This article is about the full stack only. For the individual prototypes, see Ship 24 (S24) and Booster 7 (B7).
Starship 7/24 was the second fully stacked Starship prototype (after Starship 4/20). The first stage is Booster 7 (B7) and the second stage is Ship 24 (S24).
Starship 24 / Booster 7 Info Card (by The Proky / Boca Bingo)
Ship 24's engine chill vent was modified. As of the newest stack from January 2022, a tube on either side of the ship connects with a corresponding tube on B7 for the redirection of the engine chill vents have been spotted and first tested on January 13.
A first launch attempt took place on April 17, 2023. Due to a frozen valve resulting in a pressurization issue on the booster, SpaceX had to scrub the launch and transitioned to a WDR.
History[]
On October 31, the following scheme was published, showing the remaining path to an orbital flight test:[1]
SpaceX announced on January 12 that wet dress rehearsals and hold down firing of B7's 33 engines would be conducted in the weeks ahead of the first test: "Team are stepping into a series of tests prior to Starship's first flight test in the weeks ahead, including full stack wet dress rehearsals and hold down firing of Booster 7's 33 Raptor engines"[2]
After the static fire with 31 engines, Elon Musk announced that they did it with only 50% throttle and that a "Launch attempt next month will be at ~90%."[3]
Timeline[]
- 11 Oct 2022: S24 stacked on B7
Testing Campaign[]
11 October 2022 - Stacking[]
On 11 October 2022, Ship 24 was stacked onto B7 after a failed attempt the night before that also damaged several tiles on Ship 24. The issue likely was linked to the previously installed felt that should soften the impact of a booster on the chopsicks during a catch attempt. Before lifting, SpaceX made some short term fixes on the chopsticks.
Timeline according to LabPadre discord and NSF stream:[4]
- 01:43 Chopsticks moved into position
- 02:56 Half of the pad closed, chopsticks latched into upper load points
- 04:48 Pad opened
- 05:47 Chopsticks released from S24
- Morning: Last night's stacking attempt has been aborted due to the bumpers on the chopsticks interfering with the Ship's TPS tiles while attaching to it. Bumpers were removed from the chopsticks.
- 10:32 Chopsticks moved up
- 10:35 Chopsticks connected to upper load points of S24
- 12:14 Half of the pad closed
- 13:26 Pad opened as chopsticks released S24; teams still working on some issues
- 13:30 Ship QD arm swung back to B7
- 15:01 Ship QD arm swung away from B7
- 16:22 Temporary QD plate removed from S24
- 16:46 Pressure loss on S24 with a dent appearing
- 17:24 S24 attached to chopsticks again
- 17:38 Road closed
- 18:23 Chopstick stabilization pins latched into place
- 18:39 Methane side vent stack venting
- 18:44 Stabilizer pins fully moved in
- 18:48:50 Lifting started
- 18:51 rotated slightly away from B7 during a short hold
- 18:52 Lift resumed
- 19:00 Drone spotted
- 19:04 One minute lift pause nearly at top
- 19:06 Top reached and rotation began
- 19:09 Hold on rotation
- 19:14 Rotation resumed
- 19:27 S24 arrived over B7, began to be lowered
- 19:29 Ship QD arm moved back towards ship/booster
- 19:37 Lowering resumed
- 19:45 Lowered further
- 19:48 S24 fully stacked on B7
- 19:55 S24 lifted slightly again
- 19:57 Position adjusted
- 20:03 Lowered slightly, but not yet completed
- 20:04 Stack complete
- 22:11 Road opened
- ---
- 00:59 Ship QD attached to S24
- 01:49 Ship QD disconnected
- 02:39 Ship QD attached to S24 again
12 October 2022 - Realignment and checks[]
- 10:50 Road closed
- 12:53 Walve van to pad [?]
