We’re so close! Starship launch in just five days? Was the final test successful? Is the launch date still holding? Foundations for the second tower! When will we see its base? Potential and surprising parts for
the last Block 1 Booster spotted! SpaceX launches a satellite
for the European Space Agency! China is about to land on
the far side of the Moon! My name is Felix. Welcome to What About It!? Let’s dive right in! Starship Updates Man, I’m so excited! We’re getting
so close to the next Starship launch! How does SpaceX want to bring down
the launch mount refurbishment time? When will we see the second tower?
So many questions! Want to know more? Follow me! Five days! That’s how much time is left
until the fourth launch of Starship! Here at Starbase, many incredibly talented
people are working around the clock to ensure that SpaceX meets this deadline.
Looking at the launch mount, you wouldn’t guess that the biggest rocket in human history
launched from there less than three months ago. While this launch cadence may seem rapid,
it’s just the beginning. In the last episode, we focused on what changed on the rocket
itself and on its flight profile between launch 3 and 4. Today, let’s take a look at
stage zero - SpaceX’s ground equipment. A key element for a fast launch cadence.
A significant amount of effort has gone into the launch infrastructure to
minimize the need for refurbishment. For example, after flight two, the
Ship Quick Disconnect arm underwent a massive modernization, with scaffolding
visible there just days before launch. This time was well spent, as after
flight three, there was little to no refurbishment needed for that arm.
Hopefully, it will remain that way after flight four.
The goal is to eventually reach a point where the launch mount
itself requires minimal refurbishment. After the latest mission, workers replaced all the
linkages for the arms holding the entire stack. We’ve also seen a complete redesign
of the Booster Quick Disconnect. The BQD is a crucial part of the
launch deck, responsible for fueling and powering the Super Heavy Booster.
As the Raptors of Starship ignite, the quick disconnect plate retracts
and hides behind a moving door. Time is of the essence for this maneuver. This
door mechanism was replaced some time ago. Initially, it appeared that the door had just a
slightly different shape to increase its strength. However, Ryan Hansen discovered
that there was more to it. The new BQD door also implements a new mechanism.
Now, once the door closes and the quick disconnect panel retracts, a special piece of
hardware seals the delicate ports. This should prevent Foreign Object Damage
or FOD, such as rocks and dirt picked up during liftoff, from entering the system.
It will be interesting to see whether the main feed lines for liquid oxygen and methane
will need to be replaced after this launch, as has been the case after every previous liftoff…
Now, with the refurbishment process completed, the scaffolding around the
launch deck has been removed, indicating that we are in the final
stages of preparations for liftoff. On May 27th, the arms of Mechazilla
once again grabbed Ship 29 and placed it on top of Booster 11.
Normally, this would mean that the rocket is ready to launch,
but that wasn’t the case this time… As previously speculated, it appears that the
earlier Wet Dress Rehearsal did not go as planned. The rocket appeared to be fully
fueled, but looking closely, it was rather obvious that an entire ring
of propellant was missing from the Booster. Consequently, it wasn’t surprising when the
road at Starbase was closed the next day. After ensuring that all workers had left
the facility, the tank farm came to life, and shortly afterward, propellant
began flowing into Starship’s tanks. Here’s a question that often pops up
in the comments after such a test. How long did it take SpaceX to fuel
the stack? We'll take a look at this. In just 40 minutes, the prototype was almost
fully fueled, this time clearly indicated by the frostline covering all tank rings on the Booster.
This time, we also saw the Detonation Suppression System test, which usually
indicates that the test was successful. In the following hours, Starship was
detanked, and the road was reopened. Yes! According to the Cameron County website, the
rest of the non-flight closures were canceled, further suggesting that the
test went flawlessly this time. The day after the test, Ship
29 was once again de-stacked. It still requires some tile work
and, most importantly, needs to receive its flight termination charges.
