Daily News Updates for SpaceX Starship

August 31st: SpaceX Boca Chica - To close a crazy month in which the first full size Starship prototype SN5 took to the skies, Elon Musk's ambitions are moving on to a new stage of development stating that, 'production of the booster prototype 1 will take place this week' adding that '28 engines will be used instead, but they will up the thrust from a range of 250-300'....view. We can assume that the first segments will be produced in one of the onion tents while the high bay is completed in September. With the superstructure of the launch mount also progressing well, it's safe to assume that some testing of the booster prototype will occur this year; perhaps not the optimistic October that Elon suggests but exciting times nevertheless....What next?
-do- SpaceX Boca Chica - Super Heavy High Bay prepares for a roof as SN6 awaits better weather....view. Starship SN6's hop has been delayed until at least Thursday due to unfavorable weather. Meanwhile, SN7.1 is nearly ready to head to the pad for testing and the Super Heavy high bay is nearly ready for a roof.
August 30th: SpaceX Boca Chica - SN7.1 Assembly amid SN6's aborted hop attempts....view. While Starship SN6 aborted it hop attempts on Sunday due to very windy conditions in Boca Chica, Test Tank SN7.1 continued assembly ahead of its expected test to failure after SN6's completed hop.
August 29th: SpaceX Boca Chica - SN6 prepares to Hop - Groundwork for Super Heavy....view. Just weeks after Starship SN5 took to the skies, SN6 is aiming to repeat the 150-meter hop on Sunday - all amid ongoing construction, largely related to Super Heavy!
August 28th: SpaceX Boca Chica - SN7.1 assembly ahead of pop test as SN6 closes in on Hop....view. While Starship SN6 prepares for a Sunday hop, the SN7.1 Test Tank, sporting the upgraded 304L-type steel rings, is being built up ahead of its destructive test.
August 27th: SpaceX Boca Chica - SN8 Stacked, Orbital Pad Progress, and High Bay Construction Continues....view. Starship SN8 was stacked in the Mid Bay and progress on the construction of the Orbital Launch Pad continues with another rebar cage getting its steel cladding. A lift of a section of the High Bay was briefly aborted due to wind before being successfully completed, and activity at the launch site, including SN6 hop preparations, continued.
August 26th: SpaceX Boca Chica - SN6 Mass Simulator Installed - Other Starships Prepare....view. Starship SN6 has had its Mass Simulator installed at the launch site while SN8 waits to become a completed stack under the watchful eye of SN5.
August 25th: SpaceX Boca Chica - From SN5 re-hop preps to SN9 sleeving - A busy Spaceport....view. From Starship SN5 being prepared for a re-hop, SN6's preps for a maiden hop, through to SN9 taking shape, it's all go at SpaceX Boca Chica! All while the orbital launch mount build continues and the High Bay grows.
August 24th: SpaceX Boca Chica - SN6 Mass Simulator arrives. High Bay into Level 4....view. The Mass Simulator for Starship SN6's hop has arrived, while Spaceport Boca Chica's High Bay for Super Heavy is now installing the final level.
August 23rd: SpaceX Boca Chica - Starship SN6 Static Fire....view. Starship SN6 fires up its single Raptor engine (Raptor SN29) for the first time on the third attempt of the day, in magnificent golden hour lighting. Close up, wide angle, full speed and slo mo - all with glorious ambient audio.
August 22nd: SpaceX Boca Chica - Final Day Before SN6 Static Fire....view. SpaceX hurries to get everything ready for SN6 Static Fire Testing, currently expected tomorrow, August 23rd. SN8's Aft Section is prepared for stacking with the Fwd Section. Work continues around the production and launch sites and activity at the Old Gas Well Lot continues.
August 21st: SpaceX Boca Chica - Multiple Starships Prepare For Testing....view. Starships are in various stages of their testing and processing flows, with SN6 preparing for a weekend Static Fire and SN8 closing in on final assembly tasks.
August 20th: SpaceX Boca Chica - 4 Starships and a Test Tank - SN5, 6, 7.1, 8, and 9 all in work....view. Full speed ahead at SpaceX Boca Chica, with SN6 at the pad and several Starships being worked - SN9 Fwd Dome, SN8 sections being stacked next to SN5 in the midbay, and Test Tank SN7.1 undergoing preps.
