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With a successful test of Starship Flight 6, SpaceX has continued building on its many projects around Starbase. Repair work has begun around the launch site, with damage found in different areas of the tower from prior launches. A proposed Gigabay could be coming to the Starbase production site shortly, and Ship 26 has finally been scrapped. The groundwork is also beginning to be laid for brand-new projects around Starbase and even Kennedy Space Center.

Flight 6 Aftermath

After Booster 13’s 33 Raptor engines ripped past the pad on the sixth flight test of Starship, there has been plenty of repair work at the launch site for SpaceX’s workers to check over and fix. The chopsticks were the first piece of hardware to be inspected, which happened only hours after the launch of Flight 6. Without the booster landing, the chopsticks took much less loading than flight 5, making the checkups mostly related to the power of the 33 Raptor engines. 

The launch mount was inspected heavily, as expected after every flight test. Only a day after the launch, scaffolding was installed around the top. Later that day, the dancefloor, SpaceX’s movable platform, was fitted to inspect the bottom of the launch mount and engines when a booster was on the pad. 

This rapid pace of checkups on the systems that go into launching Starship is a common occurrence after every launch, and it only gets faster after every launch. With the scaffolding and dancefloor in place, these routine inspections and minor fixes can be completed, preparing the launch mount for its next flight.

The booster quick disconnect received inspections after being scorched by Booster 13 and later was repaired to prepare it for Flight 7. SpaceX performed operating tests on Nov. 27 to confirm that the system survived the launch and is up to operating standards. Heading up the tower, the ship quick disconnect arm also obtained some damage from the Raptor engines on Flight 6. The umbilicals used to fuel the ship before launch were burnt and will need repairs. The door that closes on the connection to protect the ship quick disconnect from the engines has noticeable charing marks. 

At the top of the tower, the weather and communications antenna were bent due to the forces behind the launch. This bending is the first time this has happened on a flight, which could have been why the tower was not in its correct configuration to catch the booster. This lean has already been corrected, and if this part of the tower does have vital systems to land the booster, it will likely receive more reinforcements to keep it in place, or a redundant system will be found. 

Bent weather and communications tower. (Credit: BocaChicaGal/Mary for NSF/L2)

Launch Pad Upgrades

The second launch pad at Starbase continues to be worked on, and it is being equipped to come online in 2025. A Buckner LR 11000 crane has arrived to help raise the new chopsticks and carriage system as well as the ship quick disconnect arm into place onto the tower. The crane arrived in many parts and was completed on the morning of Nov. 27.

The chopsticks, carriage system, and ship quick disconnect still reside at the Sanchez site but have received many small changes in preparing them for lift onto the tower. The tower should be ready to acquire the new chopsticks any day now, with the cables that move the whole system up and down being added on Nov. 21 and the drawworks machine that raises and lowers the cables put into place before that.

Also, the second launch mount is being welded at the Sanchez site to make it one unit. Not all the pieces have arrived, but the middle section, which bears the hold-down clamps, has been connected. This launch mount is a different design from the original launch mount and will come with a flame trench at Pad B and Tower 2.  

Launch mount for Pad B being welded together. (Credit: BocaChicaGal/Mary for NSF/L2)

A new tank has been installed at the tank farm, further expanding the already massive supply of propellants. The expected dedicated subcoolers for Pad B have also received some work preparing them to be connected to the entire system. 

LC-39A has come back alive with a few cranes checking out the area around the Starship launch site. What these cranes are doing has yet to be discovered, but seeing activity around the site is a good sign for the program’s future in Florida. 

Looks like another much larger crane has joined the action at Launch Complex 39A where SpaceX has seemingly resumed work on the Starship launchpad. This new one is near the liquid oxygen tank for Starship’s tank farm. pic.twitter.com/uure1POuZ1

— Alejandro Alcantarilla Romera (Alex) (@Alexphysics13) November 26, 2024

Production Site

At the production site, there are rumors of a new Gigabay that could be built in place of where the Highbay and Stargate building is now. It has yet to be discovered how immense this Gigabay could be. It will likely be more expansive and have to be taller than the current Megabay’s due to the Block 2 boosters’ size extension coming in the future. 