Hopefully, these won’t be needed during the flight, but it’s always
better to be safe than sorry… Now, speaking of safety, the Federal Aviation
Administration confirmed in an email to Adrian Beil from NSF that the third launch of
Starship did not compromise public safety. Thanks, Adrian! Much appreciated!
This is excellent news, as it means that SpaceX is not required to submit a full mishap investigation
report to receive a modified launch license! However, it’s important to remember that this
statement itself isn’t a green light for launch. SpaceX still has to go through the usual
process of applying for a launch license, which will likely be issued just
a day or two before the launch. As of recording this video, new flight
closures have been announced for June 5th, with backup opportunities on the 6th and 7th.
This means that our current No Earlier Than or NET date is still the 5th, and so far, it
looks like SpaceX will be able to stick to it. What do you think? Will Starship launch
next week? Place your bets in the comments! Once the fourth Starship finally
launches, we’ll likely have to wait another two months before SpaceX can
prepare the launch site for the next one. However, this probably won’t be a big concern
anymore in about a year or so. Why, you ask? It’s pretty simple! One plus one equals two.
While upgrading parts on the launch mount is a great option to increase the launch
cadence, the action will become even more intense when the second tower goes online.
Over the past few weeks, the other side of the Launch Site has received considerable attention.
Thanks to Redline Helicopter Tours, we can see the incredible pace of work there from the air!
The weather at Starbase is currently very unpredictable, yet our photographer, John, was
still able to capture many interesting things. Do you notice that despite all this
construction, things look surprisingly clean? This is because the suborbital tank farm is gone,
and I don’t mean that they removed a tank or two… Oh, no, no… The entire thing has
disappeared off the face of the Earth! You wouldn’t even be able to tell that two weeks
ago, there was infrastructure capable of launching a Starship's upper stage, right there.
We can also see that, indeed, everything in front of the Gateway To Mars sign has
been turned into a temporary parking area. This is likely where the sections of the
tower will be staged before stacking. The most exciting thing here,
however, is a hole. That hole. As expected, these are the foundations for the
second Orbital Launch Integration Tower, or OLIT. Over the last few weeks, workers
have installed over 120 piles here. As you might be aware, the soil at Starbase
is really not ideal for massive structures because it’s quite soft. It’s sand and mud.
By installing piles, you can create a link that transfers the forces exerted by whatever is on
top into the deeper, more stable layers of soil. You basically bypass the soil you don't want to
build on by placing pillars on top of the soil layer that’s stable enough to take the weight.
In this case, SpaceX has decided to use the Continuous Flight Auger method, or CFA for short.
Creating such a pile isn’t that complicated! All you need is a machine equipped
with a long, hollow auger. As the auger spins and is forced into
the ground, it removes the soil while preventing the hole from collapsing.
Once you reach the final depth, concrete starts to flow through the hollow shaft, and
the auger is slowly extracted, creating a pile. Easy, right?
Concrete alone would crack over time, so workers add rebar cages to reinforce
the structure before it sets and hardens. Once the piles are completed, a
special machine removes the top part of the concrete, exposing loose rebar.
The rebar is then bent into an L-shape, more rebar is added to connect it to the structure
itself, and finally, concrete is poured to create what’s known as a pile cap.
As you can see in our pictures, a concrete mixer is positioned right next
to the foundations of the second tower. However, it’s unlikely that we’re already
at the main pile cap construction phase. If that were the case, we’d likely see
rebar shaped like the base of the tower. Instead, this is very likely Plain Cement Concrete
or PCC - a layer that separates the pile cap from the ground and allows workers to insert
blocks that will be used to rest the rebar on. Once that sets in, workers will likely swarm
in to create the actual structure from rebar. During the construction of the first
tower, this process took only a few days. As such, it’s possible that during our
next flyover, the pile cap will be ready. It will be interesting to see whether the base
of the new tower will differ from what we saw with the first one or with the one in Florida.