- 13:20 OLIT elevator to Ship QD arm
- 13:37 Ship QD disconnected; crews started to work on Ship QD arm
- 13:46 Two man lifts went up
- 13:54 Crews inspect the joint between S24 and B7
- 13:56 QD arm inspection platform extended
- 13:59 Lifts went down again
- 14:05 Walve van left; work on Ship QD (both ends) continued
- 14:23 Crews left Ship QD panel
- 14:41 Workers left OLIT by elevator
- 15:07 S24 lifted off B7
- 16:00 Crew working on Ship QD arm
- 16:15 Crew left QD arm, some cables from QD arm still connected to S24
- 16:29 S24 lowered again; touched down at 16:32
- 16:52 Road opened
Elon Musk[5] posted the following picture after this day:
13 October 2022 - Testing[]
Testing was likely aborted, possibly due to issues on the ship QD.
- 10:23 Road closed
- 10:44 GSE tanks road side vent started
- 10:48 OLM as well as OLIT vent started
- 11:15 OLIT vent stopped
- 11:35 Pad cleared
- 11:50 OLM vent stopped
- 12:13 Cars to pad
- 14:20 Pad cleared
- 14:29 CH4 subcoolers started to frost
- 15:20 Cars to pad 2
- 16:39 Road opened
16 October 2022 - Destacking[]
Timeline according to LabPadre discord:
- 11:08 Ship QD detached from S24
- 12:13 QD arm retracted
- 12:25 Lift started
- 12:48 Descend began
- 13:22 S24 touched down on stand
20 October 2022 - Full stack for second time[]
Timeline according to LabPadre discord:
- 08:42 QD arm swung away from B7
- 09:08 Whole pad closed ahead of lifting operations
- 09:12 S25 lift onto Pad A started
- 09:29 S24 lift started
- 09:44 S25 lift onto Pad A complete
- 09:52 QD arm swung towards b7
- 10:11 S24 lift onto B7 complete
- 11:49 QD attached to S25
- 12:28 Ship QD connected to S24
- 13:07 Ship QD full speed retraction test and reattached later
- 15:46 LR11000X detached from S25
- 16:25 Single raptor engine delivered to launch site
- 16:51 Raptor platform lowered
24 October 2022 - Cryo Proof Test[]
SpaceX conducted the first cryogenic proof test with Starship 7/24, both tanks frosted up partially, with the booster being filled about two thirds. Thermal imagery showd residual LOX/LN2 in the Ship the next morning, possibly indicating issues with detanking,[6] which however are unconfirmed. Timeline according to LabPadre and NSF streams:
- 08:57 CH4 tanks vent stack venting
- 09:06 Road closed
- 09:11 OLS tank farm activity
- 09:38 CH4 subcoolers slowly started to frost up
- 09:50 Pad cleared
- 11:10 CH4 subcooler frost stopped to increase; then started to decrease
- 11:24 Pad reopened
- 11:38 Pad cleared
- 12:18 OLM vent and OLIT vent started
- 14:00 S24 depress vents (likely on CH4 tank)
- 15:24-25 Several ventings on stack
- 15:35 OLM vent stopped
- 15:36 SoLS tank farm grass vent spotted, indicating possible S25 testing
- 15:45 OLM and OLIT vent started again
- 15:49 Huge vent [unknown location
- 16:18 OLM vent increased a lot
- 16:30 OLM vent stopped, restarted slightly at 16:32; LOX side appears to be very active (view free); cryo load to start
- 16:35 Thermal imagery show filling of booster LOX tank with cryo (from active LOX side): visually seen on B7 at 16:37
- 16:41 OLIT vent increased a lot; venting noises being heard from regularly
- 16:50 OLIT vent decreased; B7 LOX tank frosty several rings
- 16:51 New venting from OLIT, just above the pipe, spotted
