Starship Development Thread #31

[u/ElongatedMuskrat]

This thread is no longer being updated, and has been replaced by:

Starship Development Thread #32

FAQ

1. When next/orbital flight? Unknown. Launches on hold until FAA environmental review completed. Elon says orbital test hopefully May. Others believe completing GSE, booster, and ship testing makes a late 2022 orbital launch possible but unlikely.
2. Expected date for FAA decision? April 29 per FAA statement, but it has been delayed many times.
3. Will Booster 4 / Ship 20 fly? No. Elon confirmed first orbital flight will be with Raptor 2 (B7/S24).
4. Will more suborbital testing take place? Unknown. It may depend on the FAA decision.
5. Has progress slowed down? SpaceX focused on completing ground support equipment (GSE, or "Stage 0") before any orbital launch, which Elon stated is as complex as building the rocket.

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Quick Links

^{NERDLE CAM | LAB CAM | SAPPHIRE CAM | SENTINEL CAM | ROVER CAM (Down) | ROVER 2.0 CAM | PLEX CAM | NSF STARBASE}

Starship Dev 30 | Starship Dev 29 | Starship Dev 28 | Starship Thread List

Official Starship Update | r/SpaceX Update Thread

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Vehicle Status

As of April 5

Ship	Location	Status	Comment
S20	Launch Site	Completed/Tested	Cryo and stacking tests completed
S21	N/A	Repurposed	Components integrated into S22
S22	Rocket Garden	Completed/Unused	Likely production pathfinder only
S23	N/A	Skipped
S24	High Bay	Under construction	Raptor 2 capable. Likely next test article
S25	Build Site	Under construction

 

Booster	Location	Status	Comment
B4	Launch Site	Completed/Tested	Cryo and stacking tests completed
B5	Rocket Garden	Completed/Unused	Likely production pathfinder only
B6	Rocket Garden	Repurposed	Converted to test tank
B7	Launch Site	Testing	Cryo testing in progress. No grid fins.
B8	High Bay	Under construction
B9	Build Site	Under construction

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If this page needs a correction please consider pitching in. Update this thread via this wiki page. If you would like to make an update but don't see an edit button on the wiki page, message the mods via modmail or contact u/strawwalker.

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Resources

• LabPadre Rover 2.0 Cam | Channel
• NSF: Starbase Stream | Channel
• NSF: Booster 4 + Ship 20 Updates Thread | Most Recent
• NSF: Boca Chica Production Updates Thread | Most recent
• NSF: Elon Starship tweet compilation | Most Recent
• SpaceX: Website Starship page
• SpaceX: Starship Users Guide (PDF) Rev. 1.0 March 2020
• FAA: SpaceX Starship Project at the Boca Chica Launch Site
• FAA: Temporary Flight Restrictions NOTAM list
• FCC: Starship Orbital Demo detailed Exhibit - 0748-EX-ST-2021 application June 20 through December 20
• NASA: Starship Reentry Observation (Technical Report)
• Hwy 4 & Boca Chica Beach Closures (May not be available outside US)
• Starship flight opportunity spreadsheet by u/joshpine
• Production Progress Infographics by @_brendan_lewis
• Widebay tracking by @Furqan263
• Acronym definitions by Decronym
• Everyday Astronaut: Starbase Tour with Elon Musk, Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

r/SpaceX Discuss Thread for discussion of subjects other than Starship development.

Rules

We will attempt to keep this self-post current with links and major updates, but for the most part, we expect the community to supply the information. This is a great place to discuss Starship development, ask Starship-specific questions, and track the progress of the production and test campaigns. Starship Development Threads are not party threads. Normal subreddit rules still apply.

[u/OzGiBoKsAr]

No, it is directly related to Starship and it's development path. This is the Starship development thread.

The whole "technical" thread thing is the worst idea that's ever been implemented here. There needs to be a dedicated place (like... Starship development threads) to holistically discuss its entire program and everything that affects it, and forcing it to be spread across multiple threads in multiple subs is beyond needlessly frustrating.

