How SpaceX builds the Starship ?
Video from the channel Future Space Fr about Starship, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 10:43. Language: French. Video type: Documentary.
What it's about
An explainer video on how SpaceX builds the Starship spacecraft and the Super Heavy booster at Starbase, and how it manages to do so quickly even with prototypes.
Historical context
Published in 2021, in the midst of the prototype phase, the video attributes part of that speed to Tesla's experience in mass production, automation and welding robots. Tesla even has its own robotics department since it bought Grohmann Automation in Germany. According to the video, that synergy was already put to use with Falcon 9. It ends awaiting the launch of SN20 and BN4.
Key facts
The liquid methane and oxygen tanks operate at cryogenic temperatures and several times atmospheric pressure. They are built from rings of stainless steel sheet welded with TIG: tungsten electrode, no filler metal, under inert gas. To lengthen a tank, it's enough to add rings. The oxygen tank sits on top and the methane tank below, with the upper dome inverted to nest into the one below and save weight. The tanks are both structure and outer skin. The nose cone houses the avionics, the canard fins and small tanks for reentry and landing. The rear fins and legs are mounted in the methane section, and the stack is assembled in the high bay. The ship carries three throttleable, gimbaled atmospheric engines in the center and three or six vacuum engines around them. The Super Heavy can hold up to 33 Raptors and carries non-retractable grid fins.