SpaceX’s Double Header Tests on Starship Ship 39 and Booster 19! Static Fire TODAY…

Alright Space Fans! Today is a brand new day and if you thought Starbase was going to take a nap after the historic excitement of the Artemis 2 splashdown, well you clearly haven't been paying attention to how Musk likes to run his playground. SpaceX certainly livened up the weekend down in South Texas and it almost felt like they were a bit jealous of all that NASA spotlight. They clearly wanted to regain the center of attention and let's be honest, nothing grabs a headline like a skyscraper sized rocket moving down a dusty road. SpaceX even went a little crazier than we originally anticipated, opting to roll both the ship and the booster almost simultaneously, even if the booster rollout hit a few snags and ended up being slightly later than the original schedule. But once they were in place, the all crazy energy really kicked in. There was absolutely no downtime whatsoever. It was like the ground teams had skipped their morning coffee and gone straight for pure liquid oxygen instead. We saw S-39 and B-19 hit their respective test stands and immediately the telemetry started singing. Let's start at the far end of the property over at the Massey's test site, which is quickly becoming the MVP of Starbase's ground operations. S-39 was the first to arrive and after some quick adjustments with the aeroflaps to make sure everything was tucked in and ready for pressure, things got chilly. By the afternoon of April 11th, we saw that beautiful thick white haze. And by haze, I obviously mean a massive amount of cryogenic venting billowing over the Massey's test stand. This was the telltale sign of a full cryogenic proofing test. The teams loaded super chilled liquid propellant into the vehicle to see if the fuel tanks and the miles of intricate piping could handle the thermal stress of being frozen solid while under pressure. While S-39 had already done some of this work back at the production site, SpaceX is nothing if not thorough or perhaps just slightly paranoid after some of the surprises we saw with earlier prototypes. They wanted to ensure that the move to Massey's hadn't introduced any new gremlins into the system. But they didn't stop at just getting the ship cold. It appears that a spin prime test was also on the menu. For those of you who might be new to the channel, a spin prime is like the final rehearsal before the actual show. It unlocks the valves and allows high pressure fuel to flood into the engine's turbo pumps to spin them up to operational speeds. Hence the name. But the ignition step is omitted. So you get all the noise and the venting of a rocket engine starting up just without the kaboom and the fiery plumes. It's essentially the rocket's way of clearing its throat before it tries to scream. Along with that, it seems a water deluge test was also performed right at the Massey's stand. This is a bit of a departure from the usual routine, but it makes sense. If you're going to be firing engines back there, you want to make sure the pad doesn't turn into a crater. The following day on the afternoon of April 12, they went right back at it with a similar test sequence. SpaceX is clearly fishing for every single bit of data they can get, looking for accurate structural assessments before they move to the much more violent phase of testing. The full static fire. The best part for us, testing at Massey's doesn't require road closures. Which means S3 to 9 could ignite those Raptor engines at any moment, possibly even while you're sitting there eating your cereal and watching this video. While Massey's was staying busy, the other end of Starbase was witnessing a different kind of monster. At the main launch site, pad A was once again paired up with B19, but this isn't the same B19 we saw a few months ago. This is the V3 B19, and the difference is all in the plumbing. We aren't talking about 10 lonely engines installed for a quick proof of concept. This time we are looking at 33 fully installed flight ready Raptor 3 engines. When you see the high resolution images of the booster's business end, with those 33 super cool jet black Raptor 3s staring back at you, it's hard not to feel a sense of overwhelming power. They haven't even been fired yet and you can already hear the windows rattling in Brownsville just by looking at them. Just like its companion S39, B19 had a busy weekend of prep work for its upcoming static fire. After being lifted onto the OLM, or the Giant Donut of Fire as some fans like to call it, the booster was locked down tight by the OLM's clamping systems. By the early morning of April 12th, the teams jumped straight into a Detonation Suppression System Test, or DSS. This is a critical safety system designed to make sure that if a Raptor decides to have a rapid unscheduled disassembly, the shockwave doesn't take out the rest of the engines or the pad itself. This was followed by a grid fin test where we saw those massive waffle irons at the top of the booster dancing around to check their hydraulic response. As the clock ticked closer to the initial road closure window, a massive amount of venting appeared around the base of the booster. Unfortunately for the fire seekers among us, no flames appeared behind the venting just yet. Instead, it seems that after the cryogenic fuel loading, SpaceX opted for a spin prime of the massive engine cluster, mirroring what was happening over at Massey's. We also saw a small deluge test, but about an hour after the first attempt, they took things to a whole new level. The water deluge started spraying from the top deck of the OLM itself, creating a powerful and absolutely impressive water jet that looked more like a massive waterfall than a pad cooling system. This continuous testing of combined systems, including fuel, pressure, and water, is all about proving the vehicle is healthy before they ask it to unleash over 9,000 tons of thrust. With the booster, you have to be even more careful than with the ship. 9,000 tons of thrust is a world record breaking amount of power. If something goes wrong on the OLM, it doesn't just break the rocket, it could break the entire launch site. So the million dollar question, when will B-19 actually fire? A new road closure update just dropped, pushing the primary test date to today, April 13th, with backup dates on the 14th and 15th. It's currently a bit of a mystery whether SpaceX is 100% ready for that primary