SpaceX has opened a job listing for the next vertical integration facility for Starship Construction at Starbase, TX.

This could be a possible "GigaBay" (as SpaceX called it in the listing before editing out that word) to replace the High Bay or possibly all of SpaceX's vertical integration facilities currently in Starbase, including Mega Bay 1 and 2.

​​​​​​​https://x.com/i/jobs/1861289050990354433

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2024...ndup-11-27-24/

Starbase continues its rapid pace of advancement after Starship Flight 6

With a successful test of Starship Flight 6, SpaceX has continued building on its many projects around Starbase. Repair work has begun around the launch site, with damage found in different areas of the tower from prior launches. A proposed Gigabay could be coming to the Starbase production site shortly, and Ship 26 has finally been scrapped. The groundwork is also beginning to be laid for brand-new projects around Starbase and even Kennedy Space Center.……

VideoBooster 14 has made the journey from Megabay to the launch pad ahead of upcoming testing prior to flight 7, speculated to be early January.

Static fire of the Flight 7 Super Heavy booster.

Oh, and under the OLM for a Booster Static Fire.

Wonder what power they run that at...? With a short fuel load and no Starship on top I'd be amazed if they could even hold it down with the clamps at anything like full power.

Ship version 2 forward flaps (left) vs. Ship version 1 (right) forward flaps.

Both images by @StarshipGazer

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Elon Misk:

Major design improvement. Lighter, easier to manufacture and less susceptible to high heating.

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SpaceX is hiring engineers for crewed Starship.

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SpaceX has petitioned to incorporate Starbase as a Type-C Municipality.

Cameron County will review the request for compliance. If valid, voters in the proposed area will decide in an election.

The County Judge is working to ensure all statutory requirements are met.

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Starship 33 static fired today in preparation for upcoming Starship test flight 7.

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Interesting move. Some Googling....

The FAA has just issued the Launch License for Starship test flight 7….

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We are living in a golden age where science fiction is becoming science fact.

Do we know the launch date ?

Target date is 11th January.

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2024...a-flight-7-go/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starship_flight_test_7

Blue Origin still trying to launch this year? Gone very quiet....

Answering my own question

https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/1...soon-as-today/

Edit: forgiven me, but don't think we really need a new thread for Blue Origin, do we....?

I see the 11th January not 1st.

Sorry, typo, meant 11th.

Production line keeping them coming. Still Block 1.Super Heavy Booster 15 has rolled out of Megabay 1 tonight for an overnight move to Massey's test site for its first cryogenic tanking and thrust simulation testing. This will be the booster for Starship flight 8.

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Just like the Raptors have shown an increasing sophistication, reflected in a look of simplicity, the same is true of the Starship - also a substantial weight reduction….

Old internal design followed by the new.

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A new airspace advisory has been posted today stating that Starship test flight 7 is scheduled for 4:00 pm to 5:37 pm (97 minute window) on January 10th with backups on the following days.

https://www.cadenaois.org/vpublic_an...il.jsp?view=15

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Super Heavy Booster 14 has rolled out of megabay 1 this afternoon for final rollout to the launch complex ahead of Starship test flight 7.

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A look at progress on the top of Starbase launch tower 2 today. 30th Dec 24.

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You can tell the Starship and Cybertruck are related.

What are we seeing here quite late in the descent phase? Incandescent heat around the engines but the nozzles seem to be much cooler. Why? How? Can't be fuel burning.

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The bells are cooled by the fuel-rich side of things, so there's probably some residual in there to boil off. The rest is a bit of a slab and probably made of different material which might explain things.

Just speculation 😁

NEWS: SpaceX has released a new blog post about its new generation Starship that will launch during test flight 7 next week. They also confirmed that while in space, this ship will deploy 10 Starlink simulators.

Here's what's new:
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• Ship's forward flaps have been reduced in size and shifted towards the vehicle tip and away from the heat shield, significantly reducing their exposure to reentry heating while simplifying the underlying mechanisms and protective tiling.
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• Redesigns to the propulsion system, including a 25% increase in propellant volume, the vacuum jacketing of feedlines, a new fuel feedline system for the vehicle’s Raptor vacuum engines, and an improved propulsion avionics module controlling vehicle valves and reading sensors.
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• Ship’s heat shield will use the latest generation tiles and includes a backup layer to protect from missing or damaged tiles.
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• The vehicle’s avionics underwent a complete redesign, adding additional capability and redundancy for increasingly complex missions like propellant transfer and ship return to launch site.
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• Avionics upgrades include a more powerful flight computer, integrated antennas which combine Starlink, GNSS, and backup RF communication functions into each unit, redesigned inertial navigation and star tracking sensors, integrated smart batteries and power units that distribute data and 2.7MW of power across the ship to 21 high-voltage actuators, and an increase to more than 30 vehicle cameras giving engineers insight into hardware performance across the vehicle during flight.
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• While in space, Starship will deploy 10 Starlink simulators, similar in size and weight to next-generation Starlink satellites as the first exercise of a satellite deploy mission. The Starlink simulators will be on the same suborbital trajectory as Starship, with splashdown targeted in the Indian Ocean.
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A relight of a single Raptor engine while in space is also planned.
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• On Starship’s upper stage, a significant number of tiles will be removed to stress-test vulnerable areas across the vehicle.
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• Multiple metallic tile options, including one with active cooling, will test alternative materials for protecting Starship during reentry.
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• Several radar sensors will be tested on the tower chopsticks with the goal of increasing the accuracy when measuring distances between the chopsticks and a returning vehicle during catch.
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• The Super Heavy booster will utilize flight proven hardware for the first time, reusing a Raptor engine from the booster launched and returned on Starship’s fifth flight test.
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• Hardware upgrades to the launch and catch tower will increase reliability for booster catch, including protections to the sensors on the tower chopsticks that were damaged at launch and resulted in the booster offshore divert on Starship’s previous flight test

SpaceX: "This new year will be transformational for Starship, with the goal of bringing reuse of the entire system online and flying increasingly ambitious missions as we iterate towards being able to send humans and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, and Mars."

