Starbase Sunday #

22 Jun

Written By Magnum

Welcome to the third edition of our upgraded Starbase Sunday series, coming out every Sunday at 13:00 UTC! In this series, we work to recap all the major operations and progress that happened at Starbase and Massey’s during the week, as well as Raptor engine tests at McGregor! But this week was unfortunate due to the explosion of Ship 36 during testing, which has indefinitely delayed Flight 10.

June 15th - Sunday

Let’s start right where we left off, at the production site waiting for Ship 36 to leave MB2 for its static fire test campaign. The road delay for the transport was moved to 10am-2pm, and right after that, the SF stand rolled into MB2 to pick up Ship 36 at about 9am. Given this late schedule, the transport was moved several times into early afternoon, until Ship 36 finally peeked out of MB2 shortly before 12:30pm. Ship 36 looked pretty much complete, with most of the heat shield installed except a few batches of tiles in some areas like the aft flap hinges and some weld lines; curiously, most of the tiles comprised gap filler (which is a heat-resistant material able to withstand temperatures of up to 1000°C), and there were no spots where the tiles had been removed, exposing the underlying ablative layer, unlike previous Starships.

At around 13:30pm, Ship 36 finally began to roll to Massey’s for its engine testing campaign! After a long journey, it reached the test site shortly after 16:00, and was parked at the SQD gantry for static fires. This SQD (Ship Quick Disconnect) is a structure located at Massey’s and connected to the ground lines for the fluids that go into the Ship; when a Ship is attached to this, it has a direct connection to the ground propellants, ready for a static fire.

June 16th - Monday - Static fire

We start at Massey, where S36 testing quickly began without hesitation! In the early morning, the aft flaps were deployed ahead of possible testing during the day; this was followed by the closing of the road to Massey’s, confirming some sort of test (likely a static fire) would’ve been performed!

- At 11:30, the tank farm began venting during the chilldown process, where the ground lines that bring the propellant from the ground tanks to the SQD are chilled down to cryogenic temperature to allow the loading without significant boil-off or thermal shock; this process continued until LOX loading began at 13:15, followed by CH4 loading at 13:35.

- The LOX tank was loaded about ⅓, while the CH4 tank was just loaded a couple of rings, suggesting this would’ve been a single-engine SF. And then, at 13:49:35, the E3 engine ignited for a single-engine static fire that lasted almost 6 seconds! This static fire was successful, as confirmed by the post from SpaceX a few hours later, with a view from a camera located on the engine shielding, looking downwards (the first time we saw this view on the ground).

- This static fire also marked an important speed milestone, as it occurred less than 22 hours from Ship 36’s arrival to Massey’s! Ship 35 had conducted a single-engine SF attempt just 19 hours after its arrival; however, it was scrubbed, making Ship 36 the leader in operational speed!

Fun fact: this test was made to simulate an in-space relight, where a sea-level engine would reignite while in the coast phase in space; therefore, the propellant it used was fed from the header tanks, up in the tip of the nose cone, rather than from the normal tanks. That is because every burn after SECO (including engine relight and landing burn) doesn’t use the main tanks but rather the header tanks! This is because all leftover propellants in the main tanks are vented in space, since they’re used to simulate a payload and are not used afterwards; header tanks are used thanks to their reliability since they’re less prone to propellant sloshing.

Pad B was equally as busy today, with a fit check of the 4th and final water manifold piece on the Orbital Launch Mount! This water manifold will be used to water-cool the deck of Pad B’s OLM during static fires, launches, and catches, reducing the refurbishment times and allowing for a faster cadence. However, after this fit check, it was lifted back to the ground for final preparations.

At the production site, along with the continuation of initial groundwork for the Gigabay, an important piece of hardware rolled from the Starfactory to MB1: the Hot Staging Ring for B16!

