SpaceX has started to stack a new section of the first Super Heavy prototype at the last sign that work is accelerating on the boosters that will soon be tasked with propelling the ships out of Earth’s atmosphere.
NASASpaceflight.com affiliate and local photographer Mary (also known as BocaChicaGal) posted the last photo of the Super Heavy production activity on January 24, capturing a section of four welded steel rings being stretched into the ‘high bay’ of SpaceX. This marks the second instance of visible progress in assembling the Super Heavy booster this week, after an entire month of relative inactivity – strong evidence that work is beginning to accelerate.
At 81 meters tall, the latest addition to the SpaceX rocket factory in Boca Chica, Texas, was built primarily to support the vertical stacking process, welding and integration of Super Heavy thrusters, offering a space protected from the worst of the often temperamental Boca Ambiente Chica. SpaceX also uses the facility to carry out the final assembly of the Ships, taking advantage of its height to house the installation of the nose section.
The prototype ship with serial number 10 (SN10), for example, advances on the last section of the Super Heavy booster number 1 (BN1) to reach the integration stage and is practically complete. The SN10 is probably ready to leave the main compartment for the adjacent SpaceX launch and test facilities at any time, depending on when the company decides the time is right. In the meantime, Starship SN11 is on its way to begin installing the nose section as soon as the SN10 leaves its place on the high bay.
The Super Heavy BN1, however, probably has several more weeks of assembly and processing ahead of it before SpaceX is ready to start preparing the booster for what CEO Elon Musk described as a 150 m (500 ft) short jump. .
SpaceX is currently building BN1 in two separate sections. Recently, the front tank of the booster gained another section of four rings, rising to 12 rings in height and leaving only one section (the common dome set) remaining before the basic structure of the first Super Heavy methane tank is completed. The rings heading for the high bay on January 24 are likely to support the start of the assembly of the Super Heavy BN1 oxygen tank, starting with the lower ‘half’ of the booster.