window. Yesterday afternoon, we saw an unusually large number of water and fuel tankers arriving at Starbase, which usually means they are topping off the tank farm after using up a massive amount of supplies during the weekend's wet rehearsals. However, because of the sheer volume of vehicles, some analysts are speculating that SpaceX might be planning even more extensive cryogenic loading and spin prime tests before they commit to the actual ignition. It's a game of high stakes chicken with the hardware. Which do you think will fire first, S-39 or B-19? Go ahead and respond with S-39 or B-19 in the comments below, or if you're feeling extra optimistic, just comment Starship if you think they're going to go for the ultimate double whammy and fire them both at the same time. Regardless of which one goes first, the current progress is pointing toward a very exciting May. Musk's estimate from early April indicated a 4-6 week window, which would put Flight 12 right at the beginning of May. If the static fires are wrapped up by mid-April, that gives the teams about two weeks to bring the stages back to the bay for a final checkout, followed by stacking and rolling out for the big day. We know SpaceX has been much more careful lately, but a two-week turnaround from static fire to launch is perfectly feasible for a team this motivated. And a successful Flight 12 unlocks the next big step, Flight 13, which is slated to be the first truly orbital Starship flight. The hardware for Flight 13 is already stacked and waiting for the wings, and if Flight 12 goes well, we might see the shortest turnaround in the program's history. The FCC certification actually sets the operation date for Flight 13 on May 29th, which leads to the most unrealistic expectation that we could see two Starship launches in the same month. Let's hope that after half a year of waiting, Flight 12 gives us the success we need to unlock that rapid-fire future. But SpaceX isn't just about giant silver rockets in Texas, they've also been busy keeping the International Space Station alive and well. SpaceX has always been a major contributor to the ISS, but they don't just do it with their own Dragon capsules. Sometimes they act as the Uber for space, launching resupply ships for their competitors. This past week, they did exactly that, launching a massive cargo ship packed with over five tons of gear for the astronauts currently living in orbit. At 7.41 AM Eastern on the morning of the launch, a Falcon 9 roared off the pad in Florida, carrying Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL freighter. While the Dragon is the only reusable cargo ship in the fleet, the Cygnus, along with the Russian Progress and the Japanese HTV-X, are one-and-done vehicles that burn up the atmosphere at the end of their mission. The launch itself was a beautiful display of Falcon 9's reliability. During the live broadcast, NASA's Sandra Jones captured the moment, perfectly saying, And liftoff! Science and supplies soaring to the International Space Station aboard the SS Stephen R. Nagle. She followed that up with a touching tribute, adding, This Cygnus spacecraft is named the SS Stephen R. Nagle in honor of the astronaut who flew four space shuttle missions and logged more than 720 hours in space. Stephen R. Nagle was a legend in the astronaut corps, an Air Force test pilot who served from 1979 to 1995, flying as a mission specialist, a pilot, and twice as a commander. He sadly passed away in 2014, so it is wonderful to see his namesake carrying 11,000 pounds of vital supplies to his fellow explorers. This was the second flight of the XL version of the Cygnus, which can carry significantly more than the original version's 8,500-pound limit. Interestingly, this was the seventh flight for this particular Falcon 9 booster, which had previously launched everything from Starlink satellites to the Axiom 4 private astronaut mission. It landed smoothly back at the Cape just eight minutes after liftoff, while the Cygnus began its solo journey to catch up with the ISS, where it's expected to arrive later today, April 13th. Finally, we have to talk about the little rocket that could, Rocket Lab. While SpaceX dominates the headlines, Rocket Lab has quietly secured its position as the second most active private launch company in the world. They recently proved this once again by winning a major contract from the Japanese radar satellite company IQPS for three additional Electron launches. This brings their total number of missions for IQPS to a whopping 15, showing that once a customer finds a ride they like, they tend to stick with it. Brian Rogers, the VP of Global Launch Services at Rocket Lab, was clearly proud of the deal, saying, Our expanded partnership with IQPS is built on our consistent execution across the many missions we've launched for them already, and we're proud to continue delivering their Earth Imaging Constellation to space as we deepen our role as their primary launch provider. The IQPS constellation is a fascinating project. They are building out a massive array of synthetic aperture radar satellites, which can see through clouds and even through the dark of night to provide high-frequency imaging of the Earth. They want 24 satellites in orbit by 2028 and 36 by 2030, and Rocket Lab's Electron rocket is the primary way they are getting there. While some have launched on SpaceX rideshares, the Electron offers a dedicated ride that puts the satellite exactly where the customer wants it, rather than where the bus is going. The next IQPS launch is already scheduled for May, and it's this kind of consistent, reliable cadence that allows Rocket Lab to punch way above its weight class. They are consistently surpassing giants like Blue Origin and ULA in terms of launch frequency, despite having a fraction of the resources. And with their new, larger Neutron rocket on the horizon, they are about to enter the world of reusability and compete directly for much larger payloads. It's an exciting time to be a space fan, whether you are watching a 400-foot Starship in Texas or a 60-foot Electron in New Zealand. That brings us to the end of today's episode. It's going to be a wild week at the Launch Pad, and we will be here to cover every vent, every flame, and every orbital delivery. Thank you so much for tuning in and supporting the channel. As always, this has been Kevin from GreatSpaceX. Until next time, keep your eyes on the horizon, and keep looking up!