Starship Updates: Next Flight Test and NASA HLS

We have a date. The next Starship launch could occur as soon as November 18th. An announcement made on the official SpaceX website comes less than a month after the incredibly successful fifth launch of Starship, that brought us the unreal first-try catch of the Super Heavy Booster by the Starbase Launch Tower.

SpaceX currently has a 30-minute launch window set for 4:00 PM Eastern time (21:00 UTC). Up until now, SpaceX had always favored morning launch attempts. The change aims to have the reentry and landing phase for the Ship in broad daylight. While the last two splashdown attempts were successful despite some structural damage to the flaps of the ship, nighttime has denied the SpaceX team some precious visual data for this critical mission objective.

Additional goals for the Flight 6 Ship will be stress tests to “expand the envelope”, such as a Raptor engine relight while in space, and a higher Angle-of-Attack reentry trajectory leading to more stress during flap maneuvering.

Upgrades to the Flight 6 Ship and Booster

SpaceX said that Ship 31, the next Starship flying, will have some of its heat shield tiles removed on purpose, to test the reliability and sturdiness of its design. In particular, the team stated the stripped hull locations are to be studied “for catch-enabling hardware on future vehicles”. A small reminder that the deeply innovative approach for catching skyscraper-sized space hardware in mid-air won’t be destined just to the Booster.

As for Booster 13, SpaceX has cited numerous additions and modifications stemming from Flight 5 data. A focus is on propulsion systems, strengthening in key areas of the Booster’s structure, and upgrades to the propellant discharge for shorter turnaround times after a successful catch. Software upgrades have also been implemented, to refine the split-second landing control decisions (commit criteria) taken autonomously during the last phase of Booster catch attempts.

Preparations for Flight 6 vehicles are well underway. Booster 13 completed a static fire test on October 25, before returning to the factory for final works. In the High Bay, Ship 31 underwent the planned changes to its heat shield, in preparation for the next test flight. The vehicle previously conducted a successful static fire test in mid-September.

Starbase is preparing for the future

Construction continues tirelessly at Starbase, Texas, where efforts are being focused on the second launch pad facilities, while the Starfactory and the office complex are near completion. The Starship Orbital Launch Mount for the second launch tower is beginning to take shape, with most large components already on-site and being readied for assembly.

Based on aerial images of the pad and some already assembled hardware, it is likely that the new Launch Mount will have a deeply different shape than its predecessor, opting for a larger, box-shaped mount instead of a toroidal one. Moreover, SpaceX seems to have opted for a more “classic” flame trench design instead of the particular flat water deluge system developed for the first pad.

Starship 33 at Massey's test site this morning for cryo testing.

10/26/24 pic.twitter.com/jttJFPZAuq

— Starship Gazer (@StarshipGazer) October 26, 2024

Great news also came from the brand-new, first build of a Version 2 Starship, Ship 33. The upgraded Starship V2 will feature numerous, and evident changes. The most striking are certainly the new forward flaps. Their attach points have moved further up the nose cone, and are now slightly off-center, with the flap itself looking slender. Ship 33 was recently moved outside of MegaBay2 and carried to the Massey test site to conduct cryo testing. It was then brought back to the production site.

Some interesting details for the Human Landing System

The NASA Human Landing System (HLS) is an integral part of the Artemis Program, aiming to bring humanity back to the Moon in the next years. NASA contracted SpaceX to build the HLS version of Starship back in 2021, and the company had repeatedly shown mesmerizing renders of a lunar-adapted Starship prototype. In recent years, SpaceX shyly put words into action at Starbase, with now many of HLS test hardware being used for astronaut training.

Now new details have emerged, which enable us to delve a little deeper into one of the least known projects for SpaceX. In August, Tom Bickmore was permitted to tour the large HLS prototype assembled in Starbase, now fitted, it seems, with lots of testing hardware to support the lunar missions. He recently shared on X what some prototype systems looked like inside the vehicle.

According to Bickmore, the Ship has been organized over two floors, the lower one built over the upper fuel tank bulkhead, and connected with a wide central ladder. The top floor has a control console with four seats opposite the (apparently only) entrance door, and similar to Dragon’s. Being 9 meters wide, there’s plenty of available space, therefore the top floor also comprises sleeping quarters (five of them) and a storage area. Moving to the lower floor, that seems a more “technical” space according to Bickmore, with life support systems running and busy at work during his visit.

Information on next year’s plans

A recent interview with the Human Landing System coordinator at NASA, Dr. Kent Chojnacki, published on November 1 on SpaceFlightNow, highlighted the company is moving forward on the project. A propellant transfer demo between two orbiting Starships is expected to happen in the first half of next year after the third Starship launch tested a small transfer of propellant between a main tank and a header tank. He added that in November an HLS design update will be published, and in the summer of 2025 SpaceX and NASA will conduct the critical design review.

A successful and rapid propellant transfer is key to the Artemis Program, and Chojnacki explained a cadence of more than one launch per week is to be expected, once they pick up the pace, because of propellant boil-off risks. To do this, SpaceX will need the second launch pad up and running, with a possibility of East Coast launches further down the line.

NASA and SpaceX recently performed qualification testing for the docking system that will help future #Artemis crews move between spacecraft to carry out lunar landings. The tests, conducted over 10 days, included more than 200 docking scenarios.

MORE >> https://t.co/jEJuXuY4vY pic.twitter.com/Zu6r9aIbQc

— NASA Marshall (@NASA_Marshall) February 29, 2024

Another point of great importance, with NASA and SpaceX collaboration, is the docking port mechanisms to support Orion docking with Starship. Tests have been happening at least since February 2024. The great efforts of SpaceX and NASA, working together to bring Humanity back to the Moon are showing more and more. And now, with all these upcoming great milestones, there are many things to look out for, starting on November 18.