Today's episode is sponsored by Surfshark VPN.
Today we’ll talk SpaceX Starship and Super Heavy orbital launch site progress in detail.
We'll find out how the recent SpaceX Super Heavy tests went, and we’ll take a fascinating look at Starship heat shield construction.
Let’s find out!
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
And we’re back with another episode of Let's unravel what SpaceX is up to.
The Starship program is crunching milestones again on a daily basis,
and we're here to take a good look at what's happening right now and what might happen in the near future!
We’re starting our run again this week with some more absolutely stunning RGV Aerial footage.
Mauricio is tirelessly documenting Spaceflight history here, and we're proud to be a supporter of his work here at the WAI family.
Head on over to his Patreon page to do the same to enable him to fund his next flight.
A link can be found in the description!
And these are the results of his flights.
Simply the most stunning pictures there are of what’s known as SpaceX’s Starbase.
Arguably the most advanced rocket testing and development facility in the world right now.
When it comes to test candidates right now, this is SpaceX’s focus.
Booster 3. It’s SpaceX’s ground handling test article for the upcoming first flight worthy booster 4,
which will propel Starship SN20 to its first orbital flight later this summer.
It’s undergone first testing already.
A first ambient pressure test was performed, and three raptor engines have been installed afterward.
And as you can see here in Nasaspaceflights stunning footage, Booster 3 has undergone a first cryogenic proof test as well.
Large fuel lines can be seen on the right side, attached to the boosters fueling adapter.
Fuel comes in from the side, and lots of white vapor can be seen coming out of the engine section.
You can also see some ice buildup in the common dome area.
Likely the very bottom of the main methane tank, which on a Super Heavy booster is on the top.
It's not much, though. SpaceX must have gone with a very cautious approach for this test.
Everything seemed to go fine. Detanking was performed successfully, which concluded the test activity.
Next up, static fire!
And it didn’t take SpaceX long to continue the test campaign.
On July 19th, so only a day ago, SpaceX went through the first-ever Super Heavy static fire!
Three raptor engines ignited and performed a short but powerful static fire.
It’s unknown if everything went fine.
There's no indication to believe anything else, though.
Well done, team SpaceX! Incredible job!
SpaceX’s exact test program with Booster 3 is unknown.
One thing is for sure, though.
SpaceX is not just progressing right now.
They're almost running towards a first orbital flight with speed most wouldn't have thought to be possible.
A first orbital flight in August is not off the table.
SpaceX must finish what they started at the orbital launch facility to perform this crucial first orbital flight.
This first orbital launch facility can be divided into several structures, and all of them are equally important to be able to do the first launch.
The orbital fuel farm, the staging and integration area.
The launch support tower and the orbital launch mount itself.
Let’s go through these separately to bring you up to speed on how long it will take until SpaceX finishes the work and is ready for that first
orbital flight we’re all waiting for!
A new cryo jacket has been moved from the construction site to the launch site and stacked onto a still empty GSE tank foundation.
This process of manufacturing the ground support equipment or gse tanks and jackets is essential for the operation of the fuel farm.
These tanks are where SpaceX will store Liquid Methane, liquid oxygen, liquid nitrogen, and… well...
liquid water to supply full-stack starship launches with large amounts of fuel, oxidizer,
and deluge water needed to launch a Starship into a stable orbit.
For this, the Starship fuel farm needs to be larger than any other fuel farm needed for rocket launches.
A total of 1200 tons of propellant on the Starship upper stage and another 3400 tons on the Super Heavy booster.
So, in total, the orbital fuel farm at the very least needs to have a capacity of 4600 tons of fuel plus a safety margin,
which likely brings it close to 5000 tons stored in these tanks.
So, even though these GSE tanks might seem unspectacular at first, adding the correct numbers to the picture makes it a typical SpaceX project.
Breaking records everywhere. Biggest, largest, craziest… Even the gas station.
Next on our list, we have the staging and integration area.
This is where SpaceX will prepare Starships and boosters for staging.
In the foreground, you can see the smaller foundation, which will likely be used to prepare Starships, and in the background,
the larger one for Super Heavy boosters.
Both foundations are progressing nicely, but it’s unknown right now as to what they’ll look like when finished.
Loads of rebar is sitting on the Starship staging foundation, ready to be used for more concrete elements.
The Super heavy foundation already has 12 sockets prepared for what will likely be steel elements to be placed on top.
And an inner circle can be seen with 8 smaller sockets surrounding one inner socket.
Again, with an unknown purpose.
Maybe the outer ones will hold the booster, and the inner construction will be used to do installation and maintenance on Raptor engines.
After all, 33 Raptor engines are supposed to be installed and maintained, and they'll likely have to be inspected after each flight.
This mystery structure is currently being assembled at the Starbase construction site.
It might very well be part of the staging area structures.
What do you think? As always, tell us your thoughts in the comments!
Right next to all this, a new foundation can be seen.
Purpose unknown. But this shows that construction at the site is not complete yet.
New elements are still added while existing ones are constantly growing.
Next up, we'll talk Launch support tower and Starship Heatshield!
So, stay tuned!
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After some shameless self-promotion, we continue with our updates on SpaceX’s Starship program.
And we’re in for a big one! The orbital launch support tower is nearing completion,
and there are more and more details surfacing on how SpaceX will construct the famous booster catch mechanism!
LabPadre’s cameras have captured it all again.
The SpaceX work crew has lifted segment number 8 on top of the orbital launch s upport tower.
It all happened on Sunday, July 18th, and this should, in theory, be the last segment to be added to the top.
There will, of course, be many more elements added to the tower now that the main stacking is done, but as far as large parts go,
this one should be the finish line.
Looking at the segment close up through Cosmic perspective's lens reveals that it looks very different from the other larger segments we've already
seen. This is the crown to top it off, and it has one unique feature.
