Hey everyone welcome back and thanks for tuning in to episode 15
of LabPadres SpaceX and Starbase weekly updates. Now let's dig in!
Starting things off on June 9th the new booster test tank B7.1's forward section
was moved into the high bay for assembly overnight.
Near the crane storage yards a new recently framed and climate-controlled building
its functions yet unknown started to be cladded. in sidiing and insulation.
Later on B 7.1's forward section was stacked on its aft end.
Test articles like this are used to validate vehicle design and manufacturing
preparations for future testing.
Testing took place at suborbital pad b
with the installation of quick disconnect mounting hardware.
Extension and retraction testing of the super heavy raptor maintenance stand scissor jack
mechanism could also be seen at the pad.
Returning to the storage yard in the afternoon
two cranes worked together to install a gantry crane in the new building.
Over at the air separation plant a truss possibly
to mount anemometers was placed on top of the distillation tower.
Approximately 45 minutes of chopstick testing took place at the launch complex that evening
rising the ship quick disconnect level before returning to base.
On June 11th the raptor truck arrived at the build site and
a new raptor 2 was unloaded and transported into tent 1.
Over at the orbital launch mount the booster quick disconnect's rear hood which protects the flexible
propellant loading lines during launch.
-- was lifted and fixed in place over at the cape
spacex's recovery ship doug towed a short fall of gravitas out
of Port Canaveral ahead of the starlink 4-19 mission,
not one hour later Finn Falgout towed Just Read The Instructions into
port with B-1062 following the Nilesat 301 launch to geostationary transfer orbit.
Back at Starbase with the new covers in place the
booster quick disconnect underwent another retraction test as SpaceX
continues to move towards the inaugural launch of starship and super heavy,
which according to Elon could come as soon
as next month. The chopsticks practiced a dry run
of a booster lift and placement on the orbital launch mount.
Booster 7 which is nearing completion in the mega bay
is expected to be the first booster to be placed on the OLM by
the chopsticks instead of Spacex's LR11000.
The booster alignment pins on the orbital launch mount were also tested.
At the ground testing facilities the quick disconnect face plate was removed
from the can crusher stand in preparation for
future testing. With the quick disconnect plate
removed the quick disconnects holding stand followed suit.
Returning to the cape Booster 1062 was removed from the landing barge
and placed on the docks for transport and
refurbishment. The next day Finn Falgout towed just read the instructions out to sea
ahead of the global star 2 mission.
There's always new equipment and supplies showing up at Starbase
such as this flatbed load. At the tank farm a load
spreader also arrived at the launch site on a flatbed trailer.
This load spreader may be used to move b7.1 onto the can
crusher. Crews struggled with the installation of
some new equipment at the orbital launch mount which they could not
quite squeeze into the available space. Eventually they called it quits to work out a new plan.
Joining the ongoing earthworks effort at the launch site
a long arm excavator was delivered and unloaded at the launch site.
A not entirely unexpected but somewhat surprising addition to booster 7
came in the form of a new third strake.
Maaarvin, spacex's LR11000 crane was moved away from the gate and closer to the landing pad.
The can crusher's top hat was rolled to the launch pad
the large lines visible on this structure will be connected to
hydraulic rams on the can crusher's base
which will then pull down simulating the vertical loads a booster would experience
in flight. Joining the wildlife sightings a pod of dolphins paid a visit to Port Canaveral.
At the build site construction of star factory continues
and has now progressed to the installation of roofing insulation which
will protect the workers from the considerable Texas heat.
Thursday afternoon a new dome section was flipped into the dome yard located at the end of tent one
in preparation for
transport to the launch site. A stand was moved into the high bay for B
7.1. Once in place B7.1 was moved from the welding
turntable to the transport stand.
On Thursday as night fell over Starbase the B 7.1 test tank was moved onto highway 4 and
rolled down the road on its way to the launch site.
Just over an hour later the test tank arrived at the launch site
and was parked next to booster 4 for final preparations for its
upcoming testing campaign.
This week we are happy to be able to provide another update for Spacex and Blue Origin at
Cape Canaveral. Our photographer Greg Scott was able to once again
take to the skies and provide us with these great
images. Starting off at the historic launch complex 39a
a lot has changed since our last flyover.
The now almost completely black falcon 9 booster has been rolled
out onto the transporter erector for its record 13th
launch ahead of the starlink 4-19 mission.
To the right of the falcon 9 we can see a new steel mystery structure going up.
It's not yet clear what the purpose of this structure is
but be sure to leave your ideas in the comments.
To the right of the mystery structure we can see
that a lot of progress has been made on the concrete base of the
Starship's launch tower.
Not only has the concrete now been poured for the tower base itself but we can see that the
equipment platforms for the base of this tower have been integrated from the beginning.
Just behind the tower base all
six legs of the orbital launch mount have been installed.
We can also see that the first steel section for the launch tower
is now at the launch site and awaiting installation onto
the tower base following its rollout on Wednesday night.
And finally for this shot, we can see the crane SpaceX has hired to
stack this launch tower is being assembled.
This Buckner LR11350 is being assembled with a
power boom and should rise soon in a configuration similar to what we saw
from Kong in Starbase.
Over to the southwest is the SpaceX Robert's Road facility. This site is home to SpaceX's Hangar X
as well as their future Florida Starship production facilities.
Much like lc 39a, this site is rapidly changing.
The recent expansion of the Hangar X facility where SpaceX refurbishes
their falcon 9 rockets is rapidly nearing completion.
just across the retention pawn from Hangar X
is the Starship orbital launch tower staging ground. Here crews work to not
only prefabricate the tower sections
but also install as much of the cryogenic piping and other mechanical systems as
possible. The four empty concrete pads at the start of this row
are where the first section was assembled prior to its journey
to the launch site. And while five additional sections have
been assembled and are in the process of being fitted out with
piping we can see that the assembly of the seventh section is likely to start very soon.
Just west of the tower staging area
we can see that the work is progressing on the Robert's Road Starfactory.
We can see what appears to be underground
conduit banks being installed between the footers of the future building.
Additional excavation is ongoing on the
southern half of the building
likely for the installation of additional underground piping and conduit.
And in the southeast corner of the future starship production site
we can see framework is being installed to prepare for the
pouring of the concrete foundation
for the first of the Florida Mega Bays. ULA's rocket ship also made an appearance in
Port Canaveral this week
following some scheduled downtime for maintenance in Charleston. The ship returned to service by
delivering three rockets to the cape.
After unloading we can see that one of the rockets at delta IV made its way up the
road to ULA's facilities.
We also have some quick updates for the Blue Origin rocket factory. We can see new foundation
work is being done to expand the factory building in the southeast corner of the site.
And finally for this week we can see the progress is also
being made on Blue Origin's new two-cat building where the
New Glenn's second stages will be cleaned and tested.
We can see that crews have been hard at work adding new siding and roofing
as well as start of a second external staircase.
And there you have it! Another SpaceX and Starbase
weekly update with a dash of Blue Origin, brought to you by LabPadre.
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We'll see you next week and thanks for watching...
LabPadre out!