It was a perfect day for a launch. It seemed the only issue was not all 13 Raptor engines on the booster lit up on splashdown causing a rougher splashdown then expected. You can watch the launch on SpaceX

Highlighted Times

2:00 - Program starts

15:00 - Propellants being loaded and a description of Starship Version 3

24:00 - Flight profile then Starship and the Artemis III mission - 26:50

34:00 - 1 minute to launch. Turn up the volume. You can hear the windows shaking in the command center

40:00 - Live shot off the booster showing its return to Starbase splashing down roughly 2 miles offshore. Excellent views all the way to splashdown

1:20:00 - After deploying 20 Starlink satellites Starship starts reentry

1:37:50 - Starship reentry continues splashing down 1:40:20 in the Indian Ocean, a perfect splashdown this time. Drone views end 1:46:30

Great event yesterday!!

Thank you Orion for the chronological account and ongoing coverage.

I agree soot. Awesome. for the updates Orion.

Thanks Orion.

Launch Pad Technicians, like they did after test flight 12, are inspecting all portions of the launch pad looking for any issues with the tower and launch mount after flight 13's launch. Any changes SpaceX wants to make to the launch pad could be done at this time as well. They have these 300 foot Boom Lifts that takes workers to the underneath side of the Quick Disconnect Arm, the platform that fuels the ship, along with other parts of the tower. They have a variety manlifts reaching to areas that can't be reached by technicians on the tower. You can see these manlifts in use on occasion from here - Starship Live - scroll back.

Three boom lifts are in use here on the older version of launch pad 1. The crane was used to stack the booster and ship on this version. Now the tower does the work - click on picks to enlarge

Starship Update - Waiting on test flight 14 to schedule, looking like some time in August

Launch angles you didn't see - Starship Test Flight 13 Launch


Space Coast Live - Nasa's has 2 Starship launch pads under construction one almost completed. They are hoping for a test flight launch from the Cape by end of year. There are plans to build towers that will only catch returns, boosters and ships, in Florida and Texas

NSF Broadcasts

Thanks Orion ... great links and information

Starship Update - Very good update across the board - Flight 13, Starbase production & testing, Cape Canaveral launch site. Possible ship catch test flight 14?

Thanks, Orion!

I would like to add my thanks, Orion. This is all very informative and much appreciated.

My thanks also !! 👍👍👍

Getting closer to Test Flight 14. All testing has been completed on ship 41. It's in Maga Bay 2 being loaded with Starlink satelites

Booster 21 will be transported to launch pad 2 Tues 1pm to 5pm EST for a static fire test(SFT} then transported back to Mega Bay 1 for final checks. There are a number of tests ran during this SFT. Some of them - clamps holding the booster to the launch pad, propellant connections and fueling, ignition, engine checks, deluge system

If all goes well with the SFT a launch date should be announced


Starship Live

Latest Update



Starship - The Beginning

Elon Musk began developing the concept that became Starship in 2012 to fulfill his long-term goal of colonizing Mars and making humanity a multiplanetary species. While the overarching vision dates back to SpaceX's founding in 2002, active design work on the heavy-lift reusable architecture started a decade later

Musk's core motivation for founding SpaceX and building Starship has always been to establish a self-sustaining human city on Mars to ensure the long-term survival of human consciousness and life. Conventional rockets were too expensive. Starship was designed for complete and rapid reusability across the booster and spacecraft to drastically lower the cost per flight. The system was built with massive payload capacities to transport heavy cargo and large crews to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond


Timeline:

2002: Elon Musk founded SpaceX with the ultimate intent of enabling human life on Mars

2012: Musk publicly details initial plans for a giant reusable rocket system

2014: Construction starts on SpaceX's Starbase located in Starbase City, TX near the Boca Chica Peninsula on the Gulf of America

2019: Low-altitude prototype testing begins with the "Starhopper" in Boca Chica, Texas. Starhopper was the first low-altitude prototype built by SpaceX for the Starship development program. Resembling a stainless steel water tower, it was tested in 2019 at SpaceX's Boca Chica facility in South Texas to validate the structural design and the performance of the first methane-fueled engine, the Raptor engines first controlled flight test. Starhopper is on the site standing tall near launch pad 2

2022: SpaceX officially adopts the name Starship as prototype iterations transition to orbital-scale testing

2023: Starship Test Flight 1 - scroll to 44:30 for launch


Next: Starbase

Thanks Orion

Great updates Orion ... thank you

Booster 21 has been transported to launch pad 2 for a static fire test hopefully tomorrow Aug 28 - Starship Live

*****

Starbase

Starbase, other wise known as Starbase City, is located in TX near the Boca Chica Peninsula on the Gulf of America. It is a legally incorporated company city built and operated by SpaceX as the primary manufacturing, development and orbital launch site for SpaceX's next-generation Starship rocket system. Starship is not only launched from this site but built here on an assembly line. Once up to speed SpaceX is looking to launch 120 test launches annually by 2030 increasing launches to 1000 annually as time goes by utilizing Texas, Florida and Louisiana launch sites

Map of Starbase - zoom out to get a look at Texas location. Zoom in the see highlighted areas, click on to get info and pics


There are a number of facilities on Starbase where they manufacture parts, assemble them, run tests and launch:

Starfactory - a massive advanced manufacturing building used for high-rate mass production of vehicle sections

Mega Bays 1 & 2 - towering bays used to stack the rings and weld the massive spacecraft

The Gigabay, still under construction - this massive new vertical integration facility is designed to scale up Starship production even further allowing work to be done on 24 rockets at a time - Finished look

OLS Tank Farm - stores, cools, and delivers the huge amounts of propellants and support fluids needed to fuel SpaceX's Starship. It also holds hundreds of thousands of gallons of water. This water sprays onto the launch pad during ignition to absorb extreme heat and loud sound waves. The tank farm sits behind launch pads 1 & 2

SpaceX conducts Starship static fire testing primarily at the Massey Outpost and the active orbital launch pads. Here they run engine test-firings and pressure checks on prototype rockets before flight. A dedicated site used mainly for upper-stage Starship cryogenic and static fire engine tests. Booster are static fire tested on active launch pads after passing a series of other tests

Orbital Launch and Integration Towers (OLIT)- Launch pad 2 is active. Launch pad 1 is being renovated

Starbase Control Room- Coordinates and monitors orbital and suborbital test flights of the Starship and Super Heavy rocket systems


Living Quarters on Starbase:

Mars Pathfinder Park - Located in Boca Chica Village, named after the first Mars rover, is a specialized neighborhood where many SpaceX engineers and technicians live. This area features customized Airstream trailers. Named after the first Mars rover setting down on Mars in 1997

Starbase Village - This housing setup mimics the historic Apollo-era Cape Canaveral worker camps. SpaceX has also expanded local living options to include newly built prefab homes and rental houses in the village


Next: Starship