The Starship program is testing with an eye toward possibly capturing the tower for the system’s next flight, a goal that seems more attainable after Flight 4’s successful soft landing in the ocean. In addition to the booster test section – Booster 14.1 – being moved to the orbital launch pad, construction of a second orbital launch pad is underway at Starbase, using lessons learned from the first pad.
Many signs point to a possible attempt to intercept the fifth Starship flight. Elon Musk did post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that he thinks there should be an attempt to intercept Flight 5. A new communications license from the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) contains text that reads, that there will be a soft landing in the ocean like the last flight or an attempt to capture the orbital launch pad.
Booster 14.1 in scale compared to Mechazilla and the launch tower. (Credit: BocaChicaGal for NSF/L2)
The most significant sign of SpaceX’s intentions for short-term flight testing is the release of a new test article known as Booster 14.1. The B14.1 is a simulated small methane tank, including a booster front turret, a common turret and a quadruple methane tank section.
The shortened booster was installed on the orbital launch pad by crane after completing tests with the new crusher cap and lift points at Masseys former weapons range, now a Starbase test site.
There were three upcoming road closures for Starbase: Tuesday, June 25 from 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM CDT (5:00 PM to 01:00 UTC, June 25/26), Wednesday, June 26 from 8:00 AM to 8:00 p.m. CDT (1:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. UTC June 26/27 and Thursday, June 27 at the same time as the June 26 closing.
However, SpaceX has since canceled the June 25 and June 27 closures and is using this June 26 for testing.
HA! And now we know why they use a test tank for these tests. #SLAPhttps://t.co/fkcXWYv7Vv pic.twitter.com/EPalY02JGm
— Chris Bergin — NSF (@NASASpaceflight) June 26, 2024
The June 26 shutdown was used to test B14.1, and SpaceX has an intermittent shutdown for June 27 from 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM for more testing. However, contrary to previous thinking, SpaceX did not take the shortened test booster, nor was it full of fuel or water.
Instead, SpaceX pressurized the test tank and the north arm was quickly closed and hit the tank. SpaceX is testing this because during actual capture operations, the arms would have to close and touch the booster to get the landing rails under the lift-off points.
While B14.1 is being prepared for chopstick arm tests, presumably as part of testing the system’s response before any capture attempt, other activities at Starbase are preparing the site for a busy and active future of launches, at least when there is no storms in the area.
Now SpaceX also had a temporary shutdown which is from 22:00 June 26 to 2:00 AM CDT June 27 (03:00 to 07:00 UTC June 27), with the same times for the 27/28 June and June 28/29. They were positioned to transport the final sections of the tower from the Port of Brownsville to the Sanchez site, but the barge carrying the tower is not due to enter the port until June 28. It is very unlikely that any of these closures will be used.
Starbase Flood on June 20, 2024 (Credit: Sean Doherty for NSF/L2)
Weather conditions in the area became bad enough on June 20 that work on the facility had to be halted. Winds prevented safe work high on the tower while Highway 4 was flooded by heavy rains. The weather also forced a barge carrying components from the launch tower to stop in Tampa on its trip from Port Canaveral to Brownsville.
A second orbital launch pad is being built on the site of the former suborbital launch pads, and a support base has been prepared for the second tower. Large concrete piers are now visible, and the final sections of the tower and parts of the “Mehazilah” are already in transit back from Florida via the Gulf of Mexico. The pillars look different from those holding the first orbital launch pad, and the design of the new turret and launch pad will no doubt be informed by experience with the first orbital launch pad at Starbase.
The pillars of the second orbital launch pad are seen here in action. (Credit: BocaChicaGal for NSF/L2)
The orbital tank farm that will support both launch pads received a new long horizontal tank this week to add capacity and is currently being installed. While the tank farm is being upgraded, the older vertical tanks built much earlier in the program are now being dismantled.
By now, all the cryogenic shells that were on the old vertical tanks have been scrapped. The old tank farm with tanks built similarly to the Starship test ships will be gone to make way for additional infrastructure related to the current or new launch pad.
The new parking garage is shown here along with the tower segments for the second launch pad. (Credit: BocaChicaGal for NSF/L2)
In addition to the launch infrastructure, the program has done a lot of work on buildings such as a new parking garage and an office building. The parking garage is almost complete, and a sign that it is working will be reduced parking traffic on the side of Highway 4. Meanwhile, a new office building has gained additional levels.
As for when Flight 5 will fly, the entire heat shield, made up of over 18,000 tiles, is being replaced so that plays a role in when the flight is ready. Old tiles are replaced with newer and stronger tiles, as well as an ablative heat shield underneath those tiles for added thermal protection.
Work on the heat shield on ship 30. (Credit: BocaChicaGal for NSF/L2)
Starship can now fly missions that have very similar flight profiles to Flight 4 with its existing FAA license, but a license modification is required for each capture attempt. If Flight 5 does go ahead with an attempt to capture the tower for Booster 12, additional paperwork will need to be submitted for this license modification.
Inspections and work are being done on the orbital launch pad and stand to prepare for Flight 5 as well. Elon Musk has indicated the end of July as the target to fly this mission, but it is very likely that this will slip until August or even the beginning of September. Regardless of when it flies, it will be another case of “guaranteed excitement”, especially if a turret capture is attempted.
(Main image: Booster 14.1 on the orbital launch pad. Credit: BocaChicaGal for NSF/L2)
