Starbase Updates | January 2024

What's Happening at Starbase Texas in January 2024?

This page is a summary of the major highlights at Starbase Texas over the month of January in 2024. All updates are sourced from publicly available posts from the user /u/threelonmusketeers who updates the Starship Dev Threads on Lemmy and Reddit.

 

January 31st, 2024

• S28 has one of its engines swapped out. Photos from Starship Gazer and LabPadre.
• A raptor leaves Megabay 2 and a raptor arrives at Megabay 2. Must be for S29, as it is the only vehicle there.
• More sections added to Megabay 1 door :(
• Starkitty sighted :)

Other:

• The Starship manifest grows: Starlab commercial space station to launch on Starship

January 30th, 2024

• B13 chine tanks arrive and are lifted into Megabay 1.
• Chopsticks are closed and lowered. SQD arm also swings in.
• Black LR 11000 reassembly continues.
• Megabay 1 door testing. Partial door closure.
• Starfactory progress: A few more beams added since Jan 29.

January 29th, 2024

• Black LR11000 reassembly begins. A-frame rises.
• Chopsticks rise and open.
• 2-point lift jig stand (without the jig) moves from Rocket Garden to Highbay.
• Starfactory progress: More columns are installed and concrete is poured.
• S28: Workers and Raptor removal jig are spotted under the skirt. Bad engine?

January 28th, 2024

• S26 lifted off engine install stand, and rolls further into Rocket Garden.
• S28 lifted onto engine install stand. (closeup video)
• Reinforcement of OTF tank shells continues.
• A tank is removed from suborbital farm and replaced with another. The removed tank then moves to Massey's.
• Starfactory progress: Large boxes (possibly air-conditioners) lifted onto roof.
• S26: Couplers are added to join the 2nd and 3rd rows of stringers. Mystery continues.
• Starkitty sighted

January 27th, 2024

• Quiet Saturday.
• S28 rolls out of Highbay and then to Rocket Garden. StarGazer photo and nose closeup.
• Starkitty sighted

Other:

• 6-Tier Open Parking Garage to be constructed.

January 26th, 2024

• 12th stringer installed on the OTF shells.
• Many boom lifts at the OLM. OLM legs are painted, and tower received blast protection.
• Assembly of launch tower sections begins with a vertical column.
• B10 hotstaging ring moves from Starfactory to Megabay 1 and is installed on B10.
• Door is installed on Megabay 1
• Starfactory progress: Morning and evening. More columns and beams added.

January 25th, 2024

• S28 briefly rolls out of Highbay, then goes back inside.
• Black LR11000 is further disassembled (A-frame removed).
• B13 methane tank stacking continues (commenced Jan 16)
• S26 nears completion of third row of stringers. The mystery of S26 continues.
• Starfactory: Lots of activity. More columns and roofing added.

January 24th, 2024

• Busy day.
• B12 moves to Megabay 1, road sign knocked over.
• B12 lifted off transport stand, empty transport stand then rolls out of Megabay 1.
• Starfactory progress: Another row of columns and beams is started.
• Final piece of LR11000 boom is removed.
• New blast wall arrives to protect the OTF.
• OTF shell undenting completed and reinforcement resumes.
• Launch tower columns are shuffled around (close-up). Hope we see some tower sections built soon.
• S28 peeks out of Highbay. (video timelapse)

January 23rd, 2024

• Efforts to undent the OTF shells continued overnight and during the day. They even used fire at one point!
• Disassembly of the black LR11000 continues.
• Starfactory is coming along. 6-day timelapse.
• Launch tower prefabrication footings are installed at Sanchez, in preparation for building tower sections.
• B12 rolls from the Rocket Garden towards the build site.

January 22nd, 2024

• Overnight, workers struggled to undent the OTF shells. Pop!
• First beam for the new launch tower arrives, 4th piece overall. Piece #1, piece #2, and piece #3 were spotted last November.
• Seems like the black LR11000 could be removed from the launch complex soon. I wonder where it is needed?

January 21st, 2024

• 9th, 10th, and 11th stringers installed on the OTF shells. The use of a "dent puller" was required in a couple cases. Unclear at this point whether all shells will receive reinforcements, or just these two.
• Starfactory expansion is pretty quiet, though a new fence has been erected.

