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Starship Development Thread February 2025 (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 4 days ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
29 comments fedilink
 
 

SpaceX Starship page

FAQ

  1. When next launch? (Flight 8) SpaceX have applied for the FCC (not FAA) license, launch NET Feb 24th. (Starship Gazer, FCC)
  2. When previous launch? (Flight 7)? Booster 14 and Ship 33 launched on 2025-01-16.
  3. What was the result? Booster lands on chopsticks, ship experiences an RUD shortly before SECO.

Quick Links

Nerdle Cam | Lab Cam | Sapphire Cam | Sentinel Cam | Rover Cam | Rover 2.0 Cam | Rocket Ranch Cam | Plex Cam | NSF Starbase Live

Starship Dev January | Starship Dev December | Starship Dev November | IFT-6 launch thread | Starship Dev October | IFT-5 launch thread

Official SpaceX Starship Update Video (2024-04-06)

Road closures and road delays

Cameron County website - @bocaroad Mastodon bot

*As of 2025-02-02

  • 2-hour road delay is posted for Feb 4th from 00:00 to 04:00 for transportation from factory to Massey's. Potential candidates are S34 static fire, Test Tank 16 cryo test, or B16 cryo test.
  • 1-hour road delay is posted for Feb 8th from 00:00 to 06:00 for transportation from factory to launch pad. B15 rollout for static fire seems likely.
  • 12-hour road closures are posted for Feb 9th, 10th, and 11th from 07:00 to 19:00 for non-flight testing activities.
  • 2-hour road delay is posted for Feb 9th from 00:00 to 04:00 for transportation from Massey's to factory.
  • 2-hour road delay is posted for Feb 10th from 00:00 to 04:00, 06:00 to 10:00, 12:00 to 16:00, 21:00 to 00:00, for transportation from factory to Massey's.
  • 12-hour road closures for Feb 10th and 11th are revoked.
  • 2-hour road delays are posted for Feb 12th and 13th, 00:00 to 04:00 for transport from Brownsville Port to Pad.
  • 2-hour road delay is posted for Feb 12th, 00:00 to 04:00 or 18:00 to 22:00 for transport from Massey's to factory.
  • 2-hour road delays are posted for Feb 13th and 14th, 00:00 to 04:00 for transport from Brownsville Port to Pad.
  • 2-hour road delay is posted for Feb 12th, 20:00 to 00:00 for transport from Massey's to factory.
  • 2-hour road delays are posted for Feb 13th and 14th, 00:00 to 04:00 for transport from Brownsville Port to Pad.

Vehicle Status

*As of 2025-02-10

Follow Ring Watchers on Twitter and Discord for more.

