The 'Starhopper' BFR/Starship test article seems to be approaching flyable form without the wrecked nosecone being replaced. As currently configured the bottom half is a large cylindrical thing with a blunt domed nose that looks like a fuel tank bulkhead.
In the last few days SpaceX has informed its Boca Chica neighbors that first flight tests are coming soon. At first these will only be firing up the engines, rising a few feet, then shutting the engines off again almost immediately. Little tiny hops. Once they are more confident that they can control it, they want to go several thousand feet up to explore the control challenges of landing it propulsively. I expect that they will want to get the weight distribution more like the operational version when they do that, so it will need a lot more nose and weight up there. But first they want to get the engines running and test the plumbing. They have already been observed running fuel and oxidizer into the vehicle's tanks.
Photo of the fueling tests in the last few days. The the test vehicle is the large squat cylindrical thing with the dome shaped top over to the right that's generating a cloud of fog (because it's filled with liquid oxygen).
In the last few days SpaceX has informed its Boca Chica neighbors that first flight tests are coming soon. At first these will only be firing up the engines, rising a few feet, then shutting the engines off again almost immediately. Little tiny hops. Once they are more confident that they can control it, they want to go several thousand feet up to explore the control challenges of landing it propulsively. I expect that they will want to get the weight distribution more like the operational version when they do that, so it will need a lot more nose and weight up there. But first they want to get the engines running and test the plumbing. They have already been observed running fuel and oxidizer into the vehicle's tanks.
Photo of the fueling tests in the last few days. The the test vehicle is the large squat cylindrical thing with the dome shaped top over to the right that's generating a cloud of fog (because it's filled with liquid oxygen).