Starbase: Boca Chica/Brownsville SpaceX Site

[JB47394]

Is the pile driving equipment at the left side of this image located where the new OLM/launch tower will be built?

Yes, that's the expectation. RGV said that the vehicle is drilling holes for rebar cages, but the holes are being covered over with dirt. The rebar cages are visible to the lower left of the vehicle, and there's even a crane on site to lift them, but I guess they don't have access to the concrete pouring hardware so they have to wait.

For reference, that black wall is the one with the GATEWAY TO MARS sign (no idea why it's black on this side). I won't at all be surprised to see that torn down. Stuff doesn't seem to last long around Starbase.

 

[JB47394]

Another Starship Gazer image showing the lines that deliver various gases up the launch tower. This image is from section 3 of the second launch tower, currently staged for road transport from Brownsville to Starbase.

GOX is gaseous Oxygen and GN2 is gaseous Nitrogen. MEOP is maximum expected operating pressure.

There's a 30 BAR GCH4 line to the right of these. I'm guessing that the 400 bar lines are the supplies and the 30 bar are the returns.

400 bar is 5800 psi.

There are two slender Argon lines on the left. The one just cut off is 100% Argon and the visible one is 75% Argon. For welding, apparently.

There is also a Helium line.

 

[scaesare]

Another Starship Gazer image showing the lines that deliver various gases up the launch tower. This image is from section 3 of the second launch tower, currently staged for road transport from Brownsville to Starbase.

View attachment 1048350

GOX is gaseous Oxygen and GN2 is gaseous Nitrogen. MEOP is maximum expected operating pressure.

There's a 30 BAR GCH4 line to the right of these. I'm guessing that the 400 bar lines are the supplies and the 30 bar are the returns.

400 bar is 5800 psi.

There are two slender Argon lines on the left. The one just cut off is 100% Argon and the visible one is 75% Argon. For welding, apparently.

There is also a Helium line.

Interesting... I'm assuming the tank fill plumbing is carrying superchilled liquid CH4 and O2, so are these for spinning up engines, or more for things like purging the system prior to launch?

 

[JB47394]

Interesting... I'm assuming the tank fill plumbing is carrying superchilled liquid CH4 and O2, so are these for spinning up engines, or more for things like purging the system prior to launch?

The Nitrogen would be for purging, and the Oxygen and Methane may be for tank pressurization prior to launch (autogenous pressurization requires running engines). To get engine restarts (e.g. boostback, on-orbit, etc), they use helium-pressurized header tanks. Those tanks have a much smaller void to pressurize, so a relatively small amount of helium is needed. Once the engines are started, they can provide autogenous pressurization of the main tanks.