Starship preparations point to a possible attempt to capture the tower in Flight 5

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The Starship program is testing with a view to possibly capturing the turret for the system’s next flight, a goal that appears within reach after Flight 4’s successful soft landing in the ocean. In addition to the test part of the booster – Booster 14.1 – moving to the orbital launch pad, the construction of a second orbital launch pad at the Starbase is underway, using the knowledge from the first pad.

Many signs point to a possible interception attempt on the fifth flight of the starship. Elon Musk posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that he thinks there should be an attempt to intercept Flight 5. The new communications license from the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has language that says either it will be soft landing in the ocean as in the last flight or attempting to capture the orbital launch site.

The most significant sign of SpaceX’s near-term flight test intentions was the launch of a new test article known as Booster 14.1. The B14.1 is a simulated small methane tank, including a front booster cupola, a common cupola and part of a four cylinder methane tank.

The shortened support link was installed on the orbital launch pad by crane following the completion of tests with the new crusher cap and lifting points at the former Masseys range, now a test site for the Starbase.

Three upcoming road closures have been listed for Starbase: Tuesday, June 25 from 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM CDT (5:00 PM to 1:00 AM UTC, June 25/26), Wednesday, June 26 from 8:00 AM to 20:00 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However, SpaceX has since rescinded the June 25 and June 27 shutdown and used the June 26 shutdown for testing.

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

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

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

Instead, SpaceX pressurized the test tank and the north arm was quickly closed and hit the tank. SpaceX is testing this because during actual capture operations, the arms will have to close and touch the booster to get the landing gear under the lift points.

While B14.1 has been readied for tests using “club” arms, presumably as part of testing the system’s response before any capture attempt, other activities at the Starbase are setting the stage for a busy and active future of launches, at least when there are no storms in the area.

SpaceX now also has temporary closures that are from June 26th to 2:00am CDT on June 27th (from 3:00am to 07:00am UTC on June 27th), with the same timing for the 27th/28th. June and 28/29 June. These were positioned to transport the last part of the tower 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.

On June 20, weather conditions in the area deteriorated so much that work at the facility had to be halted. Winds made it impossible to work safely high on the tower, while heavy rains flooded Highway 4. The weather also forced a boat carrying elements of the launch tower to stop in Tampa during its voyage from Port Canaveral to Brownsville.

A second orbital launch pad is being built on the site of the former suborbital launch pads, and a support foundation is being prepared for the second tower. The large concrete piers are now visible and the final sections of the tower and the “Mechazilla” section are now back in transit from Florida via the Gulf of Mexico. The pillars appear to be different from those holding the first orbital launch vehicle, and the new turret and support vehicle designs will no doubt be based on experience with the first orbital launch site at Starbase.

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

Now all the cryogenic charges that were on the old vertical tanks have been scrapped. The old tank farm, with tanks built in a similar fashion to the Starship test ships, will be removed to possibly make room for additional infrastructure related to the current or new launch pad.

In addition to the launch infrastructure, the program saw a lot of building work done, such as a new parking garage and an office building. The parking garage is almost complete and the sign that it is in operation will be if there is limited traffic on the Highway 4 side. Meanwhile, the new office building gained another floor.

As for when Flight 5 will fly, the entire heat shield, made up of more than 18,000 tiles, is being replaced, so it will play a role when the flight is ready. The old tiles are being replaced with newer and stronger tiles, as well as an ablation heat shield under these tiles for additional thermal protection.

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

Inspections and work are underway on the orbital launch pad and gun carriage to also prepare for Flight 5. Elon Musk has listed the end of July as the target for flying this mission, but it is very likely that it will slip to August or even early September. No matter when it flies, it will be another case of “guaranteed excitement”, especially if there is an attempt to capture the tower.

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