BFR Developments

[Yazata]

Booster 14-1 (first flew and caught on very successful Flight 5) looks to be the first Superheavy booster to be reflown a second time on upcoming Flight 9. It's currently receiving lots more attention than any of the other boosters in Megabay 1.

(Photo by Starship Gazer)

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[Yazata]

NASA has just added Starship to the eligibility list for their Commercial Launch Services contracts. That means that SpaceX can make proposals involving use of Starship for NASA satellite and interplanetary space probe launches. Previously they could only bid Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches. This doesn't apply to crewed launches which would require Starship to be crew-rated, like Falcon 9. That requires much more stringent safety evaluation.

https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-a...-starship/

nsNS

[Yazata]

"Flight proven" (used) booster B14-1 which first flew on flight 7 and landed flawlessly while its ship blew up near the Turks and Caicos, is eager to have another go and is back on the launch pad for a round of preflight testing to start Thursday in anticipation of flight 9. That might include cryo pressure testing and/or a full static fire.

Photo by the extraordinary photographer Carlos Nunez

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[Yazata]

B14-1 just successfully conducted the first static fire ever of a "flight proven" (used) Superheavy booster.

https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1907876664274473132

This booster first flew on Flight 7 and was successfully caught in Tower 1's loving arms

And now it's on track to fly again on Flight 9

SpaceX confirms that 29 of the 33 engines flew on Flight 7 and only 4 had to be replaced by new ones. All 33 lit properly for the static fire this morning.

Screenshot from the Nasaspaceflight.com livestream

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[Yazata]

Aerial photo of the Pad B flame trench by Mauricio of RGV Aerial Photography

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Then Friday night two of these things rolled from the Sanchez work area to Pad B. They aren't couches for giants or huge Elon pipe organs. These are the flame buckets for the new Pad B flame diverter. One will fit on either side of the center ridge in the flame trench. The pipes will be fed with high pressure water through the manifold visible in the lower front, which will spray at high pressure out of many small holes drilled in the pipes, similar in concept to what happens with the water-cooled steel plate at Pad A.

Wasting no time, a crane lifted them down into the trench today. The two gaps where it looks like a pipe is missing are intentional, so the crane can get a balanced load. The last two pipes will be welded in after installation. There is still a heavy armored and water cooled ridge cap to go on top to take the direct rocket blast. But unlike the water-cooled steel plate at Pad A, the ridge cap won't have to take the direct blast of all 33 engines, most of which will be diverted out towards the ends of the flame trench.

Launch pad flame buckets and trenches have long been in use at Cape Canaveral (and by the Russians and others) and are a known technology.

(Photo by Starship Gazer)

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[Yazata]

High rez shot by Mauricio of the middle of the new Pad B flame trench, taken before the flame buckets were placed on both sides of this central support structure.

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[Yazata]

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/2UiMYGgZJsk

[Yazata]

Aerial photo that Mauricio took on Wednesday, showing the flame buckets installed in the trench. The two large green pipes at the very bottom will supply high-pressure water for the deluge.

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And this thing will cover the center ridge which will be directly below the engines.

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And just today, this thing arrived. It's believed to be the first of multiple support columns that the Pad B Orbital Launch Mount will rest upon.

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[Yazata]

Today (Easter Sunday!) is the two year anniversary of Flght 1.

https://x.com/Truthful_ast/status/1913933167272042836

Slowly getting away from the pad, where it lingered for five seconds (seemed like an eternity) before rising after most (not all) booster engines lit.

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What those engines did to the pad!

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After it lost more engines, a huge engine bay fire resulted. Control was lost and the full-stack started flipping end over end with the engines still running! (Few other rockets could stay in one piece doing that!) The flight was obviously doomed, but the aerobatics provided good data about the strength of the structure. Before flight there were worries that the structure wasn't strong enough.

A destruct command was sent and the explosives on the booster detonated first. Here's a leaked SpaceX photo from the ship after the booster FTS detonated showing the top of the booster still clamped to the ship, further proving the ability of the clamps. Then the ship was commanded to blow itself up.

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nsNS

[Yazata]

Today the residents of Starbase voted to become an officially incorporated Texas city

A city like no other!

97.74% yes
2.26% no

https://myrgv.com/alerts-brh/2025/05/03/...corporate/

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