Now, before I tell you more about the work required to finish the second launch site,
here’s a quick word from our sponsor. We just talked about unpredictable
weather at Starbase, which can sometimes make it very difficult for us to find
a flight window for our Redline Heli. And that’s the very reason why the WAI
team uses today’s sponsor, MyRadar, to keep us informed on new developments!
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a rush and our heli flight is only minutes away, I simply ask my Amazon Alexa to load MyRadar and
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Alright, enough of weather. Believe it or not, this is just the
beginning of the piling process. They started with the tower
because it requires the most work, but the whole area around it will likely
also receive a significant number of piles. These will be less densely packed, but we
should still expect to see them in the hundreds. With the lessons learned from the first launch of
Starship, it’s very likely that the entire second launch site will be completely covered with
rebar, which will then be sunk into concrete. Once the base is complete, the tower
itself will rise quite rapidly! A total of seven sections are currently waiting at
the Sanchez Site, which we can once again see from the air. Look at these pictures! So much detail!
They’ve been transported here not only for storage but also to be equipped
with the remaining hardware. You can easily spot cryogenic pipes
that will transfer the propellant, as well as plates, rails, and other
smaller components required to finish them. The tower itself is very similar to
the original one, with one of the few differences being the height of the sections…
Levels one to six are basically identical. The first significant change
occurs at level seven. In the original tower, this level had three
segments, while here, it has only two. Between the two, section eight is similar
in height, but because the previous section is taller, section eight on the original
tower already included the base for the Mechazilla block. The crown block.
With the second tower, they decided to leave that entire mechanism as
a whole and add one more segment, which is how we ended up with section nine.
In the end, the tower is the same height. However, it will likely be easier to lift
these sections, as engineers at Starbase had a bit of a struggle with the top sections
of tower number one due to balancing issues. It really is amazing to see what you can
discover just by looking at things from the sky! Did you know you can take a helicopter
ride over Starbase and get the same kind of views that you see in our videos?
Visit redlineheli.com/felix to book your very own helicopter ride over Starbase
with $25 Off! You’ll never forget this! Now, before we move on to the build site,
I have a big announcement to make. I’ll be in Town for flight 4.
The announcement is about what happens after the launch, though.
You and I, we’ll have a party! It’s a bit of a tradition already, and I’ve done this before, but
this time, you can grab a spot and be part of it. Head over to raptoroost.com with one r
in the middle and fill out the waiver! The party is on launch day, and after the
launch which I’ll watch and hopefully stream at Raptor Roost as well. The party starts as
soon as the roads open again! Raptoroost.com! A spot is 20 dollars if you sign the
waiver before showing up and 25 if you decide to make it a very spontaneous trip.
Spots are limited and filling up fast! In fact, we’re almost full for both the launch and
the party. The link is in the description! I’m looking forward to seeing you
at the IFT4 after-launch party! Now, before we continue with Starship news,
we’ve looked into our channel metrics, and there are over 2 million returning
monthly viewers who have not subscribed yet. Help us improve the channel even further
by double-checking that you’ve hit that subscribe button so you don’t miss our updates!
While you're at it, give us a like and become a WAI supporter for exclusive SpaceX updates!
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And no matter how much you decide to give, Everyone gets the same supporter content and
access! You decide what you want to give! Okay, let’s check out the Build Site, shall we?
Here, things have definitely slowed down compared to the frenzy of prototype shifting
that occurred just a few weeks ago. However, that doesn’t mean that there’s
a lack of exciting developments. For example, our photographer,
John, captured a Booster common dome in front of the first Mega Bay.
A common dome is a section that separates the liquid oxygen tank from the
methane one in the middle of the booster. We’re not entirely sure which prototype this
part is destined for, but it could be Booster 15, which will likely be part of
the last Block 1 Starship stack! One interesting change we can see at
first glance is the new design of the cowbell vent covers. No more cow bell.
These are now more rounded compared to the currently used sharp-edged design.