The HSR is a 1.8-m-high ring that’s placed above the Booster to protect its top hardware during hot staging, when the Ship engines ignite while still attached to the Booster. If you’ve never seen it, it has a lot of holes that allow the exhaust plume from the Ship’s Raptor engines to escape, preventing its trapping, which would cause overheating and problems. But this HSR, along with the past one, is different because a side of it is welded with panels, essentially shutting some of the holes… but why would SpaceX want to do that? Well, it all comes down to how they control the Booster after separation: ever since Flight 2 of Starship, the Booster flipped in a random direction to boostback! Sounds crazy, right? Basically, the Booster was pushed by the Ship’s exhaust randomly, and when it detected a stronger push in one direction, it would lean towards that and correct itself later on. This, however, used propellant, and SpaceX’s main goal is optimization, so since Flight 9, they started welding panels over some holes on the HSR’s side. Thanks to this, the Ship exhaust would press towards that and push the Booster in a controlled direction! This was first tested last flight and will be tested again on upcoming flights until the Block 3 version comes online; there, SpaceX will fine-tune the Ship’s Raptor ignitions to push the Booster where they want.

June 17th - Tuesday

Today we start at Pad B, where the 4th water manifold piece was finally installed in place, completing the water manifold, which now only needs to be secured and perfected.

At the production site, a new CFA drill rig (Continuous Flight Auger) arrived to prepare the ground for Gigabay foundations. If you remember last week’s article, CFAs are vertical steel/concrete pieces that are inserted into the ground and then taken out while concrete is poured in; lastly, a steel cage is inserted in the concrete for reinforcements.

June 18th - Wednesday - Ship 36 explosion

Let’s start our day at the production site, where a sea-level Raptor engine was spotted going inside MB2, likely for installation on Ship 37, the Ship set to fly on Flight 11 (now Flight 10; stay tuned for more). Additionally, Vixxy on X possibly spotted the FTS crew heading into MB1 for installation of the FTS on Booster 16 for Flight 10.

At Pad B, the 4th piece of the water manifold installed yesterday was released by the LR11k crane following its securing on the OLM, marking another step forward in bringing Pad B online. Meanwhile, a vaporizer was removed from the pump farm ahead of the installation of a new one.

And lastly, the FAA advisory showed June 29th as the earliest launch date for Flight 10… unfortunately, the excitement wouldn’t last for long…

The explosion

During the evening at Massey, Ship 36 began to prepare for a 6-engine static fire, and it’s here that the disaster happened:

- The tank farm began the chilling down process at 19:53, preparing the ground lines to house the propellants that would’ve been used for the static fire.

- After the chilldown process was completed, the fueling began at 22:10, beginning with LOX and followed a short while later by CH4 loading.

- When the LOX tank was almost full and the CH4 tank was about 10% full, allegedly at T-9 minutes from the static fire, Ship 36 experienced a sudden RUD (Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly) at 23:01:55 pm CDT. This RUD started in the payload bay and caused the explosion of the whole vehicle, so the CH4 ignited immediately when it reacted with LOX, causing a huge explosion at Massey’s. You can read our dedicated article here.

Damage: unfortunately, Ship 36 completely blew up, and its debris is scattered between Massey’s, the river, and Mexico. Ship 36 is lost, unrepairable, and… gone. Which is why SpaceX is obligated to use Ship 37 for Flight 10.

But that’s not all, because the explosion and the fireball affected all of the Massey’s test site: the Ship static fire stand is burned, most of its components have been destroyed, but the structure is still standing. It will need repairing, but it will be really difficult to do that; the nearby SQD gantry (what I’ve mentioned as the structure that connects the Ship to the ground lines) is completely gone and destroyed and will need to be rebuilt. The flame trench is full of debris, and several components have been destroyed… but one of the worst pieces of news is this: ALL of the lines that connect the ground tanks to the Ship are gone, either burned or destroyed; most of the CH4 pumps have been severely damaged; and most of the nearby tanks and vaporizers have been burned or destroyed and will need to be replaced. Some lines for the Booster cryo station have been severely damaged as well, and the Booster thrust sim for the V3 cryo stand has been damaged as well; the electrical bunker has been heavily damaged, while the tanks at the water farms have been disconnected from their supports; all of the Massey’s tank farm is damaged. The condition of Booster 18.1 is unknown, but let’s hope it survived the explosion. NOBODY was harmed thanks to the exclusion zone implemented prior to testing, and NOBODY’S private property was damaged except SpaceX’s; teams are working hard to clean up the debris from the surrounding area.

