LOX loading again.

Methane frost line is visible.

Should be about 7 minutes to full prop load. Who knows what they're testing today....

Something happened. Probably a spin prime test. Venting looks to have begun.

SpaceX sure likes to do these late night tests. I wonder if they have an overnight crew of engineers specifically for that. Isaacman gave a lengthy interview with Catherine Herridge.

You can watch the full video here 👇🏼https://t.co/tym5I9ACom

— Catherine Herridge (@C__Herridge) March 11, 2026

Good stuff.

[Contribute to the thread or don't post -- Staff]

normaleagle05 said:

---

I'm in/out listening and watching. Caught them talking about the time it took to load the LOX, which I thought was fast. They said it might have loaded faster than a Falcon 9. It was <30 minutes. Huge improvement.

---

Somebody said it was something like 300 gallons a second. If true that seems insane.

300 gallons per second is the high end. 200 may be more realistic. I'm not sure how good the figures are that is calculation is based on.

Discussed here starting about 3:08. I think I have it queued up.
https://www.youtube.com/live/_JgjY3Tfs6w?si=OrbcK3VtsNsSK9ea

Whatever the real number is currently, I expect this GSE will load considerably faster in the future.

Artemis II will roll back out on the 19th. No wet dress needed again. April 1 is first available date. The flat earth idiots will have a field day if it does launch that day.

So they haven't gotten through a successful WDR and they are just going to roll it out and light it up?

What could go wrong?

Mathguy64 said:

---

So they haven't gotten through a successful WDR and they are just going to roll it out and light it up?

What could go wrong?

---

The last WDR was successful - they have the ICPS leak after successful completion of WDR.

A.I. slop strikes again

Hey Starship Addicts,

Part 2 is going to be delayed by about a week.

The episode is completely finished and ready to release… but YouTube ad revenue has taken a major hit recently as advertiser focus shifts heavily toward global conflict coverage.

Originally I planned to…

— Zack Golden (@CSI_Starbase) March 13, 2026

Quote:

---

Originally I planned to release this episode without a sponsor because they weren't able to keep up with the pace we were moving. Unfortunately that's no longer realistic given the level of time investment involved from multiple people behind the scenes.

Despite viewership performing almost exactly the same as the previous episode, ad revenue has dropped by nearly 60%.

A year ago I probably wouldn't have said anything about this. But it's becoming increasingly clear that YouTube's ecosystem is rapidly shifting toward high-volume AI-generated content.

If that trend continues, genuinely human-made content will become harder and harder to sustain. Many of your favorite creators especially those producing deeply researched, time-intensive work may simply disappear because the economics stop making sense.

And I'm pretty sure I'm speaking for a majority of the Team Space community when I say that.

For now, we're going to keep doing what we do for as long as we possibly can.

Because as long as there are people who still care about real research, real engineering, and real storytelling… this channel will keep pushing forward.

Thanks for sticking with us.

---

Good for Zack. I've written to encourage him to find a platform outside of alphabet. It's a shame but I think he is on the right track there. I know Google has a monopoly on ad revenue at the time, largely, but it seems like a servicde such as Rumble/Spotify/Apple will wind up being able to carve out a non-AI niche looking forward.

If he went to X I'd actually consider "subscribing" to something for the first time on that platform.

YouTube already sucks because of all the ads it has, and although there are ways to bypass them, they don't work forever.

Nerdy long-form videos are my jam and having a 30 minute Scott Manley video cut up by 6 or 7 ads sucks.

Btw: here is my nerdy list of channels:
Veritasium
Scott Manley
CSI Starbase
3Blue1Brown
Curious Droid
BPS.space (really really good)
Everyday Astronaut
Isaac Arthur
Machine Thinking
Mark Rober
minutephysics
PBS Spacetime
Practical Engineering (the guy went to A&M for graduate engineering)
Smarter Every Day
Xkcd's what if
Numberphile
Stand up maths

🚨🚨 Blue Origin - FCC Docket 0307-EX-ST-2026
The FCC granted **Blue Origin, LLC** a Special Temporary Authorization (STA), call sign **WZ9XMP**, for the third launch of the **New Glenn (NG-3)** rocket.

