Posted on 03/08/2026 7:18:52 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
This week at Starbase crews prepare for the installation of Ship 40's flaps and raceways, Ship 39 performs its first few rounds of cryo testing at the Massey Outpost, and testing and preparations continue at Pad 2 as we eagerly await the arrival of Booster 19. Meanwhile, beyond Starbase, SpaceX launches 3 more Starlink missions, and the next tower module is rolled out to SLC-37.
Can Starship V3 Actually Launch In 4 Weeks? | 6:02
Avid Space | 249K subscribers | 10,135 views | March 8, 2026
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YouTube transcript reformatted at textformatter.ai follows.
Starship Groove (Animusic) - Remastered 4K 60FPS | 4:05
Julian Lachniet | 112K subscribers | 1,700,589 views | September 20, 2022
TranscriptHey everyone and welcome back to this week's SpaceX update. Flight 12 of Starship is drawing closer with new milestones in ship and pad testing. Elon also posted yesterday morning that the first flight of a version 3 Starship could happen as soon as 4 weeks from now, which may or may not be a realistic estimate. We'll cover that and a lot more in today's episode. So, let's dig in and take a closer look.Vehicle FabricationWe saw some interesting things in vehicle fabrication this week with a booster common dome, possibly a rebuild of test article B18.3 being moved into Mega Bay 1. Assembly of Starship 40 is nearing completion now with the A section moved from Star Factory to Mega Bay 2 for integration. The ship's methane and liquid oxygen raceways were uprighted and mounted to the installation fixtures on the bay center workstand. Ship 40's port and starboard a flaps were also placed on installation fixtures on their respective sides of the center workstand and poised for rapid assembly once the ship's main hull is ready. As construction of the next level of gigabay continues, interesting new pieces such as this large stairwell with 14 flights of stairs were lifted into the building.Launch Site ProgressOver at the launch site, significant progress is also being made towards commissioning pad 2 at the launch complex. A trio of detonation suppression system tests were performed to verify the functionality of the explosion suppressing nitrogen gas and water spray system. Pad crews also began purging the booster quick disconnect lines by running high-pressure nitrogen through the pipes. The gas helps expel any dirt or debris that may have entered the lines during construction. This will ensure no foreign objects end up inside Superheavy during the new pad's first round of vehicle testing.Massie Outpost Test SiteIt was a busy week at the Massie Outpost test site. Workers began the week by adding column extensions to the structural test stand. Starship 39 finally began its long-awaited proof testing campaign, beginning with a load and pressurization test. This was followed with a second cryo as well as a simulated chopstick squeeze test with the new gantry. Starship 39's cryo tests were followed by some work with the test article S39.1, which was repositioned from the initial test area closer to the test stands. Crews began rigging up the load spreader to the test tank, but the installation was aborted and S39.1 was taken away from the area. A third cryo test was performed on Starship 39, repeating what was seen in the first two tests as SpaceX meticulously works through the systems of the first Block 3 ship. And 2 days after ship 39's third cryo test, the load spreader was lifted and attached to S39.1.Transport Stand and Construction UpdatesA Starship Block 3 transport stand was moved back to the Sanchez site after being taken out of Mega Bay 2 on Friday. Meanwhile, a booster stand was brought from Sanchez to just outside Mega Bay 1 during a construction accident at the launch complex. Pieces of scaffolding fell from the launch tower at pad 2. Fortunately, no one was hurt in the incident, but it's a great reminder to always wear a hard hat at a construction site.Starship Operations at the CapeChecking in on this week's Starship operations at the Cape, we saw the movement of another tower module to SLC 37 as SpaceX continues to ramp up their operations in Florida for Artemis and other future Starship launches. A dedicated communications tower has been proposed and permitted at LC 39A. This tower is believed to be designed to improve communications with Starship during launch operations. On Saturday, Elon posted a hype video and said that flight 12 was about 4 weeks away. This timeline is likely SpaceX's