Raptor 1 & 2 compared. Which Starship prototype will do the switch first?
How does the Quick Disconnect arm work?
New heat tile attachment sighted!
My name is Felix, and I am your host for today’s episode of What about it!?
And as always, there’s been a lot going on in the space industry lately, so let’s dive right in!
Starship Updates
Today is going to be a large update on what’s happening at SpaceX’s Starbase.
After covering a few deep dive topics on recent episodes and getting tons of positive feedback, we’re now going to compare Raptor 1 & 2,
we’ll see which Starship prototype will first switch over to the new engine and we’ll take a look at what’s left to do before the orbital flight. Let’s do this!
We’re starting today with Booster 8. Its forward section has recently been flipped and sleeved, making it ready for stacking.
SpaceX builds these test articles in segments and this is the one all the way on top of the booster.
The round holes in the outer hull are what the grid fins for Booster 8 will be fitted into.
To give you an idea, this booster already is two test articles into the future.
Before this we have booster 4, which currently is located at the launch site and waiting for tests, but more on that later,
and we have booster 7, which currently is being stacked inside the high bay.
Booster 7 is in three large pieces and thus almost done with stacking.
The forward section including forward dome, grid fin mounts and all the ring segments down to the common dome between the two main tanks,
then everything from common dome all the way down to the engine section and the engine section itself.
There’s not much known about the differences between booster 7 and booster 4, which is currently being ground tested at the launch site.
Chief, our WAI cam operator was on site at Starbase every day even through the bad weather patch that came in last week.
And he made the most fantastic pictures and videos again!
And it’s likely,
that there is not that much difference between 4 and 7 besides the engine section which might already be able to take Raptor 2 engines.
Adam Cuker,
the number one guy to go to for Raptor test videos right now was able to take this incredible video of what happened at the McGregor test site
on January 28th. This is a Raptor 2 engine mounted on a vertical test stand and running for 40 second straight.
It went through different throttle cycles, and it does very much look like this was a successful test to say the least.
Adam’s channel is full of these videos.
Raptor 2 tests on horizontal Test stands, vertical test stands, at day, at night, with different durations.
And what’s most important is that none of the recent videos shows any failures.
Raptor 2 very much seems ready for use at Starbase and on the next Super Heavy Boosters and Starships to come.
To give you a feel for how important the SpaceX Raptor 2 engine actually is, let’s do a quick comparison.
These are some absolutely stunning renders done by Izan Ramos.
I’m working on a Raptor engine deep dive episode together with him and Callum, another very talented 3D artist right now.
So, stay tuned for that to be released soon.
These pictures perfectly illustrate, what’s the biggest difference between a Raptor 1 and a Raptor 2 engine.
Do you see it? Yeah, that looks cluttered, right?
Besides being more stable, more powerful and hopefully more reliable than Raptor 1, Raptor 2 won’t be a prototype engine anymore.
It will make the step from a cluttered mess, where half the cables and connections you can see are sensors and redundant parts,
towards a streamlined production engine.
The main reason for it being mass production.
Right now, the Raptor engine is being manufactured, where every SpaceX rocket engine is produced.
At their headquarters in Hawthorne, California.
It’s a pretty secret place and we don’t have many pictures of the inside.
"So we have our server room which under construction.
Mission control and launch control.
This area is where we do all of our inspection.
We are in our precision control area.
That's a mass simulator of the Falcon 1 first stage engine.
So here we're in our avionics test facility."
This tour with Elon Musk was filmed and released in 2010.
And beside not wanting many outside visitors, SpaceX doesn’t want to produce Raptor engines here either.
The short-term plan is to shift production over to the Raptor production plant in McGregor, Texas as soon as possible.
Why? Because they’ll need more Raptor engines than Hawthorne could possibly produce on their own.
And it’ll look more like this than a Raptor 1 engine.
This is a naked Raptor engine.
Ramos made it to give a view on the engine itself because on a Raptor 1 there are so many cables and plumbing surrounding these inner parts.
Raptor 2 will have more cables and plumbing than this naked version, but it will be much less than what can currently be seen on a prototype engine.
It won’t be a prototype anymore.
Now that we know, why Raptor 2 is such a big deal, which Ship, or booster will it be?
Which one will be the first to carry a Raptor 2?
A mass production engine?
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Booster 4 as we all know is powered by prototype Raptor 1 engines.
29 of them and all of them from Hawthorne.
