Starbase Sunday #7

20 Jul

Written By Magnum

Welcome to the 7th edition of Starbase Sunday! This series comes out every week on Sunday at 13:00 UTC, allowing you to get up to speed on every major event that happens at Starbase and McGregor! That said, let’s dive in:

July 13th - Sunday

Today we start at Massey’s, where SpaceX’s refurbishment of the test site is in full swing, beginning with the CH4 tank farm: during the morning, the 2 biggest vertical CH4 tanks were lifted, rotated, and set down in the same position once again; a few hours later, a smaller tank was removed and laid down horizontally far from its previous location, similar to what happened to the other two tanks yesterday… given what transpired, I assume that of the 5 vertical CH4 tanks at Massey’s, 3 have been deemed too damaged to continue operations.

Going over to the production site, work continued in Megabay 2: there, the next Ships (Ship 37 and Ship 38) are being prepared for their upcoming flights. Specifically, we saw that Ship 37 received all its engines last week, so engine installation is likely complete, since the installation of a Raptor engine takes about 16 minutes (according to a reliable source).

Also in MB2, SpaceX used today to test the performance of the bridge cranes, which are of the 180-ton class; to test them, SpaceX loaded counterweights on a platform attached to the crane, and lifted it.

Also, it’s noteworthy to mention that Gigabay teams are in 24/7 operations to lay down all the hundreds of auger drills they need to set the foundations.

Now, let’s go over to Pad A, where much interesting activity is being conducted to prepare the site for a breathtaking Ship static fire on the OLM. Today, the pipes that were installed yesterday were checked out, and the largest of them was removed… it’s possible it needed additional work on the ground, or it just served as test fit hardware. However, later that same day more pipes were added: these pipes are needed to redirect the propellant lines that go to the BQD out of the OLM and onto the framework where the SQD will be placed.

Nearby, work is ongoing on the SQR3, or “Starstool” (as NSF named it): this was a Ship transport stand, which is being converted as an adapter between the OLM and the Ship. Many operations have been ongoing, but today we saw extensive welding of the gaps in the side panels installed yesterday, which will be necessary to stop the exhaust from escaping out of the sides, thereby protecting the top of the OLM and the RQDs (Raptor Quick Disconnects); they need protection because the stand will be placed over the hold down arms location, where beams have been installed, and the Ship standing atop will have its engines above the RQDs, hold-down clamp arms, and other hardware that would be above the engines if it were a Booster.

SpaceX’s main characteristic is its ability to be flexible and innovative, even when ideas seem insane. This is what got them to the point where they are.

July 14th - Monday

Let’s start at Massey’s once again, where a tank was seen moving horizontally on SPMTs around the site, parking near the CH4 tank farm for a possible installation. This tank is really big, and if it were for CH4 I’d guess it could easily be the replacement for 2-3 of the smaller vertical tanks removed earlier.

On some kind of Massey-related news, 2 small tanks were spotted going to McGregor, and those 2 small tanks look identical (in size and damage) to 2 of the ones that were removed yesterday from Massey’s; looking at the damage from up-close, it’s clear why these 2 (plus the other, whose whereabout we don’t know) were removed, as they’re clearly too damaged to remain in operation.

At Pad A, work continued to prepare the site for a Ship 37 static fire: no major piping was lifted today, although there were a lot of measurements, inspections, and maintenance.

Teams working on Starstool have been welding steel plates around the edges of the adapter.

At the production site, work continued to drill the CFA (Continuous Flight Auger) drills, which are needed to set the foundations for the Gigabay: if you don’t know what a CFA drill is, it’s a kind of drill where a machine drills into the ground to a predetermined depth, and then pulls out the drill while pouring concrete from the base up. Immediately behind, another machine drops a rebar cage into the still-liquid concrete, before it hardens up.

July 15th - Tuesday

Today, we start at Massey’s once again, to explore how SpaceX is refurbishing the test site following Ship 36’s anomaly: starting in the morning into the late afternoon, over the span of 8 hours, teams used a small crane to remove all 8 hold-down clamps from the Ship static fire stand… the state of the clamps is unclear, but they likely sustained some damage.

