1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:04,960 We know that with their Starship super heavy vehicle, SpaceX has made a rocket 2 00:00:05,040 --> 00:00:09,720 unlike anything we have seen before, and in order to make Starship possible, 3 00:00:10,039 --> 00:00:14,880 SpaceX has also had to design and build a launchpad unlike anything we have seen 4 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:20,920 before. The star bas launch site is an engineering marvel on par with the 5 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:26,120 giant rocket that lifts off from it. A genuine first principles approach to getting 6 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:30,839 the world's most powerful flying machine off the ground and on its way to outer 7 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:37,560 space, the Moon, Mars and beyond. This is how SpaceX reinvented the 8 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:42,479 launchpad. Let's quickly touch on what a traditional rocket launch pad looks like so 9 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:47,399 that we can identify the areas where SpaceX has diverted with their new Star based 10 00:00:47,399 --> 00:00:53,079 design. Let's use the Falcon nine as our primary example of a traditional rocket 11 00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:57,799 launch procedure. So the first thing that they're going to do is wheel the 12 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:02,759 fully integrated rocket out of the z Embly building. This has everything loaded up 13 00:01:02,799 --> 00:01:07,000 and ready for flight. It's going to be transported horizontally to the launch pad, 14 00:01:07,239 --> 00:01:11,640 where the rocket is then offloaded onto the launch tower. Once the rocket 15 00:01:11,719 --> 00:01:15,680 is attached to the tower, a mechanism is going to slowly lift the rig 16 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:19,519 into a vertical launch position. Once the rocket is set in position, abilical 17 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:26,159 connections are routed into the first and second stage for propellant loading. Seconds before 18 00:01:26,159 --> 00:01:30,640 the launch, the water deluge system is going to activate and massive streams of 19 00:01:30,719 --> 00:01:34,439 water will get dumped under the base of the rocket. This is partially for 20 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:38,400 a cooling effect, but more importantly, the water is going to absorb the 21 00:01:38,519 --> 00:01:44,000 powerful acoustic energy from the rocket engines, and then at engine ignition, all 22 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:49,079 of the flame exhaust gas and steam from vaporizing water is going to get pushed 23 00:01:49,159 --> 00:01:53,680 below the surface of the launchpad into a trench. The angles of the concrete 24 00:01:53,719 --> 00:01:57,560 down there are going to divert all of this energy and matter out to the 25 00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:02,000 side, away from the rocket. Sounds pretty simple, and that's because it 26 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:07,480 kind of is. The goal here is just to contain the energy and gas 27 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:10,360 from the launch and move it as far away from the rocket as possible. 28 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:15,919 This is the way that pretty much all rockets have been launched since the late 29 00:02:15,039 --> 00:02:21,639 nineteen fifties. Not much has changed until now. The ground system responsible for 30 00:02:21,719 --> 00:02:27,280 launching the Starship is an incredibly complex collection of infrastructure. This launch complex is 31 00:02:27,319 --> 00:02:31,120 often referred to as Stage zero, which is to imply that the ground infrastructure 32 00:02:31,199 --> 00:02:35,919 is just as much a part of the starship rocket as the booster and the 33 00:02:36,039 --> 00:02:38,879 orbiter. For our purpose here, we are going to break stage zero up 34 00:02:38,919 --> 00:02:44,639 into the key components and then tackle each one individually. There are now four 35 00:02:44,639 --> 00:02:47,199 pillars to the Starship launch process, the tank farm, the flame diverter, 36 00:02:47,319 --> 00:02:52,879 the launch mount, and the launch tower. Each one serves a vital purpose 37 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:57,439 in getting the Starship super Heavy fully integrated, launch prepped, and into the 38 00:02:57,479 --> 00:03:01,159 air. The tank farm is pretty self explanatory. It's a collection of large 39 00:03:01,159 --> 00:03:06,240 tanks that just sits a few meters away from the launch tower. The original 40 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:09,800 idea here was to build Starship's external tanks in the same way that SpaceX built 41 00:03:09,879 --> 00:03:15,599 the internal tanks, by vertically stacking nine meter diameter rings of stainless steel maximum 42 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:20,360 efficiency, and then, because the tank farm needs to hold cryogenic liquid for 43 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:23,879 long durations of time, each stainless steel stack was covered over by an insulating 44 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:29,960 sheath. This ground system allows SpaceX to rapidly tank and detank the Starship and 45 00:03:30,039 --> 00:03:35,560 super Heavy for everything from cryoproofing and static fire testing to full orbital launch. 