Elon Musk’s spaceflight and astronautics company SpaceX is not just working on the next Starship launch but on near-future projects as well.
Yesterday, a new version of the launch tower Chopsticks was spotted at Starbase, Texas. SpaceX has installed the new Chopsticks on the 2nd launch tower, which is built on the orbital launch mount (OLM) Pad-B at the Starbase launch and landing-catch site in Boca Chica, Texas.
Additionally, SpaceX is preparing to construct the largest Starship Super Heavy bay at Starbase called the Gigabay. To make way for the new Giga Bay, SpaceX has started demolishing the smaller High Bay. The decommissioning of the High Bay is currently under progress at Starbase.
Chopsticks V2 for Starship Catch
Like other Elon Musk companies, SpaceX is also constantly working to improve and re-engineer its rockets, spaceships, and related equipment.
It’s just been a few years since SpaceX invented the launch tower Chopstick arms. With continuous fine-tuning over the years, these Chopsticks caught the first Super Heavy booster last year.
Since the first landing-catch in Flight 5, the OLM Pad A launch tower Chopsticks have caught 2 more Super Heavy rockets in Starship Flight 7 and Flight 8 this year. Although these 1st generation Chopsticks have proven to be successful, they have only caught the rocket boosters yet.
The new version of the OLM Chopsticks is shorter in length and looks a bit different compared to the previous generation. SpaceX has installed the new Chopsticks V2 on the 2nd launch tower at Starbase. The launch pad of this tower (Pad B) is still under construction and SpaceX teams have been constantly working on it.
SpaceX is most probably going to attempt a landing-catch of the Starship upper stage with the new pair of shorter Chopsticks on Pad B in the upcoming Flight 9 test (IFT-9).
Last year, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said that landing-catch of the 2nd/upper stage will be attempted in 2025. The redesign and re-engineering of the launch tower Chopsticks suggest that SpaceX is preparing the catch the Ship in the next flight test.
However, the old Chopsticks would catch the Super Heavy booster and the new ones would catch the upper-stage Starship spacecraft.
SpaceX teams are working relentlessly to complete the construction of the OLM Pad B.
Gigabay Construction / Decommissioning of the High Bay
SpaceX is building two Gigabays. One at the Starbase, Texas launch site and another at the Cape Canaveral launch site in Florida. The plan of constructing Gigabays was revealed during the Starship Flight 8 live stream by SpaceX engineers.
Gigabay is going to be the largest space where Starships will rest at the time of upgrades, repairs, and engine installations. The interior space of the Gigabay will be 46 million cubic feet. Compared to the Mega Bay at Starbase, Gigabay will have 11 times larger working space.
The height of the cube-like Gigabay is going to be 380 feet. It would easily accommodate Starship and Super Heavy structures of up to 266 feet (81 meters) tall.
Gigabay will have cranes that can lift up to 400 tons (twice the capability of a Mega Bay crane). Certainly much bigger than the existing Mega Bay at Starbase. SpaceX has begun the process of decommissioning the existing High Bay at Starbase to accomodate the upcoming Giga Bay.
SpaceX teams started cutting and removing the steel panels of the High Bay and brought the bridge crane down in multiple pieces yesterday. Stay tuned for future updates.
*SpaceX is officially calling it ‘Gigabay‘ instead of ‘Giga Bay‘. So, changed the spelling in the article and following this notation in upcoming stories.
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- SpaceX mounts Flight 9 Starship onto the OLM, shares the landing plan, and stunning views ahead of launch
