Starbase Repairs Underway as the Shipyard Builds More Hardware to Fly

It shouldn't be surprising to people who are following SpaceX but in the nearly three weeks since the Integrated Flight Test that the ground crews have gone into overdrive at getting things back to operational.  The NASA Spaceflight article goes into quite a bit of detail and includes several photographs as well as a short video of 24 hours at the Orbital Launch Mount compressed to a minute and a half. 

Photo, as labeled, by Nic Ansuini for NASA Spaceflight.

Scaffolding has been installed on the Orbital Launch Mount (OLM) and a set of stairs for worker access. The OLM is over 70 feet tall, so the scaffolding protects workers as they fix things like plumbing raceways, electronics, and other items.

Earthwork on the OLM foundation is also underway, as damaged rebar, concrete, and dirt is being removed. In addition, new dirt is being poured in to prepare the way for further work. This will prepare the way for a “sandwich” of steel plates and a water deluge system to be added in the coming weeks.

The scaffolding is visible on top of the OLM.  New stairs from ground level to an open door (just added in the last few days) are visible just left of center.  Other stairs are visible on the right.  I've watched some of the scaffolding and stairs being installed.

The damaged tanks are being repaired; the LOX tank that was punctured by flying debris (concrete?) has had a patch welded on over the hole.  If you remember the tank farm being installed, the tanks were built in the first high bay (modified since then) using construction techniques similar to those involved in Starship construction.  Those tanks are all vertical, and they say the plan is to replace them with horizontal "hot dog" tanks.  That should make them easier to shield from debris by presenting a smaller surface area in the direction of the OLM (not that there will ever be chunks of flying concrete debris again!)

While the OLM and tank farm repairs continue, work has also been done on some future ships and Booster 11. Ship 28 is now in a relatively advanced stage of construction, while Ship 29’s nose section has also been seen recently. Ship 29, like Ship 28, has the tiles and fins needed for reentry testing.

Ship 28 was moved to the original High Bay to make room for Ship 29.  Ship 29's nosecone has been welded to a cargo section, which could be an indication it's being reserved for the first orbital mission to carry payloads.  Or it could be another test fit.   

Booster 11 has been seen being assembled in the first “Mega Bay,” and the liquid oxygen tank has been mated to the thrust puck that contains the mountings for the vehicle’s Raptor engines.

Booster 9 will almost certainly fly next, but Booster 11 could follow fairly quickly.  Both boosters have numerous improvements over Booster 7, which flew last month.  As for the Starship most likely to fly, Ship 25 has had the most testing and other preliminary work done.  On the other hand, 25 was built last year while 28 and 29 are being built now, so they're more likely to have incremental improvements that 25 doesn't.  Ships 26 and 27 are the two Starships built without heat-shielding tiles, so they're probably reserved for on-orbit refueling tests. 

A positive side of this work is that with the OLM out of commission, the former rifle range called "Massey's" is getting used as an alternate site for testing things that always required the OLM, things like cryo-testing.  Having the property that they can move hardware to so they can keep testing is a good thing. 

One of the things that stood out to me while reading NASA Spaceflight's forum threads on the test flight was a comment from a guy whose Twitter name is Yemi A.D. who says he expects to fly on Starship on the "Dear Moon" mission.  He was at Boca Chica for the test flight and noted:

What I heard a lot last week at SpaceX was 'we burn steel instead of time', which is a markedly different approach to testing than what we are used to seeing from other space agencies.

SpaceX is moving fast, as usual.  Not burning steel - so far as I can see - but doing all the necessary prerequisites to burning steel.  I wouldn't be very surprised to see them ready to launch again two months after the April 20 test flight.  I'd be more surprised to see the FAA allow them to launch!