Starship Development Thread #19
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Starship Dev 18 | SN11 Hop Thread #2 | Starship Thread List | April Discussion
##Upcoming
- SN15 rollout to pad
##Vehicle Status As of April 2
- SN7.2 [retired] - returned to build site, no apparent plans to return to testing
- SN11 [destroyed] - test flight completed, anomaly and RUD in air following engine reignition sequence
- SN12-14 [abandoned]* - production halted, focus shifted to vehicles with newer SN15+ design
- SN15 [construction]* - Fully stacked in High Bay, all flaps installed
- SN16 [construction] - barrel/dome sections in work, nose parts spotted
- SN17 [construction] - barrel/dome sections in work
- SN18 [construction] - barrel/dome sections in work
- SN19 [construction] - barrel/dome sections in work
- SN20 [construction] - barrel/dome sections in work, orbit planned w/ BN3
- BN1 [construction] - stacked in High Bay, production pathfinder, to be scrapped without flight/testing
- BN2 [construction] - barrel/dome sections in work
- BN3 [construction] - barrel/dome sections in work, orbit planned w/ SN20
* Significant design changes to SN15 over earlier vehicles were teased by Elon in November. After SN11's hop in March Elon said that hundreds of improvements have been made to SN15+ across structures, avionics/software & engine. The specifics are mostly unknown, though updates to the thrust puck design have been observed. These updates include relocation of the methane distribution manifold from inside the LOX tank to behind the aft bulkhead and relocation of the TVC actuator mounts and plumbing hoop to the thrust puck from the bulkhead cone.
Development and testing plans become outdated very quickly. Check recent comments for real time updates.
Vehicle Updates
^(See comments for real time updates.)
^(† expected or inferred, unconfirmed vehicle assignment)
| Starship SN15 | |
|---|---|
| 2021-04-02 | Nose section mated with tank section (NSF) |
| 2021-03-31 | Nose cone stacked onto nose quad, both aft flaps installed on tank section, and moved to High Bay (NSF) |
| 2021-03-25 | Nose Quad (labeled SN15) spotted with likely nose cone (NSF) |
| 2021-03-24 | Second fin attached to likely nose cone (NSF) |
| 2021-03-23 | Nose cone with fin, Aft fin root on tank section (NSF) |
| 2021-03-05 | Tank section stacked (NSF) |
| 2021-03-03 | Nose cone spotted (NSF), flaps not apparent, better image next day |
| 2021-02-02 | Forward dome section stacked (Twitter) |
| 2021-01-07 | Common dome section with tiles and CH4 header stacked on LOX midsection (NSF) |
| 2021-01-05 | Nose cone base section (labeled SN15)† (NSF) |
| 2020-12-31 | Apparent LOX midsection moved to Mid Bay (NSF) |
| 2020-12-18 | Skirt (NSF) |
| 2020-11-30 | Mid LOX tank section (NSF) |
| 2020-11-26 | Common dome flip (NSF) |
| 2020-11-24 | Elon: Major upgrades are slated for SN15 (Twitter) |
| 2020-11-18 | Common dome sleeve, dome and sleeving (NSF) |
| SN7.2 Test Tank | |
|---|---|
| 2021-03-15 | Returned to build site (Twitter) |
| 2021-02-05 | Scaffolding assembled around tank (NSF) |
| 2021-02-04 | Pressure test to apparent failure (YouTube) |
| 2021-01-26 | Passed initial pressure test (Twitter) |
| 2021-01-20 | Moved to launch site (Twitter) |
| 2021-01-16 | Ongoing work (NSF) |
| 2021-01-12 | Tank halves mated (NSF) |
| 2021-01-11 | Aft dome section flip (NSF) |
| 2021-01-06 | "Pad Kit SN7.2 Testing" delivered to tank farm (Twitter) |
| 2020-12-29 | Aft dome sleeved with two rings† (NSF) |
| 2020-12-27 | Forward dome section sleeved with single ring† (NSF), possible 3mm sleeve |
| Early Production | |
|---|---|
| 2021-04-02 | BN3: Aft dome sleeve (NSF) |
| 2021-03-30 | BN3: Dome (NSF) |
| 2021-03-28 | BN3: Forward dome sleeve (NSF) |
| 2021-03-28 | SN16: Nose Quad (NSF) |
| 2021-03-27 | BN2: Aft dome† (YouTube) |
| 2021-03-23 | SN16: Nose cone† inside tent possible for this vehicle, better picture (NSF) |
| 2021-03-16 | SN18: Aft dome section mated with skirt (NSF) |
| 2021-03-07 | SN20: Leg skirt (NSF) |
| 2021-03-07 | SN18: Leg skirt (NSF) |
| 2021-02-25 | SN18: Common dome (NSF) |
| 2021-02-24 | SN19: Forward dome barrel (NSF) |
| 2021-02-23 | SN17: Aft dome sleeved (NSF) |
| 2021-02-19 | SN19: Methane header tank (NSF) |
| 2021-02-19 | SN18: Barrel section ("COMM" crossed out) (NSF) |
| 2021-02-17 | SN18: Nose cone barrel (NSF) |
| 2021-02-11 | SN16: Aft dome and leg skirt mate (NSF) |
| 2021-02-10 | SN16: Aft dome section (NSF) |
| 2021-02-04 | SN18: Forward dome (NSF) |
| 2021-02-03 | SN16: Skirt with legs (NSF) |
| 2021-02-01 | SN16: Nose quad (NSF) |
| 2021-01-19 | SN18: Thrust puck (NSF) |
| 2021-01-19 | BN2: Forward dome (NSF) |
| 2021-01-16 | SN17: Common dome and mid LOX section (NSF) |
| 2021-01-09 | SN17: Methane header tank (NSF) |
| 2021-01-05 | SN16: Mid LOX tank section and forward dome sleeved, lable (NSF) |
| 2021-01-05 | SN17: Forward dome section (NSF) |
| 2020-12-17 | SN17: Aft dome barrel (NSF) |
| 2020-12-04 | SN16: Common dome section and flip (NSF) |
Resources
- Spadre.com Starship Cam | Channel
- LabPadre 4k Pad Cam | Channel
- NSF SN10 Test Launch Updates Thread | Most recent
- NSF SN11 Test Launch Updates Thread | Most recent
- NSF Boca Chica Production Updates Thread | Most recent
- NSF Florida Prototype(s) Updates Thread | Most recent
- Hwy 4 & Boca Chica Beach Closures (May not be available outside US)
- TFR - NOTAM list
- FAA license LRLO 20-119
- SpaceX Boca Chica on Facebook
- SpaceX's Starship page
- Elon Starship tweet compilation on NSF | Most Recent
- Starship Users Guide (PDF) Rev. 1.0 March 2020
- Starship Spreadsheet by u/AnimatorOnFire
- Production Progress Infographics by @_brendan_lewis
- Starship flight opportunity spreadsheet by u/joshpine
- Test campaign timelines by u/chrisjbillington
- Acronym definitions by Decronym
r/SpaceX Discusses [April 2021] for discussion of subjects other than Starship development.
Rules
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Posted Mar 8, 2021, 3:04 AM UTC · edited