Is SpaceX Ready to Start Testing Orbital Refilling?

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Weekly Space Update
This week at Starbase, construction rolls on at the launch site and the air separation plant. Work continues on booster 19 and ship 39, and an interesting new truss structure is taking shape at the Massey's outpost. With so many aspects of the Starship program still in the design and development phase, what might SpaceX be planning to use this structure for? Let's dig into this week's update and take a closer look.
Fabrication Updates
Kicking off this week as usual with our fabrication updates. Workers continued to make steady progress on booster 19. Early on Saturday, the Super Heavy's aft section was moved from the Star Factory to Mega Bay 1 for stacking. A few days after that, the installation jig for the liquid oxygen header tank was brought out of the building, signifying that the tank was now installed inside of the rocket's larger liquid oxygen tank. That night, the first section of booster 19's methane tank was transferred from the Star Factory to Mega Bay 2 as crews prepared to start stacking the top portion of the rocket. Two days later, the forward dome section with its integrated hot staging adapter was also moved to Mega Bay 2 to be joined with the previously transferred section.

Over in Mega Bay 2, the methane and oxygen autogenous pressurization raceways were lifted to the center workstation for installation on ship 39. We then saw several composite overwrapped pressure vessels, or COPVs, get lifted and installed on ship 39. Given that we've seen two separate failures from COPVs recently with ship 36 and booster 18, these may be replacements that have been tested and handled differently following updated protocols. As those COPVs were being installed, a new untiled four-ring section was brought out of the Star Factory and staged outside of Mega Bay 2. Eventually, it was taken into the building and lifted towards the turntable in the front right corner.

It's not yet clear if this is part of a new test tank or something else entirely, but I'm willing to bet it's not going to space. An old payload section from ship 33, now with tiles removed, was brought out of the Star Factory and taken to the scrapyard at the Sanchez site. A look over at the Sanchez site on Friday showed workers busy on the quick disconnect arm extension preparing it for installation. The block 3 ship quick disconnect interface has now been installed on the end of the extension.
Launch Complex Updates
As the new giga bay continues to grow, the tower cranes grow right along with it, raising themselves up and adding in new sections of mast below the cab. Now down at the launch complex, work continues on the reconfiguration of the pad 1 infrastructure. This week saw the removal and departure of the large water tanks that fed the pad's flame deflector, as well as one of the CO2 tanks that was used to pressurize the system. Over at pad 2 on Thursday night, crews reinstalled the hydraulic actuator on the starboard chopstick that had been removed in recent weeks for unknown reasons.

Nearby at the air separation plant, a large motor was lifted and installed on the second concrete plinth that saw some rework the last couple of weeks. On Wednesday, two semi-circular metal frames were lifted and moved at the site. While we're not entirely certain what their function is, they could be joined to make a base for a vertical storage tank. Thursday, crews could be seen working to enlarge the entrance to the site as the buildout of all this new infrastructure continues.
Massey's Outpost
Now, up Highway 4 at the Massey's Outpost, a crane lifted steel for a new truss structure that's being built over the site's ship static fire flame trench. Chrome Kiwi shared a render of what the completed structure could possibly look like, as well as some speculation that it might be for testing docking and fuel transfer ahead of on-orbit testing. What do you think this will be for? Feel free to let us know down below.
Booster Testing
The booster 18.1 test tank underwent another two rounds of cryogenic testing in the structural test stand at the site on Tuesday and Thursday as SpaceX continues to ensure that this latest booster design can withstand the rigors of launch. How many tests is that now for this thing? Speaking of test tanks, a load spreader was connected to the ship 39.1 test tank on Tuesday. The next day, the article was lifted off the test stand and set down nearby.

