Spaceship preparations point to possible tower capture attempt on Flight 5 – NASASpaceFlight.com

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The Starship program is testing with a possible tower capture in mind for the system’s next flight, a goal that seems more within reach after Flight 4’s successful soft landing on the ocean. In addition to a booster test section – Booster 14.1 – that will move to the orbital launch pad, a second orbital launch pad is currently under construction at Starbase, using lessons learned from the first pad.

Many signs point to a possible capture attempt on Starship’s fifth flight. Elon Musk posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that he believed a capture attempt should occur on flight 5. A new communications license from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) includes language that states that there should be either a soft ocean landing like the last flight or a capture attempt at the orbital launch site.

The biggest sign of SpaceX’s near-term flight test intentions is the rollout of a new test article, known as Booster 14.1. B14.1 is a simulated small methane tank, including a forward booster dome, a common dome, and a quad-methane tank section.

The truncated booster article was installed by crane onto the orbital launch pad after completion of testing of the new breaker cap and lifting points at the former Masseys gun range, now a test site for Starbase.

There were three upcoming road closures listed for Starbase: Tuesday, June 25 from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. CDT (17:00 to 01:00 UTC, June 25/26), Wednesday, June 26 from 08:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. CDT (13:00 to 01:00 UTC, June 26/27), and Thursday, June 27 at the same times as the June 26 closure.

However, SpaceX has rescinded the June 25 and 27 closures and used the June 26 closure for testing.

HA! And now we know why they use a test tank for these tests. #CLAPhttps://t.co/fkcXWYv7Vv pic.twitter.com/EPalY02JGm

— Chris Bergin – NSF (@NASASpaceflight) June 26, 2024

The June 26 shutdown was used to test B14.1 and SpaceX has an intermittent shutdown on June 27 from 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM for more testing. However, contrary to previously thought, SpaceX did not pick up the shortened test booster, nor was it filled with propellant or water.

Instead, SpaceX pressurized the test tank, causing the north arm to quickly close and touch the tank. SpaceX is testing this because during actual capture operations, the arms must close and touch the booster to get the landing rails under the lift points.

While B14.1 is prepared for testing with the “chopsticks” arms, likely as part of testing the system’s response before any capture attempt, other activities at Starbase are preparing the site for a busy and active future of launches , at least when there are no storms in the area.

SpaceX also now has temporary closures from 10 p.m. CDT on June 26 to 2 a.m. CDT on June 27 (3 a.m. to 7 a.m. UTC on June 27), with the same times for June 27/28 and June 28/29. These were put in place to transport the final tower sections from the Port of Brownsville to the Sanchez site, but the barge carrying the tower is not scheduled to arrive at the port until June 28. It is highly unlikely that any of these closures will be used.

Weather conditions in the area became so bad on June 20 that work on the facility had to be halted. The wind did not allow safe work high on the tower, while Highway 4 was flooded by heavy rain. Weather also forced a ship carrying launch tower elements to stop in Tampa during the trip from Port Canaveral to Brownsville.

A second orbital launch pad is being built on the site of the former suborbital launch pads, and a supporting foundation has been prepared for the second tower. Large concrete pillars are now visible, and the final tower sections and “Mechazilla” components are now en route from Florida via the Gulf of Mexico. The pillars are different in appearance from those holding up the first orbital launch vehicle, and the new tower and launch vehicle designs will undoubtedly be informed by the experience of the first orbital launch site at Starbase.

The orbital tank farm, which will support both launch pads, received a new long horizontal tank this week to increase capacity and is currently being installed. While the tank farm is being upgraded, older vertical tanks built much earlier in the program are now being dismantled.

By now, all of the cryogenic shells that were on the old vertical tanks have been demolished. The old tank farm, with tanks built in the same way as Starship test ships, will be removed to make way for possible additional infrastructure related to the current or new launch platform.

In addition to the launch infrastructure, the program has done extensive work on buildings such as a new parking garage and an office building. The parking garage is almost complete and a sign that it will be operational when there is less parking traffic on the side of highway 4. In the meantime, a new office building has been given additional floors.

As for when Flight 5 will fly, the entire heat shield, consisting of more than 18,000 tiles, is being replaced, so that will come into play when the flight is finished. The old tiles are replaced with newer and stronger tiles, as well as an ablative heat shield underneath these tiles for further thermal protection.

Starship can now fly missions that have very similar profiles to Flight 4 with the existing FAA license, but any capture attempt will require a license change. If Flight 5 does indeed proceed with a capture attempt at the tower for Booster 12, additional paperwork will need to be submitted for this permit change.

Inspections and work are being carried out on the orbital launch pad and assembly to prepare for Flight 5 as well. Elon Musk has indicated a target for this mission at the end of July, but it is very likely that this will shift to August or even early September. Regardless of when it flies, it will be another case of “excitement guaranteed”, especially if an attempt is made to catch a rook.

(Main image: Booster 14.1 on the Orbital Launch Mount on the pad. Credit: BocaChicaGal for NSF/L2)