January 20th, 2024

• 8th stringer installed on the OTF shells.
• Cross-bracing installation begins on the OTF shells.
• Zack Golden's thoughts on the concrete issue: "If you pour too quickly, pressure will continue to rise at the bottom as additional material is added. Eventually this head pressure can reach a point where it becomes too great for the form work to handle, resulting in a collapse."

January 19th, 2024

• B12 moves from Massey's back to the build site. (video)
• 7th stringer installed on shells at the OTF.
• 420th LN2 delivery since IFT-2.
• Starfactory expansion continues with some excavation today.
• Concrete issue with the new building next to the deluge tanks. Is it known what this building will be for?
• Steel plates are installed to protect the base of the launch tower. More photos from Starship Gazer and LabPadre.

January 18th, 2024

• Overnight testing included OTF and tower venting.
• BQD and SQD are worked on.
• Reinforcement stringers two through six are installed on the OTF.
• S26 is worked on. The mystery continues.
• Starfactory expansion coming along nicely.
• Another slightly silly-looking excavator lift.
• Road delay scheduled for the morning of Jan 19th.

January 17th, 2024

• Multiple lifts observed near OLM and chopsticks.
• Tank shell of GSE-2 receives reinforcements. (timelapse)
• Road closed for unspecified testing, likely related to OTF.
• Starkitty sighted :)

Other:

• SpaceX looking to swap 43 acres of the nearby state park for 477 acres of land elsewhere.
• SpaceX also looking to make the Starbase name official.

January 16th, 2024

• B13 methane tank stacking begins.
• 8th horizontal tank is delivered to launch site and slotted into position.
• There have been 400 LN2 deliveries to the launch site since IFT-2.

January 15th, 2024

• Either not too much action today, or action shrouded in fog.
• No vehicle transports or tank deliveries.
• Hotstage ring spotted exiting Megabay 1.

Other:

• New Ringwatchers article detailing changes/upgrades with B10 and S28.

January 14th, 2024

• 7th horizontal tank is delivered to launch site and slotted into position alongside the others.
• Hole is repaired on Megabay 2.
• The black LR11000 is partially disassembled, possibly for maintenance.

January 13th, 2024

• Overnight, B12 completes its 2nd cryo test at Massey's. Detanking audible from RocketRanch.
• A 10-axle SPMT visits the launch site to retrieve booster stand.
• Tent #3 demolition completed.
• New vaporizers arrive at launch site.
• Two more horizontal tanks arrive in Brownsville port.
• No more GSE tank removals any time soon. Load spreaders leave the launch site, and the black LR11000 boom is lowered.

Other:

• SpaceX to build a restaurant, grocery store, and other shops near Starbase.

January 12th, 2024

• Tent #3 demolition commences.
• Short stubby tank is delivered to launch site. Purpose unclear at this point.
• Long SPMT arrives at launch site, likely in anticipation of more horizontal storage tanks arriving.
• B12 performs a 2nd cryo test at Massey's.
• Potential road "closures" posted for Jan 16th, 17th, and 18th.

Starship update video released. Some highlights:

• S25 failure: Intentional LOx venting caused an unintentional fire and explosion.
• IFT-3 flight plan includes a deorbit burn from header tanks.
• 2nd launch tower at Starbase confirmed.
• Full stack could eventually stretch to 150 m, with an aspirational goal of 200 tonnes to orbit, fully reusable.

January 11th, 2024

• S26 lifted onto engine installation stand.
• S30 in High Bay.
• S31 moves back into High Bay.
• S32 moves to Rocket Garden.
• Tent #3 stripping and emptying continues.
• Workers observed on SQD.
• Following yesterday's unusual lift of a boom lift, and excavator follows.
• Black LR11000 then moves away from the OTF, likely implying the end of GSE tank removal for now.
• Potential location identified for the upcoming Starship update, but I could not find any confirmation that an update took place. The CEO may have had a prior engagement today.

January 10th, 2024

• GSE-8 scrapping continues, tank base removed as well. Workers inspecting remaining tank shells. Unclear if this indicates further removals in the coming days.
• Cement truck delivery to the launch site, likely replacement Fondag for test stand B.
• S30 moves from Massey's to Rocket Garden, then to High Bay.
• S31 receives her 2nd aft flap and emerges from the High Bay.
• B12 cryo test at Massey's.
• Tent #3 shutting down and contents being emptied. Demolition likely coming soon, ahead of further Starfactory expansion.
• Big lifting machine lifts a smaller lifting machine.

