BFR Developments

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By Niall-Ian Anderson

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World's coolest company break area!

Overlooking the production line in the nosecone hall of the Starfactory. Watch giant spaceships being built while you sip your coffee!

(Photo by Shaun Gisler)

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SpaceX has applied to the FCC for a Flight 8 communications license, effective February 24. So that's the first indication we have for a NET (no earlier than) date.

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A large Mars globe has been installed above the lobby mezzanine of the new Starbase office building.

(Photo by Starship Gazer)

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B15, the Flight 8 booster, rolled from the factory to Pad A at midnight local time last night, in anticipation of a 33 engine static fire as soon as tomorrow/Sunday 9 Feb.

(SpaceX photos)

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B15, the Flight 8 booster, completed a successful static fire this morning.

(SpaceX photo)

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What was to become Starbase six years ago, in January 2019.... what Elon aptly called a droid junkyard on Tatooine. Even back then, I was tremendously excited by the thought that building spaceships was more than a dream, that they actually had hardware... Hoppy in this case.

(Photo by Mauricio of RGV Aerial Photography)

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And the difference a little time makes... scenes straight out of science fiction!

Starship final integration technicians posing with one of their babies, before it rolled to the Masseys test site yesterday.

(Photo by Starship Gazer reposted by Elon)

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B15 has returned to the factory area after its static fire.

(Photo by Space Intelligence)

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Starship final integration technicians posing with one of their babies, before it rolled to the Masseys test site yesterday.

And last night the Flight 8 ship performed an extraordinarily long static fire on the test stand at Masseys.

Spectacular SpaceX video in the post below

https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1889799254472098080

SpaceX says

"The extended firing tested new hardware and cycled the six Raptor engines through multiple thrust levels to recreate different conditions seen within the propulsion system during flight. Data from the test will inform upgrades to the ship’s hardware and flight profile ahead of the next launch."

https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1889799440652763145

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Drama today not far from Starbase! Right next to Starship Station, one of the places (along with Raptor Roost) run by space-nuts, where other space-nuts gather, especially on launch days.

And these places are located right on the bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border river from Mexico.

This evening there was a shooting incident, with sheriffs and ambulance responding.

Turns out that the Border Patrol was investigating a suspected smuggling incident, a confrontation ensued and an individual was shot by a Border Patrol agent. The agent wasn't injured.

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In the map below, the red marker indicates the location of the shooting.

The launch site is about three kilometers to the right, the factory site is about a kilometer to the right, a new under-construction SpaceX apartment complex is along the river to the immediate left, and the Masseys test site is a little more than a kilometer to the left along the river.

The intersection with "Boca Chica blvd" (the Brownsville to Gulf of America beach road past Starbase) is where the final roadblock is set up on launch days and where the evacuation zone begins. Raptor Roost and Starship Station are as close as photographers and space enthusiasts can get on the US side.

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