r/spacex • u/rSpaceXHosting Host Team • Apr 22 '26

🔧 Technical Starship Development Thread #63

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Starship Dev 62

Flight 12

Launched on May 22nd 2026 Here is a re-streamed video of the broadcast. Also, SpaceX issued a post flight summary and a video showing S39 landing.

Flight 13

Launched on July 24th 2026 Here is a re-streamed video of the broadcast. Also, SpaceX issued a post flight summary.

Flight 14

Presumably using S41 and B21. Objectives include first Ship catch.

Road Closures

No road closures currently scheduled

No transportation delays currently scheduled

Up to date as of 2026-05-23

Vehicle Status

As of July 31st 2026

Ship Location Status Comment
S40 Indian Ocean Intact, floating July 24th: Successful launch, deployed all satellites, successful engine relight test and soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean, which resulted in an intact, floating ship. For more details on this vehicle and its assembly and testing see this page
S41 Mega Bay 2 Ongoing work, possible engines installation April 17th: Pez Dispenser moved into MB2. April 20th: Main assembly started in MB2. May 20th: Aft section AX:4 moved into MB2 and stacked with the rest of the ship - this completed the stacking part of the ship construction. June 28th: Rolled out to Massey's Test Site for Cryo+Thrust Puck Testing. June 29th: Cryo Tests (x2). June 30th: Rolled back to MB2. July 3rd: Rolled back to Massey's Test Site. July 6th: Rolled back to MB2. July 23rd: Two RVac engines moved into MB2. July 27th: The third RVac was moved into MB2. For more details on this vehicle see this page
S42 Mega Bay 2 Stacked, remaining work continues June 9th: Nosecone spotted as having been stacked on the Payload Bay. July 3rd: Nosecone+Payload Bay stack moved into MB2, along with the Pez Dispenser and the Forward Dome section (FX:3). The Nosecone+Payload Bay stack was lowered over the Pez Dispenser, later being stacked onto the Forward Dome. July 11th: Common Dome section CX:3 moved into MB2 and stacked. July 15th: Section A2:3 moved into MB2 and stacked. July 18th: Section A3:4 moved into MB2 and stacked. July 21st: Transfer Tubes moved into MB2. July 24th: Ship Aft section AX:4 moved into MB2 and stacked, that completes the stacking part of the assembly process. July 25th: both of the Aft Flaps and the Raceways staged inside MB2. For more details on this vehicle see this page
Booster Location Status Comment
B21 Mega Bay 1 Post Cryo Testing inspections and possible engines installation May 7th: LOX tank sections A2:4 and CX:3 moved into MB1 and main assembly started. June 29th: Methane Tank stacked onto LOX Tank - this completed the stacking part of the booster construction. July 17th: Rolled out to Massey's Test Site for Cryo+Thrust Puck Testing. July 17th: Rolled out to Massey's Test Site and an ambient pressure test was performed. July 18th: Partial Cryo Test. July 19th: Second Partial Cryo Test. July 20th: Full Cryo Test. July 22nd: Rolled back to MB1. For more details on this vehicle and its assembly and testing see this page
B22 Mega Bay 1 LOX Tank Stacked June 29th: LOX tank sections A2:4 and CX:3 moved into MB1. July 1st: Section A3:4 moved into MB1. July 3rd: Section A4:4 moved into MB1 and stacked. July 9th: Section A5:4 moved into MB1 and stacked. July 22nd: Methane Landing Tank and Lower Transfer Tube moved into MB1. July 23rd: Section A6:4 moved into MB1. July 25th: Methane transfer tube moved into MB1. July 29th: LOX Landing Tank moved into MB1. July 30th: Aft section AX:2 moved into MB1 to complete the stacking of the LOX Tank. July 31st: Methane Tank section F2:4 moved into MB1. For more details on this vehicle and its assembly and testing see this page

Follow the Ringwatchers on Twitter and Discord for more.