January 9th, 2024

• Weather improves.
• At the launch site, the LR11000 removes the first of the vertical inner tanks (GSE #8) and scrapping begins.
• At the build site, an unknown nosecone with only a few TPS pins emerges from a tent.
• S26 disconnected from LR1750 again. S26 mystery continues.
• At Massey’s, S30 moves a tiny bit, possibly in advance of transport back to build site.
• IFT-3 is NET February, as per Jessica Jensen, VP of Customer Operations and Integration at SpaceX. (Reported by Eric Berger and Jeff Foust)
• Not too surprising, but Artemis II officially slips to 2025-09, and Artemis III slips to 2026-09.

January 8th, 2024

• Poor weather at Starbase, no notable major activities.
• Road delay posted for Jan 10th.

January 7th, 2024

• The mysterious S26 moves from the Rocket Garden is hooked up to the LR1750. The S26 mystery continues.
• At the launch site, the second tank shell is scrapped in the same manner as the first.
• A fancy cryo tanker arrives, sporting a Space Shuttle painting.
• LR11000’s tank shell lifting jig swapped out for inner tank lifting jig. Zack Golden eats his words from yesterday. LR11000 is hooked up to remove the inner GSE tank which was exposed yesterday. Visible on NSF Starbase Live and LabPadre Rover 2.

January 6th, 2024

• S26 receives a third row of stringers. From limited available data, Lab Padre makes a humorous extrapolation referencing a certain breakfast cereal. The S26 mystery continues.
• The tank shell removed yesterday is cut into sections and scrapped. Starship Gazer livestreams the process, and Vicki Cocks tracks each section removed.
• A second tank shell is removed. It is carefully disconnected to preserve functionality of the internal tank. Starship Gazer livestreams day 2 of the cutting party. Unclear whether they will continue scrapping more than these two tank shells at this point, or stop for now.
• Elon Musk will give a company talk with Starship updates on January 11th.

January 5th, 2024

• S28 moves to high bay.
• S30 performs its 2nd cryo test.
• S31 aft flap installation.
• New booster aft end spotted at Starfactory. Possibly B15.
• Scrapping of the old vertical tanks begins, with the removal of the unused water tank. Zack Golden speculates on why this tank was removed first. Stargazer is live to cover the “cutting torch party”.
• Chopsticks are repainted.
• Some concrete under suborbital pad B is being cut up and removed. Unclear at this point whether this is minor maintenance or the start of a complete teardown with all ship testing moving to Massey’s.
• The red LR11000 is disassembled, following the completion of Megabay 2.
• Starkitty sighted :)
• Updated Ringwatcher’s Raptor diagram is released.

January 4th, 2024

• S31 moves from Rocket Garden to High Bay.
• S28 rolls back to build site.
• LOx pump motor reinstalled following yesterday’s LOx pump replacement.
• Cribbing delivered to the launch site, and the black LR11000 rolls toward the old vertical tanks. Cribbing and counterweights indicate preparations for a heavy lift.

January 3rd, 2024

• Two SPMTs arrive at the launch site for S28 rollback. Squid lifting jig attached later in the day.
• S30 cryo tested at Massey’s.
• Another large tank delivered. Looks like one of the two that arrived with the tower section last week. Likely a vertical tank destined for Massey’s.
• One of the launch site LOx pumps was removed and replaced with the new pump which was delivered yesterday.
• The build site LR11000 crane lies down, likely indicating completion of Megabay 2.
• Excavation work has begun on the Massey’s flame trench.
• Some shrubbery was (seemingly) mistakenly delivered to the launch site.
• Road delay posted for Jan 4th from 15:00 to 17:00.

January 2nd, 2024

• B10 rolls back to the build site, enters Megabay 1, and is removed from the transport stand.
• S28 rollback looks like it may soon follow B10. Hopefully this means that the static fires went well.
• New LOx pump delivered to launch site.
• Possible road closure still listed for Jan 3rd from 08:00 to 18:00. They did use the primary date (Dec 29th) for the S28 and B10 static fires, so not sure if they’ll use the alternate dates (Jan 3rd and 4th) for anything.

January 1st, 2024

• New Year’s fireworks
• Very quiet New Year’s day.
• Venting observed at Massey’s, but no major tests are done on B12 or S30.
• Road delay still scheduled for Jan 2nd from 06:00 to 09:00 for transportation operations.