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Starship SN11 ready for the big day, Super Heavy stacking, new parts for SpaceX’s orbital launch mount and a virtual Starship Starbase under construction!
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
SpaceX is getting ready to send Starship number 11 up to its high-altitude test flight.
Again,
with improvements and again to try and find the solution to reliably providing fuel to the engines while doing the flip from horizontal to vertical before landing.
To be able to proceed towards this critical flight test, SpaceX is going through a so-called test campaign.
It involves an ambient pressure test and a cryogenic proof test which you can see unfold here through Mary’s camera for Nasa Spaceflight.com.
Liquid nitrogen is used for these tests as it is an inert gas.
If something goes wrong, the Nitrogen will not cause an explosion.
Here for example, you can see Starship number 1 being tested with Liquid Nitrogen.
And it didn’t pass. It looks spectacular, but as you can see, nothing catastrophic happens.
No explosion. Just a big puff of white nitrogen vapor.
This on the other hand is Starship number 4. They wanted to perform a static fire and so they had to fuel the test candidate with Liquid Methane
and liquid Oxygen. Something went wrong with the fuel quick disconnect mechanism,
responsible for separating the Starship from the tank farm before lift-off.
It failed and since actual propellant was involved in the test it resulted in one of the most spectacular explosions to date at the SpaceX south Texas launch site.
SN11 though performed perfectly.
Pressure was raised, the system was tested and detanked again.
All as planned.
On these occasions SpaceX also tests all sorts of systems on the Starship prototypes.
Here for example you can see the aft reaction control thrusters firing as well.
They are cold gas thrusters, meaning that there is no ignition or combustion involved here.
Nitrogen is used at very high pressure levels to create thrust into a specific direction and to control the attitude in flight.
Finally, after all the tests were done the SpaceX crew opened up the main valves and emptied the Starship prototype.
Done.
And here we are again in Mauricio’s plane at 7600 feet above the sea level.
Of course he did another flight to bring us the latest birds eye view and there’s so much progress again since the last flight.
Go check out his Patreon to become a flight supporter!
Link as always is in the description!
SpaceX is finally continuing their work on the south Texas skate park… I mean launch site.
The large ramp leading towards the suborbital test pads A and B is being extended towards one of the entrances right now.
Soon Tankzilla won’t have to get his feet dirty anymore when rolling towards the pads to lift the next Starship prototype on top of the pads.
Right next to it, the remains of Starship number 10 can be seen laying on the ground.
Workers cut the wreck into small pieces, put them into containers and then it’s off to the scrap yard.
To some, this is scrap. To us though this is the geekiest present in human history.
Next to poor SN10 we have landing Pad number 1 and it looks rough.
This is what only one Starship can do to a solid reinforced concrete plate.
Deep marks can be seen on the surface.
Cracks in the painted sign in the middle.
It does look like SpaceX is not going to fix it though.
For the first time.
Every other time a Starship crashed here SpaceX had to replace segments of the pad.
After SN10 though SpaceX put a second layer of concrete on the pad and this seems to have done the trick.
Next to all of that we get to my favorite part of the SpaceX south Texas launch site right now.
The orbital launch mount area.
Remember the latest SpaceX construction plans we talked about on Episode 153?
Nick and I are working on something to make you understand SpaceX’s future a bit better and to give you a better overview as to what will happen
here soon. It’s still a work in progress and we’ll share more about it on the next few episodes.
So, stay tuned!
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As seen from Mauricio’s perspective, there are tons of new developments already.
Right next to Orbital Launch Pad A we have its support tower.
19 rebar enforced concrete pillars have been driven deep into the Boca Chica soil.
A u shape can be seen. This tower will be responsible for stacking Super Heavy Boosters and Starships on top of the launch pad.
It will also be used to integrate payloads and to give access to the Starships for future crewed flights.
On top of all that it might also be used to catch boosters and Starships out of the air later on.
A multi-function tool and absolutely essential for launch operations on site.
Inside information has it that this tower will become a beast.
At roughly 140 meters tall it will tower over everything there is in the area.
Next to the support tower SpaceX has driven another set of piles into the ground.
Steel pillars, similar to the orbital launch mount.
Nine of them in a roughly trapezoidal shape.
One row high and one lower. It definitely looks like a more permanent structure.
We’ll have to wait and see, what the work crew does with this in the future.
Below the orbital launch mount and directly next to Highway 4 the orbital launch pad A commodity storage is progressing fast as well.
The six large tank bases in the middle are growing.
One of them is going to be higher it seems.
The tanks that will very likely be sitting on top of those tank foundations are being built right now.
As seen through Mary’s lens SpaceX has decided to build them on their own.
After all they’re experts at building stainless steel pressure tanks.
So, what you’re looking at here is not a Starship segment, but actually a tank to store fuel in.
It’s of course hard to say, when exactly this will be finished, but progress is so fast,
that it will likely not take longer than a month or two until the fuel farm can go through first tests.
SpaceX’s speed is nothing but impressive.
At the construction site Progress is equally fast.
One of the large tents is being extended.
This is the tent, where SpaceX mostly does nose cone construction and it seems like they are in need of more space here.
Containers have already been put in place and beams are on site as well.
These tents were a very smart move by SpaceX to be able to move or in this case extend existing structure easily.
The sanchez site,
where SpaceX is in the progress of building on site fuel production in form of methane and oxygen is growing larger everyday as well.
New Concrete foundations have recently been added to what looks to be the on-site fuel storage.
A fifth large dome is in the process of being constructed.
Six of these would fit in the spots where they’re being constructed right now.
Five more if we also use the foundations to the right of it.
Lots of space for commodity storage.
Looking a bit more to the left the refinery area is becoming visible.