Cause: according to Elon Musk and SpaceX, the root cause was traced to a “sudden energetic event” in a nitrogen COPV (Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessel) in the payload bay. COPVs are composite-made cylinders that can store an enormous amount of gas (in this case nitrogen, likely for engine startups, pressurizations, and system purges) and withstand high pressures; however, they’re very delicate, and even the tiniest of sudden movements would have caused an invisible microfracture. Elon Musk stated the COPV “failed below its proof pressure.” The explosion of a COPV would’ve caused an overpressure event, which then shattered every component and the structure itself of the Ship, and when the main tanks burst… well, methane ignited and caused a huge explosion and fire.

What happens now?

This is clearly a major setback for the program, as it represented the biggest explosion on the ground for the Starship program, caused the loss of a vehicle, and badly damaged the test site. SpaceX now has to make decisions: do they want to take the time to rebuild things for Block 2 Ships, or will they skip them and go to Block 3?

The SQD gantry clearly needs to be rebuilt, because no static fire can be done without it; however, Block 3 Ships will have a different interface, so will SpaceX take the long time and effort to build something that will be used for just 2 Ships? Or will they start building the gantry for Block 3 Ships? Whatever their decision is, they will need to rebuild all of the tank farm, the tanks, and the ground lines. In the best case scenario, which is the use of Ship 37 for Flight 10 and the rebuild of the SQD gantry for Block 2 Ships, we are looking at 1-2 months at least of repairs. On the readiness side, Ship 37 might be ready for static fire by mid- to late July; however, it needs to be seen whether Massey’s will be ready by then; while it’s plausible (and we hope) that it’ll be ready, it’s also likely that repairs will go into early August. So in the best case scenario, we are looking at Flight 10 in August. If they decide (this is all speculation, and nothing is sure; this is actually really unlikely, but we’ll consider it to cover all bases) to skip to Block 3, then we may not see another launch within the end of the year; however, this is an unlikely move.

It’s crucial to maintain hope; brave individuals are not always victorious, but they constantly rise from setbacks. So even if this was an unexpected and unfortunate thing, we need to trust the process, trust SpaceX, and enjoy the program, wherever it may take us.

Mars 2026? During the presentation after Flight 9, Elon Musk said that there was a 50% chance they could send uncrewed Starships to Mars in 2026; however, after this setback, the odds have decreased to 31.4% based on Monte Carlo simulations that were conducted by researchers. But don’t fear, because if someone can beat the odds, it’s SpaceX.

June 19th - Thursday

We start at Massey, where the new day started less than an hour from Ship 36’s explosion; at the start of the day, the whole site was on fire, especially the CH4 tanks and the water tanks; huge fires kept forming and burning, damaging the tank farm even further; due to the nature of the explosions, it wasn’t possible for the fire department to reach the site. The fires kept burning for 20+ hours, and some kept forming even after that, meaning the whole day was filled with fires at Massey’s. There’s not much to say since nobody could do anything.

At the production site, due to Ship 36’s demise, the HSR slated to go atop Booster 16 was rolled inside Starfactory, likely for a long time.

At Pad B, a new cross-braced vaporizer was installed where the previous one had been removed near the pump farm, increasing the performance of the tank farm!

June 20th - Friday

At Massey, most fires had been extinguished by the night, so SpaceX employees could access the site starting in the afternoon; they started assessing the situation, making a basic “list” of what’s repairable and what’s not, but most importantly, they started gathering debris, also using the cranes.

Work in the other areas of Starbase kept going as usual, but no noteworthy changes occurred.

June 21st - Saturday

Clean-up work continued at Massey’s, where cranes were used to pick up debris, drag it, and pile it in several areas. No changes have been conducted so far, as SpaceX teams are likely assessing and understanding what they need to do to repair Massey… but first, they need to clean up the debris and take it all away, so expect parades of trucks in the coming days; to give you an example, the vehicle’s common dome was literally sitting on some lines in the water/CH4 farm… not exactly the place you’d want it to be. So yeah, SpaceX has a lot of work ahead, but we need to just sit back, watch, and guess at our best what they’re doing. And we, at The Weekly Spaceman, are here to do that!

You’ve come to the end of this week’s Starbase Sunday, so enjoy our Raptor section, and see every one of you next week!

Raptor testing

June 15th

No Raptor tests were conducted today

June 16th

- Raptor south - 16:41:50 - 30s

- Raptor south - 16:42:30 - 20s

- Raptor south - 16:51:14 - 20s

Total tests: 3

Total fire time: 70s / 1m10s

-Raptor south: 70s / 1m10s - 3 tests

June 17th