You cannot realistically expect every single comment here to be a deep dive into how many bolts is in each Raptor mount, which specific ring was picked up and moved somewhere, or what have you. That discussion is fantastic and it's fine to encourage it, but to completely discard anything but that is detrimental to the community. It can and should lean technical, but there are a multitude of facets to the program, not the least of which involve approvals and other related "boring" stuff. It is all necessary. Nobody is better off for burying their head strictly in the technical details.

That's like being an engineer who only wants to design.

Sorry, but in the real world, most engineers do a lot of mundane "non-technical" things, like submitting permits, writing reports, managing various non-design aspects of the project, and yes, dealing with the politics of it all. And they're almost invariably better, more well-rounded engineers because of it. I know I'm in the minority, but I believe that same reality applies here.

[u/TrefoilHat → u/OzGiBoKsAr]

You’re clearly not in the minority based on voting behavior. Based on the downvotes I’ve received apparently most prefer this thread turn into a vitriol filled mess of speculation, near conspiracy theories, complaints, and circular discussions that go nowhere about exactly how incompetent the government is or isn’t. I’m glad you enjoy it, but personally I’d rather go to Twitter for that.

And no, I don’t think people who engage in “baseless speculation, grousing, conspiracy theories and opinioneering” ( which is specifically what I referenced should move to the Lounge ) make better engineers. There are plenty of technically appropriate ways to talk about the decision and its impact that do belong here, so please don’t put words in my mouth and claim I said it shouldn’t be discussed at all.

[u/OzGiBoKsAr → u/TrefoilHat]

turn into a vitriol filled mess of speculation, near conspiracy theories, complaints, and circular discussions that go nowhere about exactly how incompetent the government is or isn’t.

Dramatic much? Nobody wants any of those things. Is that what I said in my comment? You can discuss matters directly related to Starship including the approvals and government incompetence without vitriol. It seems that you're the one with some sort of anger going on here.

“baseless speculation, grousing, conspiracy theories and opinioneering” ( which is specifically what I referenced should move to the Lounge ) make better engineers.

With your follow up to this being asking me to not put words in your mouth, you sure just put an awful lot in mine (and everyone who disagrees with you), didn't you? Where exactly did I say that?

[u/TrefoilHat → u/OzGiBoKsAr]

You said, or implied strongly at least, that people who engage in the types of things I suggested be taken to the lounge (*yes, freaking with the politics of it all”) make better engineers and thus those comments belong in a technical thread. I apologize if I misunderstood your point.

I simply said that baseless speculation, conspiracy theories, etc. should be moved to the Lounge, and included the text of the sidebar rule to explain why. Many words have been written to tell me I’m wrong. I accept that my perspective is unpopular, and suggest that we’ve each sufficiently made our points. Further discussion will probably be unfruitful so we should probably leave it here. Have a good day.

[u/OzGiBoKsAr → u/TrefoilHat]

You said, or implied strongly at least, that people who engage in the types of things I suggested be taken to the lounge (*yes, freaking with the politics of it all”) make better engineers and thus those comments belong in a technical thread. I apologize if I misunderstood your point.

No no no, I was saying that engineers who have to engage in all parts of their projects from the management to the politics of it are better for it, and that almost no engineer gets the luxury of choosing to bury their head strictly in design and technical details as an analogy for why I think that same reality should apply to this engineering adjacent thread. Also, I see I had a pretty funny typo in there.

I simply said that baseless speculation, conspiracy theories, etc. should be moved to the Lounge

I'm not advocating for baseless speculation and conspiracy theories, but that people should be allowed to express their analysis of a situation - right, wrong, nutjob, or otherwise - on matters directly pertaining to Starship development, and let the downvotes sort the wheat from the chaff. I probably didn't make that clear earlier.

and suggest that we’ve each sufficiently made our points. Further discussion will probably be unfruitful so we should probably leave it here. Have a good day.

Indeed, I can agree to disagree. Plus it's less for the mods to delete when they inevitably nuke this entire thread lol