- 16:59 Frost on S24 LOX tank started to form
- 17:06 Ship QD lines "venting"
- 17:16 B7 LOX tank frost up to half; ship frost remained at around 1 ring
- 17:20 OLIT vent increased again
- 17:21 B7 LOX frost arrived top of chines; drone spotted
- 17:30 B7 LOX frost stopped to increase (7 rings still missing)
- 18:05 Frost on both tanks started to decrease
- 21:32 Road opened
26 October 2022 - Cryo Proof Test[]
Timeline according to LabPadre and NSF streams:
- 09:04 Road closed
- 09:54 Pad cleared
- 09:55 Slight frost appeared on CH4 subcoolers
- 10:30 CH4 side venting increased a lot
- 12:53 CH4 subcooler top vents started
- 13:06 B7 CH4 tank frost started to form
- 13:20 CH4 subcoolers top vent stopped; frost more than 3 rings
- 13:25 Recondenser active - likely detanking
- 13:52 Frost (3 rings high) starting to recede
- 14:01-07 CH4 subcoolers top vent started again
- 14:03 B7 depress vent near cmn dome
- 14:08 Frost disappeared
- 15:16 CH4 subcoolers top vent started again slightly
- 15:57 CH4 subcoolers top vent started to vent a lot
- 16:08 Frost appeared on B7 CH4 tank again
- 16:29 Frost started to appear on S24 CH4 tank - first cryo load on CH4 tank via Ship QD [conflicting opinions on whether methane or ln2 is loaded*]
- 16:45 Frost on B7 CH4 tank on around 7 rings; CH4 subcoolers stopped venting - loading likely finished
- 16:51 Recondenser active again - likely detanking
- 17:04 CH4 subcoolers restarted slightly
- 17:08 Frost started to decrease
- 17:20 Frost on S24 disappeared; condensation started to form
- 17:45 Frost on B7 nearly fully disappeared
- 17:49 Loud and long venting from unknown location
- 17:57 CH4 subcoolers top started to vent again slightly
*Nevertheless, this test has shown, that the OLM and OLIT vents are likely only related to operations on the LOX tanks. Previously, it was just thought to indicate chilling of lines before the actual loading can begin. It appears, that this is not necesseary on CH4 tanks.
31 October 2022 - Cryo Proof and SQD Test[]
Timeline according to LabPadre and NSF streams:
- 08:39 Road closed
- 09:08 Pad cleared
- 10:02 Frost started to from on CH4 subcoolers
- 10:43 Cars to pad
- 11:36 Pad cleared again
- 11:45 CH4 subcoolers frost continued to rise
- 12:17 OLM and OLIT vent started - indicating LOX line chilling
- 12:34 LOX subcoolers spooled up alot, OLM vent increased
- 13:23 OLM vent stopped
- 15:31 B7 LOX tank frost started to form
- 15:34 OLIT vent increased a lot
- 16:12 Frost started to recede
- 16:27 OLM vent restarted
- 16:32 OLIT vent restarted
- 16:48 Loud vent
- 16:51:48 Full speed Ship QD retract test under cryo conditions for the first time! (venting from QD spotted)
- 16:59-17:00 Ship QD extended towards S24, stopped a few cm from it
- 17:01-02 Retracted slightly, extended slightly again
- 17:03 Nearly fully extended
- 17:04 Retracted and extended
- 17:05 Retracted and extended, now likely fully connected
- 17:31 B7 fwd dome depress vents
- 18:49 Cars to pad
- 18:56 Road opened
03 November 2022 - Cryo Proof Test[]
During today's single species cryo test, SpaceX conducted two cycles. During the first cycle, both methane tanks were partially loaded, during the second cycle,both LOX tanks were partially loaded.
