- [Felix] This episode is
sponsored by Brilliant.
SpaceX Starship Updates
and Starship User Guide
Reveals Major Starship Feature.
My name is Felix and I am your host
for today's Episode of What about it!?
As always there has been a lot going on
in the Space Industry lately,
so let's dive right in.
Starship updates.
In Boca Chica, fast iteration is key.
For the past few months
we've seen prototypes
being rolled down to the launch site,
pretty much every few weeks.
These tests, of course, are
meant to advance the project.
SpaceX needs to get proof of concept
for various aspects of their Starships.
Since it rolled out to the test
site on Sunday of last week,
Serial Number 3 was the
focus of a lot of work
for the SpaceX crew in Boca Chica.
A lot of components
needed for a test flight
and already well known to
the educated space nerd
have been installed on
and inside the hull.
Raceways for the autogenous
pressurization lines
have been installed alongside the hull
running from the thrust
section all the way up
to the top bulkheads of
methane and oxygen tanks.
And again, for those, who do not know,
a traditional rocket normally carries
composite helium vessels
inside its main fuel tanks.
While the engines consume more and more
of the propellant and oxidizer,
these tanks release
helium into the main tanks
to keep the pressure at a constant level.
As Musk goes by the rule "the
best part is no part" though,
he is using a different method
to keep the pressure
inside the tanks stable.
The plan is to feed gaseous
half burned propellant
from the engines back into the
tanks in a constant stream.
This method gets rid of the
otherwise needed helium tanks
and in theory saves weight and complexity.
Also, Helium has to be brought to Mars
to be able to use it as
a pressurization method
on the way back to Earth.
Keep in mind that Starships
are supposed to generate
all the fuel in situ or on site on Mars
for a return trip and Helium would be yet
another component SpaceX
would have to bring
or produce on Mars for the return trip.
So, SpaceX has been working for a while
on autogenous pressurization
and it's one of the main design components
for the Raptor engine fuel cycle.
Now, if we take a look
at this contraption.
It's sitting right
under the lower bulkhead
and directly above the to
be mounted raptor engines.
Here's one possible
explanation for what it does.
It's a bit hard to see, but it consists
of three times two tubes each
going almost one full circle
around the thrust puck.
One for methane, one
for oxygen times three
for the number of engines.
They are each connected to outlets
towards the hull and those in return
are connected to the raceway tubes
going up on the outside of the hull
back towards the main tanks.
This most likely is a
heat exchanger system
for the autogenous pressurization system.
Hot exhaust gas, directly taken
from the turbo pumps of the Raptor engines
is redirected into these pipes
and then runs in circles
around the lower bulkhead.
While running through this pipe system,
the gas loses a bit of
its heat to be cool enough
to be fed into the raceways.
SpaceX wants to give the gas time
to get to a more favorable temperature,
before it's inserted into
the main tanks again.
This also is a perfect
example for why I am having
so much fun to make these
videos for the community.
There are rabbit holes all
over the Starship project
and sometimes reverse
engineering all these components
feels a bit like
recreating the prototypes.
One detail about the latest
Starship prototype gets lost quickly.
Look at the hull.
See any differences to Serial Number 1?
Right, the COPV Tanks and
all other attached systems
on the outside now form a line.
They're not nearly as much randomly placed
everywhere on the hull anymore.
This will enable SpaceX to cover them up
with aerodynamic covers
for a possible flight
and this brings Serial
number 3 much closer
to an actual flight design again.
The COPV's seem to be forming
their own raceway now,
90 degrees rotated to those
for autogenous pressurization.
Going back to the construction site,
there is an equal amount
of new activity happening.
The possible lower part of
the integrated header tank
has been spotted on site.
It possibly fits together
with the upper half
spotted awhile ago.
The top methane bulkhead
will have a hole on top
where the first part
attaches and this new half
would then be inside
the methane tank itself.
The reason for this design?
It frees up space inside the methane tank,
reduces weight as part of the top bulkhead
is now used as part of the header tank.
And it lifts the center
of mass up slightly again.
All these design changes are nuances
on the way to the perfect proto type
and are a way of
development only available
if you have this kind
of very fast iteration.
And SpaceX very fast indeed.
New bulkheads and parts for even more
have been spotted on site.
Here you can see one
of those top bulkheads.
In this case the old variant again.
So, this might be the top bulkhead
for Starship Serial Number 4
and the new header tank design
might first be pressure
tested at the launch site
before SpaceX proceeds with
using the new tech directly
on a prototype intended for flight.
And SpaceX is already busy,
preparing new jigs for
more Starship segments.
Stacking of Serial Number
4 has not started yet,
so this might be the jig either
for the new engine bay
or for the upper part
of the new serial number 4 tank section
to be started rather soon.
Work has continued on
the nose cone as well.
SpaceX has attached several
mounting points or outlets.
