SpaceX's Strange Starship Nosecone for Ship Catching Test as ambitious Flight 14 Nears...
SpaceX's Strange Starship Nosecone for Ship Catching Test as ambitious Flight 14 Nears...
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SpaceX's Strange Starship Nosecone for Ship Catching Test as ambitious Flight 14 Nears...
Catching the Ship!
Those three words have become one of the hottest topics surrounding Starship.
After Flight 13, Elon Musk said SpaceX is targeting a Starship catch with the Mechazilla chopsticks as early as Flight 14.
But while preparing for that milestone, the company isn't slowing its hardware development.
A mysterious new nosecone test section has appeared at Starbase, and it could help make future catches even safer and more reliable.
Let's find out in today's episode of Great SpaceX.
One of my favorite things to do while following Starbase is watching everything that moves between Starfactory and the Mega Bays.
Seriously, it's like people who birdwatch...
Except instead of spotting rare birds, we're spotting giant stainless steel rocket parts.
Every few days something new rolls out, and somehow SpaceX always manages to surprise us.
This latest discovery is no exception.
A brand-new nosecone section has appeared, complete with several features we've never seen before.
If history has taught us anything, it's that even the strangest-looking hardware at Starbase usually ends up serving an important purpose.
SpaceX's Strange Starship Nosecone for Ship Catching Test as ambitious Flight 14 Nears...
So if you don't want to miss the next surprise, make sure you're subscribed to Great SpaceX for the latest updates on SpaceX and the rapidly evolving aerospace industry.
Now let's take a closer look at today's mystery.
On the afternoon of July 27, workers transported a nosecone section into Mega Bay 2.
At first glance, it looked fairly ordinary.
But after a closer inspection, something immediately stood out.
It doesn't have a heat shield.
That may not sound like a big deal, but it's actually a huge clue.
Normally, by the time a Starship nosecone reaches the stacking bay, it already carries its heat shield tiles and flaps.
Those components are installed before final stacking with the rest of the vehicle.
Without them, this nosecone clearly isn't following the normal production flow.
SpaceX's Strange Starship Nosecone for Ship Catching Test as ambitious Flight 14 Nears...
That strongly suggests it isn't intended to become part of a flight vehicle.
Instead, it appears to be a dedicated test article.
Then things became even stranger.
Later that same evening, workers delivered an unusually shaped support stand into Mega Bay 2.
Soon afterward, another trapezoidal support structure was placed on top of it.
Finally, the nosecone itself was mounted onto this two-piece stand assembly.
Taken together, the setup looks unlike anything we've previously seen at Starbase.
Exactly what these structures do remains unclear.
At this point, nobody outside SpaceX can say with certainty.
So let us know your theories down in the comments.
Now comes the obvious question.
If this nosecone isn't going to be stacked onto a Starship...
Why build it at all?
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