A SpaceX listing was sent out looking to hire a new construction engineer to develop and lead the production of this building. A drilling rig was also spotted having started near the parking garage. This could line up with the expected dimensions of the building, if not just a red herring. If this is the case, this Gigabay could begin the building process in the near future.

SpaceX has opened a job listing for the next vertical integration facility for Starship Construction at Starbase, TX. This could be a possible “GigaBay” (as SpaceX called it in the listing before editing out that word) to replace the High Bay or possibly all of SpaceX’s vertical… pic.twitter.com/YGzHlr1pNI

— Chris Bergin – NSF (@NASASpaceflight) November 26, 2024

There have been many changes around the production site, with Ship 26’s scrapping being prominent. This pathfinder ship helped confirm many systems that have been used on the vehicles that have already launched. Ship 26 resided at the rocket garden for many months until, on Nov. 20, it was moved into the highbay, was broken up ring section by ring section, and was taken out to the scrap yard. 

Boosters 15 and 16 have gained many upgrades, preparing them for Flights 8 and 9. Booster 15 has received its carbon dioxide tanks and could roll to Massey’s for its cryogenic proof test to validate its tanks before engine installation. Booster 16 has now completed its liquid oxygen tank. This vehicle looks similar to the last boosters, with only a few changes expected. 

Booster 13, Booster 15, and Booster 14 in Megabay One. (Credit: SpaceX)

Flight 7 Updates

SpaceX workers have already begun to prepare for the next flight. The alignment pins that help place the booster in position on the launch mount have already been installed. This allows the booster to be put on the launch mount as soon as it is ready for engine testing. The refilling of the tank farm has already started, with thousands of semi-trucks showing up at the launch site in the next few weeks to refill all of the tanks before the sixth flight.

Booster 14 has resided in Megabay One and now has complete focus after Booster 13’s demise in the Gulf of Mexico. It was already cryogenically tested on Oct. 7, proving its tanks were structurally sound. It is now expected to have grid fins, with some spotted heading into Megabay One earlier in the week. Booster 14 will soon head out to the launch site for engine testing before being retrofitted with any lessons learned on Booster 13’s flight and brought back out for launch. 

Booster 13’s demise into the Gulf of Mexico after the catch attempt was scrubbed. (Credit: Starbase Live)

Ship 33 will be the first Block Two ship to fly. It has received all six of its Raptor 2 engines and is currently being prepared for static fire at the Massey’s facility. This ship could be the last to land purposefully in the ocean. On the social media app X, Elon Musk mentioned that if the ship successfully lands again on Flight 7, Flight 8 will have the first ship catch attempt.

Flight 7’s launch profile is similar to Flight 5 and 6’s, with the ship landing in the Indian Ocean near Australia around an hour after launch. NASA’s Gulfstream V is known to be planning to image this landing. If those documents stay correct, this launch is scheduled for no earlier than Jan. 11, although plans could change, and this launch could be pushed left or right in the timeline. 

This also means the seventh flight of Starship will be another suborbital flight and that no further Starship flights will be attempted this year.

Link to the document and props to Gongora on the NSF forums for finding this:

— Alejandro Alcantarilla Romera (Alex) (@Alexphysics13) November 25, 2024

SpaceX is expecting to have 25 launches available for Starship from Starbase in 2025. As long as the FAA’s two-month window for comment goes smoothly, SpaceX will receive a Finding Of No Significant Impact (FONSI) allowing these 25 launches, with three coming during the night. These night launches currently do not allow booster landings, but it is possible this could be changed with minor regulation updates.

L2 includes full res full collection of all photos taken by NSF photographers.)