SpaceX Continues Progress on Next Generation Facilities

Date:
Fri, 28 Mar 2025 17:59:35 +0000

Description:
With the downtime between Flight 8 and Flight 9, SpaceX is continuing to
build Orbital The post SpaceX Continues Progress on Next Generation
Facilities appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .

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With the downtime between Flight 8 and Flight 9, SpaceX is continuing to build Orbital Launch Pad B and has started the demolition of High Bay. Pad B is SpaceXs next-generation Orbital Launch Pad, while the demolition of High Bay will make way for Gigabay, the next-generation construction and servicing facility.



Orbital Pad B

SpaceX has continued progressing on Orbital Launch Pad B over the past few weeks. Starting on March 17 and lasting about 26 hours, teams brought in around 300 concrete trucks to pour the floor of the flame trench. This is
only one of several pours that have to take place; on March 27, teams also poured one of the two ramps of the flame trench.

With these poured, flame trench wall pieces started to arrive. These steel pieces will be bolted and likely welded to embeds that were placed on the rebar before the pour. Once these walls are stacked, each will also be filled with concrete. The walls that will be installed on the flat floor of the trench will bear the load of the Orbital Launch Mount once it is installed. Pad B OLM at Sanchez (Credit: Rough Riders Show for NSF)

SpaceX still has a few months to work on delivering the wall pieces and then welding each one together, as well as pouring the rest of the concrete.

Teams have also made progress on getting the Pad B chopsticks operational. Recently, the sticks were raised to the top of the tower after crews had to work through some binding issues with the cable train on the back side of the tower. The cable train houses the chopsticks power and data lines. Pad B sticks at the top of the Tower (Credit: Rough Riders Show for NSF)

With this milestone completed, teams then set out to finish getting the primary actuators fully hooked up to start doing some slew testing. See Also SpaceX Starship Program L2 SpaceX Section NSF Store Click here to Join L2

On March 27, the chopsticks began to move side to side together and on their own, going slowly at first but speeding up as SpaceX completed calibration of the actuators. It is unknown when the stabilizer arms will be installed or when the load testing will occur with the water bags, like with Pad As chopsticks.

Another milestone for Pad B was the operational check of a single Liquid Oxygen (LOX) pump and the new exhaust system SpaceX installed for the Pad B tank farm. SpaceX will have nine LOX pumps and around eight Liquid Methane (LCH4) pumps for Pad B. So far, crews have installed four of the LOX pumps, and the valve skids and other components for the other five are still arriving.

The test of this LOX pump was to test the new grass vent seen on Pad As tank farm. On Pad As tank farm, this vent signifies the initial chilldown of the propellant supply lines from the tanks to the pumps. It is called the grass vent because SpaceX dumps the excess into the wetlands. Pad B LOX Pumps (Credit: Rough Riders Show for NSF)

Pad Bs tank farm has been constructed differently. There is now a separate vent line going into a duct with powerful fans under it. These fans pull air in and up through the duct, thus diluting any LOX or Liquid Nitrogen that may be vented into the duct. This creates a plume of gas like a train steam engine.

This system will exhaust all of the LOX systems, and teams will likely construct a second one to disperse the exhaust from the LCH4 systems. The exhaust will primarily be LN2, maybe some LOX. High Bay to Gigabay

High Bays days are over after being constructed in late 2020 and used to fully stack SN9 up to Ship 32 and even a few boosters. As a part of that, it constructed both vehicles of the first stack ever to fly, Ship 24 and Booster 7. A facility decommissioning crew has arrived with an LTM 11200, this crane will help take the High Bay apart piece by piece.

So far, the roof has been torn apart, and the bridge crane has been removed and cut into pieces on the ground. This process will take a while to
dismantle the bay fully, but it is making way for a much bigger and better facility at Starbase. Once entirely dismantled, crews will start digging up High Bays foundation and drilling pilings for the Gigabay, SpaceXs next-generation Starship construction and servicing facility. High Bay being demolished (Credit: Ceaser G for NSF)

This facility is set to have 24 workstations comprising turntables for constructing vehicles and work stands for finishing up construction and servicing. This new bay will allow SpaceX to significantly increase its capacity to build and refurbish vehicles as the Starship program grows with a larger fleet.

It is believed that the bay will have two bays on the inside, each with its own transfer isle for vehicles to move through the Gigabay. This bay will
also be attached to the Starfactory and likely attached to the parking
garage, which means easier access for all employees needed to work in these buildings. Gigabay Render at Roberts Road (Credit: SpaceX)

It is unclear what the layout of the bridge cranes are, but SpaceX has
stated that this bay will have 400 ton bridge cranes. Which is 50 tons more capacity than the biggest ones inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at
Kennedy Space Center.

It is likely going to take at least 18 to 24 months before this building is completed in Boca Chica, Texas, as crews have to demolish High Bay first for
a building thatll be a different design than the current Mega Bays.

Featured Image: Pad B during the initial Flame Trench Concrete Pour (Credit: BocaChicaGal for NSF)



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Link to news story: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2025/03/spacex-continues-progress-on-next-gene ration-facilities/


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