🔗 https://t.co/DwoCQUOYvA. pic.twitter.com/LmSOvZ7xhU

— FCC Filing Alerts (@fccfilingalerts) March 16, 2026

Blue's Special Temporary Authorization for their next New Glenn launch is valid through June 16th.

Prop load is under way for a potential B19 static fire.

https://www.youtube.com/live/z83PHp7A0y8?si=ebe0H20sGr_5Ocnv

Malachi Constant said:

---

---

anyone have an estimate on the launch date? within a week or so? wanted to try and make one of these

Here comes the static fire.... any second

NSF guys think it might have aborted - was really short and then a quick depress

That was a static fire for sure. It was super short and could have been an automated abort. But it also could've been a planned very short fire.

I expect the booster will go back to the Megabays, get 23 more engines installed, then come back for a full static fire.

fullback44 said:

---

Malachi Constant said:

---

---

anyone have an estimate on the launch date? within a week or so? wanted to try and make one of these

---

Closer to late March or early April

normaleagle05 said:

---

That was a static fire for sure. It was super short and could have been an automated abort. But it also could've been a planned very short fire.

I expect the booster will go back to the Megabays, get 23 more engines installed, then come back for a full static fire.

---

Yeah for sure a static fire but maybe only a second or less - interesting that right now it looks like a hold, not fully detanking.

EDIT: ok they're detanking the methane booooooo

good deal, I think Im gonna try to make this one, should be amazing to watch in person.

NVM

Beach and road closure ended and the Starbase.texas.gov site went immediately to showing tomorrow as a primary beach closure. Seems likely they'll work toward a longer static fire tomorrow.

Any chance today's very short static fire today was a throwback to Goddard's first liquid fueled rocket test that lasted 2 seconds exactly 100 years ago today?

https://www.space.com/space-exploration/2-seconds-that-changed-the-world-the-1st-liquid-fueled-rocket-launched-100-years-ago-today

Fun idea but I think SpaceX is approaching the GSE/V3 testing in a more methodical approach than to concern themselves with that kind of hat tip.

I'm 70/30 that it was an intentional abort systems test/an automated abort triggered by overly conservative software parameters. And those could be viewed as about the same thing.

Looks like they shifted from beach closure and probable road closure to beach open and pad to production road closure. Booster 19 heads back to Megabay 2 this afternoon.

normaleagle05 said:

---

Fun idea but I think SpaceX is approaching the GSE/V3 testing in a more methodical approach than to concern themselves with that kind of hat tip.

I'm 70/30 that it was an intentional abort systems test/an automated abort triggered by overly conservative software parameters. And those could be viewed as about the same thing.

---

I agree. I also think they would have pointed it out and made the connection if that was what they intended.

Meteor Entered over Ohio this morning...

Space related, but not in that way...

Quote:

---

Starting off this morning with some breaking semi-weather related news. Shortly before 9 am EDT this morning many residents of the lower Great Lakes and upper Ohio Valley regions were startled by a loud explosive sound, which appears to have been the result of a meteor entering the Earth's atmosphere. This story from EarthSky gives an update on what has been reported along with some videos of the daytime fireball that many people observed.

---

Even with the abort - great success! Brand new system fired up on it's first try. Impressive.

SpaceX confirms the 1-second static fire was meant to be longer. (I.e. it aborted) https://t.co/AGbPQDBS3N

— Ryan Caton (@dpoddolphinpro) March 18, 2026

Quote:

---

Initial Super Heavy V3 and Starbase Pad 2 activation campaign complete, wrapping up several days of testing that loaded cryogenic fuel and oxidizer on a V3 vehicle for the first time. While the 10-engine static fire ended early due to a ground-side issue, we saw successful startup on all installed Raptor 3 engines. Next up: preparing the booster for a 33-engine static fire

---

I think I'm most surprised that they went for the full 10 engine static fire and that all 10 ignited properly. Very positive outcome.

NEWS: NASA is planning a bigger @SpaceX Moon mission role using Starship, in a massive blow to Boeing.

With the new proposal, Boeing's SLS would no longer be used to boost Orion close to the moon. Instead, Starship and Orion would dock in Earth orbit, giving Starship the pivotal…

— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) March 19, 2026