Starship Launch Tower Transforms Into Mechazilla
SpaceX Starship Launch Tower Grows to More Than its Full Height.
On Tuesday, SpaceX installed the ninth and final segment of a new Starship South Texas launch tower, raising the tower framework to more than half its full height. Now the launch tower is complete and is the tallest tower SpaceX ever made. With the addition of the ninth segment, the tower stands 86 meters (~280 ft) tall. However, that tower needs to be maintained to keep it ready for launch. It will double in height within 1–2 months.
SpaceX started the process with a hugely complex system of bus-sized stimulated arms, combustible plumbing for Starship, hydraulic systems, and a network of lead and cranes. The structure itself needs nine segments to stick together and four concrete steel legs.
“The Starship launch tower that catches the giant rocket booster is Mechazilla”,-CEO Elon Musk described in his tweet. He further congratulated the SpaceX tower team and project supporting contractors. In previous weeks, several new modules presented a brief look at what the SpaceX tower innovation looks like. In an earlier report, Elon Musk disclosed a plan to go without the earthbound super heavy legs and use a tower with arms that catches the tower out of the air.
In past months, the tower’s rocket-manipulation parts came in a stream of flatbed trucks and assembled on a concrete compress, formerly used as a Starship landing zone. Here two distinct structures are in work: one is a framework of banana yellow metal tubes, and the other is a flatter black structure being assembled with components compatible with crane parts and support.
SpaceX’s team is now finalizing tower construction, cladding its exterior, and binding all nine steel sections together to fill four legs with concrete.
After the start of the 9th segment installation, SpaceX’s Self-Propelled Modular Transporters (SPMTs) left the building site with two significant modules of orbital pad hardware in the haul.
On Tuesday, four Raptor engines were delivered to SpaceX in Boca Chica. CEO Elon Musk said that Starship’s first orbital test flight will happen after completing the installation of the engines. Also, SpaceX will need to set up and need at least 35 new Raptors for a single flight.
SpaceX completed a full-range Raptor engine at the Hawthorne factory. This is a sign that these engines needed for Starship orbital launch debut will be ready for its first flight.
Writer: Amina Kiani