August 19th: A revised road closure notice moves the likely static fire test for SN6 forward to Sunday 23rd. This is probably due to a tropical storm tracking across the Gulf of Mexico which could strengthen and make landfall in South Texas on Monday.
-do- SpaceX Boca Chica - Launch Site Build Out and SN6 Static Fire Prep....view. SpaceX furiously preps the launch site ahead of SN6's static fire test. Work on the High Bay, SN7.1, SN8 and on Nosecones continues. More unknown work at the Old Gas Well Lot.
August 18th: SpaceX Boca Chica - Starship SN6 receives Raptor SN29....view. As work continued at both the Production Facility and the Launch Sites, Starship SN6 has received Raptor SN29, with installation ahead of next week's Static Fire test which according to the latest road closure notice is expected on Monday 24th.
August 17th: Welcome Raptor SN29 which has arrived at the launch pad to be mated to Starship SN6.
-do- SpaceX Boca Chica - New Thrust Puck, Legs, and Downcomer Delivered....view. Three critical Starship parts were delivered to SpaceX Boca Chica, a new Thrust Puck, new Landing Legs, and a new Methane (CH4) Downcomer. Work on both the High Bay and Orbital Launch Pad continued, and the Thrust Simulator was removed from underneath Starship SN6, clearing the way for a Raptor engine to be installed.
-do- SpaceX Boca Chica - Cryogenic proof test of Starship prototype SN6 is complete....view.
August 16th: SpaceX Boca Chica - Starship SN6 enters test series - Drive Past Overview....view. Starship SN6 has begun her test campaign - which will range from cryotesting through to a Static Fire - ahead of an expected 150m hop. Footage includes views around Boca Chica and a Sunday drive past tour.
August 15th: SpaceX Boca Chica - Introducing Starship SN9, while SN8 is flipped....view. Two new SpaceX Starships are being assembled in Boca Chica with SN8's Aft Section flipped while SN9 made its first public appearance in the form of its Common Dome.
August 14th: SpaceX Boca Chica - High Bay Level 4 and Super Heavy Pad Work....view. Level 4 of the High Bay begins to go up and the work on the Orbital Launch Pad picks up speed. SpaceX is laying the foundations for its future in Boca Chica and that future is all about Super Heavy. Deliveries of huge pipes to the launch site foreshadow the scale of the coming construction, while SN6 is prepared for cryo proofing.
August 13th: SpaceX Boca Chica - New road closures have been granted beginning Sunday 16th....view.
-do- SpaceX Boca Chica - The Full Starship Mounting Processing Flow....view. A long video that shows the entire process of installing a Starship SN6 (right) on to the launch mount. Includes fascinating highlights such as landing leg retraction.
August 12th: SpaceX Boca Chica - SN6 Prepped for Action....view. SN6 is being readied for thrust pressure testing to make sure the structure can withstand one (or maybe three) Raptor engine(s) pushing up from the bottom of the thrust puck with at least 440,000 lbs of force.
August 11th: After the successful hop test of Starship prototype SN5, Elon Musk tweeted that progress would accelerate from now on. Yesterday work was still underway repairing/preparing the launch stand but 24 hours later we knew that Elon wasn't joking. Overnight a thrust puck simulator was installed on the launch stand then this happened:
a.m. SpaceX Boca Chica - Starship SN5 rolls back to tag SN6 which had just been moved out of the mid-bay - 'hi Bruv, that was fun, now it's your turn'. Clips courtesy of NASASpaceflight and BocaChicaGal of course....view.
p.m. SpaceX Boca Chica - Starship SN6 rolls to the pad to be proofed, fired, and flown....view. Starship SN6, in preparation for a brand new test campaign, rolls to the pad to be proofed, static fired, and hopped. If successful, SN6 will become the second, full scale, prototype to fly. Now that's progress!
August 10th: SpaceX Boca Chica - TPS X on show as Starships position themselves for test series....view. While Starships SN5 and SN6 prepare for a potential hop tag team test campaign, a sign of the future was seen in the form of TPS installation, suitably provided in the pattern of an X.