Booster 7 might be a hybrid. It still has a 29-engine thrust section but it already uses more advanced tech.
It’s possible that SpaceX is creating a hybrid here.
Raptor 1 engines with updates that are needed to run Raptor 2. So, maybe something like a Raptor 1.5.
Booster 8,
currently in segment production might be the first to utilize Raptor 2. It will likely boast a 33-engine thrust puck and due to the speed of Raptor
1 production this will be the first one, where SpaceX will almost have to use Raptor 2 engines exclusively.
Their Raptor 1 production speed simply is too slow for three boosters running the Hawthorne prototype engine.
Ship wise it will likely be 22 or 24.
For a few days now, SpaceX workers have been focusing on Ship 22 again.
There were some rumors out there that it was to be scrapped, but you never heard that from me.
As predicted, SpaceX has chosen to use the Ship 21 nose cone on the Ship 22 tank and engine section.
They’re currently in the process of fleshing out the tank section.
After that we’ll see nose cone stacking, heat tile and flap installation and then it should be good to go for a roll out to the launch site.
And it might be the first Starship to use Raptor 2. First samples are being tested as we saw earlier in today’s episode and if turn out good,
SpaceX might install these on Ship 22.
If not, it will likely be 24, which currently is in the stage of segment production.
And each prototype is different than the last.
On Sunday, Chief was able to take these incredible pictures of some deliveries to the construction site.
Aero covers for Starships and a hydraulic pressure unit for a booster.
The really special part here is this aero cover.
After installation, you can find these aero covers here at the top of the aft flaps and at the top of the forward flaps as well.
They’re aerodynamic covers, supposed to direct air flow around the flap hinges.
Simple part, but very difficult at the same time.
As you can see, they’re round on current prototypes.
And they have heat tiles attached.
And SpaceX must have had trouble attaching a flat heat tile on a rounded aero cover.
So, here you go, this is their current solution for improving the heat tile situation on the aero covers.
Angled surfaces and if you look closer, markings for the heat tiles premanufactured into the hardware.
This will make the attachment process much easier and quicker for the Heat tile technicians!
Turning our attention towards the launch site, SpaceX has continued its work on the launch infrastructure.
The balls are back for round 2!
This time only 4 instead of 6 on the last run.
It’s unclear if there were problems on the last test which led to this second one or if SpaceX just wasn’t done with the stress test campaign,
but Mechazilla is doing some heavy lifting again.
Filled with water from below, the setup visible here is likely capable of going up to a total weight of around 300 tons.
There still are no official numbers, so I’ll keep the weight speculations to a minimum.
The big question is, when Mechazilla will be ready for a first wet dress rehearsal test with Starship and Super Heavy.
Looking at a picture of the orbital launch mount from Sunday, January 30th shows a very clear picture of what’s going on.
SpaceX is removing scaffolding piece by piece wherever they’re done with a construction part.
With the upper metal shield ring almost finished now and most of the plumbing installed,
the true shape and look of this first launch mount prototype is becoming visible more and more.
The same picture can be seen on the Orbital launch integration Tower or Mechazilla.
The upper quick disconnect arm, used to stabilize a Starship and Super Heavy stack and fuel the Starship upper stage at the same time,
is being finished up as well. More and more details are being added.
Lunar Caveman has made another one of his incredibly detailed diagrams to illustrate the arms movement and function.
Utilizing hydraulic actuators, the arm is capable of moving towards the Starship after a stacking has completed.
Then, it reaches around the boosters fin section and attaches to the same hardpoints needed to do a Mechazilla catch.
I’ve recently done a video explaining the whole catch process in detail.
I’ll link it here and in the end card for you.
Once the QD arm has attached itself to the boosters hull it functions as a stabilizing arm for the whole 119 meter tall starship stack which would
otherwise be very vulnerable to wind gusts.
And the second task the upper quick disconnect arm on Mechazilla has to perform is to fuel the Starship upper stage,
once the booster has received fuel.
This face hugger like structure here on top of the QD arm will be able to reach all the way towards the Starship,
connect and establish a connection between the orbital fuel farm below and the tanks of the Starship sitting at a height from roughly 80 to 100 meters above the ground.
All this won’t be easy, and SpaceX will need to test it before a flight can take place and that’s what can be expected next and rather soon.
When exactly is impossible to say, but everything points towards SpaceX rapidly closing in on these important final tests before the orbital launch!
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