It is really hard to tell at the moment,
but my guess is, that these
are some sort of anchor points,
as they seem to be in a
horizontal configuration,
where as an outlet would
not have to be horizontal.
It's hard to tell, but
there seem to be six of them
on the nose cone, so they most likely
are not for fin attachment if SpaceX
has not changed the design
from two canard fins to six of them.
As we can see by the weld
marks around the square holes,
there is a rather large base
connected to them on the inside.
This in return shows,
that they will be able to handle
rather large loads of force.
SpaceX is also almost
done with the framework
for their new and much more
permanent manufacturing building.
Where at first the speculations ranged
from a High Bay for Super
Heavy to another wind breaker,
it now became a much lower construction
with one single gate in front.
What exactly it will
be used for in the end
is impossible to say at the moment.
Ring manufacturing, workshop
or even an engine workshop
for future Raptor deliveries
would be on the list
of possible use cases.
Super Heavy stacking
though is off the table.
If you take a closer look at
the side beams of the building,
you will find these ridges going
all through the building sides.
These most likely are mounting points
for an overhead crane system.
So, it's likely, that
the building will be used
for heavier Starship parts.
To follow SpaceX's Starship development
is already a full-time job.
This alone is testimony enough
for the radically different development,
SpaceX is showing the world every day.
Will it work out?
Impossible to say.
Is it absolutely remarkable already?
Most definitely.
Starship User Guide Reviews
major starship feature.
Almost everything technical
comes with a user guide.
Your TV has one, your car comes with one.
And the same goes for Rockets.
And SpaceX has just released one
for their future Starship customers.
Every launch system comes with one.
ULA's Atlas V, the Space Shuttle
and the Falcon 9 have one.
And now, Starship has one too.
And you can guess, what I
did, when SpaceX released it.
So, here it is.
My official Starship User Guide review.
The Starship Program
leverages SpaceX's experience
to introduce a next generation,
super heavy-lift space
transportation system
capable of rapid and reliable reuse.
That's what it says in the
introduction of the document.
It can be used for basically
any form of cargo in two variants.
Be it resupply runs to
the ISS, Crew transport,
satellites or large observatories.
SpaceX seems to want to achieve this
with two variants of Starships.
The Crew variant and the cargo variant.
The crew variant will
feature private cabins,
large common areas, centralized storage,
solar storm shelters
and a viewing gallery.
The Cargo version though has a clue to it,
that we didn't know of yet.
It might have a replaceable
fairing section.
We've already seen two possible layouts.
The clamshell variant with a fairing door
opening like a clamshell or large mouth.
Here, the payload can be integrated
in multiple different versions.
Side by side, stacked, single payloads.
Payload adapters are legacy compatible,
so customers will be able to
use Falcon payload adapters.
When talking about the
payload integration though,
SpaceX describes the process as follows:
Payloads are integrated into the Starship
fairing vertically in
ISO Class 8 clean rooms.
Then the integrated payload stack
is transferred to the launch pad
and lifted onto the Starship vehicle,
while maintaining the
same vertical orientation
throughout the entire process.
So, if I got this right,
The Payload is integrated into the fairing
and then the fairing is lifted
onto the Starship vehicle.
This would mean, that Cargo Starships
are made of two separate parts.
An Engine Section and a Fairing section.
The same, we already see in the
prototype process right now.
Those two halves then
would be interchangeable.
A clamshell design as we've seen
or something like the
lunar cargo unloading
shown in this picture.
Those are not different layout ideas.
Those are different interchangeable
payload fairing configurations.
This would basically make the Starship
the Swiss pocketknife of rockets.
You could even design a
fairing section specifically
for a reoccurring task.
Such as orbital debris cleaning
missions or asteroid mining.
Anything would be possible
with this concept.
Just replace the "tool" on top
and you have a different use case.
If this is true, it would be the
most brilliant fairing
design concept ever done.
Even more versatile
than the Space Shuttle,
which already was known to be
very flexible in its abilities.
If this is correct,
there won't be any special Starship tanker
for orbital refueling either.
Just put the tanker fairing
on top and you're good to go.
This would be a small sensation
and I really hope it's true
because I already hoped
for something like this
on an earlier episode late last year.
So, SpaceX is basically
giving their Starships
an unlimited set of abilities on the way.
The limitations would only be engineering
and your imagination.
What, if you could do the same?
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So, this wraps up today's
Episode of What about it!?
What's your favorite technical gimmick
on Serial Number 3 and
what do you think about
the SpaceX's brand-new multi
tool approach for Starships?
As always, tell me in the comments.
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So show some love for them in the comings.
Comings?
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Or even an engine work
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Rapture?
Rapture delivery.
Poor rocket, orange rocket good.
(laughs)
Almost everything, yeah just everything.
Eh, eh eh.
