There are four sections of the second launch tower sitting at Port Canaveral, Florida waiting to be transported to Starbase.
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I wonder when we are going to start seeing excavation and pile driving begin for the new tower base and second OLM? Those preparations are going to take months to complete, I would think. I wonder why SpaceX moved those tower segments to Starbase so far in advance.
That land that SpaceX is trying to get their hands on may be related. I doubt they want to put the new tower there, because it's entirely in the west of the site, but they may want to clear a space in the east end and don't have anywhere to put the stuff they take out of there.
The tower segments being moved could be due to some logistical consideration. Calmer waters, cheaper rates, transport availability, whatever.
A new Houston Chronicle article about the land swap: Texas says SpaceX deal will create a new park. But the land was already targeted for conservation. It is behind a paywall but I was able to read it in Apple News.
It’s a complicated story and I won’t attempt to summarize it here. The article includes the same graphic that @JB47394 posted upthread. I found it curious that the parcels in Boca Chica State Park northeast of the village that are planned to be given to SpaceX are scattered and not contiguous. The article states:
So the map showing the park area is misleading; the park includes private property?
TunaBug
Member
It is common in Washington State for cities to plan parks in advance. Think 10+ years. The land where those parks will be is usually privately owned. Parks departments can start buying properties in advance as they come on the market. The idea is that they can avoid the ill will and legal expenses involved with taking the land via eminent domain rights. Between time of purchase and development of the parks the city can lease it back out, sometimes even to the prior owner that they just bought it from, usually at a great rate if you're a tenant lucky enough to snag one as a rental.
So perhaps the same thing was going on here: maybe before SpaceX even moved in a government agency was acquiring land with the hope of eventually making a park.
New NSF Starbase Update video shows that 4 tower sections are now on a barge in Florida and headed for Brownsville. Also, sections of level 8 of the new tower were being worked on near the Rocket Garden at the Sanchez production site.
In Elon's January presentation, there was a brief animation showing the two towers side by side. That agrees with the 2021 launch site layout map. Digging up the parking lot may be for something as mundane as installing light poles.
One other thing of note is framing for a flame diverter at the Massey's site.
But that map appears to show two LZs, and as far as I know that is no longer the plan.
The other curious thing about that plan is that it shows the second OLM in what is currently undeveloped marshland as near as I can tell. Given that much of the second launch tower is already in the area, I would assume the second tower location will be in a currently developed area that has been filled and compacted for years now.
The other curious thing about that plan is that it shows the second OLM in what is currently undeveloped marshland as near as I can tell. Given that much of the second launch tower is already in the area, I would assume the second tower location will be in a currently developed area that has been filled and compacted for years now.
I was relying on Elon's presentation and then dug around for supporting evidence.
RGV Aerial Photography shows that the entire parking lot area has been cleared of asphalt and they also believe that it is for Orbital Pad B. Their latest video is talking about a Corp of Engineers document stating that SpaceX is going to develop a little strip that juts into the land that SpaceX has already been developing. That makes that area into a nice regular geometric shape.
Seems about the right size. Since it appears likely that the suborbital stand will be removed once the new Massey’s stand with flame trench is completed, that will leave room for a new tank farm..
Or perhaps more likely, the new OLM and tower will go about where the suborbital stand is now and the newly cleared area will be for the new tank farm since the existing blast wall appears to be in a useful location for an overall layout like that.
EDIT: correction! I seem to have pulled these images from the wrong video, an older video. Sorry.
The latest RGV video that @JB47394 referred to contains some nice overview shots, helpfully labeled.
I sometimes wonder if SpaceX will build a new road adjacent to the old road, dedicated to SpaceX activities like moving vehicles around now that it is clear that Masseys is being developed as an important static fire and tank testing location.
However, this image is way out of date, it still shows the tents at the production site.
This image in the video is already out of date since the parking lot next to the suborbital tank farm has already been removed and cleared out.
The latest RGV video that @JB47394 referred to contains some nice overview shots, helpfully labeled.
I sometimes wonder if SpaceX will build a new road adjacent to the old road, dedicated to SpaceX activities like moving vehicles around now that it is clear that Masseys is being developed as an important static fire and tank testing location.
However, this image is way out of date, it still shows the tents at the production site.
This image in the video is already out of date since the parking lot next to the suborbital tank farm has already been removed and cleared out.
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Dallas Morning News: Texas authorizes state park land swap with SpaceX despite objections
Land swap agreement passed. (Article is behind a paywall)
Land swap agreement passed. (Article is behind a paywall)
Rigs were drilling holes for "drainage wicks" to remove the ground water, so the very first steps are being taken. Here's a link to some footage from the latest Marcus House video showing the drillers working.
Status of the flame trench at the Massey's Site (just to the right of the white hot dog tanks). Taken from a Marcus House video. He goes on in a bit of detail about it.
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That photo of the Massey’s flame trench/static fire testing pad that Marcus House used appears to be weeks out of date: here is a new one from RGV, go to about the 50 minute point in the video (the entire video is 1 hour 55 minutes, a ridiculous length of time for the amount of information imparted, I only watched bits of it).
And also at Massey’s, what looks like the new test stand:
And also at Massey’s, what looks like the new test stand:
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