Starship's Crazy Pad B Flame Bucket Installed reveals Why SpaceX Ditched Water Deluge system...

it's happening construction at Pad B is entering its most critical phase with major progress on the flame trench meanwhile pad A may be seeing some unexpected changes on the horizon at the same time SpaceX continues to demonstrate its dominance by setting a new reuse record with the Falcon 9 thanks to this achievement SpaceX has been selected to launch the next lunar lander mission further cementing its leadership and vital role in the space industry let's kick off the new week by diving into all this on today's episode of Great SpaceX we've reached April of 2025 and SpaceX has already achieved an impressive milestone with eight Starship flights under its belt the era of regular highfrequency Starship launches is fast approaching bringing us ever closer to some of the company's most ambitious objectives including catching both stages midair that's why the full activation of launchpad B is generating so much anticipation with the launch tower chopsticks and the B BQD gantry system already constructed and installed the spotlight now shifts to two final but critical components the orbital launch mount and the flame trench system and now exciting progress is underway on the flame trench between the evening of April 11th and early on the 12th the two massive flame bucket sections officially departed the Sanchez site and were transported to the launch site this move offered our first full view of their structure each bucket formed by interlocking L-shaped tubes and manifolds that had been assembled at Sanchez shortly after their arrival installation began without delay the first and second sections were successfully lifted into place inside the trench these two assemblies will be installed at either end of the trench and combined into a dual flame trench configuration offering up to twice the performance compared to traditional singlesided systems the rapid progress suggests that earlier foundational work such as placing rebar and pouring concrete for the trench base has been completed before the flame buckets arrived additional wall sections for the trench were also installed now with the buckets in place final layers of concrete are likely being poured to permanently anchor the system next up this dual flame trench will be connected to the water deluge system featuring multiple horizontal water tanks housed at the adjacent tank farm these tanks both large and small will serve different sections of the trench the larger tanks will be linked to the flame buckets via manifolds which in turn connect to a network of deluge pipes running through long pre-dug trenches these pipes will deliver a torrent of water to suppress heat and sound energy during launch special thanks to Chrome Kiwi for their detailed visual renderings that help illustrate how the entire Dilluch system will function be sure to check out their X page and show some support for their excellent work with Deluge Pipes already arriving on site and set for imminent installation it's looking increasingly likely that the Flame Trench system and therefore the core infrastructure of Pad B will be fully completed by the end of April once that happens only the final integration with the OOLM remains pad B is still slated to perform the first ever ship catch attempt if flight 9 is successful flight 10 possibly launching as early as May could mark that historic milestone are you ready to witness pad B in action let me know with a let's go in the comment section down below and let the countdown begin it's well known that pad B is being developed to support Starship operations in the near future but what's even more noteworthy is that pad B may play a far more pivotal role than originally anticipated potentially becoming the primary site for all major starship operations this shift is largely driven by the realization that many of the legacy systems at pad A are becoming outdated in the context of Starship's long-term evolution elements such as the current launch tower the original chopsticks the six-legged orbital launch mount and the water cooled steel plate are no longer ideal for accommodating the latest Starship designs to start with the existing launch tower at pad A may soon require an upgrade specifically in height to align with the updated Starship version two looking further ahead there are even predictions that Starship version 3 could debut within this year which would almost certainly require a significantly taller tower structure elon Musk has also commented on the chopstick's design at pad A noting that it feels overly long and cumbersome future iterations of the system like those being implemented at pad B are expected to be shorter sleeker and more efficient however some elements at pad A may require more than just upgrades they might need to be entirely replaced the original six-legged OM for instance could be dismantled to make way for a more streamlined modern mount similar to the one being installed at pad B additionally the inverted shower style delouch system may be replaced by a high efficiency flame trench a design that is already being embraced at SpaceX's Florida facilities based on these trends a significant overhaul of pad A could be on the horizon my prediction is that SpaceX may keep the current setup operational through the third quarter of this year to allow pad B to reach full readiness once pad A once pad B is