SpaceX is making steady progress toward building out the pad at NASA’s Cape Canaveral site in Florida for the first Starship launch from the Space Coast.
On Tuesday, SpaceX installed the Ship Quick Disconnect (QD) arm on the launch tower at Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A). Space launch enthusiast site NASASpaceflight shared footage of engineers putting the part in place.
Starship flights from the Kennedy Space Center got a major step closer, as the Ship QD Arm was lifted into place and installed on the tower at Launch Complex 39A.@NASASpaceflight https://t.co/BEepgAKwKe pic.twitter.com/Zeuh3m6XNc
The Ship QD is a key component of the Starship’s launch tower. It helps to stabilize the 123-meter-tall rocket by clamping onto the first-stage Super Heavy booster’s upper section with huge grippers and pads, aiding the safe and precise stacking of the upper-stage Ship spacecraft.
The arm also connects with the Ship, delivering liquid oxygen, liquid methane, power, and data.
SpaceX is building out a number of Starship launch pads on the Space Coast, including another one at SLC-37. The stated aim is to perform up to 76 Starship launches each year from SLC-37, and up to 44 launches annually from LC-39A.
It’s hoped that the first Starship launch from Cape Canaveral will take place this year, though the timing depends largely on regulatory approvals and infrastructure readiness.
Up to now, all 11 launches of the Starship — the most powerful rocket ever to fly — have taken place from SpaceX’s Starbase facility near Boca Chica, southern Texas.
The most recent flight took place in October last year and was considered the most successful to date, with SpaceX meeting most of the mission goals.
But there are still some huge hurdles to clear before the rocket can be used for crew and cargo missions to the moon, Mars, and possibly beyond.
These include getting the Starship into orbit, refueling the spacecraft in orbit for onward flight to the moon and Mars, and landing it back on Earth in a similar way to how it brings home the Super Heavy booster.
NASA wants to use a modified version of the Ship spacecraft to land the first humans on the lunar surface since the final Apollo mission in 1972. The Artemis III mission is currently set for 2027, though the date could slip depending on the progress made with the Starship’s development.
After 13 suborbital test flights and more than $15 billion in development costs, SpaceX's Starship has finally reached orbit. The 407-foot megarocket, the most powerful ever built, lifted off from Starbase, Texas, on Monday and delivered its first real payload on it's 14th attempt. The celebration came with an asterisk, though, since SpaceX had to cut the planned 10-hour mission to roughly three hours.
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/2104601695711904180
SpaceX is finally ready to give Starship its biggest test yet. The company says the massive rocket's 14th test flight is scheduled for September 22, when it will attempt to put the upper stage into Earth orbit for the first time. The launch is currently pending regulatory approval, with a 75-minute window opening at 7:15 a.m. CT.
Starship has 26 Starlink satellites to deliver
For decades, humanity has looked up at the Moon and wondered what it would be like to live on it. Think sprawling cities, factories, research centers, and permanent human settlements. Unfortunately, there is one fairly fundamental problem with that vision.
A new study published in Frontiers in Space Technologies argues that even the Moon's potentially enormous reserves of frozen water may be nowhere near enough to support city-sized populations sustainably. Researchers Martin Elvis and Jonathan McDowell estimate that the permanently shadowed regions near the lunar poles could contain roughly one billion tons of water. It sounds like an extraordinary amount until you put a million thirsty humans next to it.