Booster 12 static fires at Pad A and Pad B tower stacking underway

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After Hurricane Beryl passed the Brownsville area without seriously damaging Starbase, preparations for Starship Flight 5 have been advanced to a new level with the rollout of Booster 12 to the Orbital Launch Site and subsequent static fire on Monday, July 15.

While Booster 12 is being tested, stacking is also now underway for Starbase’s second launch tower at Pad B, and the Starfactory has had new equipment delivered. SpaceX also proposes to increase the Starship flight cadence from Starbase to 25 flights and landings per year, as hardware has been seen for Starship Block 2.

BOOSTER 12

The Super Heavy booster to be used for Flight 5, Booster 12, was rolled out from Mega Bay 1 to the Orbital Launch Site on Tuesday, July 9 to be prepared for critical tests to prove the booster’s worthiness for flight. The booster was lifted onto Pad A’s orbital launch mount by the Mechazilla “chopstick” arms that evening.

Booster 12’s testing started out with a partial propellant load on Thursday, July 11, and may have done testing related to offloading propellant after a catch with the Mechazilla arms. On Friday, July 12, the booster conducted a 33-engine spin prime test. The “spin prime” is when propellants are loaded and the engines’ turbopumps are spun up to flight speed but the engines are not ignited.

This was the first spin prime done on a Super Heavy since Booster 9 conducted one in August 2023, possibly to test internal upgrades in the booster or just out of caution to ensure the vehicle is performing properly as there will be a catch attempt on Flight 5.

The next step beyond the spin prime was the static fire. A static fire was conducted at 10:13 AM CDT (15:13 UTC) on Monday, July 15, and appeared to be eight seconds long.

The booster’s grid fins, used to steer the vehicle through the atmosphere for its recovery at the launch site, were tested by being moved through their range of motion. The ship quick disconnect arm high up on the tower was also moved several times to test its function.

Booster 12 is at Launch Pad A prior to preflight testing. (Credit: Jack Beyer for NSF/L2)

Booster 12 appears to have upgrades from previous Super Heavy vehicles. These include a new flight termination system box designed to enable a quick destruction of the rocket in case an anomaly happens. Four Starlink antenna fittings are also present, as well as new “remove before flight” covers for the Raptor boost quick disconnects.

There are closures now scheduled for this coming week that can be used for testing, including the static firing that has taken place. The primary closure was on Monday, July 15 from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM CDT (11:00 to 23:00 UTC). Secondary closures are set for Tuesday, July 16 and Wednesday, July 17 at the same times, though if the test is successful, they may not be used.

Tower Module 1 is being lowered onto the Pad B launch tower’s base at the Orbital Launch Site. (Credit: Jack Beyer for NSF/L2)

LAUNCH PAD B

The Orbital Launch Site is getting a second launch pad, which will enable SpaceX to increase the Starship program’s launch cadence. Pad B, as the second pad is known, could also prove useful in case some issue removes Pad A from action for a significant amount of time.

Pad B’s launch tower has already had its base installed, and the base appears to have incorporated lessons learned from Pad A. The first element of the new launch tower has now been installed on the base. This segment was installed on July 11, and Tower Module 2 has now been rolled out to the Pad B site.

In other tower section news, Tower Modules 4 and 5, with additional fittings to enable the quick disconnect arm to be moved higher up the tower to support future versions of Starship, have been moved to Starbase from the port of Brownsville. All nine modules of the new tower, which are pre-outfitted with electrical and fluid lines, are now either at the Starbase Sanchez site or at Pad B.

A tower module on the move after arrival in Texas. (Credit: Jack Beyer for NSF/L2)

Pad B is a key element of increasing Starship’s launch cadence from Starbase, which SpaceX now proposes to increase to 25 Starship system launches as well as 25 Starship and 25 Super Heavy landings per year. SpaceX filed a request to increase the cadence from the currently allowed 10 launches per year with the FAA, and the draft of the tiered environmental assessment (EA) is scheduled for public release late this month. Public meetings on this draft EA are set for Tuesday, August 13, Thursday, August 15, and Tuesday, August 20, 2024.

There are two meetings scheduled for August 13. The first meeting is between 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM CDT (18:00 to 20:00 UTC) and the second meeting is between 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM CDT (22:30 UTC Tuesday to 00:30 UTC Wednesday, August 14.) Both meetings are at the City of South Padre Island Convention Center.

The next series of two meetings is scheduled for August 15, with the first meeting also between 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM CDT (18:00 to 20:00 UTC.) The second meeting is also between 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM CDT (22:30 UTC Thursday to 00:30 UTC Friday, August 16). This time, however, the meetings will be at the Port Isabel Event & Cultural Center.

The final scheduled public meeting on the draft EA is a virtual meeting online. It is scheduled for August 20 from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM CDT (22:30 UTC Tuesday to 00:30 UTC Wednesday, August 21). Besides the flight cadence, this EA also addresses vehicle upgrades.

Besides the request for up to 25 launches per year from Starbase, SpaceX is also planning for up to 44 Starship launches per year from LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center as well as up to 76 launches per year from SLC-37B. This will total up to 145 launches of Starship per year – a rocket more powerful than the Saturn V that launched Apollo missions to the Moon.

A possible redesigned hold down arm for the new Orbital Launch Mount seen during a flyover of SpaceX’s McGregor, Texas facility. (Credit: Gary Blair for NSF)

STARFACTORY, SHIP 33, ETC.

The giant Starfactory has now received its gantry crane as it nears completion. Besides the Starfactory, work has also proceeded on upgrading the tank farm for the Orbital Launch Site. Work is still ongoing with Ship 30’s heat shield tiles in the High Bay, and Ship 31 is in Mega Bay 2 after being tested at Masseys. In addition, a nose section for Ship 33 – the first Block 2 vehicle – has been seen now at Starbase.

The forward fins for the new version are mounted more forward on the nose, further away from the belly and its heat shield tiles, and they are also thinner than the original flight version’s fins. A possible flight article of an operational payload bay for a Block 2 ship has also been seen, showing that SpaceX is closer to operational flights of the system. The full size Starlink v3 satellites are expected to be the first operational payload that Starship flies.

The Starbase skyline at night. (Credit: Sean Doherty for NSF/L2)

The tests that Booster 12 is undergoing are important to getting Flight 5 off the ground, but the timing of the flight may depend on how long the heat shield upgrade on Ship 30 takes. The FAA must also approve a license modification due to the scheduled catch attempt for the booster during the flight.

While Flight 5 preparations are underway, the next version of Starship is taking shape and being prepared for flying in 2025. Operational flights and their hardware are being fleshed out, even as the company’s currently operational satellite launch vehicle – the Falcon 9 – is working toward a return to flight following the Starlink 9-3 failure on July 11.

(Lead image: Booster 12 test firing on July 15, 2024. Credit: Sean Doherty for NSF)

The post Booster 12 static fires at Pad A and Pad B tower stacking underway appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.



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