Busy mission. The active cooling tile sounds interesting; can see them using a hybrid with "Traditional" tiles on the belly etc and something a little more durable like these in areas where the chopsticks could give them a little tap.

VideoIt appears that SpaceX has begun installing the FTS on Booster 14.

VideoJust 8 days after the final stack of Superheavy-B16. B17's common dome section has been moved to the front of MB1 for stacking operations.

As expected, the pace of vehicle assembly will have to increase dramatically in order to keep up with SpaceX's goals for Starship Launch Cadence in 2025. We are rapidly approaching Flight 7, and Booster 17 is the Flight 10 Booster.

Assuming SpaceX plans to carry out 20 to 25 launches in 2025, this booster will need to be fully stacked, cryo tested, integrated with its 33 raptor engines, static fire tested, and receive final launch outfitting 8 to 10 weeks from today. To date, the record holder for fastest assembly to launch time is B13 which took 41 weeks from initial stacking to launch.

This means the assembly and test campaign for B17 needs to be at least 4 times faster than the previous best (assuming there are no re-flights's of boosters within the next 4 launches).

If every booster from here on has one re-flight before B17's inaugural launch, then the assembly to launch process only needs to be around 2 times faster than the current best.

I should note that B14 is expected to be the new record holder. If it launches on Jan 10 it will have been just under 40 weeks.

Another important detail is that from what we can tell, this a Version 1 Booster. This means that we should expect a minimum of 4 more launches before Pad B is operational.

​​​​​​​One thing is for sure 2025 is going to be WILD!!!......

Interesting point that tower B will only support block 2 boosters. More confirmation that once that's on line, tower A due for a major face lift.

VideoFascinating to watch this. The Pez loading system...aka Starlink sim loader...for testing on Flight 7.

​​​​​​​Note, this is a very temporary loading system, specifically engineered for this flight. Starlink sats are a LOT heftier than these sims.

Elon Musk said today during this X live stream that Starship test flight 7 “looks like it has been pushed about 3 or 4 days” from the the last mentioned date of January 10th.

​​​​​​​So Starship Flight 7 launch date is now unofficially around January 13th or 14th and SpaceX has not posted an official launch date and time yet.

Elon Musk's Starship flight 7 comments are at the 13:32 mark in this live stream:

A closer look at the new Starship catch fittings with workers for scale. From the Starship flight 7 website:

"On the sides of the vehicle, non-structural versions of ship catch fittings are installed to test the fittings’ thermal performance"

1/8/25

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https://www.spacex.com/launches/miss...rship-flight-7


The seventh flight test of Starship is preparing to launch as soon as Monday, January 13.

A live webcast of the flight test will begin about 35 minutes before liftoff, which you can watch here and on X @SpaceX. You can also watch the webcast on the new X TV app.

The launch window will open at 4:00 p.m. CT. As is the case with all developmental testing, the schedule is dynamic and likely to change, so be sure to check in here and stay tuned to our X account for updates…..

Starship test flight 7 vehicles Ship 33 and Booster 14 have been stacked.

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SpaceX has pushed the date of the Starship Flight 7 launch two days ahead. This is the second time that Elon Musk’s astronautics and spaceflight company has rescheduled the 7th integrated flight test of Starship (IFT-7).

According to the official announcement by SpaceX, now the Starship Flight 7 test will be conducted on Wednesday, 15th January instead of Monday the 13th Jan. Launch window opens at 2200 UTC.

The announcement came 24 hours after the flight rehearsal test conducted on Friday. This test is also called a wet dress rehearsal because the ship and the rocket booster are filled with actual propellant used for flight that is Methane + Liquid Oxygen (MethaLOX) in the case of SpaceX Starship.

“Now targeting Wednesday, January 15 for the seventh flight test of Starship,” SpaceX announced the delay on its official X timeline. The delay announcement come after the final major test which is the wet dress rehearsal.

After this final test, SpaceX not only pushed the launch test two days ahead, Starship was also destacked. SpaceX unmounted Ship 33 from Booster 14. It is possible that the SpaceX engineering teams found out some issues during the wet dress rehearsal and they need a couple of days to fix them.

At first, everyone thought that the destacking of Flight 7 Starship was done for the installation of the flight termination system (FTS) but this does not seem to be the only reason. We might observe another wet dress rehearsal before Wednesday if SpaceX engineers are not satisfied that the ship meets the flight requirements.

Starship 34 is rolling out for the first time today going to Massey's test site for initial cryogenic proof testing. This is the ship for Starship test flight 8.

1/15/25

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My head is spinning, which one is going first? New Glenn or Starship IFT7?

Looks like New Glenn won that one... but Starship IFT7 will not be far behind.