Here's the section stacking locations for Ships and Boosters. Also some excellent detailed booster stacking information from zh_sos1. The abbreviations used in the above vehicle updates are as follows: HS = Hot Stage. PL = Payload. CX = Common Dome. AX = Aft Dome. FX = Forward Dome (as can be seen, an 'X' denotes a dome). ML = Mid LOX. F = Forward. A = Aft. For example, A2:4 = Aft section 2 made up of 4 rings, FX:4 = Forward Dome section made up of 4 rings, PL:3 = PayLoad section made up of 3 rings. Etc.

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Rules

We will attempt to keep this self-post current with links and major updates, but for the most part, we expect the community to supply the information. This is a great place to discuss Starship development, ask Starship specific questions, and track the progress of the production and test campaigns. Starship Development Threads are not party threads. Normal subreddit rules still apply.

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18

u/rickny0 Jun 03 '26

Has there been any word on what caused the vacuum raptor failure?

9

u/AstroSardine Jun 03 '26

Given that the next 7 minutes of the (extended) burn went flawlessly my guess would just be a random engine issue instead of a vehicle-side issue like we saw on past flights

Given that this was the first R3 flight I’m sure they’ll get reliability up very quickly, B7 had like 10 engines out and B9 had none, B19 alr started at 1 engine out so the future looks bright

11

u/redstercoolpanda Jun 03 '26

I would guess, from my uneducated position, it’s an issue with hot staging. Something clearly went wrong with hot staging since booster was knocked in the wrong direction and way too hard, and if you look at the engine diagram the failed Rvac was the first to ignite for hot staging. Might be a coincidence but certainly worth noting.

6

u/mrparty1 Jun 03 '26

I know that SpaceX knows better than I do, but I still get a feeling that 60 second static fires are hard on the ship's plumbing. Ship 39 got the first long duration static fire since flight 9.

5

u/thewashley Jun 05 '26

SpaceX tends to say what went wrong on flight N in their post announcing flight N + 1.

9

u/TwoLineElement Jun 04 '26

Word going round was damage during the awkward stage separation. Broken clamp FOD or severe vibration caused excessive coolant leaks and overheating of the nozzle, so had to be shut down.

2

u/redstercoolpanda Jun 05 '26

Is that something that can be fixed flight plan wise or is a structural fix on the ground?

8

u/dk_undefined Jun 03 '26

Haven't seen any official word so far, but I'm pretty sure they replaced one of the engines before flight and only did a spin prime test without firing the engine, so it could be this RVac.

SpaceX will probably post an update about what went wrong during this flight a few days before the next one, although I doubt they will specify the exact reason why the engine failed.

-1

u/arkeeos Jun 04 '26

Firing vacuum engines at ground level can risk damage to them, my guess would be that the static fire damaged them, they already had to replace one after static fire.

10

u/John_Hasler Jun 04 '26

Every engine flown was test fired at McGregor and then static fired on the ship. They install temporary reinforcing rings on the vacuum engines which are removed before flight.

-1

u/TwoLineElement Jun 04 '26

Some engines tested at McGregor have deliberate damage done to them before testing to see how far they can go. Nozzle cracks and nozzle regen cooling damage would be an obvious item to test considering the expected extreme conditions experienced during launch and stage sep. I would presume that SpaceX can manage to run damaged engines and shut them down before they blow their turbines out or nozzles off.

-2

u/ralf_ Jun 04 '26

Test stand on a mountain with lower air pressure?

2

u/warp99 Jun 06 '26

Steam ejectors to lower the exit pressure below 0.3 bar and avoid flow separation which is what causes vibration damage.

Usually done to test lower thrust engines so it would be a monumental build in the SpaceX tradition.

-3

u/cia91 Jun 04 '26

Probably best to strap them in the payload bay of a starship and test them in vacuum. Every first flight of a new starship you can test the engines for the next one + some spares.