Testing timeline according to LabPadre discord:
- 07:58 Road closed
- 08:56 Pad cleared
- 11:47 Cars to pad
- 12:15 Pad cleared
- 12:51 Cryo load started (CH4 subcoolers top vent)
- 13:03 B7 CH4 tank frost formed
- 13:21 S24 CH4 tank frost formed
- 14:00 Detanking started
- 15:30 OLIT vent started
- 16:07 Second cryo load, now for LOX tanks, started
- 16:13 OLM vent stopped
- 16:20 Frost on B7 LOX tank started
- 16:22 OLIT vent started
- 16:42 OLIT vent stopped; B7 frost at about at around 6-7 rings
- 16:47 S24 LOX tank started to frost; at 55 around 1 ring frost
- 16:55 B7 and S24 LOX tanks detanking, OLIT and OLM vents restarted
- 17:15 Frost started to recede
- 18:41-45 B7 depress vents
- 20:01 Road opened
07 November 2022 - Cryo Proof Test[]
Today, B7's CH4 tank was cryo testes, as well as S25's LOX. tank
Testing timeline according to LabPadre and NSF streams:
- 07:54 CH4 subcoolers slowly getting frosty
- 08:03 Road closed
- 08:43 Pad cleared
- 09:28 OLS tank farm road side vent started
- 09:36 CH4 side spooled up
- 10:34 Road side vent stopped for 2 minutes
- 10:43 Road side vent stoped, CH4 subcoolers top vent started (cryo load)
- 10:55 B7 frost started to form on CH4 tank
- 11:10 Frost reached about 3 rings high
- 11:25 Frost started to recede
- 11:50 Frost fully disappeared
- ---13:23 Activity at SoLS started for S25 testing, see S25
- 16:48 FIREX tested on OLM
- 18:42 Road opened
08 November 2022 - Destack[]
SpaceX today destacked S24 from B7 in order to procede with B7's static fire tests. In the meantime, S25 was lifted off pad A and transported back to the launch site. Timeline according to LabPadre discord:
- 11:23 Ship QD disconnected
- 11:59 Small portion of hwy4 closed ahead of destacking operations
- 12:46 QD arm swung away from stack
- 13:06 Lift started
- 13:18 Swung away from B7, started to go down
- 13:52 S24 touched down on transport stand
09 January 2023 - Stacking[]
During lifting, it was noted that the "Remove Before Flight" compression ring from S24's RVac engines have been removed, so no more static fire tests should be expected.[7] The road wasn't closed for the stacking. Timeline according to LabPadre discord and streams, as well as NSF:
- 07:44 Ship lifting points deployed on chopsticks
- 08:51 S24 started to move
- 09:14 S24 relocated to OLP
- 10:01 Booster QD attached to B7
- 10:10 S24 moved in between chopsticks
- 12:05 Chopsticks raised up to lifting points and closed in on S24
- 12:24 Closed in further
- 12:25 Aft flaps extended
- 12:31 Ship QD arm swung away
- 14:27 PA:
- 14:51 Stabilizer pins moved in (not yet completely)
- 14:53 Moved in further
- 15:03 Moved in further
- 15:12 Lift started, lifted a few feet
- 15:17 Lift continued, now fast
- 15:25 Squeeking noices
- 13:26 Lift operation stopped, depress vent started, LR11000X started to move
- 13:27 Lift restarted
- 13:29:26 Lift stopped at final hight and started to rotate right away
- 15:37:20 Rotation completed
- 15:38-40 Ship QD arm rotated towards stack
- 15:46 Moved down a bit
- 15:50 Slightly aligned and moved down some more
- 15:52 Fog moved in
- 15:58 Moved down a bit
- 16:03 Nearly fully lowered
- 16:04:30 Completely lowered; full stack complete
- 18:43 Ship QD attached to S24
12 January 2023 - GSE Testing[]
SpaceX announced, that wet dress rehearsals and hold down firing of B7's 33 engines would be conducted in the weeks ahead of the first test: "Team are stepping into a series of tests prior to Starship's first flight test in the weeks ahead, including full stack wet dress rehearsals and hold down firing of Booster 7's 33 Raptor engines"[2]
Testing timeline according to LabPadre and NSF streams:
- 06:58 OLM FireX test
- 07:45 Road closed, at unusual spot further away from launch site
- 08:34 CH4 tank vertical vent started
- 08:40 Some venting from LOX side
- 08:48 Pad cleared
- 09:05 CH4 Subcoolers started to frost
- 09:38 CH4 side venting started a lot