current goal, assuming everything goes nominally in pre-flight testing. Given that this will be the inaugural launch, not just for the latest version of the ship and booster, but also for pad 2, it's likely that SpaceX will encounter a few hiccups along the way, pushing that launch date just a bit further to the right. Hopefully, however, the growing pains are relatively minor and we'll see Starship take to the skies again within a few weeks of Elon's estimate.Falcon 9 LaunchesNow, moving on to Falcon 9 launches this week. Starlink Group 17-23 was the first of a trio of flights carrying 25 Starlink satellites into orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base on booster 1082 before successfully landing downrange on, of course, I Still Love You. Before the day was out, Starlink Group 10-41 lifted off from SLC 40 in Cape Canaveral, carrying another 29 satellites into space on booster 1078. Both the fairing halves, serial numbers 212 and 155 were successfully recovered. SpaceX recovery ship Just Read the Instructions likewise brought the booster back to Port Canaveral after its successful 26th flight before it was unloaded onto the dockside stands. The third launch of the week was the Starlink Group 10-40 mission with preparations beginning a few days before flight. A Shortfall of Gravitas and support ship Doug headed out to sea ahead of the flight which successfully lifted off from Slick 40 on March 4th carrying another 29 satellites into orbit on booster 1080. Doug quickly returned to Port Canaveral carrying both of the fairing halves for the mission. Signet Warhorse 2 brought home a Shortfall of Gravitas with B1080-25, but not without some trouble. The booster’s engines were damaged after the Octagrabber malfunctioned and crushed a Merlin engine's nozzle, and crews needed to maneuver the booster carefully on the drone ship to make sure it cleared the malfunctioning Octagrabber on the deck.Lunar EclipseWith clear skies providing ideal conditions, our early morning viewers were treated to a total lunar eclipse that took place on the 3rd with the Earth passing between the moon and the sun to block its sunlight. And there you have it, another SpaceX and Starbase weekly update brought to you by Avid Space. Thanks for watching and we'll see you next week.
“Can it?” - Absolutely.
“Can it do it successfully?” - That’s above my pay grade.
Interesting, am hoping like us all that the new pad & new ship glitches are few.
Some things I don’t know, like what is a load spreader.
I saw part of a vid about the new launch pad, it went on too long for my taste, part of that was due to the intercoursing ad breaks on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/@CSIStarbase/videos
Can a video provider set for more frequent ads to increase revenue?
I don’t watch many videos but of those the ads didn’t seem excessive. Of course if my exposure was frequent, I might have a different opinion.
It’s when I kick back in the recliner and try watching YouTube on the Roku that this is a problem and an annoyance. On the browser it seldom happens — only when the ad is part of the presentation. When I post a transcript, sometimes one will see “ad text redacted” right in there. I chop it out.
It’ll be interesting to see how the version 3 Raptor engines and supporting systems perform.
Side by side:
https://www.eonmsk.com/2024/08/03/spacex-raptor-1-vs-raptor-2-vs-raptor-3/
This is not something you want to rush/risk disaster.
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=122112422655226855&set=gm.928488636321162&idorvanity=436711088832255
(Yes, the catch arms are not at all realistic in the graphic)
🚀 How Starship V3 Is Quietly Breaking the Rocket Equation
Most rockets fail not because they lack thrust—but because they carry too much of themselves.
SpaceX’s Starship V3 is attempting something that once sounded impossible:
👉 A structural mass ratio as low as ~6.6–7.7%,
👉 while targeting 150–200+ tons of fully reusable payload to Low Earth Orbit.
That’s not a single breakthrough.
It’s the result of stacked engineering decisions, each shaving mass where rockets traditionally can’t.
Here’s how Starship V3 pulls it off 👇
🧱 1️⃣ A Stainless-Steel Exoskeleton (Yes, Really)
Instead of aluminum or carbon composites, Starship uses a custom 30X stainless steel alloy.
Why this matters:
- Yield strength >1200 MPa after cold working
- Stable from cryogenic fuel temperatures to reentry heat
- Thin skin + high toughness = lower dry mass without fragility
This turns the ship itself into a load-bearing exoskeleton, not just a fuel tank.
