Hi everyone, I’m Ian Atkinson with NASAspaceflight, welcome to another Boca Chica weekly update video.
As always, all of the following photos and videos were captured by Mary (@BocaChicaGal on Twitter), an NSF team member and Boca Chica resident. Thanks Mary!
This week, we saw SpaceX conduct some of the last tests on Starship SN9 ahead of its upcoming flight.
With SN9, SpaceX hopes to replicate the flight of SN8 - except this time stick the landing.
Elon Musk stated on Twitter that SpaceX is now using helium to pressurize the methane header tank - a small spherical tank that holds fuel for landing.
The header tank was the culprit behind SN8’s failed landing, when it lost pressure during flight, starving the engines of fuel.
On Wednesday, SN9 performed its first static fire. It seemed shorter than usual, only around 2 seconds long.
SpaceX then tried to repeat the test twice, but it was aborted both times.
As of recording, the next available window for the static fire would be Monday, January 11, based on scheduled road closures.
We could then see SN9’s 12.5km flight as early as Tuesday, January 12. Fingers Crossed!
Crews also finished the cleanup of debris from Starship SN8, leftover from its failed landing just over a month ago.
The final segments were cut apart and hauled away on Tuesday, clearing the landing pad for SN9’s upcoming flight.
The so-called “crater” on the pad was also repaired, with fresh concrete being poured on Monday.
Just nextdoor, work around the Orbital Launch Site progressed at a quick pace.
Groundwork continued as crews laid electrical conduits for the future launch facility.
The giant crane, nicknamed “Tankzilla”, was moved away from the launch site on Friday, to protect it should SN9 fail during its flight.
The crane is now stored next to the Appleton crane building, just across the street from the solar farm.
Tankzilla was previously used to stack SN8’s nosecone, and move SN9 onto Pad B.
Finally, refurbishment work at suborbital Pad A is still underway, as crews worked on tearing up old concrete near the base of the pad.
These repairs may be related to the damage the pad endured during the SN8 test campaign, where chunks of the pad were blown away during engine testing.
At the build site, Starship SN10 remains in the high bay for final processing. Last week, we saw its nosecone being stacked on the tank section inside the High Bay.
Now, SN10 is only missing its two aft flaps, which could be installed either at the build site, or on the launch pad.
This week, we also had to say goodbye to an old friend.
Disassembly of Starship SN6, the second full-scale prototype to perform a 150m hop, began on Wednesday.
Crews first removed its 22-ton mass simulator, followed by its Tesla battery pack.
By Saturday, most of the vehicle had been disassembled. Its common dome, topped with the methane header tank, was spotted in the scrapyard.
Farewell SN6, and thank you.
And just next to SN6, disassembly of Starship Mk1 continued. A few weeks ago, we saw the nosecone being removed from the barrel section.
Now, the barrel section has been cut in half and removed from the assembly stand, where it was kept for over a year.
The nosecone was also cut in half on Saturday.
The top half of the barrel has been moved to the scrap yard, so the future doesn’t seem too bright for Starship Mk1
Work is also continuing on a new test tank to trial new build methods for the Starship vehicle.
The tank will be made of 3mm thick stainless steel like this test article, rather than the 4mm steel used up until now.
Although it may seem like a minor change, this may lead to a mass reduction of around 20 tons across the entire Starship vehicle.
That means that Starship can put an extra 20 tons of payload into orbit, or send it to the Moon or Mars.
The tank’s forward, or top, dome was sleeved with a single ring on Tuesday.
Its aft dome [right] was spotted last Sunday. These two sections will be joined soon ahead of testing at the launch site.
The new tank’s test campaign would likely mirror that of SN7.1, pressurizing the tank with liquid nitrogen until it bursts.
Speaking of new hardware, Starship SN15 began stacking in the mid bay this week. Yes, SN15!
It seems like SN12-14 won’t be built after all, which some have been speculating over the past few weeks.
Last week, what we assumed to be a section of SN12 was moved into the mid bay.
However, that turned out to actually be part of SN15, as SN15’s common dome section was moved into the mid bay and stacked on top.
Starship SN15 will feature several major changes according to Elon.
While the specific changes are not known, they may include a simplified nosecone and refined landing legs.
Next to SN15, Starship SN11 is nearing the end of its assembly.
The tank section is fully assembled in the mid bay, but work on the nosecone is off to a bumpy start.
On Tuesday, the nosecone was rolled back inside of Tent #3, and the 4-ring barrel section was rolled out.
Then, on Wednesday, the header tank portion was cut off the nosecone. It’s unclear if they will attach a new one or scrap the nosecone.
Back near the Mid Bay, sections of future starships were spotted, with ring stacks for SN15, 16, and 17 spotted on Tuesday.
And last but not least, Raptor SN45 was delivered to the production site on Thursday, sporting a moss-green finish.
It's not currently known which vehicle SN45 will end up on.
And that’s it for this week. Thanks for watching, and as always, we welcome any feedback about the video in the comments below.
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