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SpaceX to ship Starship ‘deluge’ hardware from Florida to Starbase
SpaceX appears to be preparing to ship a huge collection of hardware – including parts of a possible launch deluge system – from Florida to Texas.
Captured live by NASASpaceflight’s 24/7 Space Coast Live webcam, hardware began accumulating at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Turning Basin on January 12th. Within a few days, four midsize storage tanks, two or three large storage tanks, five high-pressure gas tanks, multiple sections of an apparent launch deluge system, and an unfinished Starship booster transport stand were all staged and ready for shipment. Save for implicit statements from reliable sources, there wasn’t an obvious guarantee that the hardware was all SpaceX’s or headed to the company’s Starbase, Texas factory and launch site.
But combined with the sheer volume of hardware and its privileged presence on NASA KSC property, the last part to arrive – the base of an unmistakable Starship (booster) transport stand – all but confirmed that the destination is Starbase. SpaceX has already shipped hardware from Florida to Starbase multiple times, including a trio of tanks sent in October 2022, which further increases the odds that everything visible is destined for Starbase.
The update that's rolling out to the fleet makes full use of the front and rear steering travel to minimize turning circle. In this case a reduction of 1.6 feet just over the air— Wes (@wmorrill3) April 16, 2024
It might also not be a coincidence that in its first attempt to build a Starship launch site at Kennedy Space Center, SpaceX installed four midsize tanks and plenty of high-pressure gas tanks at LC-39A. The resurgence of work on a totally different Starship pad design at 39A in late 2021 likely made that hardware redundant. It’s possible that the four smaller tanks set to be shipped to Starbase originated at 39A and are being moved in the hopes that they can be more useful elsewhere.
Additionally, satellite photos taken on January 3rd, 2023 and shared by Harry Stranger show a pair of larger tanks also sitting unused at Pad 39A. Ultimately, it’s almost certain that the delivery is SpaceX hardware bound for Starbase, Texas.
A deluge? Under my Starship?
The most interesting part of the shipment is arguably a group of giant metal tubes. Measuring several feet wide, dozens of feet long, and fitted with multiple outlets connected to the same giant pipe, the likeliest possible explanation is that the manifolds are part of a plan to upgrade SpaceX’s Texas Starship launch site with a deluge system.
Almost all rockets use some sort of deluge system to prevent their own exhaust from damaging or destroying themselves or their surroundings. A large volume of water sprayed into the space just below a rocket’s engines can prevent the immense acoustic energy (sound) they produce from wreaking havoc. A deluge also helps protect launch pad hardware by allowing some of the energy in the exhaust to boil and vaporize water instead of eating into concrete or steel. But CEO Elon Musk has infamously stated that SpaceX is intentionally attempting to build an orbital launch site that doesn’t need a flame diverter for Starship – the most powerful rocket in history.
That’s gone about as well as one might expect. Even Starship, which can produce about 18% as much thrust as Super Heavy, has repeatedly incinerated the concrete beneath its test stand, spreading molten debris for thousands of feet and starting major brush fires in a nature reserve. After every six-engine Starship static fire, SpaceX must painstakingly remove and replace all of the concrete beneath the test stand.
The problem is even more apparent at Starbase’s orbital launch mount, where SpaceX has begun to conduct Super Heavy booster static fire tests. Thus far, SpaceX has had to replace the concrete under the OLM after almost every Super Heavy static fire – a process that takes a week or two. The company recently replaced that concrete with a mix optimized to survive high temperatures, but it remains to be seen if that will survive a direct blow from the most powerful rocket in history.
For the time being, Starbase’s environmental permit only allows up to five orbital launches per year, making lengthy post-launch repairs mostly inconsequential. However, if SpaceX ever wants Starbase to rapidly launch multiple Starships back to back – essential for in-space refilling – or launch dozens of Starships per year, it’s become clear that a deluge system is likely essential.
Starship’s Florida deluge
Some part of SpaceX knows that. The design of Starship’s first Florida launch pad has already been upgraded to include a giant deluge ring embedded in the ground at the base of the mount. Unusual design aside, the structure is sized such that it’s almost certainly a high-flow deluge system capable of spraying thousands of gallons of water per second.
Three months later, SpaceX appears to be preparing to ship two giant deluge manifolds and some deluge plumbing from Florida to Starbase. If SpaceX intends to retrofit Starbase’s existing orbital launch site with a giant deluge system, the process would likely take months and render the pad more or less unusable from start to finish. Alternatively, Musk recently reported that SpaceX intends to build a “rocket test facility” at a separate property it purchased in South Texas. Located miles from the Starbase launch pad, the former gun range could potentially allow SpaceX to test Starships and Super Heavy boosters without disrupting orbital launch preparations and taking over Starbase’s only orbital launch mount.
Perhaps it’s not a coincidence that the same site – currently used for storage and limited Starship tank testing – already hosts some smaller parts of a potential Starbase deluge system. Regardless, it’s clear that significant changes are coming to Starbase and its associated facilities.
News
Starlink goes mainstream with first-ever SpaceX Super Bowl advertisement
SpaceX used the Super Bowl broadcast to promote Starlink, pitching the service as fast, affordable broadband available across much of the world.
SpaceX aired its first-ever Super Bowl commercial on Sunday, marking a rare move into mass-market advertising as it seeks to broaden adoption of its Starlink satellite internet service.