Ship Location Status Comment
SN2 Rocket Garden Pending scrapping?
S20 Rocket Garden Pending scrapping?
S31 Indian Ocean Successful splashdown Cryo tested May 12th, suffers small electrical fire. Underwent repairs in the Highbay, rolls back to Massey's Jul 1. Cryo tested Jul 2nd and 3rd. Engines installed by Jul 26th. Rolls to Massey's Sep 6th. Partial (aborted) cryo test Sep 8th. Static fired Sep 18th. Preflight checkouts completed Nov 17th. Launched as IFT-6 on Nov 19th. In-space raptor relight was successful, ship survived reentry and performed soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
S32 Highbay Scrapped Fully stacked, fore flaps installed but not aft flaps. Scrapping began early Feb, ended mid Feb.
Test Tank 16 Massey's Testing Cryo tested four times between July and September. Sliding plates added to the catch points on Jan 27th.
S33 Caribbean Destroyed First V2 Starship. Nosecone spotted Jul 14th. Forward section spotted Jul 27th. Stacking completed Aug 23. Cryo tested Oct 29th (partial), 30th (full), and 31st (full). Raptor installation begins Nov 9th. Spin prime Dec 12th. Static fired Dec 15th and 16th. Starlink simulators loaded Jan 7th. Catch hardware installed Jan 8th. Wet dress rehearsal performed Jan 10th. Launched Jan 16th, experienced an RUD shortly before SECO.
S34 Megabay 2 Pending rollout Methane header tank spotted Aug 14th. Nosecone stacked on payload bay Sep 20th. Stacking completed around end of November. Cryo tested Jan 17th. Static fired Feb 11th. FTS installed Feb 24th.
S35 Megabay 2 Pending flap install Parts spotted Sep 20th. Forward flap installation Dec 3rd. Nosecone stacked on payload bay Dec 11th. Stacked by Feb 7th.
S36 Megabay 2 Stacking Parts spotted in December. Moved to Megabay 2 Feb 12th.
S37 Starfactory Nose cone tiling Parts spotted in December.
S38 Starfactory Assembly Parts spotted in December.
Booster Location Status Comment
B12 Megabay 1 Post-flight inspection Cryo x2, Static fire Jul 15th. Full stack cryo tests Sep 23rd and Oct 7th. FTS installed Oct 9th. Launched as IFT-5 on Oct 13, returned to launch site for successful chopstick catch. Moved to Megabay 1 Oct 15th.
B13 Gulf of Mexico Successful splashdown Cryo tests Apr 26th (methane tank) and Apr 29th (LOX tank). Static fired Oct 24th. Preflight checkouts completed Nov 17th. Launched as IFT-6 on Nov 19th. Chopsticks catch attempt was aborted, performed soft splashdown in the Gulf.
B14 Megabay 1 Pending inspections Stacked Apr 26th, Cryo tested Oct 4th and 5th. Static fired Dec 9th. FTS installed Jan 3rd. Wet dress rehearsal performed Jan 10th. Launched and landed Jan 16th.
B14.1 Megabay 1 Scrapping Multiple catch simulation "slap tests" performed on Jun 26th and 27th. Scrapping started Jan 12th.
B15 Megabay 1 Pending hot staging adapter install Stacked from July to September. Methane tank cryo test Dec 27th, full cryo test Dec 28th. Static fired Feb 9th.
B16 Megabay 1 Pending cryo test Stacking completed by Dec 26th.
B17 Build Site Assembly Parts spotted. First two sections moved to Megabay 1 Jan 4th.
B18.1 Build site Assembly Likely a test article for Block 2 boosters. Parts spotted Feb 24th.

Resources

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SpaceX readies a redo of last month’s ill-fated Starship test flight (arstechnica.com)
submitted 10 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
1 comments fedilink
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Falcon 9 launches second lunar mission of 2025 with IM-2 lander - NASASpaceFlight.com (www.nasaspaceflight.com)
submitted 2 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
0 comments fedilink
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Nova-C IM-2 launch thread (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
13 comments fedilink
 
 

| Scheduled for (UTC) | 2025-02-28, 00:16 | |

|

| | Scheduled for (local) | 2025-02-27, 19:16 (EST) | | Launch site | LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA | | Booster | B1083-9 | | Landing | A Shortfall of Gravitas | | Payloads | Nova-C IM-2, CHIMERA GEO 1, Odin, Lunar Trailblazer (SIMPLEx 5) | | Customer(s) | Intuitive Machines / NASA | | Target orbit | Trans Lunar Injection |

Webcasts

| Stream | Link | |

|

| | NASA | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx8qzcomV5A | Space Affairs | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLkWulEOl_Y | Spaceflight Now | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OapwBAVQI4 | NASASpaceflight | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi0cLW7J6Ic | The Launch Pad | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRmsuvkvlpg | SpaceX | https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1894892860270354876 | The Space Devs | https://www.youtube.com/@thespacedevs/videos

Stats

Sourced from NextSpaceflight and r/SpaceX:

☑️ 6th launch from LC-39A this year

☑️ 22 days, 1:04:00 turnaround for this pad

☑️ 100th landing on ASOG

☑️ 416th Falcon booster landing, 430th Falcon recovery attempt

☑️ 24th Falcon 9 mission this year, 442nd overall

☑️ 24th SpaceX mission this year, 458th overall (excluding Starship flights)

☑️ 25th SpaceX launch this year, 474th overall (including Starship flights)

Mission info

Nova-C IM-2

The Nova-C lunar lander, named "Athena", will deliver The Regolith and Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain (TRIDENT), also known as the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1), and the Mass Spectrometer observing lunar operations (MSolo) for NASA, and several other payloads for commercial companies to the Mons Mouton region of the Moon approximately 100 miles from the Moon’s south pole.

