Hello, we are TheSpaceXFans and welcome to
TheSpaceXShow, the place where you can stay
up to date with everything SpaceX.
Today we have a few SpaceX updates including
the still delayed Starlink-9 and the upcoming
ANASIS-II launch.
However, most of the video will be spent over
in Boca Chica where a whole load of activity
has been taking place.
Lots of stuff to cover today so let’s head
straight in and get up to date…
To start off the SpaceX updates today, we
have a Tweet from reporter Michael Sheetz.
With Crew Dragon Endeavor attached to the
ISS, there is a lot of testing going on with
the vehicle.
One of the tests is how comfortable the vehicle
will be with 4 astronauts inside.
Apparently they have performed a 1 hour demonstration
of the spacecraft’s habitability.
Next, we have Starlink-9 which as per last
episode was supposed to launch on Wednesday.
However, SpaceX tweeted last minute that they
were standing down.
They then announced that they would be targeting
Saturday July 11th for the launch of the tenth
batch of Starlink satellites.
However, yesterday they once again posted
a Tweet bearing bad news.
They said “Standing down from today's launch
of the tenth Starlink mission to allow more
time for checkouts; team is working to identify
the next launch opportunity.
Will announce a new target date once confirmed
with the Range.”
With this news, we can now look to the next
launch, which as I mentioned last video is
ANASIS-II.
SpaceX have tweeted “Static fire test complete
– targeting July 14 for Falcon 9 launch
of ANASIS-II from SLC-40 in Florida”.
That was then followed by another tweet which
says “The booster supporting this mission
previously launched NASA astronauts Bob Benkhen
and Doug Hurley to the International Space
Station.
As I said, most of the video we will be taking
a look at Boca Chica and Starship so let’s
head there.
First up is the Starship / Super Heavy launch
pad construction and here is the latest view
of what’s been happening.
We’ve recently seen a whole load of progress
on the new walls by the launch mount.
They’ve progressed even further and you
can see they’re looking almost complete.
Over by the landing pad, further ground work
has been happening.
Not sure what exactly it is they’re preparing
for here, but they’re clearing up the dirt
at the moment.
Some new arrivals for the testing area have
been spotted on some trailers.
You can see here SpaceX have taken delivery
of 3 brand new tanks for the fuel farm.
We recently saw a whole bunch of new equipment
attached to the top of a tank at the fuel
farm.
Some of the equipment we saw was some inactive
cameras.
However, as you can see here, they’ve recently
configured and set up the new cameras.
I think when Starship hops, we might get some
amazing angles.
Also, recently we’ve not only seen a new
dog house for Zeus, but we’ve also seen
Zeus himself.
Not a typical dog, Zeus is a Spot robot manufactured
by Boston Dynamics.
He’s previously been seen inspecting the
SN7 test tank but for now Zeus is not needed
and so has been hanging out in front of his
kennel.
However, a SpaceXer was spotted controlling
Zeus in order to place him back inside the
kennel.
Elsewhere around the Boca Chica facility,
some new rolls of stainless steel have been
seen arriving.
This roll was spotted being added to a large
stack of rolls that is sitting by the side
of the road.
Just look at how much stainless steel they
have.
Also, for a while over by these many rolls
of steel, the old Mk1 fins were sitting outside
by the road.
SpaceX have now lifted and started moving
these fins, what for is anybody’s guess,
but I would say the intention might be to
re-use them.
Here you can see one of the fins was chucked
on the back of a trailer attached to a pickup
truck.
They then transported the component over to
the construction area.
Over by the construction area, workers were
spotted digging and moving dirt.
So it looks like the company is set to expand
the facility even more, with some more production
infrastructure planned.
Remember though, the company is not only building
a rocket, they’re also designing the production
line alongside it.
I can’t wait to see how this place looks
in 1 year, let alone 5 or 10 years down the
line.
For the final bits of Boca Chica activity,
we have an insane amount of progress on the
high bay.