August 9th: SpaceX Boca Chica - Full Spaceport Overview - Drive Past, Cranes and Starships....view. A lengthy video covering all elements of the SpaceX Boca Chica spaceport, from the Production Facility to the launch site, including drive pasts and focused areas.
August 8th: SpaceX Boca Chica - The first ever Starship Post Flight Processing Flow....view. A full video showing how the SpaceX teams took care of Starship SN5 following her hop on to the landing pad. This is the first time - for Starship - that there's been a post-flight processing flow.
-do- SpaceX Boca Chica - Future Starship Preps - as more cranes take the stage....view. While SN5 continues to receive some post-hop attention, future Starships are also the future as the High Bay grows and yet more crane sections arrive on site.
August 7th: SpaceX Boca Chica - Crane Lifts Starship SN5 onto Stand Following 150-Meter Hop....view. SpaceX successfully performed a 150-meter hop test with the Starship SN5 prototype in Boca Chica, Texas. Mary is roadside to cover a crane lifting Starship SN5 onto a stand.
August 6th: SpaceX Boca Chica - Roadside with Starship SN5 after successful 150-meter hop....view. SpaceX successfully performed a 150-meter hop test with the Starship SN5 prototype in Boca Chica, Texas. Mary is roadside to show you what Starship SN5 looks like two days after its hop.
- do- SpaceX Boca Chica - High Bay moves to Level 3 - Test Tank SN7.1 preps....view. As the Super Heavy High Bay moved into Level 3 assembly at SpaceX Boca Chica, the Starship SN7.1 Test Tank (made from 304L Steel) is waiting for aft dome/skirt mate.
August 5th: SpaceX Boca Chica - Starship SN8 enters Stacking Operations....view. Following Starship SN5's test success. Future test cadence was on view at SpaceX Boca Chica as Starship SN8 entered stacking operations next to SN6.
-do- SpaceX Boca Chica - Checking in with SN5 following historic hop....view. With the vehicle safed, workers are now preparing to place Starship SN5 on the Roll Lift. SN5 is currently sat proudly on the Landing Pad following her successful 150 meter hop.
August 4th: SpaceX Boca Chica - Starship SN5 success with 150 meter hop....view. Under the roar of Raptor, Starship SN5 took flight during a successful 150m test hop at Boca Chica.
-do- Late in the day and under my watch, this happened....view. Excitement is not the word.
August 3rd: SpaceX Boca Chica - Starship SN5's first hop attempt triggers an abort....view. Starship SN5's first hop attempt was ended before it began. A turbopump spin start valve failed to open, triggering an abort and ending the test prematurely. Mary provides gorgeous views as Starship is tanked, tested and detanked.
-do- SpaceX Boca Chica - SN5 Hop Holds as other Starships wait for the new dawn....view. Starship SN5's Hop has moved to NET Monday, while future Starships prepare to take their place in the line in SpaceX's test program in the always-stunning Boca Chica region.
-do- SpaceX Boca Chica - Starship SN5's first hop attempt triggers an abort....view. Starship SN5's first hop attempt was ended before it began. A turbopump spin start valve failed to open, triggering an abort and ending the test prematurely. Mary provides gorgeous views as Starship is tanked, tested and detanked.
-do- SpaceX Boca Chica - The community is full of expectation as Elon Musk arrives in the control room at Boca late in the day: Hop seems imminent but Elon then tweeted 'Scrubbed for the day. A Raptor turbopump spin start valve didn’t open, triggering an automatic abort. We’ll figure out why & retry tomorrow'.
August 2nd: SpaceX Boca Chica - SN5 Hop Holds while astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley return triiumphant from the ISS on Crew Dragon's maiden crewed flight. As one days closes, Starships wait for the new dawn....view. Starship SN5's Hop has moved to NET Monday, while future Starships prepare to take their place in the line in SpaceX's test program in the always-stunning Boca Chica region.
August 1st: SpaceX Boca Chica - SN5 Pre-150m Hop - Bluezilla is Back....view. The day before SN5's 150m hop attempt is seemingly the same as any other in Boca Chica. The Manitowoc 18000 Crane, aka Bluezilla, is returned to operational status, a new four ring stack with lead ins was spotted, construction at the production and launch sites and outdoor eating area continued, work on the High Bay progressed and some new parts were delivered to the launch site.