Changes are also being made to the Starship production line, known as the Starfactory!
While it has mostly reached its final form, it still may grow a little bit.
Now, if you look at the side of the factory near that office space,
you can see missing wall panels. No, they didn’t run out of panels…
Concrete footings are adjacent to this part of the factory, which have recently
expanded even closer to that empty space. As such, it’s pretty clear that the
mezzanine and the factory will be connected. It’ll be interesting to see how these
structures will be joined together. Recently, Musk also mentioned that they’d
be getting rid of the Rocket Garden - oh no -or more precisely, relocating
it somewhere closer to the road. We don’t know exactly where
it will end up, but the front of the mezzanine is definitely an option.
Masseys, directly behind the Stargate sign location, would be another good option. What do
you think? Where would the Starship prototypes fit best? Leave your suggestions in the comments!
Staying on the topic of SpaceX, they’ve just launched yet another satellite
for the European Space Agency. If you’ve been following WAI for some
time now, you probably know that Europe is currently in a somewhat troubled situation.
Their heavy-lift launcher, Ariane 6, has yet to debut on its first flight, while their small
satellite rocket, Vega, is currently undergoing changes after yet another failed mission.
Stuck between a rock and a hard place. This has forced ESA to shift a few payloads
to rockets from American companies. One of the most recent examples
is the Euclid telescope, which launched last year onboard Falcon 9
Now, we have another such example… EarthCARE is a satellite designed to study
clouds and aerosols in our planet’s atmosphere. Originally, this spacecraft was supposed
to be launched on a Soyuz rocket. Then, after Russia’s invasion of
Ukraine, it was moved to Vega-C, and finally, it ended up on Falcon 9. Despite all these shifts, the launch
itself went perfectly, placing the satellite into a sun-synchronous orbit.
This means that the captured images will always be lit the same way!
The booster used during this mission has the serial number B1081. It’s relatively
fresh, with only seven flights on its record. Yes, we’ve reached a point where seven flights
qualify a Booster as green behind the grid fins! With all these launches, it
was easy to overlook one thing. Believe it or not, this was actually
the 13th Falcon launch of this month, setting a new all-time record for
monthly launch cadence at SpaceX. This milestone was supposed to be
achieved close to the end of this year! If SpaceX manages to maintain this launch rate,
they could easily complete their plan for 144 @launches in 2024. Fingers crossed!
Lastly, we have a quick but very important news piece regarding China.
While the Chinese government’s lunar program is not receiving much attention in the mainstream
media, it is continuing to make progress. At the beginning of May, they
launched a mission named Chang'e-6. It consists of an orbiter and a
lunar lander equipped with a drill and sample collection mechanism.
The main goal of the mission is to land on the moon and collect up to 2
kilograms or 4.4 pounds of soil and rocks! These samples will then be transferred to an
ascent stage, which will return to the orbiter, bringing the samples back to Earth’s
orbit and releasing the reentry capsule. While this type of mission has
been achieved multiple times, there is one key difference with Change-6.
China aims to land and recover samples from the far side of the moon, sometimes incorrectly
referred to as the dark side of the moon. There is no literal dark side of the moon - each
spot on the silver globe experiences two weeks of light followed by two weeks of darkness!
Chang'e-6 also carries a few scientific instruments from France, Italy, and Sweden.
Additionally, the orbiter carried a small CubeSat designed to capture images of the
lunar surface, and it has done just that. Images shared by the Chinese Academy of
Sciences also revealed that the lander is equipped with a tiny lunar rover
that they hadn’t previously announced. The landing was originally
scheduled for around June 25th. However, there are some rumors that it
could be attempted as early as June 2nd. Moon landing missions typically have
a low success rate, but this time, they might be able to pull it off.
The predecessor to this mission, Chang'e-5, successfully returned samples back to
Earth, so it should be a walk in the park, right? That’s it for today! Remember to smash that like
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