SpaceX
SpaceX rocket fairing reappears on Mr Steven after six week hiatus
A hop and a skip away from SpaceX’s first Falcon 9 Block 5 recovery, the company’s famous fairing recovery vessel Mr Steven was caught by Teslarati photographer Pauline Acalin performing some unusual maneuvers at sea, hauling what can only have been the intact fairing half recovered after SpaceX’s March 30 launch of Iridium NEXT-5.
Why exactly the fairing half was aboard Mr Steven for high-speed trials and eventual delivery to Berth 240 – SpaceX’s future Mars rocket factory – is not entirely clear. The most obvious explanation is that these new operations are in some way related to Falcon 9 payload fairing drop tests hinted at recently by CEO Elon Musk, tests that would allow the company to hone the accuracy of the autonomous parafoils currently used to recover them. In light of Mr Steven’s newly upgraded net, the goal is to gently catch each fairing before they touch down on the ocean’s surface – per SpaceX’s Hans Koenigsmann, even partial immersion in seawater precludes any future attempts at reuse.
SpaceX technicians offload the Iridium fairing half from Mr Steven while docked at Berth 240, SpaceX’s BFR (Mars rocket) factory in-waiting. (Pauline Acalin)
While we originally speculated that water intrusion into the fairing halves’ aluminum honeycomb composite structures – a common failure mode in the history of the material’s use in aerospace – would pose a problem for fairing reuse sans net capture, the actual reason Koenigsmann gave was the fact that the environment inside Falcon fairings must be kept extraordinarily clean to avoid damaging the highly sensitive satellite and spacecraft payloads housed inside. In retrospect, it makes a whole lot of sense that cleaning a fairing thoroughly enough after exposure to seawater/sea spray and its multitudes of organic material, minerals, and simple saltwater could pose an extremely expensive (if not outright intractable) problem for routine reusability. Hence Mr Steven and his wonderfully analog recovery hardware (i.e. a giant net).
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- Fairing aboard, Mr Steven performed rapid turns and high-speed sprints with the fairing half aboard. (Pauline Acalin)
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- Mr Steven and his fancy net 2.0, caught on May 7. Bright yellow…for style. (Pauline Acalin)
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- On May 16, he arrived at Berth 240 with fairing half in tow. (Pauline Acalin)
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- Note the distinctive yellow netting draped over the fairing stand aboard Mr Steven. It’s unclear if this is actually the new yellow net spotted last week, or if it’s actually webbing dedicated to securing the fairing cradle. (Pauline Acalin)
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- It’s unclear why the Iridium fairing has been brought once again to Berth 240, aside perhaps from temporary storage. (Pauline Acalin)
After approximately six weeks of rest after its return to Port of San Pedro aboard Mr Steven, the fairing half found itself speeding around the mouth of Port of San Pedro aboard the net boat Mr Steven on May 16, after which it was carefully offloaded at SpaceX’s recently-leased Berth 240 facilities, set to one day become the company’s first Mars rocket and spaceship factory (currently housed in a giant tent a few miles away).
A careful scan of the day’s aviation activities showed no tracked helicopter flights that could have been involved in fairing drop tests, and it’s equally implausible that SpaceX would choose (or be permitted) to attempt to catch a 1000 kg autonomous parafoil a handful of miles from densely populated Los Angeles. Mr Steven’s distinctive yellow net – a brand new upgrade – was also visibly strewn about the vessel’s deck, over top of a basic wooden fairing stand, atop of which sat the sooty Iridium fairing half. Given the lengthy journey, it has made to be aboard Mr Steven, May 16’s unusual day of testing is presumably just the beginning of a number of outings, perhaps culminating in fairing drop and catch tests with a helicopter.
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- Regardless of why it’s there, the contrast of the dilapidated urban landscape and cutting-edge flight-proven rocket hardware is absolutely breathtaking.(Pauline Acalin)
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- Jump maybe 6 months ahead, and one can already begin to imagine that the first BFS test article may end up being craned aboard a barge before the exact same backdrop. (Pauline Acalin)
Regardless, the whole event was an incredible spectacle, caught in awesome detail by Pauline Acalin. One can only begin to imagine what other sights might one day – perhaps fairly soon – grace the dramatic dockside space SpaceX now owns at Berth 240.
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- It’s difficult to imagine how Mr Steven’s already vast net could plausibly be expanded by a factor of two in each dimension. I certainly can’t wait to see how SpaceX engineers and technicians tackle the task. (Pauline Acalin)
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- Fairing aboard, Mr Steven performed rapid turns and high-speed sprints with the fairing half aboard. (Pauline Acalin)
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- Mr Steven and the Iridium fairing half berthed at SpaceX’s Berth 240. (Pauline Acalin)
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- Mr Steven returns to port with the Iridium fairing half aboard. (Pauline Acalin)
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- Mr Steven out and about with a recovered but unreusable fairing half in May 2018, presumably for some sort of practice. (Pauline Acalin)
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- Mr Steven returns to port with the Iridium fairing half aboard. (Pauline Acalin)
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Elon Musk
SpaceX issues statement on Starship V3 Booster 18 anomaly
The incident unfolded during gas-system pressure testing at the company’s Massey facility in Starbase, Texas.
SpaceX has issued an initial statement about Starship Booster 18’s anomaly early Friday. The incident unfolded during gas-system pressure testing at the company’s Massey facility in Starbase, Texas.