Starlink Super Bowl advertisement
SpaceX used the Super Bowl broadcast to promote Starlink, pitching the service as fast, affordable broadband available across much of the world.
The advertisement highlighted Starlink’s global coverage and emphasized simplified customer onboarding, stating that users can sign up for service in minutes through the company’s website or by phone in the United States.
The campaign comes as SpaceX accelerates Starlink’s commercial expansion. The satellite internet service grew its global user base in 2025 to over 9 million subscribers and entered several dozen additional markets, as per company statements.
Starlink growth and momentum
Starlink has seen notable success in numerous regions across the globe. Brazil, in particular, has become one of Starlink’s largest growth regions, recently surpassing one million users, as per Ookla data. The company has also expanded beyond residential broadband into aviation connectivity and its emerging direct-to-cellular service.
Starlink has recently offered aggressive promotions in select regions, including discounted or free hardware, waived installation fees, and reduced monthly pricing. Some regions even include free Starlink Mini for select subscribers. In parallel, SpaceX has introduced AI-driven tools to streamline customer sign-ups and service selection.
The Super Bowl appearance hints at a notable shift for Starlink, which previously relied largely on organic growth and enterprise contracts. The ad suggests SpaceX is positioning Starlink as a mainstream alternative to traditional broadband providers.
Tesla engineers deflected calls from Apple on a daily basis while the tech giant was developing its now-defunct electric vehicle program, which was known as “Project Titan.”
Back in 2022 and 2023, Apple was developing an EV in a top-secret internal fashion, hoping to launch it by 2028 with a fully autonomous driving suite.
However, Apple bailed on the project in early 2024, as Project Titan abandoned the project in an email to over 2,000 employees. The company had backtracked its expectations for the vehicle on several occasions, initially hoping to launch it with no human driving controls and only with an autonomous driving suite.
Apple canceling its EV has drawn a wide array of reactions across tech
It then planned for a 2028 launch with “limited autonomous driving.” But it seemed to be a bit of a concession at that point; Apple was not prepared to take on industry giants like Tesla.
Wedbush’s Dan Ives noted in a communication to investors that, “The writing was on the wall for Apple with a much different EV landscape forming that would have made this an uphill battle. Most of these Project Titan engineers are now all focused on AI at Apple, which is the right move.”
Apple did all it could to develop a competitive EV that would attract car buyers, including attempting to poach top talent from Tesla.
In a new podcast interview with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, it was revealed that Apple had been calling Tesla engineers nonstop during its development of the now-defunct project. Musk said the engineers “just unplugged their phones.”
Musk said in full:
“They were carpet bombing Tesla with recruiting calls. Engineers just unplugged their phones. Their opening offer without any interview would be double the compensation at Tesla.”
Interestingly, Apple had acquired some ex-Tesla employees for its project, like Senior Director of Engineering Dr. Michael Schwekutsch, who eventually left for Archer Aviation.
Tesla took no legal action against Apple for attempting to poach its employees, as it has with other companies. It came after EV rival Rivian in mid-2020, after stating an “alarming pattern” of poaching employees was noticed.
There are a lot of Tesla bulls out there who have astronomical expectations for the company, especially as its arm of reach has gone well past automotive and energy and entered artificial intelligence and robotics.
However, some of the most bullish Tesla investors believe the company could become worth $100 trillion, and CEO Elon Musk does not believe that number is completely out of the question, even if it sounds almost ridiculous.
To put that number into perspective, the top ten most valuable companies in the world — NVIDIA, Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, TSMC, Meta, Saudi Aramco, Broadcom, and Tesla — are worth roughly $26 trillion.
Will Tesla join the fold? Predicting a triple merger with SpaceX and xAI
Cathie Wood of ARK Invest believes the number is reasonable considering Tesla’s long-reaching industry ambitions:
“…in the world of AI, what do you have to have to win? You have to have proprietary data, and think about all the proprietary data he has, different kinds of proprietary data. Tesla, the language of the road; Neuralink, multiomics data; nobody else has that data. X, nobody else has that data either. I could see $100 trillion. I think it’s going to happen because of convergence. I think Tesla is the leading candidate [for $100 trillion] for the reason I just said.”
Musk said late last year that all of his companies seem to be “heading toward convergence,” and it’s started to come to fruition. Tesla invested in xAI, as revealed in its Q4 Earnings Shareholder Deck, and SpaceX recently acquired xAI, marking the first step in the potential for a massive umbrella of companies under Musk’s watch.
SpaceX officially acquires xAI, merging rockets with AI expertise
Now that it is happening, it seems Musk is even more enthusiastic about a massive valuation that would swell to nearly four-times the value of the top ten most valuable companies in the world currently, as he said on X, the idea of a $100 trillion valuation is “not impossible.”
It’s not impossible
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 6, 2026
Tesla is not just a car company. With its many projects, including the launch of Robotaxi, the progress of the Optimus robot, and its AI ambitions, it has the potential to continue gaining value at an accelerating rate.
Musk’s comments show his confidence in Tesla’s numerous projects, especially as some begin to mature and some head toward their initial stages.
Starlink goes mainstream with first-ever SpaceX Super Bowl advertisement
Tesla engineers deflected calls from this tech giant’s now-defunct EV project
