Starbase activities (2025-01-16):

Launch site:

• Road closure is scheduled. (BocaRoad)
• Road closure is in place. (ViX)
• Helicopter flyby. (ViX, NSF)
• Chopsticks open and landing rails rise. (LabPadre, ViX, Priel)
• Pad is cleared. (ViX)
• Two fast boats are on duty to chase away wayward boats. (Cornwell)
• Tank farm venting. (ViX, Priel)
• CEO arrives. (elonjet)
• Launch mount and tower venting. (LabPadre, ViX 1, ViX 2, ViX 3, ViX 4, NSF)
• T-0 is pushed to 16:37 CT. (SpaceX)
• Propellant load. (ViX, NSF 1, NSF 2)
• Flight 7 happens, B14 is lands on the chopsticks. (ViX 1, ViX 2, Starship Gazer, NSF, Mary, Gray, Gisler, Doherty, Dodd, clwphoto1, SpaceX)
• B14 is lowered back onto launch mount. (LabPadre, Priel)
• Compared to Flight 5, Flight 7 shortened the quick disconnect reconnect time from T+6h9m to T+2h26m. (Caton)
• Booster vapour cone. (Beyer, GroundTruthPics, cnunez, Cosmic Perspective, Kraus)

Flight 7:

• S33 experiences a RUD shortly before SECO. (SpaceX)
• S33 reentry videos. (deankolson87 (Turks and Caicos), timmaayd (Turks and Caicos), realcamtem (Dominican Republic), FlyerXT (Caribbean Sea), _thatonedolphin (Airplane, possibly Jet Blue or Iberia, xrae (Disney Treasure cruise ship), adavenport354 (Turks and Caicos))
• Compilation of debris videos, (Scott Manley)
• Flights are diverted. (Manley)
• FAA state that some debris fell “outside of the identified closed aircraft hazard areas”. SpaceX state that “Any surviving pieces of debris would have fallen into the designated hazard area”. (Beil, SpaceX (current, archive))
• Fire observed coming from aft flap hinge. (Manley, Golden 1, Golden 2)
• Elon: “Preliminary indication is that we had an oxygen/fuel leak in the cavity above the ship engine firewall that was large enough to build pressure in excess of the vent capacity. Apart from obviously double-checking for leaks, we will add fire suppression to that volume and probably increase vent area. Nothing so far suggests pushing next launch past next month.”

Build site:

• Raptor installation platform moves to the scrap yard. (ViX)
• Booster transport stand moves to the ring yard. (ViX, Starship Gazer)
• Booster transport stand moves to the roadblock. (ViX 1, ViX 2)
• RGV Aerial post a recent (Jan 11th) flyover photo of Launch Mount B at Sanchez.

Looks like we’ve got one engine out on ship.

Chopstick catch successful!

Hot staging adapter separation.

Edit: And boostback burn shutdown.

MECO, hot staging, and Ship engine ignition!

12 of 13 booster engines are lit.

Max-Q!

Liftoff!

No hold at T-40. They are go for launch!

Frost on ship and booster.

https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1880005238385787336

The Starship team is go for prop load

https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1879987136268739022

Now targeting 4:37 p.m. CT for liftoff of Starship

NSF are live.

Tank farm is spooling up.

Are we sure this is from flight 6, and not flight 4, where the ship barely survived?

I thought it was football

It is football, no?

Awesome news! Looking forward to their first launch!

The Blue Ring pathfinder weighs 20 tons‽ It looked so small in the fairing…

Yeah, it really crawled off the pad. Thrust-to-weight-ratio can’t have been much more than 1.2 or so.

Wow, his stream was certainly quite… um…

Loss of booster confirmed.

SECO confirmed! New Glenn upper stage is in orbit!