SpaceX’s initial comment
As per SpaceX in a post on its official account on social media platform X, Booster 18 was undergoing gas system pressure tests when the anomaly happened. Despite the nature of the incident, the company emphasized that no propellant was loaded, no engines were installed, and personnel were kept at a safe distance from the booster, resulting in zero injuries.
“Booster 18 suffered an anomaly during gas system pressure testing that we were conducting in advance of structural proof testing. No propellant was on the vehicle, and engines were not yet installed. The teams need time to investigate before we are confident of the cause. No one was injured as we maintain a safe distance for personnel during this type of testing. The site remains clear and we are working plans to safely reenter the site,” SpaceX wrote in its post on X.
Incident and aftermath
Livestream footage from LabPadre showed Booster 18’s lower half crumpling around the liquid oxygen tank area at approximately 4:04 a.m. CT. Subsequent images posted by on-site observers revealed extensive deformation across the booster’s lower structure. Needless to say, spaceflight observers have noted that Booster 18 would likely be a complete loss due to its anomaly.
Booster 18 had rolled out only a day earlier and was one of the first vehicles in the Starship V3 program. The V3 series incorporates structural reinforcements and reliability upgrades intended to prepare Starship for rapid-reuse testing and eventual tower-catch operations. Elon Musk has been optimistic about Starship V3, previously noting on X that the spacecraft might be able to complete initial missions to Mars.
Elon Musk
SpaceX Starship Version 3 booster crumples in early testing
Photos of the incident’s aftermath suggest that Booster 18 will likely be retired.
SpaceX’s new Starship first-stage booster, Booster 18, suffered major damage early Friday during its first round of testing in Starbase, Texas, just one day after rolling out of the factory.
Based on videos of the incident, the lower section of the rocket booster appeared to crumple during a pressurization test. Photos of the incident’s aftermath suggest that Booster 18 will likely be retired.
Booster test failure
SpaceX began structural and propellant-system verification tests on Booster 18 Thursday night at the Massey’s Test Site, only a few miles from Starbase’s production facilities, as noted in an Ars Technica report. At 4:04 a.m. CT on Friday, a livestream from LabPadre Space captured the booster’s lower half experiencing a sudden destructive event around its liquid oxygen tank section. Post-incident images, shared on X by @StarshipGazer, showed notable deformation in the booster’s lower structure.
Neither SpaceX nor Elon Musk had commented as of Friday morning, but the vehicle’s condition suggests it is likely a complete loss. This is quite unfortunate, as Booster 18 is already part of the Starship V3 program, which includes design fixes and upgrades intended to improve reliability. While SpaceX maintains a rather rapid Starship production line in Starbase, Booster 18 was generally expected to validate the improvements implemented in the V3 program.
Tight deadlines
SpaceX needs Starship boosters and upper stages to begin demonstrating rapid reuse, tower catches, and early operational Starlink missions over the next two years. More critically, NASA’s Artemis program depends on an on-orbit refueling test in the second half of 2026, a requirement for the vehicle’s expected crewed lunar landing around 2028.
While SpaceX is known for diagnosing failures quickly and returning to testing at unmatched speed, losing the newest-generation booster at the very start of its campaign highlights the immense challenge involved in scaling Starship into a reliable, high-cadence launch system. SpaceX, however, is known for getting things done quickly, so it would not be a surprise if the company manages to figure out what happened to Booster 18 in the near future.
Elon Musk
SpaceX’s next project will produce Starships at a level that sounds impossible
1,000 rockets per year is an insane number, especially considering Starship’s sheer size.
Elon Musk has revealed bold plans for SpaceX’s newest Starbase facility in Texas, predicting it will become a birthplace for “so many spaceships.” The upcoming “Gigabay,” a massive $250 million production hub in Starbase, Texas, is designed to manufacture up to 1,000 Starship rockets per year.
That’s an insane number of rockets for a single facility, especially considering Starship’s sheer size.
One of the world’s largest industrial structures
SpaceX’s Gigabay is expected to stand roughly 380 feet tall and enclose 46.5 million cubic feet of interior space, making it one of the largest industrial structures to date. The facility will feature 24 dedicated work cells for assembling and refurbishing Starship and Super Heavy vehicles, complete with heavy-duty cranes capable of lifting up to 400 U.S. tons, as noted in a Times of India report.
Construction crews have already placed four tower cranes on-site, with completion targeted for December 2026. Once operational, the Gigabay is expected to boost SpaceX’s launch cadence dramatically, as it would be able to build up to 1,000 reusable Starships per year, as noted in a report from the Dallas Express. Musk stated that the Gigabay will be “one of the biggest structures in the world” and hinted that it represents a major leap in Starbase’s evolution from test site to full-scale production hub.
A key step toward Mars and beyond
Starship is SpaceX’s heavy-lift rocket system, and it remains a key part of Elon Musk’s vision of a multiplanetary future. The vehicle can carry 100–150 tonnes to low Earth orbit and up to 250 tonnes in expendable mode. With several successful flights to date, including a perfect 11th test flight, the Starship program continues to refine its reusable launch system ahead of crewed lunar missions under NASA’s Artemis initiative.
Starship is unlike any other spacecraft that has been produced in the past. As per Elon Musk, Starship is a “planet-colonizer” class rocket, as the magnitude of such a task “makes other space transport task trivial.” Considering Starship’s capabilities, it could indeed become the spacecraft that makes a Moon or Mars base feasible.
SpaceX issues statement on Starship V3 Booster 18 anomaly
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