And on Friday night, SpaceX was feeling the holiday spirit as they had a short Christmas parade along Highway 4 in front of the build site, complete with a SpaceX branded Mechazilla holding a super heavy booster.
Falcon 9 Activity
Switching over to this week's Falcon 9 activity, the first launch of the week blasted off late Saturday night from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, carrying 27 Starlink satellites to orbit. Booster 1093 successfully touched back down on, of course, I Still Love You. Several minutes later, just under 24 hours after that launch, booster 1092 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape, sending another 29 Starlink satellites to orbit. The booster and fairing halves were successfully recovered and returned to Port Canaveral for processing.

About 12 hours after that launch, Falcon 9 booster 1094 was rolled out to the pad at historic launch complex 39A and raised vertical. On Wednesday morning, the rocket launched the third Starlink mission of the week as it carried another 29 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. As we've come to expect, the first stage and fairing halves were successfully recovered and returned to port. The fourth and final Starlink launch of the week came from the west coast as booster 1063 lifted off on its 30th mission, successfully delivering another 27 satellites to orbit before landing on Of Course I Still Love You.

Kiko Donv, SpaceX's vice president of launch, shared that not only has SpaceX reached their revised goal of 165 Falcon 9 launches this year, but still has two additional launches on their manifest for a potential of an astounding 167 launches in 2025, which would beat their previous record by 33. He also shared that we have seen the last single stick Falcon 9 launch from 39A for a while as the pad will be focused on Falcon Heavy missions and the buildup of its Starship infrastructure.
Other Space News
In our other space news, Rocket Lab launched their Raise and Shine mission from launch complex 1B in New Zealand on Sunday. This mission successfully carried the Rays 4 technology demonstration satellite to sun-synchronous orbit for JAXA. And just four days later, we saw the second Electron launch of the week as the Don't Be Such a Square mission lifted off from Rocket Lab's launch complex 2 at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. This mission delivered multiple experiments and demonstrations to lower Earth orbit for the US Department of Defense and NASA, including DISCSAT, which is a plate-shaped satellite designed to demonstrate an alternative to the CubeSat standard. This mission marked the 20th of the year for the company, which is a new record and a number they still hope to grow before the end of the year.

Early on Tuesday morning, ULA launched their fourth mission for Amazon's LEO constellation, sending 27 more satellites to lower Earth orbit atop an Atlas 5 rocket with five solid rocket boosters. As the busy launch week continued, Aron Space launched the Galileo FM33 and FM34 mission from Gana Space Center with their Aron 62 rocket, successfully delivering two navigation satellites to medium-altitude Earth orbit for the European Space Agency.

Blue Origin shared footage of acceptance testing of the BE7 engine for their Blue Moon Mark 1 lunar lander. CEO Dave Limp also shared that the engine is capable of throttling down to 20%, which is quite impressive. Astra shared footage from testing of their Xenon thruster, which is currently being used on several customer satellites in orbit. Continuing with the theme of engine testing, PLLD Space shared a video from testing of their TPLC engine, which is the first stage engine for their Mora 5 rocket. And continuing with the European companies, Isar Aerospace also shared engine testing footage as they posted video from the static fire tests of the second stage for the second test flight of their Spectrum rocket. Hopefully, this one goes a bit better than the first one.

Firefly Aerospace announced that they have completed structural qualification testing of their stacked Blue Ghost lander and Elytra dark orbiter at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. As the company prepares for their Blue Ghost mission two next year, Stoke Space shared aerial views of the remodeled Space Launch Complex 14 down at the Cape, where they hope to launch their Nova small satellite rocket sometime next year.

SpaceX announced this week that one of their thousands of Starlink satellites experienced an anomaly in orbit and that they're working with NASA and the US Space Force to monitor what remains of the satellite and any debris that it might have caused. They said that it should burn upon re-entry in the coming weeks, and images obtained from Vantor's World View 3 satellite show the Starlink satellite to be mostly intact.

The BBC Levo arrived in Port Canaveral this week carrying the Orion spacecraft's European service module for the Artemis 4 mission, which is currently scheduled to launch in late 2028. And finally this week, the US Senate voted 67 to 30 to confirm the nomination of Jared Isaacman as the next NASA administrator. The next day, the private astronaut and space enthusiast shared that he had been sworn in and was ready to work. At just 42 years old, he is the youngest administrator in the agency's history.

