Falcon 9 main engine cutoff, boostback burn, and second stage flight with Dragon and Crew-7 en route toward the International Space Station.

An equatorial mount kept the stars pinpoint sharp during the four-minute exposure. pic.twitter.com/oIUa2IFGzU

— John Kraus (@johnkrausphotos) August 26, 2023

According to an updated notice from the U.S. Coast Guard, SpaceX may now try to launch the Starship super heavy rocket on Saturday, Sept. 16.

The previous notice had anticipated an Aug. 31 launch.

EDIT: I don't know where KRGV got the September 16 date from but all I can find is September 8 and Friday makes a lot more sense than Saturday.

UPDATE: New U.S. Coast Guard marine hazard warning states SpaceX could launch the next Starship flight test on "approximately September 8".

[date subject to change, pending FAA license.] https://t.co/nUWN81lThv pic.twitter.com/intT5yCJer

— Evelyn Janeidy Arevalo (@JaneidyEve) August 23, 2023

It appears that not everything went so well with the static fire today. I'm fairly sure that not all this debris was out in the flats behind the launch mount. And I can guarantee this ding wasn't in my camera lens before. #Starbase #Starship #SpaceX
📸 Me for WAI Media pic.twitter.com/XkoDN6zn89

— Kevin Randolph (@CosmicalChief) August 25, 2023

SpaceX timeline called for 11-seconds of entry burn (short, but for RTLS), but this Booster only burned for about three seconds. Then fought a fair bit during the return but still managed to land!

Secondary to the smooth crew launch on Dragon, which all went well, but it is… pic.twitter.com/MGfm9LEFJq

— Chris Bergin - NSF (@NASASpaceflight) August 26, 2023

Dang that thing was smoking fast! Cool to see the plasma coming off the fins.

will25u said:

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It appears that not everything went so well with the static fire today. I'm fairly sure that not all this debris was out in the flats behind the launch mount. And I can guarantee this ding wasn't in my camera lens before. #Starbase #Starship #SpaceX
📸 Me for WAI Media pic.twitter.com/XkoDN6zn89

— Kevin Randolph (@CosmicalChief) August 25, 2023

---

Looks pretty good to me

Breaking: First aerial image after SpaceX's Booster 9 static fire. 🔥

No apparent damage is visible from this angle. There are no large holes or damage to the plate. Well done @SpaceX @elonmusk

More on the next episode!

📸@SchlangStefanie for WAI Media pic.twitter.com/f59JFpJ5qb

— What about it!? (@FelixSchlang) August 26, 2023

I am in agreement, lots of those chunks look like concrete, thinking that it's trash left over from when they poured the slab. It got mixed in with the uncompacted sloped fill around the slab and vulnerable to erosion. A before/after might help, maybe it looks like there's less…

— SteelerYourFace (@SteelerYourFace) August 26, 2023

Guessing that they didn't replace those tanks next to the pad after the first launch?

Or something got flung around and damaged the tanks again.

Pretty sure I saw photos/ video prom the last static fire and the tanks were damaged. Don't think they were replaced after the orbital launch attempt.

No they weren't replaced.

TexAgs91 said:

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Booster 7 vs Booster 9 pic.twitter.com/RLa8MTmc7F

— random (@r3a9an_k_) August 26, 2023

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The difference in the two is crazy!

pic.twitter.com/BB8zSxwhSQ

— Quark Burger (@quarkburger) August 26, 2023

Double walled tanks. Damage you see is cosmetic.

14 parts! lol. Orbit is hard.

Raptor Startup sequence for Booster 9 is now T-3 seconds rather than the T-6-8 seconds on Booster 7 btw, other than that looks real good!

— SLS 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (@ScottLikesSLS) August 28, 2023

From what I'm hearing, the next SpaceX Starship launch attempt is still weeks away, pending FAA approval. Modifications, such as the water deluge system, need to be approved. As always, the process is fluid and can speed up or slow down depending on a number of factors but as of…

— Christian Davenport (@wapodavenport) August 28, 2023

"can speed up"

PJYoung said:

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Fresh tracks. https://t.co/YFDgG0cClF

— Christian Davenport (@wapodavenport) August 25, 2023

---

SpaceX has spoiled me. I've found the lack of video from this Indian mission quite frustrating. Glad to finally see SOMETHING aside from crappy animations and folks clapping!

3 new subcoolers have arrived for the liquid oxygen tank farm.

Still need one additional subcooler, another LOX pump, and one more CH4 pump before the tank farm performance will be maxed out.

Once fully installed this should bring prop loading from 90 min down to about 45… pic.twitter.com/lMr7Psvej3

— Zack Golden (@CSI_Starbase) August 28, 2023

Probably nothing new to the folks who follow this thread but a pretty good Op-Ed by Lt Gen Shaw as he approaches what he likes to call his "commencement" from military service.

https://spacenews.com/op-ed-welcome-to-the-third-space-age/

FTS (Flight Termination System) explosives were delivered today and work was being performed on Booster 9's FTS at the same time. Definitely signs that a launch is near. 🚀

8/31/23 pic.twitter.com/VbqwFmFN89

— Starship Gazer (@StarshipGazer) August 31, 2023

Government often creates many problems with the natural messiness of any human endeavor.