- 14:21 OLM vent started
- 15:16 CH4 subcoolers top vent started
- 18:31 Road opened
13 January 2023 - Propellant Load Test[]
Today, SpaceX conducted a propellant load test. During this test, the new Starship engine chill vent was spotted. Testing timeline according to LabPadre and NSF streams:
- 06:30 FIREX test
- 07:44 Some venting from LOX side
- 07:50 Road closed
- 08:34 Pad cleared
- 08:50 CH4 tanks vertical vent stack started
- 09:18 CH4 subcoolers slowly started to frost
- 09:20 CH4 side venting spooled up
- 10:39 OLM vent started
- 10:41 OLIT venting started, increased at 10:45, stopped a few minutes later
- 11:03 LOX side venting started a lot
- 11:23 CH4 subcooler top vent started idicating prop load
- 11:33 Venting from engines under OLM started
- 11:35 B7 LOX tank getting frosty
- 11:37 B7 CH4 tank getting frosty as well
- 11:44 OLM vent restarted
- 11:49 OLIT vent stopped, possibly starting some fuelling on Ship
- 11:56 OLIT vent restarted
- 12:00 Engine chill pipe vent from south side of Ship [new vent using partly the booster as well!]; so there's a minimal amount of propellants in the ship
- 12:01 Loading stopped at around 6 rings on B7 LOX tank and at around 1.5 rings on CH4 tank
- 12:10? Engine chill pipe vent from north side of Ship started as well; OLIT vent stopped
- 12:28 Frost on B7 CH4 tank started to decrease
- 12:35 B7 LOX tank frost decreasing as well
- 13:11 Ship QD detached from S24
- 13:18 SQD reconnected to S24
- 14:54 B7 and S24 depress vents; frost on LOX tank nearly completely disappeared
- 15:51 Cars to pad
- 06:06 Road opened
18 January 2022 - Propellant Load Test[]
For today's testing, an extended MSIB was issued.[8] Together anouncments of village evacuations (on January 15), many expected a WDR (wet dress rehersal), or at least more filling of the Ship than last time. However, the test was very similar to the one on January 13 with propellant load on the booster (CH4 tank a bit more), and only slight activity on the Ship. According to Maria Pointer, a local resident, today, a partial WDR was to be expected and she had to stay away from Esperson Office. For next Monday, more east village end evacuations are planned, so more testing could be expected.[9] During the test, both antenna dishes pointed towards the launch site. Testing timeline according to LabPadre and NSF streams:
- 07:51 Road closed
- 07:41 LOX side venting started
- 07:53 Venting near OLP berm started
- 08:05 CH4 vertical tank vent started
- 08:25 CH4 side venting started, subcoolers started to frost
- 08:37 FIREX system tested on OLM
- 08:48 Pad cleared
- 10:57 OLM vent started and increased over next half an hour
- 10:58 OLIT vent started and increased over next few minutes
- 11:06 Unknown OLM side vent spotted (near the burst vent?), again at 11:07
- 11:16 LOX subcoolers started to vent a lot
- 11:30 OLIT vent stopped
- 11:32 OLM vent increased a lot
- 11:33 CH4 subcoolers top vent started
- 11:36 OLM vent stopped, rest of tank farm very active
- 11:41 Engine chill vent near tower base started
- 11:42 LOX side venting up t berm increased a lot
- 10:43 Frost on B7 CH4 tank started to form, shortly followed by LOX tank; OLIT vent restarted
- 11:50 Very heavy OLM venting
- 11:55 OLIT vent decreased a bit
- 11:58 Some booster venting
- 12:00 LOX tank about 5 rings frosty, CH4 tank 3 rings; stopped rising
- 12:04 Ship engine chill vent started
- 12:07 Northern S24 chill vent stopped, southern continued
- 12:25 Booster frost started to decrease - detanking
- 12:29 Ship engine chill vent (south stopped as well)
- 12:30 Road block moved down to usual location
- 12:50 CH4 subcooler top started to defrost
- 13:00 OLM vent restarted
- 13:01 OLIT vent increased for a short period
- 13:03 CH4 top vents restarted
- 13:05 OLM vent stopped
- 13:06 OLIT vent stopped
- 13:09 TAnk farm road side vent started
- 13:11 OLM vent restarted
- 13:35 CH4 subcoolers increased again for a short time