🔥 2️⃣ Raptor 3: Engines That Don’t Need Armor
Propulsion is usually dead weight after burnout—but Raptor 3 flips that idea.
Key upgrades:
- Fully regenerative cooling built into engine structures
- No bulky external heat shielding
- Tighter engine packing, less plumbing, fewer failure points
Result:
👉 Less engine mass
👉 More payload
👉 Better survivability during descent
🧩 3️⃣ A Heat Shield Designed for Reuse, Not Repair
A reusable rocket lives or dies by its heat shield.
Starship V3’s Thermal Protection System focuses on turnaround speed, not perfection:
- Welded attachment pins replace glue at structural seams
- ~18,500 interlocking ceramic tiles, including micro-tiles for edges
- A backup ablative layer beneath the tiles in case one is lost
Even with damage, the ship survives reentry—and flies again.
🦾 4️⃣ The Mechazilla Catch: Moving Mass to the Ground
The most elegant mass savings?
Don’t carry what the ground can do better.
By being caught mid-air by the launch tower:
- No landing legs on the vehicle
- Stronger hardpoints replace bulky hardware
- Vehicle returns directly to the launch mount for fast refueling
This single decision removes tons of non-payload mass.
🧠 The Big Picture
Starship V3 doesn’t rely on one miracle material or one genius trick.
It wins by:
- Stronger steel instead of heavier structure
- Smarter engines instead of added shielding
- Ground infrastructure instead of onboard hardware
Together, these choices bend the rocket equation far enough to make aircraft-like reuse and 150+ ton payloads realistic.
That’s not just a bigger rocket—it’s a different economic model for space.
Would you trust a rocket caught out of the sky by robotic arms?
Or is this exactly the kind of bold engineering space needs next? 👇
Note: This image is an illustrative render for educational purpose, not an official SpaceX image.
nope.
can’t.
you asked.
... and after all of that, to get to the real working version, Starship v4 is required. And its still too heavy, requiring at least 6 refuelings to get to the Moon. Moreover, no one is saying what happens to the empty refueling rockets - which lack any means of reentering the atmosphere, as currently planned.
The Saturn 5 1st & 2nd stage put their Moon stack into low earth orbit. This relatively small stack boosted itself to the Moon.
Starship is larger & heavier, true, but but once in low earth orbit and refueled, is ready for the Moon insertion burn.
They may do a Starship Moon orbiting trip without the lander first. Idk.
Starship is made out of Stainless Steel [ very heavy ] all the others are made out of composite materials [ very light ]. By the time Starship has reached LEO, it is out of fuel basically. Each refueling ship can theoretically carry only 100 tons of fuel, Starship requires 4,600 tons to reach LEO. Refueling in space has never been done before and some of the fuel will boil off, so 6 ships at the minimum. Direct further question to E Musk.
I had not considered fuel volume. However, I find:
To reach low-earth orbit
Our analysis indicates that a fully configured Starship launch (booster and Starship) will use about a 1000 tonnes of methane in the form of LNG as fuel. (1200 tons capacity)
and
Once in orbit, how many tons of fuel does the Starship HLS need to reach lunar orbit?
You need 450t of propellant to get 120t Starship to the lunar surface from NRHO and back. (includes deorbit & landing)
However...
The demo results next year will help NASA determine how many refueling tankers are needed for Artemis III. Current estimates suggest it could take 10 “chaser” launches to *fully fuel* Starship HLS for a lunar landing.
(it seems a fully fueled Starship may actually be overkill for the Moon insertion & return)
The above is regurgitated text, I claim no accuracy.
Re the center portion of the above post - 120 tons: I would think a Moon configured Starship + Moon lander stack would weigh considerably more than 120 tons.
The above is regurgitated text, I claim no accuracy.
—
The analysis is flawed by SpaceX’s own calculations. And it matters which version the analysis was run against” v1, v2, v3 [ untested ], or the final v4 [ design only ].
Use SpaceX’s calculations, not some AI bot.
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