Adapting transport stand to work with booster hold down clamps seems the obvious way to do it rather than welding stuff on and removing it particularly if there are to be several changes between booster and ship arrangements.Do we expect the running order to feature many changes of format or few?e.g.Adapt to ship test formatStatic fire ship 37Cryo-proof ship 38Change back to booster launch formatLaunch B16 Ship 37Change back to ship test formatStatic fire ship 38Change back to booster launch formatLaunch B15-2? Ship 38or minimise the changeovers:Adapt to ship test formatStatic fire ship 37Cryo-proof ship 38Static fire ship 38 (typically a couple of weeks after cryo-proof so delays Ship 37 launch) Change back to booster launch formatLaunch B16 Ship 37Launch B15-2 Ship 38Might they get those 2 launches done by ~ September? Is there then a gap before v3 launches (end of year earliest?)?Or might there be more v2 ships and launches? Ship 39 being a v3 Ship might take a while to get ready and doesn't stop ship 40 being built as a v2 ship?
Can we ballpark Massy v3 to be 4 months, so November 1?Putting first v3 flight from pad B in January 2026?I think this removes the pressure to hurry it up with v2, except for the extent that some ship 38 flight info might inform ship 39-40 design? (I expect that there's no such dependency)
View of the launch complex this morning with the newly arrived ship transport stand parked near pad 1. 6/28/25
Work has started on the Ring Wall conversion stand to static fire Ship 37 on Pad A OLM. They have cut off all the angle steel that helps transfer the loads to the stand legs. This is likely to shrink the diameter down. Unsure if they will weld on a larger bottom lip and mag drill the bolt pattern to match the clamp arms. All the booster hold downs were removed from the 20 clamps this will provide a flat surface to bolt down the converted Ring-wall.
This is how i think they might attach the ring wall to the Booster hold down clamps, since they have cut off the lower supports to the verticals they could weld a fresh steel ring to the bottom with the same bolt pattern as the clamps. Or they could use an old set of booster clamps and weld them to the stand itself this would mean no cutting of holes would be required.
Nylon or equivalent slip plate
Thankfully, with the addition of these legs, it no longer appears that the launch mount adapter for the ship will be integrated with the hold down clamps 🙌🏾These should make the footprint wide enough to attach it to the top of the deck
Yes the arms will remain closed, which will prevent potential damage to Raptor QDs. That is the single most important design consideration in my opinion.
With more shots by Shaun we can see they're constructing legs that will give the base of the stand a wider footprint meaning it'll likely be attached to the top deck of the OLM not the clamps 👀...
With the door to Mega Bay 2 open this morning, @NASASpaceflight's camera was able to spot a Ship QD plate being lifted out, we will have to keep watching to see if this is part of the work for Pad B or as part of the ship static fire modifications at Pad A
The delivery of what appears to be legs may be an attempt to widen the stance of the transport ring and enable it to sit atop the OLM. Marcus House discusses this on his weekly status video, and two clips are included in the following post.https://twitter.com/INiallAnderson/status/1940853632653840498QuoteWith more shots by Shaun we can see they're constructing legs that will give the base of the stand a wider footprint meaning it'll likely be attached to the top deck of the OLM not the clamps ...
With more shots by Shaun we can see they're constructing legs that will give the base of the stand a wider footprint meaning it'll likely be attached to the top deck of the OLM not the clamps ...
Quote from: catdlr on 07/05/2025 10:20 pmThe delivery of what appears to be legs may be an attempt to widen the stance of the transport ring and enable it to sit atop the OLM. Marcus House discusses this on his weekly status video, and two clips are included in the following post.https://x.com/INiallAnderson/status/1940853632653840498QuoteWith more shots by Shaun we can see they're constructing legs that will give the base of the stand a wider footprint meaning it'll likely be attached to the top deck of the OLM not the clamps ... The latest RGV flyover data indicates that the wielded structures are NOT legs RATHER for the RVac Static Fire brace damper system mounts (two per RVac engine).
The delivery of what appears to be legs may be an attempt to widen the stance of the transport ring and enable it to sit atop the OLM. Marcus House discusses this on his weekly status video, and two clips are included in the following post.https://x.com/INiallAnderson/status/1940853632653840498QuoteWith more shots by Shaun we can see they're constructing legs that will give the base of the stand a wider footprint meaning it'll likely be attached to the top deck of the OLM not the clamps ...
A current view of progress on the Starship transport stand being modified into a pad 1 launch mount ship static fire adapter. New pieces are being welded on that are thought to be RVac (Raptor Vacuum) braces for static firing. 7/7/25
Is SpaceX crazy enough to use the chopsticks to raise the Ship up to fill it with the actual SQD and then lower it to the stand for the actual static fire?
Have we seen anything that looks like SQD plumbing?Is SpaceX crazy enough to use the chopsticks to raise the Ship up to fill it with the actual SQD and then lower it to the stand for the actual static fire?