- 14:13 S24 Depress vents
- 15:15 Cars to pad
- 15:20 Road opened
23 January 2023 - WDR (Wet Dress Rehearsal)[]
For today's testing, the village has been evacuated,[10] a TFR with a 4000 ft higher altitude than the standard has been issued,[11] and an extended range MSIB was issued.[12] SpaceX commented this test:
"Starship completed its first full flight-like wet dress rehearsal at Starbase today. This was the first time an integrated Ship and Booster were fully loaded with more than 10 million pounds of propellant."[13] "Today’s test will help verify a full launch countdown sequence, as well as the performance of Starship and the orbital pad for flight-like operations".[14]
Timeline according to LabPadre and NSF streams [NSF summary video here[15]]:
- 06:50 (or earlier) Road closed
- 07:27 CH4 vertical vent stack started to vent
- 08:04 Pad cleareld
- 08:13 Road closure moved up to production site; LOX side berm vent started slowly
- 08:19 Chopsticks started to open
- 08:20 Clearing of village and production site continued
- 08:21 CH4 side as well as LOX side venting started
- 08:24 Chopsticks opened up further
- 08:29 LOX subcoolers top vent started, likely for
- 08:33-36 Fully opened chopsticks started to move down a bit
- 08:35 Police cars now near the Starbase sign
- 09:00 LOX subcoolers frosty
- 09:30 LOX subcoolers frost disappeared again
- 09:40 (or earlier) Satellite dishes lowered towards launch site
- 10:20 Nearly all venting has died down
- 11:22 LOX subcoolers started to vent again
- 11:28 LOX subcoolers venting stopped
- 13:15 LOX subcoolers restarted but decreased again; only slight puffs over next few minutes
- 13:16 CH4 site venting restarted as well; increased over next few minutes
- 13:31 Renewed strong puff from LOX subcoolers
- 13:35 CH4 subcoolers frosty
- 13:37 OLM vent started
- 13:40 Small OLIT vent started as well
- 13:53 LOX subcoolers top vent started again, now not only as puff
- 13:53 OLM vent increased a lot as well
- 13:58 LOX subcoolers top now frosty; OLIT vent stopped; OLM vent increased a lot again "water fall mode"
- 13:59 CH4 subcoolers topvent started, usually indicating CH4 load soon
- 14:04 OLM vent stopped, indicating LOX load to begin
- 14:08 OLM engine chill vent line frosty
- 14:08 B7 CH4! frost started to form
- 14:09 B7 LOX tank frost started to form as well
- 14:15 OLIT venting restarted
- 14:16 OLIT vent increased a lot
- 14:18 LOX and CH4 side still very active
- 14:20 B7 LOX frost 4 rings; CH4 frost nearly 3 rings
- 14:23 OLIT vent decreased
- 14:27 B7 LOX frost 6 rings, CH4 frost 3 rings
- 14:32 B7 LOX frost 7 rings, CH4 friost 3.5 rings
- 14:34 Minor B7 vent
- 14:35 S25 LOX and CH4 tank frost started to form
- 14:42 Ship engine chill vent started on both sides
- 14:45 B7 LOX frost 9 rings, CH4 frost 6 rings; S24 frost LOX about 2 rings, CH4 about 1 ring
- 14:48 Booster vent, as well as on 14:50, 14:58, 15:00, 15:06, 15:11, 15:12, 15:23, 24, 25...
- 14:59 B7 LOX 11 rings, CH4 8 rings; S24 LOX 4 rings, CH4 2 rings
- 14:59 S24 Engine chill vent stopped
- 15:10 B7 LOX nearly 13 rings, CH4 9 rings; S24 LOX 5 rings and rest condensation, CH4 likely 3 rings
- 15:11 S24 CH4 load looks like it has completed
- 15:12 OLIT base engine chill vent started
- 15:16 S24 LOX tank looks full as well (full frost)
- 15:17 S24 engine chill vent restarted
- 15:18 OLM two sided-vent near the puff vent started
- 15:24 B7 LOX 16 rings, CH4 11.5 rings
- 15:27 S24 header tank venting
- 15:28 B7 LOX 18 rings, CH4 12.5 rings; S24 engine chill vent seems to have stopped
- 15:31 OLIT vent restarted
- 15:32:05-33:31 huge and long B7 CH4 vent as it has reached the top
- 15:34 LOX subcooler top vents stopped
- 15:35 OLM vent; B7 LOX load stopped at 19 rings
- 15:35:00-36:02 again huge and long CH4 vent
- 15:37 CH4 subcooler top vent stopped
- 15:45 Last ring from B7 CH4 tank condensated
- 15:46 LOX tank now fully frosty (only condensation on last ring?)