Last episode we saw one corner had already
been constructed.
You can see here that they were working to
also construct yet another corner.
As you can see, it wasn’t very long at all
before they lifted yet another section for
this new corner.
Next, they moved onto some beams to connect
these two parts of the structure.
So as I said previously, this building is
and will probably continue to grow at an incredible
pace.
Also, take a look at the scale of the structure
compared with people, just goes to show what
sort of size this building will be.
Since then, they have continued even further
with more corners being constructed.
On top of this, they’ve also already connected
the new corner to the original.
It’s already beginning to look like a high
bay and I’m super excited to start seeing
it put to use.
With all the standard Boca Chica and infrastructure
activity covered, let’s look at Starships.
Starting with the SN5 vehicle which you can
see being worked on here.
Workers were spotted working atop the vehicle
in preparation for a new addition.
That new addition is something we’ve briefly
seen before, so now SN5 also has a hat.
This is a mass simulator and as you can see
from Jack Beyer’s editing, it’s an estimated
22 tons in weight.
It will be used to simulate the weight of
the upper rings and nose cone.
As you all know, SN5 is currently in the process
of preparing for a static fire.
I had shared the expected dates last episode,
but as often happens, these dates have changed,
but more on that in a minute.
For now, you can see here engineers were spotted
working underneath the vehicle some more.
They’ve recently been working on the piping
to help feed fuel into the prototype.
Before we have a look at some other Starship
pieces I will show you the latest in road
and beach closures.
You can see on the Cameron County website,
there are currently a few dates remaining.
Last episode we were expecting Friday 10th,
Saturday and Sunday.
However, as of right now we currently only
have Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
As always though, depending on various factors,
these dates could change again.
For now though, let’s see some activity
with another piece of SN5 that we’ve not
talked about for a while.
Remember the nose cone ring stack that was
chilling outside by the mid bay for ages?
Well now they have hooked it up to a crane,
lifted it and placed it onto a construction
mount.
This section was then spotted being moved
over by one of the onion tents and at first
I thought it was moved inside.
However, it appears that it has actually been
moved over to the windbreaker.
In addition to this section being moved, another
section which is the actual nose cone itself
has also been moved.
You can see here the ring stack has been put
inside the windbreaker, whilst the nose cone
is currently still waiting outside.
Looks like we could see a new full size fairing
stacked soon.
Just before we take a look at some pieces
spotted for a new Starship, just want to show
you an existing vehicle.
Under construction for a while and most recently
just hanging out in the midbay, we have SN6.
With SN5 getting prepared for testing, I’m
guessing SN6 is now just waiting its turn
to be a part of history.
Finally, I would usually name the next full
Starship but with the SN7 tank, it’s hard
to say what the next serial number will be.
So this is now where we will look at the next
Starship tank which is going to be constructed.
Recently there has been an interesting collection
of thrust sections that were spotted.
Starting with this section that was recently
spotted inside a tent.
Then, a thrust section was seen being moved
outside, but I’m not sure if it’s the
same section.
After being moved outside, this segment was
moved over to the midbay.
However, I believe it was then moved back
inside for further work.
Interestingly, a different part of a thrust
section was moved into the midbay, something
I don’t think we’ve seen before at this
stage.
I’m pretty sure what I’ve just explained
is how it happened, but with the way the clips
are put together it’s hard to say.
However, it looks like SpaceX are on their
way to having SN8 or SN9 potentially start
stacking soon.
Longer video than usual today, but lots of
stuff has been happening over at the Texas
facility.
The person to thank the most for this is Mary,
otherwise known as BocaChicaGal who spends
hours every day capturing this awesome footage.
Also, more recently, Jack Beyer has been adding
some great editing to the videos and highlighting
certain things in clips.
However, the whole NSF team deserves our gratitude
because they all work very hard to bring us
amazing space coverage.
That’s it for this episode of TheSpaceXShow,
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Thanks for watching and have a great day!