PRIME-1 will drill into the lunar surface, harvest and bring ice to the Moon’s surface, and use a mass spectrometer to measure how much is lost to sublimation as it turns from solid into vapor in a vacuum.

The mission will also carry a deployable lander called Micro Nova (µNova) for NASA's Tipping Point Program named "Grace", which will demonstrate the ability to carry a payload of 1kg and travel more than 2.5 km by doing "hops". During the flights, µNova will also provide high-resolution imagery of craters.

CHIMERA GEO 1

Epic Aerospace will send their CHIMERA-GEO transfer ship into space to go to a geostationary orbit, with the aim of covering an orbital position. For this launch, CHIMERA-GEO is carrying an unidentified 16U cubesat manifested by Exolaunch.

Odin

A payload for AstroForge, a company that plans to mine asteroid resources. Odin intends to head into deep space to observe near-Earth asteroid 2022 OB5 in preparation for their first retrieval mission. Odin will fly by the asteroid at a distance of about 1 kilometer, arriving 11 months after launch.

Lunar Trailblazer (SIMPLEx 5)

Lunar Trailblazer is a small (class D) lunar orbiter, part of NASA's SIMPLEx program, that will detect and map water on the lunar surface to determine how its form, abundance, and location relate to geology. Its mission is to aid in the understanding of lunar water and the Moon's water cycle.

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SpaceX completes investigation into Starship Flight 7 mishap (spacenews.com)
submitted 3 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
0 comments fedilink
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SpaceX post a review of flight 7 (www.spacex.com)
submitted 4 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
3 comments fedilink
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Starlink 12-13 launch bulletin (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 4 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
6 comments fedilink
 
 

Starlink Group 12-13 launch out of SLC-40 in Florida is currently scheduled for 2025-02-27 03:34 UTC, or 2025-02-26 22:34 local time (EST). The brand new booster, presumably B1091, to land on Just Read the Instructions.

Webcasts:

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Propellant leak blamed for Falcon 9 upper stage uncontrolled reentry (spacenews.com)
submitted 6 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
3 comments fedilink
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Starlink 15-1 launch bulletin (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 6 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
1 comments fedilink
 
 

Starlink Group 15-1 launch out of SLC-4E in California currently scheduled for 2025-02-22 23:43 UTC, or 2025-02-22 15:43 local time (PST). B1082-11 to land on Of Course I Still Love You.

Webcasts:

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SpaceX to launch NEO Surveyor (spacenews.com)
submitted 1 week ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
0 comments fedilink
 
 

NASA announced Feb. 21 it awarded a task order through the NASA Launch Services II contract for the launch of the Near Earth Orbit (NEO) Surveyor spacecraft on a Falcon 9. That task order is valued at approximately $100 million, the agency stated.

NEO Surveyor will launch on a Falcon 9 from Florida as soon as September 2027. It will operate from the Earth-sun L-1 Lagrange point, 1.5 million kilometers from Earth in the direction of the sun.

The spacecraft will feature a telescope 50 centimeters in diameter equipped with infrared detectors. That instrument will allow NEO Surveyor to detect near Earth objects and determine both their orbits and their sizes. The mission has a goal of detecting two-thirds of the NEOs at least 140 meters across in five years, and a congressionally mandated goal of 90% of such objects in 10 to 12 years.

The launch contract came just after the $1.2 billion mission passed its critical design review Feb. 6. That allows NEO Surveyor to move into the next phases of assembly and testing. Part of the spacecraft, called the instrument enclosure, is undergoing environmental testing at the Johnson Space Center. Later this spring, that and other sections of the spacecraft will go to the Space Dynamics Lab in Utah to integrate other components and perform more testing.

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Starship Flight 8 vehicles prepare to join forces at Pad A (www.nasaspaceflight.com)
submitted 1 week ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
0 comments fedilink
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Starlink 12-14 launch bulletin (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
4 comments fedilink
 
 

B1067 will become the first booster to launch for the 26th time.

Starlink Group 12-14 launch out of SLC-40 in Florida is currently scheduled for 2025-02-21 15:19 UTC, or 2025-02-21 10:19 local time (EST). Booster 1076-21 to land on A Shortfall of Gravitas.