At Pad A, we have the usual work on the site to prepare for a static fire of Ship 37: teams installed an additional narrow pipe connecting the piping inside the OLM and the future SQD plate, as they seem to be nearing completion of piping installation. During the day, there was also some GSE testing with LOX subcoolers and other LOX systems, likely to test some new modifications installed for this.

Teams continued to weld the remaining gaps on Starstool, where side panels have been installed to prevent the exhaust from escaping through the sides.

At the production site, more CFA drills were drilled today, getting a step closer to foundation laying for the Gigabay.

July 16th - Wednesday

There wasn’t much activity today, but let’s take a look at what did happen:

We start at Pad A, where we received clear signals that work for the static fire of Ship 37 is almost complete, at least on the ground side of things: 4 pink lifting points were attached to the Starstool, indicating a possible incoming lift within the next days; along with that, the chopsticks were raised to the top of the tower later in the evening, suggesting a lift might be imminent as soon as tomorrow.

At the production site, CFA drills continued drilling, preparing the ground for Gigabay’s foundations.

July 17th - Thursday

Today was truly an action-packed day, so let’s get ready to unfold everything that’s happened:

Starting at Massey’s, several cranes began clearing debris from the fallen crane, which experienced an accident and tipped over last week; the crane was left there and dismantled, and today clearing operations of the parts began.

Now, let’s go to the most awaited part, Pad A:

starting from the SF side of things, the crane slated to lift Starstool onto the OLM (the LR11k) was moved from Pad B to Pad A in the early afternoon. Shortly after its arrival, pipes were still being lifted and installed into the new SQD on the OLM, suggesting that a lift today was unlikely.

However, it was clear that work on Starstool had wrapped up, with only final removals and final operations.

But, there was another surprise at Pad A, which revealed itself in the evening: a BQD hood for Pad B’s OLM was delivered to the launch site, where the LR11k placed it on an SPMT that then took off and parked in between the launch towers. After weeks of installing several covers, this might be the hood for the LOX side, although there’s a concrete chance that this is for the CH4 side.

Also at Pad A, there was some GSE testing, ensuring that everything is working as intended.

July 18th - Friday

Today was the day: at Pad A, in the early morning, the LR11k crane lowered its lift system as Starstool moved closer to the crane; in just a few minutes, Starstool was hooked up, and the lift occurred immediately afterwards! After Starstool was lifted, it was aligned with the OLM and set down, where teams began securing it, ensuring it was aligned, and confirming the structural integrity of the adapter. It took 8 hours before the hooks of the LR11k crane could be released, but after that it was clear that SpaceX did a job well done.

As Starstool was lifted, some ground lines got chilly and performed additional GSE testing.

At Massey’s, thanks to flyover pictures from Jack Beyer from NSF, we now know that the entire CH4 tank farm (pumps, propellant lines, and 3 out of 5 tanks) has been completely removed, leaving a hole in its place, ahead of installation of a new farm. Additionally, that long weird tank that we saw moving this week has moved closer to the 2 remaining CH4 vertical tanks, suggesting that it may also be CH4, intended to replace the tanks that were removed.

July 19th - Saturday

At Pad B, a CH4 BQD frame interface was delivered, lifted, and installed onto the OLM throughout the night… at the same time, the mysterious BQD hood delivered yesterday moved closer to Pad B, supporting the theory that it might be the CH4 hood. As a reminder, Pad B will have 2 BQDs, one for LOX and one for CH4… this will allow faster propellant loading, giving teams more margin to troubleshoot issues or verify that everything’s nominal ahead of propellant loading.

At Pad A, there were a lot of inspections of Starstool, where post-fitting work is continuing; meanwhile, numerous inspections were conducted on the recently installed framework, rediverted propellant lines, gas lines, and the overall system; now we’ll have to wait for a Ship QD interface to arrive and be installed, and after that the OLM will be ready to host a Ship!

Raptor testing

July 13th

No Raptor tests were conducted today.

July 15th

- Raptor vertical - 08:23:33 - 190s / 3m10s

- Raptor vertical - 09:40:23 - 63s / 1m3s

- Raptor south - 15:37:19 - 4s

- Raptor south - 15:57:51 - 20s

- Raptor south - 15:58:17 - 20s

- Raptor south - 15:58:44 - 20s

- Raptor south - 15:59:11 - 20s

Total tests: 7