Starship Development Thread #20

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Starship Dev 19 | SN15 Hop Thread | Starship Thread List | May Discussion


##Vehicle Status As of May 8

  • SN15 [testing] - Landing Pad, suborbital test flight and landing success
  • SN16 [construction] - High Bay, fully stacked, forward flaps installed, aft flap(s) installed
  • SN17 [construction] - Mid Bay, partial stacking of tank section
  • 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
  • SN22 [construction] - barrel/dome sections in work
  • BN1 [scrapped] - Being cut into pieces and removed from High Bay, production pathfinder - no flight/testing
  • BN2 [construction] - barrel/dome sections in work (apparent test tank)
  • B2.1 [construction] - barrel/dome sections in work, possible test tank or booster
  • BN3 [construction] - barrel/dome sections in work, orbit planned w/ SN20
  • NC12 [testing] - Nose cone test article in simulated aerodynamic stress testing rig at launch site

​

Development and testing plans become outdated very quickly.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
2021-05-07Elon: "reflight a possibility", leg closeups and removal, aerial view, repositioned (Twitter), nose cone 13 label (NSF)
2021-05-06Secured to transporter (Twitter)
2021-05-05Test Flight (YouTube), Elon: landing nominal (Twitter)
2021-04-30FTS charges installed (Twitter)
2021-04-29FAA approval for flight (and for SN16, 17) (Twitter)
2021-04-27Static fire, Elon: test from header tanks, all good (Twitter)
2021-04-26Static fire and RCS testing (Twitter)
2021-04-22testing/venting (LOX dump test) and more TPS tiles (NSF)
2021-04-19Raptor SN54 installed (comments)
2021-04-17Raptor SN66 installed (NSF)
2021-04-16Raptor SN61 installed (NSF)
2021-04-15Raptors delivered to vehicle, RSN 54, 61, 66 (Twitter)
2021-04-14Thrust simulator removed (NSF)
2021-04-13Likely header cryoproof test (NSF)
2021-04-12Cryoproof test (Twitter), additional TPS tiles, better image (NSF)
2021-04-09Road closed for ambient pressure testing
2021-04-08Moved to launch site and placed on mount A (NSF)
2021-04-02Nose section mated with tank section (NSF)
2021-03-31Nose cone stacked onto nose quad, both aft flaps installed on tank section, and moved to High Bay (NSF)
2021-03-25Nose Quad (labeled SN15) spotted with likely nose cone (NSF)
2021-03-24Second fin attached to likely nose cone (NSF)
2021-03-23Nose cone with fin, Aft fin root on tank section (NSF)
2021-03-05Tank section stacked (NSF)
2021-03-03Nose cone spotted (NSF), flaps not apparent, better image next day
2021-02-02Forward dome section stacked (Twitter)
2021-01-07Common dome section with tiles and CH4 header stacked on LOX midsection (NSF)
2021-01-05Nose cone base section (labeled SN15)† (NSF)
2020-12-31Apparent LOX midsection moved to Mid Bay (NSF)
2020-12-18Skirt (NSF)
2020-11-30Mid LOX tank section (NSF)
2020-11-26Common dome flip (NSF)
2020-11-24Elon: Major upgrades are slated for SN15 (Twitter)
2020-11-18Common dome sleeve, dome and sleeving (NSF)

​

Starship SN16
2021-05-05Aft flap(s) installed (comments)
2021-04-30Nose section stacked onto tank section (Twitter)
2021-04-29Moved to High Bay (Twitter)
2021-04-26Nose cone mated with barrel (NSF)
2021-04-24Nose cone apparent RCS test (YouTube)
2021-04-23Nose cone with forward flaps† (NSF)
2021-04-20Tank section stacked (NSF)
2021-04-15Forward dome stacking† (NSF)
2021-04-14Apparent stacking ops in Mid Bay†, downcomer preparing for installation† (NSF)
2021-04-11Barrel section with large tile patch† (NSF)
2021-03-28Nose Quad (NSF)
2021-03-23Nose cone† inside tent possible for this vehicle, better picture (NSF)
2021-02-11Aft dome and leg skirt mate (NSF)
2021-02-10Aft dome section (NSF)
2021-02-03Skirt with legs (NSF)
2021-02-01Nose quad (NSF)
2021-01-05Mid LOX tank section and forward dome sleeved, lable (NSF)
2020-12-04Common dome section and flip (NSF)

​

Early Production
2021-05-07BN3: Aft #2 section (NSF)
2021-05-06BN3: Forward tank #2 section (NSF)
2021-05-04BN3: Aft dome section flipped (NSF)
2021-04-24BN3: Aft dome sleeved (NSF)
2021-04-03BN3: Aft tank #5 section (NSF)
2021-04-02BN3: Aft dome barrel (NSF)
2021-03-30BN3: Dome (NSF)
2021-03-28BN3: Forward dome barrel (NSF)
2021-04-20B2.1: dome (NSF)
2021-04-21BN2: Aft dome section flipped (YouTube)
2021-04-19BN2: Aft dome sleeved (NSF)
2021-04-15BN2: Label indicates article may be a test tank (NSF)
2021-04-12BN2 or later: Grid fin, earlier part sighted^([02-14]) (NSF)
2021-04-09BN2: Forward dome sleeved (YouTube)
2021-03-27BN2: Aft dome† (YouTube)
2021-01-19BN2: Forward dome (NSF)
2021-04-10SN22: Leg skirt (Twitter)
2021-05-07SN20: Mid LOX section (NSF)
2021-04-27SN20: Aft dome under construction (NSF)
2021-04-15SN20: Common dome section (NSF)
2021-04-07SN20: Forward dome (NSF)
2021-03-07SN20: Leg skirt (NSF)
2021-02-24SN19: Forward dome barrel (NSF)
2021-02-19SN19: Methane header tank (NSF)
2021-03-16SN18: Aft dome section mated with skirt (NSF)
2021-03-07SN18: Leg skirt (NSF)
2021-02-25SN18: Common dome (NSF)
2021-02-19SN18: Barrel section ("COMM" crossed out) (NSF)
2021-02-17SN18: Nose cone barrel (NSF)
2021-02-04SN18: Forward dome (NSF)
2021-01-19SN18: Thrust puck (NSF)
2021-05-08SN17: Mid LOX and common dome section stack (NSF)
2021-05-07SN17: Nose barrel section (YouTube)
2021-04-22SN17: Common dome and LOX midsection stacked in Mid Bay† (Twitter)
2021-02-23SN17: Aft dome sleeved (NSF)
2021-01-16SN17: Common dome and mid LOX section (NSF)
2021-01-09SN17: Methane header tank (NSF)
2021-01-05SN17: Forward dome section (NSF)
2020-12-17SN17: Aft dome barrel (NSF)

​


Resources

^(RESOURCES WIKI)

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Posted Apr 5, 2021, 1:08 AM UTC · edited

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