
this in the real world. I got many replies ranging from 30 years to six months, but one thing stood out.
There’s an overwhelming confidence amongst you that SpaceX will succeed and that it will happen within the next year or
so. I share this confidence. But what exactly is it, that makes us believe, that a fairly young launch provider might be capable
of building the first ever fully reusable rocket?
The largest rocket ever built, and all that within the next year?
There are many reasons. Past achievements and one of the brightest minds of our century as the chief engineer to name a few,
but in my opinion most importantly it’s because of the incredible rate of progress.
When the Starship Project started, the general opinion wasn’t that clear at all.
One and a half years ago, when I started talking about it here on YouTube, the replies to my episodes were much more mixed
in nature. Watching Starship prototype Serial number 8 being lifted onto the test stand through LabPadre’s camera lens though
makes many think twice. Confidence is steadily growing.
Serial Number 8, the most advanced prototype yet is ready for cryogenic testing.
Test dates have been announced starting on Sunday, October 4th and continuing to Tuesday, October 6th.
Milestones are reached every week now and progress is even speeding up further.
If that is even possible. An FAA Launch permit for medium altitude hops goes live on October 11th.
The long-anticipated flight to 15 kilometers is about to happen soon.
Besides Serial Number 8 on the test stand right now and Serial number 9 already far along with construction in the mid-bay
and Serial number 10 and 11 being prepared for stacking right now, Mary from Nasa Spaceflight was able to spot Serial number
12’s leg skirt. That’s One Starship getting ready for a 15-kilometer flight to be performed this month if everything goes
as planned and 4 more being built.
Of course, including improvements.
No new Starship right now is like the last.
And the needed infrastructure is growing as well.
The high bay is nearing completion with the roof structure almost being finished.
Scaffolding on the outside is quickly creeping up to enable workers to finish the wall structure.
Security cameras are already being installed on top of the roof, which will give SpaceX the perfect view point to secure
the perimeter. And SpaceX is preparing even more infrastructure.
This is what’s known as the old well site as before SpaceX there was a gas well here and it’s right next to SpaceX’s main
construction site. Through RGV Aerial Photography’s pictures we get a very nice top down view.
There has been lots of speculation lately, on What SpaceX might be building here.
The ground is being prepared for structures.
Lots and lots of tanks have been moved to the site.
And recently, SpaceX got a big delivery sent to the site.
It’s a new crawler crane. To be precise, it’s another Liebherr crane.
A 1600/2. SpaceX has also started drilling on site.
Normally this kind of drilling is used for piling work.
Piles that reach deep into the ground are used to provide stable foundations for large structures.
So, what is SpaceX doing here?
At his recent Battery day presentation for Tesla, Elon Musk also spoke about SpaceX and about Boca Chica.
Let’s listen to what he had to say.
What we are planning to do is that about 80% of Starship fuel is liquid oxygen and we are actually ready running a power line,
to be able to use wind power, to create liquid oxygen.
So we are making, you know, some decent progress, on the sustainability on the rocket front, ...
So, SpaceX wants to produce liquid oxygen on site with wind power.
What do you need to build wind turbines?
A Liebherr 1600/2. It has a very high boom and a small radius.
One of its main uses is for wind turbine assembly.
So, we have lots of tanks, a large crane that’s mainly used to erect wind turbines and Elon saying, they’ll start liquid oxygen
production with wind power in Boca Chica.
There is no official word yet, if this really is, what SpaceX is planning for the old well site, but I wouldn’t be surprised,
if we soon see some wind turbines and a liquid oxygen production site being built here.
Work is also continuing at the orbital launch site.
Workers have begun to fill concrete into the large metal pillars.
Lots and lots of concrete was poured in through the top.
It takes weeks for the concrete to completely solidify, but once it does, these pillars will be incredibly sturdy.
Even though the concrete will take some time to harden though, SpaceX should be able to continue the construction process.
The openings on top have been closed off and I honestly can’t wait to see the next steps of the construction reveal the
true shape of the Launch Stand.
All these pictures and videos would not be possible without an absolutely awesome community surrounding SpaceX’s work!
Make sure to thank RGV Aerial Photography and Mary for their awesome work.
