Preparation for East Coast Starship debut in 2026 continue to make progress

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As SpaceX prepares for Starship’s Flight 11 in October from Texas, significant progress is being made in Florida at the Roberts Road facility, Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A), and Space Launch Complex 37 (SLC-37).

SpaceX is rapidly expanding its Starship program, with teams working in parallel to conduct test flights and set the stage for Starship’s future launch cadence.

Roberts Road

The Gigbay at Roberts Road is no longer far ahead of the Gigbay at Starbase. Over the last few months, crews have nearly caught up in the construction timeline and have even diverted from it. Currently at Roberts Road, the four tower cranes are being assembled so that crews can start placing the initial steel beams, many of which are already staged nearby.

Those beams were observed on Friday by NSF’s KSC cams.

In Starbase, the Gigbay appears to be getting its floor slab or parts of the floor slab poured before the tower cranes start to rise. Either way, both sites are progressing quickly.

Roberts Road Gigabay Progress (Credit: Max Evans for NSF)

Next to Hangar X-2 is the tower, chopsticks, Ship Quick Disconnect (SQD) arm, and launch mount construction area. Currently, at least five tower modules have been built, with more steel lying on the ground next to the completed modules.

This appears to be slated as a launch tower, as it is highly unlikely that a catch tower would require an SQD arm. And it is likely for SLC-37, as two of the modules have SQD arm attach points.

The SQD arm under the tent is being modified to the new specifications and will be going onto the tower at LC-39A once it is completed. Under the tent is also the launch mount for LC-39A. Currently, it is unknown whether this mount has any arms installed; however, it still retains the steel beams that help keep the steel deck pieces straight during lift and installation. 

The launch mount for the LC-39A Starship Pad. (Credit: Max Evans for NSF)

At Starbase, these beams were removed well before rollout, and even two of the water manifolds were installed. Currently, this mount is not at that stage of construction; however, SpaceX may be taking a different approach, as it is expected to roll out in October with an LR13000 crane to be used for lifting it.

The LR13000 is the largest and most powerful crawler crane in the world and can lift this mount by itself, even with all the arms and manifolds installed, compared to needing two LR11000s at Starbase.

Next to the tent is a new pair of chopsticks and their carriage, currently under construction. Considering LC-39A already has a set, these are likely paired with the new tower being built and are likely for SLC-37. This construction area is going to be very busy the next couple of years as SpaceX builds at least two launch towers, three catch towers, three SQD arms, three launch mounts, and five sets of chopsticks.

Starship Launch Hardware Construction Area (Credit: Julia Bergeron for NSF)

LC-39A

At LC-39A, SpaceX is continuing to make significant progress on the trench and the Starship pad in general. Currently, the trench has received at least three of the four legs for the launch mount to sit on. Additionally, the primary steel structure of the service structure has been completed. Now, SpaceX needs to outfit it with all the necessary electronics, hydraulics, pneumatics, and cryogenic hardware to operate the launch mount and the booster.

This process will take several months, similar to what is nearly completed at Starbase. Along with the launch mount needing to be installed, the two flame buckets and the ridge cap also need to be installed. SpaceX may be waiting for the LR13000 to arrive for installation, or the trench might not be ready yet. 

LC-39A Flame Trench Progress (Credit: Max Evans for NSF)

The sticks at LC-39A are still covered in scaffolding as crews continue to complete the upgrades to modernize them and match them to the ones currently installed at Pad 2 (B) at Stabase.

As for the tank farm for the pad, there are currently six Liquid Oxygen (LOX) tanks, two Liquid Methane (LCH4) tanks, the sphere, and two Liquid Nitrogen (LN2) tanks. There are still several tanks that need to arrive. The LOX and LCH4 will be piped into a set of pumps and subcoolers, and then run above ground until they hit the water deluge pipes. Then, the cryo lines will enter a trench and then split between the tower and the service structure.

LC-39A Tank Farm Progress (Credit: Max Evans for NSF)

As for the water deluge, only three tanks are installed so far, along with some of the pressurization systems. There is still a lot of work to be completed on this pad, and it will likely not be operational until at least mid-2026.

As for SLC-37, clearing is still underway as crews prepare to start construction as soon as the Environmental Impact Statement is finalized and signed off. SpaceX also requires a signed lease for the launch complex with the United States Space Force.

Featured Image: SpaceX’s Roberts Road Facility with the VAB and LC-39B in the background (Credit: Julia Bergeron for NSF). Full Flyover sets of photos (100s of hi-res photos) available to all L2 Members.

The post Preparation for East Coast Starship debut in 2026 continue to make progress appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.



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