Update on SpaceX KSC Progress

Yesterday and today, SpaceX's Starbase at Boca Chica did cryogenic tests on Starship SN20.  I would assume that since the ship has been tested a few times, including a static fire with all six engines, that the ship wasn't the emphasis of the tests, but rather the hundreds of yards of cryogenic fuel and oxidizer lines that have been installed or moved in the last few months.  As best as we can tell without a formal announcement from SpaceX or Musk, both tests went without a hitch.  

Meanwhile, skipping over the entire Gulf of Mexico and going to the east coast of Florida, the second Starship launch facility being built onto the property around Pad 39A is progressing.  The story of the Florida Starbase actually goes back to 2019, when work was begun.  There was progress on building an early version of an Orbital Launch Mount, but around the end of '19 (bottom half of that piece) is when Starship operations shifted entirely to Texas and the facility in Cocoa (on the mainland across from the KSC) was shut down.  

The area has been difficult to observe, since it's not as open to outsiders as the area around Boca Chica. 

Since then, save for occasional long-distance aerial views, it’s been almost impossible to document progress but views from SpaceX webcasts of Falcon 9 launches out of Pad 39A have shown that the company is mostly focused on preparing foundations. However, in early February 2022, a flyover of a different SpaceX KSC facility revealed the first clear signs of preparation for pad hardware assembly.

The facility that refers to is a SpaceX property on Roberts Road, along the northern limits of the Kennedy Space Center.  

This is #SpaceX at Roberts Road at the cape in Florida. I pointed out the pads below and as expertly explained by @CSI_Starbase, you may find these very familiar. See the similarity!? Bring on some OLIT madness! 🤯

More by @CSI_Starbase here https://t.co/AEqnYMyepo https://t.co/LOlDVQU8Aj pic.twitter.com/L8LuIdUyB5

— Marcus House (@MarcusHouse) February 2, 2022

As Marcus House is a photographer who sells his work via Twitter, I'm reluctant to copy his photographs for use here, but between Marcus and Zack Golden (@CSI_Starbase) you can look at far more photographs on Twitter than I could include here.  

Another interesting place to look is at Harry Stranger on Twitter.  He reports:

SpaceX has submitted plans for Roberts Road West that includes a 320,000 sq ft (29,728  sq m) proposed building, with a 192,000 sq ft (17,837 sq m) future proposed building expansion.

Also included are two 20.4k sq ft (1895 sq m) proposed buildings.

That's 512,000 square feet - not including the two smaller buildings.  The article on Teslarati concludes with this hopeful, optimistic view:

In the last week, satellite imagery indicates that SpaceX has begun to level the unfinished portion of Roberts Road, likely paving the way for the start of foundation work in the near future. All things considered, it remains to be seen if SpaceX will truly replicate Starbase, Boca Chica at Kennedy Space Center or – much like how the company systematically upgrades its rockets – if the new Starship factory will represent a block upgrade with a wide range of improvements and refinements. Regardless, it won’t be long before Starbase East and the first of several East Coast Starship launch towers begin to take shape. 

Several East Coast Starship launch towers?   Like these?  Towers as in plural?  I can hardly wait. 

As the photo says, source is NASASpaceflight.com and photo by BocaChicaGal.