And that'll do it for this week's batch of space updates here at Lab Padre. If you want to stay tuned on all the goings-on here in the space world in the coming weeks, click all those fancy buttons down there. As always, thank you to all of our supporters. And until next time, this is Kaden signing off.
YouTube transcript reformatted at textformatter.ai

https://search.brave.com/search?q=space+launch+complex+37&summary=1

Space Launch Complex 37 (SLC-37) is a rocket launch facility located at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Merritt Island, Florida, United States.

The complex was originally constructed in support of the Saturn I and Saturn IB rocket programs, with construction beginning in 1959 and completion of Pad 37B in August 1963.

It features two launch pads, 37A and 37B, though only Pad 37B was ever fully utilized for launches.

The site was initially used for eight Saturn I and Saturn IB launches between January 1964 and January 1968, including the first launch of the Saturn I (SA-5) on January 29, 1964, and the final Saturn IB launch (Apollo 5) on January 22, 1968.

After the Apollo program, the pad was deactivated in 1972 and remained dormant until the early 21st century.

In the 2000s, SLC-37 was reactivated and renovated for use by United Launch Alliance (ULA) to support the Delta IV launch vehicle family.

The refurbishment included the construction of a 330-foot-tall mobile service tower and a six-story Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF), which was used to horizontally assemble the Delta IV rockets before erecting them at the pad.

The first Delta IV launch from SLC-37 occurred on November 20, 2002, and the complex hosted a total of 35 Delta IV launches, including the maiden flight of the Delta IV Heavy on December 21, 2004.

The final Delta IV launch, and the last flight of the Delta family, was the NROL-70 mission on April 9, 2024.

Following the retirement of the Delta IV program, the site has undergone significant changes to prepare for SpaceX’s Starship program. In June 2025, the former ULA infrastructure, including the mobile service tower and lightning towers, was demolished to make way for SpaceX’s Starship operations.

SpaceX has received approval to develop SLC-37 for Starship launches, and construction has begun.

The complex is being converted into SpaceX’s third Starship launch site, alongside Starbase in Texas and Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center.

The site is expected to support high-frequency, airport-like operations for Starship, contributing to national security and Artemis program goals.

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SpaceX has just reached a major milestone with Starship's Fastest Booster Ever. What Comes Next? SpaceX completed the full stack of Super Heavy Booster 19 in just 28 days, making it the fastest Starship booster ever assembled from start to finish. That record build time isn't just impressive on its own, it's a clear signal that Starship is moving beyond early experimentation and into its next phase. With the final Version 2 flight now well behind us and the first Version 3 Super Heavy to hopefully fly this time fully stacked, SpaceX is preparing for tower catches, rapid reusability, orbital refilling, and missions to the Moon and Mars under NASA's Artemis program. In this video, we break down why this matters, what it tells us about Starship's readiness to scale, and what comes next as launch cadence, infrastructure, and ambition all begin to accelerate. The next year is going to be amazing. Happy New Year!
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For those interested

I saw the first Saturn rocket blast off from Canaveral. I think it was 1965. I had a great vantage point thanks to a relative. What I remember most is the noise. The roar. You knew you were dealing with almost unimaginable power.

Lived on South Merritt Island for years. Enjoyed every launch I could. Night launches were spectacular.

You had a ringside seat! I’ve only seen two launches during daylight. The Saturn rocket at night would have lit up the whole East Coast. jk

I lived in St. Pete during those years. Believe it or not, we watched and HEARD the Apollo launches from nearly 180 miles away. IIRC it took over a minute for the light from the engines to pop up over the horizon, much longer for the SOUND to reach us there on the west coast.

Decades later I was in Daytona and watched a night launch of the space shuttle from the beach.

Thinking about making a road trip down to Musk Land soon to watch a launch.

The Shuttle really scoots off the launch pad compared to that big Saturn, or so it looks on TV.

Those SRBs really pack some punch.