#148 - Super Heavy Starship Launch Pad Sustained Massive Damage

It was evident well in advance that launching the highest thrust rocket in history would put an enormous strain on its launch pad. However, even SpaceX did not anticipate the extent of damage caused by the Super Heavy Starship.

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[imapaine-diaz]

The booster is reusable. Looks like the launch facility isn't 😂😂

[Study]

Good analysis, but were these launch problems only due to the lack of a flame trench and a properly designed water deluge system at the launch pad? During the ascent phase, several engines failed, flashes were visible, and the color of the exhaust went from clear to yellow. Also, there was no stage separation and the rocket appear to be tumbling out of control. A version of this second stage must safety land humans at the South Pole of the Moon! If these problems had occurred during the launch of either Apollo 4 or STS-1 or Artemis 1, what would we have called this? There is a crater underneath the orbital launch mount! When will Space X build a complete launch pad like one use to launch SLS at the Kennedy Space Center. NASA's Stennis Space Center's test stands have flame trenches and water deluge systems. Why did Space X fail to perform a full duration test firing of the first stage at one of these test stands? Finally, was this rocket (two Saturn V's) a danger to the public at Brownsville, Texas? Debris fell onto the public. Was this launch a success? On the positive side, the first stage ignited, there was a liftoff, and it cleared Max Q! This was a test flight; now review the flight telemetry, determine the cause of the technical problems, correct these problems, retest the components, and then relaunch. Then you can explore the heavens!

[daviddeam]

SpaceX really needs a Reusable Orbital Launch Mount, ROLM, the output from the 33 engines basically represents 33 continuous shaped-charge jets for which their outputs are virtually unstoppable for any short distance. They need a long-vented air-tunnel to allow a free expansion of the super-heated gases to dissipate the massive amounts of energy. I am betting that it will take 2 years to rethink the pad design, build needed barriers, harden tower hardware and build a whole new well thought out structure that is certain to work as determined by experienced seniors that have worked with NASA over the years.
Maybe it's time to use a Tunnel Boring machine to make Venting Tunnels that carry hot gases away from the site. I don't think a water deluge system or water-cooled plates alone will do the job, the massive amount of engine thermal energy will just vaporize all of the water and create a massive steam cloud that may create new problems. Remember that there is something like 25 tons of propellant burning per second. Methane produces ~50-55 MJ/kg which is about 20% higher than that of gasoline, just imagine the explosive force of 10-20, 000 gallons per second of vaporized gasoline. I find it pretty much unimaginable!

[j]

concrete spalls when heated with a blow torch. Flame temp of the Rapter is far hotter than a propane blow torch and delivers enough kick to put 5000 metric tons into orbit. I though that cloud looked more like pyroclastic flow.

[TylervHayes]

I may be just an idiot, but can’t they make a deep water horizon type structure to negate all this?

[therabbitswhisper]

is it necessary to light all of the engines at once? Light half, then get off of the pad and light the rest a few seconds later.

[de]

Launch abort system: No
Self destruct: YESSS!!!!
lmao

[jesseturner]

I look at this as a capitalistic perspective. "How much can we get away with?" They took quite some time to build stage 0 yet here we are. They had plenty of time.

[markcaserta]

It will be .much longer than that. The FAA will now put the whole process under a microscope. Don't expect 3 months. We may be looking at about 1 year.

[patricklaska]

Why not make a launch pad of heat shield tiles.... and a taller launch pad

[Larry]

Space X needs to move the exact same High tower and Launch Platform out to a Mile off the Beach with a pier running out to it from the end of the Boca Chico Road... With an Elevated 30-foot wide set of rails running from the Construction Build sight to the existing test launch sight and then on out the Pier to the new Launch Sight a mile off the Beach... With only a couple of Sub Coolers under the roadbed at the end of the Pier safe from any exhaust or explosions... Space X would reduce all of it's Regulatory, Environmental and Launch sight Exhaust destruction problems by 99% with the Gulf serving as the Ultimate Deluge system... and Crash area Junk yard serving as New Fish habitat Reefs making for the best fishing along the Gulf Coast... Not requiring much cleanup... Multiple Off Beach Launch sights even farther off the beach out of reach of local Regulations and Restrictions would allow Space X to launch a hundred times a year instead of just 6... Making Boca Chico the Space Launch Capital of the World...

[tonydacruz]

...and the FAA gave them a permit? Hahahahaha

[SuperMassman]

😂 HOLD ON😉, , , HEADY DUTY? "BULLSH#T.. it fell apart..they tried to build the launch pad on the cheap. The storage tanks are to close, protective barraries failed, they cut corners on the launch pad itself. To fix it properly will cost Billions and there to cheap to fix it properly. EVERYONE new the launch pad was defective from the beginning to, , , you didn't even have to be an engineer to figure that one out. They will do a cheap fix that won't work