A short nose-like construction facing the general direction of the orbital launch mount.
Short and Sturdy.
Owe from SpaceX 3D Creation Eccentric has made another one of his fantastic animations to illustrate what all this might look like in the end!
Check out his Patreon page to support him for future projects!
Owe, you rock!
So, this is the current status of the top of the tower.
The last segment with the sturdy nose has been added to the top.
Attachment points for cross beams can already be spotted, though, so this is not finished yet.
Owe has only used already spotted parts for this animation.
This construction shows that the nose part is supposed to take hefty loads, and in the middle, there's a tunnel-like construction.
SpaceX will likely add a second deck to the top and complete it with a second frame for the nose.
In the end the construction would then be covered with panels completing the construction.
It’s either a crane or part of the catch mechanism or both.
In the latest flyover done by RGV, this scene of the Starship anding pad can be found.
The yellow pipes, discussed many times on my episodes by now and presumably for a catch or fueling mechanism,
can be seen taking shape more and more.
Next to those, new black steel elements can be found as well.
These are all the elements that have currently been spotted.
And this is how they could be assembled in the future.
This first step has even already been performed, as was visible on the RGV picture.
Next, SpaceX could add the big column in the middle.
A shape is slowly starting to appear.
Adding the other big column on top would make sense, so let’s do that as well.
And finally, two more arms. Now, If we try to fit this construction to the orbital launch tower,
there really is only one possible way it could work.
It would perfectly fit the side of the tower like so.
This could very well be the sled for the catching mechanism I’ve been expecting for a while now.
Of course, other configuration options are possible as well besides the one that we just discussed.
The arms could also be positioned outward, giving SpaceX some options to attach further parts.
They could also be two separate sleds covering two corners of the tower.
In the end, time will have to tell what exactly SpaceX is doing here, but I do think that the whole sled idea is a likely scenario.
The yellow pipe assembly is continuing as well.
A distinct shape is becoming visible, and it does now definitely look like some sort of arm.
And it’s not done yet. More yellow piping is on the ground, and work is continuing.
Here’s another one of Owe’s beautiful animations.
This is the current status of the build.
And this is what might be missing.
One more element on top. This would give the element a V-shaped ending.
That doesn't make it much easier to find out what exactly it will be for, right?
We’ll just have to wait a bit longer.
For the final bit of Update directly from SpaceX's Starbase, let's talk Starship heat shield.
SpaceX has been making considerable progress on building the first orbital Starship.
Brendan Lewis has released another one of his excellent Starship Build Diagrams on Twitter,
showing the latest progress made at Starbase on an easy-to-grasp one for all sheet.
To the left, in yellow, you can see the latest progress made on GSE tanks and cryo shells, and on the right in white,
you can see the latest tower and orbital launch mount progress we've already talked about.
In the middle, we can see all the current prototypes.
Starship 20, which will hopefully be the first Starship to reach orbit.
Starship 21 next to it and Booster 3, currently being tested, and booster 4, which will be used for that first orbital flight.
As you can see, Starship 20 is currently in the mid-bay, and two stacks are covering the entire tank section by now, but they're not mated yet.
Now, new pictures of those segments have surfaced, showing incredible progress on the first-ever full Starship heat shield,
which will be needed for an orbital class Starship to enable it to reenter the atmosphere at orbital speeds.
It all started with Alex Svan’s beautiful work,
as accurately as possible simulating how plasma would form around a Starship when reentering the Earth’s atmosphere.
In this process, the Starship compacts the atmosphere in front of it,
creating a shockwave that heats up so much that plasma is starting to form around the windward-facing hull.
To protect the Starship from what would be certain destruction, a heat shield is needed,
covering every part of the Starship subjected to the plasma.
And There's nothing else to say, but he nailed it with his incredibly accurate animation.
Trailing edges would be needed on the parts of the hull next to the flaps as plasma would spill over the flaps along the hull.
The heat shield would need to go around the nose, similar to what was present on a Space Shuttle.
A full cover would, of course, be required as well, covering every even so small spot facing the windward side of the Starship.
We're talking thousands of tiles and up to 3500 degrees Fahrenheit or almost 2000 degrees Celsius on reentry.
Tony Bela has come to the same conclusion.
The heat shield will need to be extended further into the leeward side to prevent hull damage around the flaps.
It will be incredible to see Starship 20 with a full heat shield.
And it will be even more interesting to see, if it can withstand the reentry heat on the first try!
And those thousands of TPS or thermal protection system tiles are being spotted now all over the construction site.
"We need to talk about the TPS reports."
Here you can see a whole ring segment covered with tiles recently spotted by Mary, aka BocaChicaGal for NASA Spaceflight.
Up close, we can see that the tile placement now looks much more even than before.
Some tiles are still missing, but this will obviously be worked on.
Mary was also able to take pictures of what’s likely going to be Starship SN20’s flaps.
For the first time, we can see specialized and round tiles following the shape of the flap body.
This is excellent news as it shows how far along SpaceX is with that first test shield.
It's not guaranteed to work, but it’s a first test candidate.
Pedro Arnulfo was able to spot work performed inside one of the tents at the construction site.
The picture shows a robot suspended from the ceiling with cables.
It is used for welding heat shield tile attachment pins onto the outside of the hull.
In this case, it is preparing one of the nose cones for tile attachment.
SpaceX’s pure determination to do the first orbital launch as soon as humanly possible is remarkable, to say the least.
It's hard to tell when exactly we will see that first launch,
but it's safe to say that everything seems to be on track for something that's never been done before in human history.
Our first steps towards a multi-planetary existence might be performed in Boca Chica, Texas,
and we're lucky enough to be alive at the right time to see it all.
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