The gvmt told SpaceX they couldn't go out there on that public land and clean it up after the first flight test in April. Now, the gvmt is telling 'em it must be cleaned up to do 2nd test.🤷🏽‍♂️

— Kirk Dameron (@EmergenceKirk) September 1, 2023

Super Moon last night



https://twitter.com/cnunezimages

𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚: 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗫 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗿𝗯𝗶𝘁.
Per documents from NASA’s CSCC2, SpaceX has plans to operate a space station in low Earth orbit derived from their Starship… pic.twitter.com/Edoand0Q7y

— Toby Li (@tobyliiiiiiiiii) September 1, 2023

Cool fact: the CSCC2 SAA's have listed near term planned Starship milestones such as:
- First Starship launch with payload Q1 2024
- Successful Starship Recovery Q3 2024
- Starship LEO crewed space station PDR Q4 2028
Also details to the Blue Origin orbital crew capsule timeline. pic.twitter.com/ev65UO49F7

— Barry Jenakuns (@jenakuns) September 1, 2023

Lunar landing???

SUPER HEAVY SPECULATION ALERT:

Those of you who watch the Starbase Weekly livestreams will have heard parts of this theory already.

I am now 95% confident that SpaceX is in the process of building not one, but two Super Heavy Static Fire Test stands. One will be located near… pic.twitter.com/YAg36k3jTc

— Zack Golden (@CSI_Starbase) September 2, 2023

SpaceX has more cameras mounted on the tower compared to IFT 1. Hopefully we get to see all these camera views on launch day! pic.twitter.com/HxQ5Kz1Y0n

— RGV Aerial Photography (@RGVaerialphotos) September 2, 2023

Starship updates.

Quote:

---

Should SpaceX perform the second flight in September, other vehicles could follow quickly, depending on the damage on the launch site after flight two.

Ship 28 and Booster 10 are already advanced in their build and testing campaign, and should the flight not destroy the launch site, another flight this year is achievable from a hardware readiness point of view.

---

From a discussion speculating about the 2028 starship based space station plans:

Quote:

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Note that Starship's User Guide (currently) says the maximum payload diaeter is 8.0 meters, so presumably the interior diameter would be smaller than that.

To be conservative, Gravitics has chosen StarMax to be 7.8 meters in diameter (when including their 0.1 meter thick exterior MMOD shielding).

---

To me, it's exciting mainly as it brings forward the prospect for some sort of Starship variant being 'human rated' by 2028 or so. If they press forward with this program, it will also accelerate the date Nasa gives up the funding on the ISS which is pretty outdated/a waste of budget $$$ at this point, though maintaining an ability to manage in orbit operations does have value.

nortex97 said:

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To me, it's exciting mainly as it brings forward the prospect for some sort of Starship variant being 'human rated' by 2028 or so. If they press forward with this program, it will also accelerate the date Nasa gives up the funding on the ISS which is pretty outdated/a waste of budget $$$ at this point, though maintaining an ability to manage in orbit operations does have value.

---

It's supposed to be manned rated by 2025 or 26 for the lunar landing mission

I don't think that is the case though. The astronauts won't launch on it, for the lunar landing. They will go up on the SLS and only get on the lunar starship in orbit around the moon.

Weekly update;

nortex97 said:

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I don't think that is the case though. The astronauts won't launch on it, for the lunar landing. They will go up on the SLS and only get on the lunar starship in orbit around the moon.

Weekly update;

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Manned rated doesn't necessarily mean it is manned at launch. It means it's habitable.

Not trying to get into a debate but I believe Nasa would not human rate the starship, as of now (subject to design changes) because they require a propulsive abort system for the crewed piece if something goes wrong real quickly on/near the pad.

Now, once/if it makes 100 launches and then they start putting private crews on it…all of that becomes pretty moot.

Boat #SpaceX used for ops during first orbital flight test is inbound to #Starbase atm. The former GLADYS D had been offgrid last three weeks around Pensacola FL. #SpaceXArmada pic.twitter.com/es9a1Yz2zi

— Cowboy Dan (@CowboyDanPaasch) September 2, 2023

nortex97 said:

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Not trying to get into a debate but I believe Nasa would not human rate the starship, as of now (subject to design changes) because they require a propulsive abort system for the crewed piece if something goes wrong real quickly on/near the pad.

Now, once/if it makes 100 launches and then they start putting private crews on it…all of that becomes pretty moot.

---

Starship will be human rated before any crew step inside it. It doesn't need to be human rated for launch, it just has to be human rated for the parts of the mission that include crew.

Starship space station in LEO wouldn't be human rated for launch either unless they use other starships for crew transport.

Dragon Crew 6 is on its way back!

https://www.youtube.com/live/X8n5OA1m5o8?si=WC0CBJSgFAmmLW47

There's notices in the Gulf and Hawaii about falling space debris between Sep 8th through 13th

Hawaii notice too pic.twitter.com/dJYizLzl4o

— david avery (@daavery) September 4, 2023