Links tom their Twitter accounts are in the description!
I need to bring in one clarification from the last episode.
Remember the possible tracking doors?
While the episode was in editing, Mary from NASASpaceflight was able to take some clarifying pictures.
What you see here are the same hatch covers sitting on a scissor lift while a Worker is getting out of the Hull.
What can clearly be seen here is that the hatches are see through mesh covers.
So, they’re likely just to keep flies and dirt out and at the same time provide air circulation for those inside.
Thank you all for around 10000 comments telling me about it!
The more we know. Liked the episode so far?
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So, is it possible, that SpaceX will have A Starship orbital with the help of a Super Heavy Booster within the next year?
As always, tell me in the comments!
Now, let’s see, how far Super Heavy, the needed booster is and if SpaceX might be able to make it happen in the next 12 months.
Super Heavy Updates SpaceX Super Heavy.
The second part of SpaceX’s plan to revolutionize our access to Space.
The missing puzzle piece to get Starships into orbit and beyond.
We’ve seen a lot of progress on Starship prototypes but not so much on Super Heavy.
Something big is starting to take shape though.
First mentioned last week on Episode 122, sightings have been made.
Nothing stays hidden from Mary’s camera.
It really doesn't. A first segment was spotted.
It’s the first evidence of Super Heavy Serial Number 1.
A common dome sleeve. SpaceX is actively working towards that first prototype right now.
And as usual with SpaceX, progress is fast.
Here’s the second segment spotted on site.
A Super Heavy LOX stack. It’s a 4-ring segment made of 304L stainless steel.
These are quickly made. SpaceX can pump them out fast.
Nick Henning has provided me with a shiny animation again to be able to explain to you better, what exactly we’re talking
about here. This is likely, what the first Super Heavy booster will look like.
A rather unspectacular metal tube if it wasn’t for its size.
72 meters is 2 meters taller than A Falcon 9 including upper stage and fairing on top and we’re only looking at a booster.
The internal setup is rather simple.
A Large Liquid Oxygen Tank on the bottom, a smaller methane tank on top and a large downcomer pipe inside the lox tank to
connect the methane tank to the engines.
The first thrust section will likely not differ much from what we can see on Starships right now.
Musk has already said, that for a first booster hop, Super Heavy serial number 1 will only need two engines.
There will likely not be a wider engine skirt anymore, as originally planned.
Since Raptor development is going better than planned with engines already reaching above 330 bar of chamber pressure on test
stands without taking damage, SpaceX was able to lower the overall engine count.
20 outer engines with roughly 300 tons of thrust in 6-8 months and 8 inner engines with 210, able to gimbal.
That makes a total of 7500 tons of thrust from only 28 engines.
This by the way would make the non gimbal outer engines the highest Thrust to weight ratio ever achieved by a rocket engine
and 330 bar chamber pressure already is a world record.
Recently, SpaceX published a video of a Vacuum optimized Raptor engine doing its first test run without any trouble.
The sheer force of the engine comes across very well in this video.
Constructing the first Super Heavy should not take long at all.
As mentioned before, we already have the common dome sleeve spotted, which goes right in the middle between the two tanks
and we have one of several 4-ring lox tank segments, which we’ll place here for now.
The first segments have been made and construction is in progress.
Looking at how much time it takes SpaceX right now to produce a Starship tank section, I’d say 4-6 weeks is a good estimate
on how long it will take them to build the first booster.
Starships Serial Number 5 & 6 that recently got parked inside the new high bay have just been moved out again as well, opening
up the High bay for Super Heavy construction.
Super Heavy is a key element of the Starship program.
It will open up the path to orbital flights and give SpaceX the means to continue on their road towards a revolution in Spaceflight,
the likes of which we’ve never seen before.
One Starship on the Test Stands, 4 more in various assembly stages and Super Heavy construction begins.
We’re at the beginning of yet another new chapter in Boca Chica, Texas.
This is only possible through constant learning and improvement.
SpaceX’s engineer staff lead by Elon Musk can without a doubt be seen as one of the most brilliant teams out there right now.
If one day you want to be part of such a brilliant team yourself, today’s sponsor is the perfect place to start your own journey.
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