operational pad A could undergo several months of demolition site preparation and construction temporarily halting all launch and testing activities at that site naturally any transition of this scale would need to be timed carefully to avoid disrupting Starship's overall launch cadence but if all goes to plan Pad B will be ready to shoulder the full workload during pad A's downtime ultimately this evolution presents a critical opportunity for pad B to prove its design and operational capabilities if SpaceX achieves success with its upcoming missions from pad A the transition to pad B may be smoother and more efficient than expected so stay tuned the coming months will be key for both launch systems let's move on to a significant update on SpaceX's Falcon 9 and its latest record setting achievement in reusability at exactly midnight Eastern time on the 14th of April of this year SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station the mission carried 27 Starlink V2 mini satellites into low Earth orbit further bolstering SpaceX's ever expanding satellite internet constellation continuing the streak of favorable conditions the 45th weather squadron forecasted a greater than 95% chance of good weather at liftoff an ideal setup for a smooth launch but beyond the perfect weather and the steady rhythm of Starlink deployments what truly made this decision stand out was the historic feat achieved by the booster just over 8 minutes after liftoff the booster B1067 successfully landed on the drone ship just read the instructions stationed in Atlantic Ocean this marked the 115th successful landing on JRTI and the 431st overall booster landing for SpaceX more impressively it was the 27th flight of booster B1067 setting a new all-time record for the most reuses of a single orbital class rocket originally debuting with the CRS22 mission back in June of 2021 B1067 has since built an impressive track record across a variety of missions including crude flights satellite deployments and now multiple Starlink launches its latest three missions have all supported SpaceX's Starlink constellation showcasing the reliability and endurance of the booster across repeated high demand missions the Starlink 6-73 launch also marked the 460th launch of a Falcon 9 rocket continuing SpaceX's rapid cadence and reaffirming its dominance in global orbital launches with this mission SpaceX not only reinforces its lead in rocket reusability but pushes the limits of what's achievable the possibility of reaching 30 or even 40 flights with a single booster no longer seems hypothetical behind B1067 several other boosters have also racked up impressive reuse numbers and the average turnaround time between launches has significantly decreased another testament to SpaceX's operational efficiency as we celebrate this milestone attention is also turning to the moon spacex has just secured another major lunar mission this time through a renewed partnership with Intuitive Machines one of the key players in the commercial lunar lander space despite setbacks including the recent crash of their IM2 lander near the moon's south pole Intuitive Machines is pressing forward with its lunar ambitions the Houstonbased company has chosen SpaceX to launch its fourth moon lander mission IM-4 in 2027 aboard a Falcon 9 this mission will carry not only a lander but also two relay satellites for SpaceX's upcoming lunar communications network in a statement released on the 8th of April Intuitive Machines CEO Stave Altimus shared more on the company's long-term vision lunar surface delivery and data relay satellites are central to our strategy to commercialize the moon we plan to deploy the first of five lunar data relay satellites on our third mission which will introduce our pay by the minute service the two additional satellites on our fourth mission are intended to scale that service followed by two additional deployments to deploy the constellation and fully support NASA and commercial lunar operations these relay satellites will support NASA's near space network services contract enhancing lunar communication capabilities for both governmental and private missions the IM4 mission will also carry six NASA payloads under the AY's commercial lunar payload services program one of the most notable is a drill experiment developed by the European Space Agency designed to search for water near the moon's south pole a crucial objective for future crude exploration and insight to resource utilization for SpaceX securing yet another lunar mission is not surprising the company has already launched two previous missions for intuitive machines and is lined up to support IM3 this coming year the smooth execution of launches and consistent reliability of Falcon 9 make SpaceX the go-to provider for critical lunar transportation as we look ahead this growing collaboration between SpaceX and Intuitive Machines represents a key piece of the broader push towards sustained lunar exploration the progress made here will likely influence future commercial and governmental missions to the moon and beyond let's keep an eye on how this next chapter unfolds this has been Kevin with Great SpaceX don't forget to like the video and subscribe if you haven't already to stay up to date with yours truly in the latest details of SpaceX's progress thank you so much for tuning in and remember curiosity imagination and inspiration will always follow you as long as you keep looking up