Another WDR attempt is underway right now, prop loading has commenced.
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SpaceX Starship - IFT-3 - Starbase TX - Pre-Launch Preparations Thread
- Thread starter VIKING26
- Start date
Interesting point; the NSF commentators said that while in the past during Starship prop loading the GSE could only load either the booster or the ship but not both at the same time, now the GSE has been upgraded so that it can load both vehicles simultaneously. That should speed up the process, I assume.
Good day for a wet dress rehearsal. Pun slightly intended, but it's a good day for everyone to be inside.
They appear to be detanking, but there's time to try again if there's a simple fix to whatever stopped the loading.
They appear to be detanking, but there's time to try again if there's a simple fix to whatever stopped the loading.
DAHTcom
Member
I am partially torn on IFT-3. As much as I hope we/mankind/spacex can get this test flight completed as soon as possible, and to learn from it and get ready for flight #4...
...I am also in a position to finally be able to see a launch of a (future orbital/interplanetary) rocket with Starship in person for the first time in my life, *if* it happens from mid March to early April. So small delays, while disappointing, also find me quietly cheering on the possibility that ITF-3 could be my first.
In the end, I will be able to see one sometime later this year no matter what, so I am leaning more towards hoping this one goes up sooner, than later.
...I am also in a position to finally be able to see a launch of a (future orbital/interplanetary) rocket with Starship in person for the first time in my life, *if* it happens from mid March to early April. So small delays, while disappointing, also find me quietly cheering on the possibility that ITF-3 could be my first.
In the end, I will be able to see one sometime later this year no matter what, so I am leaning more towards hoping this one goes up sooner, than later.
Buckminster
Well-Known Member
Elon just said on X spaces that they are targeting 2nd week of March. Could be earlier.
When I reflect on all the GSE and OLM work that has been done since IFT-2, and all the work that has been done on B10 and S28 in the past few months, I have to wonder if SpaceX would have been ready to launch if they had received an FAA license a month or two ago. I suspect not.
I think I've been voicing my pessimism on that sort of thing. They've been doing too much work on the OLM, and these vehicles are far too new to expect to stack and launch without any glitches. They may not be able to launch until the end of March. Only time will tell.
Ship 28 has had an engine change to an unfired engine, so they have to test that. I assume that's why it's on the suborbital pad. I'm guessing that Booster 10's move is unrelated and that they have something to fix that can't be done on the OLM. They were fiddling with the mounting interface between ship and hot staging ring, so that might be related.
Or, as @mongo says, maybe they've got another upgrade ready to go.
Edit: Is this the first use of the two point lifting jig at the launch site?
Oh, I meant we can't conclude they couldn't have launched just because they've worked on stuff in the meantime.
However, the lack of paperwork to the FAA does lean toward something not yet being addressed...
They are working on the ship QD right now, doing some welding. The work never stops at Starbase!
I suspect they are taking advantage of time they know they have for addressing the stuff they ID'd in the last flight in the mishap report, and their estimate of the time it will take the FAA to issue the launch license, to work on GSE/other stuff.
The GSE/OLM stuff all worked well enough for the last launch to be considered pretty much flawless up 'til things went *boom*. And they are willing to launch older suboptimal versions of stuff, knowing they'll get data out of it (hydraulic gimbal actuators, previous gen Raptors, etc...) as long as they are good enough... they'd much rather "fail fast" and get actionable data, than suffer paralysis by analysis.
So, given that the critical action is to launch IFT-3 after having addressed the booster and ship issues (the latter seemingly simple enough), I bet that's the governing activity. If the remediation were expected to be complete, the report filed, and license expected in a week, I bet they would not start anything that couldn't be complete by then...
zoomer0056
Active Member
Hindsight says you're right about that. Govt works slowly. I guess SpaceX has an an idea of when the license could be issued. They will continue working towards lift-off no matter when the license is granted.
I don't believe that it's government at all. SpaceX knows the drill. They have to complete their mishap investigation, then they wait for the FAA to approve everything. They haven't completed the mishap investigation. They didn't announce the culprit of the Starship failure until mid-January. This is rocket science, after all.
They knew they had a lot to figure out and work on, so they decided to bite the bullet on GSE buildout to support simultaneous loading of ship and booster. They're testing that now, and SpaceX still hasn't completed all the documentation on IFT-2. They probably still have some small stuff to figure out, running simulations, changing designs and such. Both FAA and SpaceX were talking about the end of February for a launch. Now it's mid-March. I think it just takes time to review everything, make needed changes, and make sure that they're ready for the third flight. They're working together, and you can be sure that the FAA guys are thrilled to be a part of making Starship fly - safely.
They knew they had a lot to figure out and work on, so they decided to bite the bullet on GSE buildout to support simultaneous loading of ship and booster. They're testing that now, and SpaceX still hasn't completed all the documentation on IFT-2. They probably still have some small stuff to figure out, running simulations, changing designs and such. Both FAA and SpaceX were talking about the end of February for a launch. Now it's mid-March. I think it just takes time to review everything, make needed changes, and make sure that they're ready for the third flight. They're working together, and you can be sure that the FAA guys are thrilled to be a part of making Starship fly - safely.
zoomer0056
Active Member
Yup, so much going on. Very dynamic and always moving forward. My little brain acknowledges but can not comprehend the massive amounts of efforts happening at SpaceX.
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