And it deserves the name by now.
Another metal frame for a building is being erected directly in front of the existing refinery column and lots and lots of parts are surrounding the construction site.
Above that the next patch of land is already being graded for more construction work.
SpaceX means business.
Next to the construction tents SpaceX seems to be working on all sorts of plumbing.
Purpose unknown, but they definitely look like the heavy plumbing at the new orbital launch mount fuel farm.
This is the presumed orbital launch table.
It’s seen work for a couple of weeks now but we still don’t know, how SpaceX will put this on the large pillar construction at the launch site.
How is it supposed to fit on top of this?
Maybe there’s something missing here.
Looking through Mauricio’s latest flyby pictures, these objects can be spotted sitting right in the middle of some hull segments.
Here’s another angle. A large metal construction with 6 arms and a center piece and next to it a hexagonal ring and lots of white triangular metal
pieces and white beams. On top of the arms of the black metal construction round metal discs can be seen.
The white beams on the ground?
There are 6 of them. And the white triangularly shaped metal pieces?
18. That’s three times 6. Some of them are angled at the top and some aren’t.
They’ll be surrounding something.
It’s still unknown as to what SpaceX will use all this for,
but I have a strong feeling that this will be part of the orbital launch mount under construction right now.
What do you think? Is this part of the orbital launch mount?
Make sure to give us your thoughts in the comments!
Looking inside the SpaceX High Bay right next to it we can spot the current construction efforts on the first ever Super Heavy booster.
It’s likely that this first one won’t fly.
It will be used to pressure test the construction and to iron out first construction issues if there are any.
SpaceX will also be able to train ground operations with it.
As you can see, there are two half stacks in the high bay at the moment that have recently been stacked.
It shouldn’t be long anymore until we see SpaceX stack the two on top of each other,
which will give us a first idea as to how high one of those boosters will be in real life.
And SpaceX is trying to get SN11 up and flying as quick as possible.
A good static fire hasn’t happened yet though.
What you’re looking at here is LabPadre’s live stream from yesterday at 12 26 local time.
SpaceX attempted a static fire, which is the last important test before a flight can commence and it looks like an abort was triggered.
This seems way too short for a good static fire.
As of recording the episode the reasons were still unknown.
I’ll keep you updated on Twitter, if there’s anything to report here.
Follow me at @felixschlang.
So, when will Starship 11 take flight and how can you make sure to not miss a flight test?
Normally a NOTAM is the first sign for a flight.
This for example is a NOTAM for the Boca Chica Launch site from today to tomorrow March 17th.
It is from the surface to unlimited,
meaning that no Aircraft except those supporting the recovery of the space vehicle are allowed to fly inside this restricted airspace.
Seeing SpaceX file these NOTAM’s gives us a good idea, that a flight is imminent.
Since this is prototyping though it’s never completely sure, that a flight will actually take place.
Secondly it’s always worth checking out current road closures!
CameronCounty.us/spacex
Bookmark it if you haven’t done so yet.
That’s the place, where road closures are announced ahead of tests.
I check the page daily. SpaceX doesn’t only close the road for test flights though.
Rollouts, pressure tests and static fires are always accompanied by a road closure as well.
Last but not least you can always rely on me and the WAI team.
Set a reminder here on YouTube!
I will of course be streaming the event again and I invite all of you to join us and see,
if Starship 11 now finally manages the soft landing and doesn’t explode shortly after.
My stream normally is planned ahead at least by a day.
Over the course of my YouTube career, I’ve heard one question many times.
How do I know so much about space?
A great source to learn more about it is Audible and today I want to recommend a special title to you.
It’s called Elon Musk and that’s exactly what it’s about.
Published in 2015 and narrated by Fred Sanders it’s the single most intriguing piece of literature about Musk out there.
It gives a very honest look at one of the biggest entrepreneurs of the 21st century without the fandom.
Rough and insightful. Vance argues that Musk - one of the most unusual and striking figures in American business history -
is a contemporary, visionary amalgam of legendary inventors and industrialists, including Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Howard Hughes,
and Steve Jobs.
"Musk stands 6 foot 1, but ask anyone, who knows him, and will confirm, that he seems much bigger than that.
You would figure, that he'd use this frame to his advantage, and perform an alfa-male struck, when entering the room.
Instead, he tends to be almost sheepish.
It's head tilted slightly down while walking.
A quick handshake, hello, after reaching the table and then but in seat.
If you’re not familiar with Audible, this might be the right time to crawl out from under your rock.
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I know, it’s often hard to find the time to read throughout your day.
Audible is something you can do on the go.
Visit Audible.com/WAI or text WAI to 500-500 to support What about it and start your free 30-day-trial.
See, what listening to Audible can do for you.
Last but not least I have a little announcement to make here.
The wait is over! Alex Jobs,
a team member of the WAI family and a friend of mine has finally released his latest tracks you know from my episodes and the live streams as
an EP! It’s available on iTunes, Amazon Music and Spotify for your listening pleasure now!
Go check it out and put it in your playlists!
Links can be found in the description!
Today’s supporter shout out goes to Bill Larsen, Brad Burke, John Brant, Matthew Jackson, Vebjørn Hallås and many others!
You Rock! Without you and all the other supporters What about it would not be possible.
Enjoy today’s ad-free release and remember to join us on the WAI Discord server!
I am looking forward to thanking you in person!
Today’s team shout out goes to Mr. Astronautical!
He’s been providing subtitles and entertaining us with countless hours of Beat Saber on the Discord for a long time now.
Recently I’ve decided to partner with him and his parents to work on a large charity project in Africa you will hear more about in the future
as well. Thank you, Jasper, for being part of the WAI family!
You Rock!