SpaceX Status Report – August 29, 2020

Boca Chica, Texas

• Cameron County, Texas has a road closure scheduled for the 150m hop test on August 30th. The backup date for the 150m hop is August 31st and September 1st.
• FAA issued a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) for the Boca Chica area starting on August the 9th and running to September 2nd “To provide a safe environment for space ops pursuant to 14 CFR Section 91”.

Starship Status

• SN5 – Moved out of the mid-bay to make room for SN8 stacking.
• SN6 – On Test Stand A – Undergoing 150m hop test.
• SN7.1 – Test tank stacking continues.
• SN8 – Stacked
• SN9 – Under construction

Facilities Status

• Low Bay – A stacked nosecone assembly
• Mid Bay – SN8 Stacking
• High Bay – Under construction – The last level has been installed.
• Test Stand A – SN6 – 150m hop test in progress. Scheduled between 8:00 am and 8:00 pm.
• Test Stand B – Preparing for SN7.1 destructive pressure test.
• Orbital Launch Mount – Under construction – Two columns have been sleaved. Two rebar cages installed awaiting metal sleaves.
• Old Gas Well – On-site methane (CH4) propellant production? New concrete slab poured.

Cape Canaveral, Florida

Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A), Kennedy Space Center

Starlink 11 – Falcon 9 – B1060.2

• The next launch opportunity is Tuesday, September 1 at 9:29 a.m. EDT (13:29 UTC), pending range approval.
• Scrubbed due to weather – Sunday, August 30, 2020, 10:08 am EDT (14:08 UTC)

Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40), Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

SAOCOM 1B – Falcon 9 – B1059.4

• Sunday, August 30, 2020, 23:19 GMT (7:19 pm EDT). This launch is for CONAE, the Argentine space agency. This is the first polar orbit launch from Cape Canaveral since 1960 when a cow was killed in Cuba by falling debris. Falcon 9 landed at Landing Zone 1.

---

News and Commentary

On YouTube

SpaceX – SAOCOM 1B | Launch and Landing

---

---

Alex Rex – SpaceX Starship Facility Update / August 28th, 2020 / #BocaChica #Starship #Spacex

---

On the Web

• NASASpaceflight.Com – Starship SN6 Prepares for Hop – Super Heavy is Coming
• Spaceflight Now – Weather scuttles Starlink flight; SpaceX still targets evening launch with SAOCOM

---

On Twitter

“All of physics is either impossible or trivial. It is impossible until you understand it, and then it becomes trivial.” E Rutherford

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 28, 2020

Actually C, although the syntax could be improved esthetically

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 29, 2020

Booster design has shifted to four legs with a wider stance (to avoid engine plume impingement in vacuum), rather than six

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 29, 2020

---