The Final Two Block 2 Ships leave Mega Bay 2 for Testing

Date:
Tue, 29 Jul 2025 18:30:11 +0000

Description:
Following the loss of Ship 36 during its static fire test campaign at Masseys on The post The Final Two Block 2 Ships leave Mega Bay 2 for Testing appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .

FULL STORY ======================================================================

Following the loss of Ship 36 during its static fire test campaign at
Masseys on June 18, SpaceX has been trying to recover, rebuild, and proceed with the last two Block 2 ships it has for flight. These are Ship 37 and Ship 38, and this week, both vehicles rolled out for respective testing before a possible Flight 10 occurs in mid-August.





Ship 37

After being in Mega Bay 2 since June 4, and completing its cryogenic proof testing, Ship 37 has been rolled out to the launch site and mounted on Pad 1 (A) for static fire testing. Unusually, the launch site is being used for a Ship Static Fire, as SpaceX is still in the process of rebuilding Masseys after the Ship 36 anomaly.

With Masseys out of commission and its methane tank farm being completely redone, SpaceX had a few options. SpaceX chose the option that would get Starship back to flying the fastest, which is to attempt to static fire at
the launch site. Now, management, along with vehicle engineers, vehicle technicians, launch pad engineers, and launch pad technicians, have come up with a way to static fire a Ship on Launch Pad 1 (A). Modified Ship Transport Stand before install in the OLM (Credit: Ceaser G for NSF)

See Also SpaceX Starship Program L2 SpaceX Section NSF Store Click here to Join L2

This process has filled most of the last month of operations at Pad 1 (A),
and the culmination is a weird sight: a ship sitting on the Pad. This is possible by using a MacGyvered ship transport stand.

This stand has had its openings closed off with steel plates to prevent exhaust gases from a ship static fire from damaging the Raptor quick disconnects. A second addition is six posts welded to the inside of the ring for the Raptor Vacuum engine bell braces.

These are required to brace the nozzle extension on the Raptor Vacuum engines, so that the engines dont destroy their nozzles at sea level.

Now, to attach this stand to the launch mount, SpaceX removed all 20 booster hold-down clamps and installed 20 stand-off adapters that were bolted to the hold-down arms. The MaCgyvered stand was then welded to these adapters. Macgyvered Ship QD on Pad A (Credit: Ceaser G for NSF)

The next problem was how to get propellant to the ship, since the booster quick disconnect (BQD) isnt compatible with a ship. This was accomplished by cutting holes in the BQD hood and routing pipes up through newly installed truss structures welded to the hood. These pipes then had flexible hoses attached to them to connect to a ship QD plate that was installed on the ship before Ship 37 was lifted onto the mount.

With this setup, SpaceX is going to be able to static fire a ship on Pad 1 (A). SpaceX will likely do some quick pressure and leak checks; however, no tanking tests appear to be planned. SpaceX seems confident enough in this setup that crews are aiming for a static fire on Wednesday, July 30, and a second static fire on Thursday, July 31. Both of these days have testing closures set for 7 am 7 pm CDT. A few hours after arriving to Pad 1(A) Starship S37 became the first ship to be stacked on top of the OLM, on the "star stool" ahead of its static fire testing, later this week, as part of
the pre flight testing campaign for flight 10. @NASASpaceflight https://t.co/wTIGOIV9NO pic.twitter.com/YUAY0uNSbX

Elisar Priel (@ENNEPS) July 28, 2025



If these go as planned and there are no issues, which, considering how makeshift this setup is, would be a massive achievement. Once its engine testing is completed, SpaceX will roll Ship 37 back to Mega Bay 2 for final work and return the pad to launch configuration; this process could take approximately two weeks.

Ship 37 still has some final work before a flight, as seen while its sitting on Pad 1 (A), the heat shield still has a decent amount of work to complete.

Assuming everything works out and Ship 37 static fires this week, SpaceX is targeting mid-August for a launch of Flight 10. This means Ship 38 static firing before Flight 10 is unlikely, as SpaceX likely wouldnt be able to get its engines installed and the ship ready for a static fire in time. So,
SpaceX will have to complete all of these modifications to Pad 1 (A) again to static fire Ship 38. Starship moved to the launch site at Starbase for preflight testing pic.twitter.com/ENkPgs3Aqx

SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 29, 2025



Ship 38

Ship 38 is the final Block 2 ship before teams move on to Block 3 or the
next generation of Starship vehicles. This ship had finished stacking around May 28, just after Flight 9, and is slated to fly on Flight 11 with a reused Booster 15. This would also likely be the last launch for Pad 1 (A) as well since there are no more ships compatible with that pad.

The ship rolled to Masseys on July 27 for cryogenic proof testing. So far, SpaceX has not put a lot of time and effort into its heat shield, as Ship 37 has been the current priority. As such, there are entire barrel sections that are completely bare of all heat shield hardware other than tile pins.

Typically, Block 2 ships are ready for cryogenic proof testing approximately one month after final stacking. However, Ship 38 spent extra time in Mega Bay 2, which is likely as a result of crews still repairing systems at Masseys following Ship 36s anomaly. Ship 38 at Masseys with an open payload door (Credit: Jack Beyer for NSF)

While at Masseys Ship 38 is expected to complete three cryogenic proof tests before being rolled back to Mega Bay 2 to have engines and aft flaps installed. As well as completing its heat shield. Once done at Masseys, crews can start the work required to retrofit the ship cryogenic proof station for Block 3 of the ship.

There is always the possibility that Ship 38 wont fly if Ship 37 has a perfect mission. For one, SpaceX is pushing hard towards Block 3 of Starship, and using time on an older ship, just to get another flight might not be
worth it. Alternatively, flying Ship 38, even if Flight 10 goes well, can provide even more data for Block 3. Ship 38 at Masseys for Cryogenic Proof Testing (Credit: Jack Beyer for NSF)

The third possibility is the worst one: Flight 10 does not go well, and SpaceX loses a fourth straight ship in flight, a fifth consecutive overall. Then, Ship 38 becomes SpaceXs last hope to gain controlled reentry heat
shield data off of Block 2.

Overall, there is a lot riding on these last two vehicles. SpaceX would love to get at least one, if not two, controlled reentries from Ship 37 and Ship 38, but Block 2 doesnt have a great track record.

Featured Image: Ship 37 on Pad 1 (A) for Static Fire Testing (Credit: Jack Beyer for NSF)



The post The Final Two Block 2 Ships leave Mega Bay 2 for Testing appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .



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Link to news story: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2025/07/final-two-block-2-ships-testing/


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