Webcasts:

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Mere weeks after Starship’s breakup, the vehicle may soon fly again (arstechnica.com)
submitted 1 week ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
0 comments fedilink
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Following a failed deorbit burn, a Falcon 9 upper stage reenters over Northern Europe (bsky.app)
submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
2 comments fedilink
 
 

Per Jonathan McDowell, a.k.a. "the orbital police":

The Falcon 9 second stage from the Starlink 11-4 launch failed to deorbit itself on Feb 2. It reentered over Northern Europe last night, with entry over the Irish Sea at 0343 UTC Feb 19 and the reentry track extending to Poland and Ukraine a couple of minutes later

Video of reentry captured by ‪@dutchspace.bsky.social

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Starlink 10-12 launch bulletin (first booster landing in the Bahamas) (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
6 comments fedilink
 
 

Starlink Group 10-12 launch out of SLC-40 in Florida is currently scheduled for 2025-02-18 23:21 UTC, or 2025-02-18 18:21 local time (EST). Booster 1080-16 to land on Just Read the Instructions.

Webcasts:

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SpaceX invited to provide input on FAA air traffic control modernization (spacenews.com)
submitted 1 week ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
12 comments fedilink
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Starlink 12-8 launch bulletin (first 26th flight of a booster!) (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
5 comments fedilink
 
 

B1067 will become the first booster to launch for the 26th time.

Starlink Group 12-8 launch out of SLC-40 in Florida is currently scheduled for 2025-02-15 06:14 UTC, or 2025-02-15 01:14 local time (EST). Booster 1067-26 to land on A Shortfall of Gravitas.

Webcasts:

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Starship Program at the Cape Kicking into Gear (www.nasaspaceflight.com)
submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
0 comments fedilink
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NASA and SpaceX to swap Crew Dragon spacecraft to reduce Crew-10 delay (spacenews.com)
submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
0 comments fedilink
 
 

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/32651543

NASA announced Feb. 11 that it would use the Crew Dragon spacecraft Endurance for the upcoming Crew-10 mission to the ISS rather than a new Crew Dragon spacecraft as originally planned. Endurance, previously used for the Crew-3, -5 and -7 missions, had been slated to fly the Ax-4 private astronaut mission to the ISS for Axiom Space.

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Starlink 12-18 launch bulletin (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
6 comments fedilink
 
 

Starlink Group 12-18 launch out of SLC-40 in Florida is currently scheduled for 2025-02-11 18:53 UTC, or 2025-02-11 13:53 local time (EST). Booster 1077-18 to land on Just Read the Instructions.

Webcasts:

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[CSI Starbase] Stage Zero: Discovering The Limits Of Rapid Reusability | Pt 1 [50:47] (www.youtube.com)
submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
1 comments fedilink
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NASA selects SpaceX to launch astrophysics smallsat mission (spacenews.com)
submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
0 comments fedilink
 
 

NASA has selected SpaceX to launch a small exoplanet science mission as a rideshare payload as soon as September.

Pandora is a smallsat mission that is part of the agency’s Astrophysics Pioneers program for low-cost smallsats. The spacecraft features a 45-centimeter telescope equipped with optical and infrared detectors that will observe 20 stars known to have exoplanets over a one-year mission.

“Pandora’s primary goal is to probe into the atmospheres of exoplanets using transmission spectroscopy,” said Elisa Quintana, principal investigator for Pandora, during a Jan. 11 presentation about the mission at a meeting of the Exoplanet Exploration Program Analysis Group (ExoPAG).

Pandora is designed to help scientists determine if spectral signatures seen in certain exoplanets are caused by the presence of hydrogen or water in the planets’ atmospheres or instead are linked to variability in the star itself. “Stars are not uniform,” she said. “Pandora is essentially a calibration instrument to help address this problem.”

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Starlink 11-10 launch bulletin (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
5 comments fedilink
 
 

Starlink Group 11-10 launch out of SLC-4E in California currently scheduled for 2025-02-11 02:09 UTC, or 2025-02-10 18:09 local time (PST). B1071-23 to land on Of Course I Still Love You.

Webcasts:

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FCC sets stage for SpaceX and wireless industry C-band showdown (spacenews.com)
submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
14 comments fedilink
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Members of Congress raise conflict-of-interest concerns regarding Musk’s role in DOGE (spacenews.com)
submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
3 comments fedilink
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