- 15:47:32 - 49 FIREX on OLM; possibly T-0
- 15:51 S24 vent as well as header tank vent; CH4 subcooler puffs started
- 16:00 Huge short OLM vent purge
- 16:03 LOX subcoolers started to venting a bit more agian
- 16:11 Chopsticks moved up
- 16:12-23 Chopsticks started to close
- 16:16 Detanking started, frost on booster tanks started to decrease
- 16:25 Ship frost likely started to decrease as well
- 16:59 Road closure extended from 20:00 to 22:00
- 18:43-44 Long B7 depress vents on both tanks
- 20:05 B7 frost seems to have disappeared completely
- 20:34 Cars to pad
- 20:57 Road opened
25 January 2023 - Destack[]
Crews destacked S24 from B7 for final upgrades and testing, including B7's static fire test: "After completing Starship’s first full flight-like wet dress rehearsal, Ship 24 will be destacked from Booster 7 in preparation for a static fire of the Booster’s 33 Raptor engines".[16] Timeline according to LabPadre discord:
- 12:38 Ship QD retracted from S24
- 14:28 Ship QD arm swung away from stack
- 14:50 S24 lift started
- 15:07 LR11000X crane being lowered
- 15:09 Ship QD arm swung back towards B7
- 15:57 S24 touched down on transport stand
- 23:02 Chopsticks lowered to resting stop.
05 April 2023 - Stacking[]
Crews encountered an issue with a dangling cable on S24's aft section, causing them to abort the first lift and lower it down for resolving the problem.
Timeline according to NSF and LabPadre streams:
- 06:48 Lift of S24 started, about 50 cm
- 06:50-51 Slightly rotated
- 06:52-07:10 Lifted
- 07:10 Ship QD arm extended
- 07:08 Line/Rope hanging from S24 spotted on cams
- 07:16 Drone inspection of the dangling cable
- 07:18 Lowered again a bit
- 07:20 Ship QD arm retracted
- 07:21-26 Lowered 1/3
- 07:27 Rotated a bit away from B7
- 07:28-29 Lowered a bit more
- 07:31-32 Rotated towards B7 again
- 07:33-38 Lowered towards stand
- 07:41 Lowered further a bit, not completely lowered on stand
- 07:46 Workers around stand
- 07:49 Worker at S24 aft section, working on loose cable
- 07:52 Work seems finished
- 07:57-58 Rotated towards B7
- 07:59-08:05 Lifted about half way
- 08:06-07 Rotated away from B7 a bit
- 08:08-09 Lift continued a bit
- 08:09-10 Rotated towards B10 again
- 08:11-16 Lift continued to top
- 08:17 Ship QD arm extended
- 08:24-31 Rotated over B7
- 08:34-35 Lowered; afterwards position of S24 was readjusted several times
- 08:50-51 Lowered further; the space between ship and booster is not equal on the circumference
- 09:18 Only perhaps some centimeters left
- 09:31 Fully stacked
- 09:39 Lifted slightly again
- 09:44 Chopsticks alignment pins moved, so they had to be released earlier
- 09:46 Moved a bit more, several realignment moves over next few minutes
- 10:02 Moved slightly
- 10:14 Chopsticks released stack, indicated by swinging
- 10:36-41 S24 lifted again
- 11:10-12 Lowered again
- 11:14-15 Some realignments
- 11:16 Lowered some more
- 11:20 Moved some more
- 11:25 Lifted a bit again; followed by some more realignment
- 11:31 Lowered slightly again
- 11:37 Some more moves
- 11:40-41 Lowered some more
- 11:47 Realignment complete, very slight movement relative to QD arm
- 15:35WQD full speed
11–12 April 2023 - Destack[]
SpaceX destacked S24 from B7 in the night from April 11 to 12, likely to make final launch preparations such as FTS installation.
Timeline according to LabPadre discord:
- 20:48 Ship QD arm retracted
- 23:03 Lift started; lifted a few centimeters; observed by drone with spotlight
- 23:07-14 S24 rotated away from B7
- 23:18 Stated to being lowered
- 23:45 Lowering stopped
- 23:46-48 Rotated further away from B7
- 23:49 Descend continued
- 00:17 Descend stopped about 2 meters above stand
- 00:19-20 Rotated
- 00:24-26 Lowered more
- 00:29 Lowered a bit more
- 00:31-41 Lowered further
- 00:39-41 Rotated slightly; adjustment continued
- 00:48-58 Lowering continued, stopped a few centimeters above stand
- 01:31-34 Lowerd furhter
- 01:47-48 Touched down on stand
- 02:10 Workers at the stand
- 03:36 Chopsticks detached from S24
15 April 2023 - Stacking[]
Stacking timeline ahead of potential launch on April 17:
- 10:32 Manlifts left B7 FTS area
- 12:44 Temporary pressurization lines being detached form S24 QD port
- 13:02 Sheriffs clearing hwy4 ahead of lift
- 13:25 Road closed at launch site
- 13;59 Ship QD arm retracted
- 14:10-13 Chopsticks stabilization pins extended further
- 14:29-30 Pins inserted and fixed
- 14:33-34 Slightly lifted
- 14:38-39 Rotated a bit towards B7
- 14:40-47 Lifted half
- 14:49 Rotated slightly away from B7
- 14:49-51 Lifted further
- 14:52-52 Rotated towards B7 a bit again
- 14:54-59 Lifted to top
- 15:00 B7 depress vent
- 15:00-01 Ship QD arm extending back
- 15:03-11 Rotated over B7
- 15:12-13 Lowered a bit
- 15;14 Lowered further
- 15:15-24 Alignments
- 15:26 Lowered further
- 15:29 Lowered further, only few centimeters missing
- 15:31-32 Lowered further, left (windward) sight touching down; right sight not yet
- 15:40 Small alignments continued over next few minutes
- 15:59 Alignment continued
- 16:04 Drone inspection
- 16:04-05 Lowered further
- 16:06-09 Lowered slightly more; seems completely stacked
- 17:08 S24 transport stand moved away from OLIT
- 18:16 Ship QD connected to S24
17 April 2023 - Scrubbed launch attempt - WDR[]
Main article, with timeline: OFT-1
On April 17, 2023, SpaceX attempted to launch Starship 7/24. The whole countdown went very smooth, however, at 08:03, John Insprucker announced an pressurization issue on the first stage (booster) which they were working on. At 08:11, he announced that the launch director decided to scrub the launch attempt and do a Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR) instead with the countdown going to be stopped at T-10 seconds.[17]
20 April 2023 - Flight and RUD[]
Main Article: Starship Flight Test 1
The rocket ignited its engines, with 3 of them failing to ignite, not enought to scrub the launch, the rocket started to have several engines exploding, some of them damaging the engine next to it, causing it to explode too. The rocket reached Max Q, and attempted a stage separation, which failed to happen, as the booster ran out of hydraulics, and subsecuently lost control. The FTS was activated, but it only damaged the rocket instead of destroying it, causing it to explode 40 seconds after it was supposed to[18]. After that, the FAA made SpaceX propose some corrective actions to avoid damage to Starbase, and the biomass around it, and to make the vehicle safer[19], as the rocket destroyed the ground under the launchpad, and failed to reach much of the targets for the mission.
References[]
- ↑ https://twitter.com/SciGuySpace/status/1587098804452573186/photo/1
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1613568779216359424
- ↑ https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1624412830446534656
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRfnO4GLafE
- ↑ https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1580350143445942272/photo/1
- ↑ https://twitter.com/CSI_Starbase/status/1584896992668692484
- ↑ https://twitter.com/CSI_Starbase/status/1612566707150770182
- ↑ https://twitter.com/VisitBocaChica/status/1615483119016071168
- ↑ https://twitter.com/BocachicaMaria1/status/1615761298955829249
- ↑ https://twitter.com/BocaChicaGal/status/1617504665452830722
- ↑ https://twitter.com/SpaceTfrs/status/1616994354391834626
- ↑ https://twitter.com/VisitBocaChica/status/1616569625184968707
- ↑ https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1617676629001801728
- ↑ https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1617676719103836164
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZ0n1mEeao0
- ↑ https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1617936157295411200
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5QXreqOrTA
- ↑ https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-test
- ↑ https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2023/09/08/faa-starship-grounded-corrective-action.html