46 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:38,360 Again, if we are looking for efficiency, then we want to find it 47 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:43,520 the shortest path between two points, and it doesn't get much shorter than this. 48 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:47,599 Many people said that SpaceX was crazy for placing these giant, vertical standing 49 00:03:47,639 --> 00:03:52,879 tanks right next to the most powerful rocket ever made, and many people were 50 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:59,439 correct on that one. SpaceX quickly realized that using vertical methane tanks was wildly 51 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:03,439 unsafe, so those were long ago converted to the narrow horizontal cylinders that we 52 00:04:03,479 --> 00:04:09,400 see today. The remaining vertical tanks are used to hold liquid oxygen, liquid 53 00:04:09,439 --> 00:04:13,840 nitrogen, and water, but they will soon be replaced by horizontal tanks as 54 00:04:13,879 --> 00:04:17,120 well. We've seen the exterior shields of the tank farm battered and crumpled by 55 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:21,079 the force of each Starship launch, even when they weren't getting chunks of concrete 56 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:25,639 thrown at them. So the tank farm is not moving any further away, 57 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:30,800 but it will be redesigned to become a lot less prone to damage. Speaking 58 00:04:30,879 --> 00:04:34,079 of damage, we get to the most exciting innovation at Starbase, the brand 59 00:04:34,079 --> 00:04:39,160 new flame diverter system and blast surface. When it came time to build the 60 00:04:39,199 --> 00:04:43,399 launch pad at Starbase many years ago, SpaceX decided they were going to hold 61 00:04:43,399 --> 00:04:46,759 true to one of Elon's most famous mantras, the best part is no part. 62 00:04:46,879 --> 00:04:51,040 So therefore, instead of building the water deluge system and flame diverting trench 63 00:04:51,079 --> 00:04:56,720 that we saw earlier, SpaceX built none of those things. Did this make 64 00:04:56,759 --> 00:05:00,720 their launchpad better? No, But what it did do was I SpaceX a 65 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:04,120 lot more time to develop a better flame diverter system. The deal here is 66 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:09,399 that Elon and crew were gambling that a reinforced concrete pad would be sturdy enough 67 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:14,319 to get them through starship development, suborbital testing, booster static fires, and 68 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:17,240 even the first orbital launch attempt. But it was never meant to be a 69 00:05:17,279 --> 00:05:24,199 permanent solution, and Elon was mostly right. As usual, The concrete was 70 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:28,439 good enough for everything right up until the moment of liftoff on April twentieth, 71 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:32,199 twenty twenty three, at which time the thirty functioning raptor engines on Booster seven 72 00:05:32,279 --> 00:05:38,399 throttled up and shattered the blast surface, which then allowed something like twelve million 73 00:05:38,399 --> 00:05:43,879 pounds of force to get under the ground and emerge spectacularly as a tornado of 74 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:46,800 rock, dust, concrete, and twisted metal. As bad as that looked, 75 00:05:46,879 --> 00:05:51,600 SpaceX was already way ahead on developing the solution to the problem before it 76 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:58,240 even happened. Enter the showerhead, a water cooled steel sandwich that functions as 77 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:02,399 a flame diverter, shock absorb and blast surface all in one. With the 78 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:08,639 launchpad area now freshly excavated via rocket engines, SpaceX set to work on their 79 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:13,480 ultimate solution. Seeing the full power of the super heavy booster in action was 80 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:17,279 obviously a humbling experience, so no chances were taken with the construction of the 81 00:06:17,279 --> 00:06:21,839 new launch surface. The first thing engineers did was place nine four foot diameter 82 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:28,879 concrete rebar columns directly underneath the booster engines. They were planted thirty five meters 83 00:06:28,959 --> 00:06:32,319 deep into the ground. These are called piles. They are going to transfer 84 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:38,120 the energy from the surface deep into the ground. Then around the immediate perimeter 85 00:06:38,199 --> 00:06:42,720 of the launchpad there are another twelve secondary piles, and outside of that are 86 00:06:42,759 --> 00:06:47,399 eleven more tertiary piles. This will evenly distribute and dissipate the energy into the 87 00:06:47,399 --> 00:06:51,560 mass of the Earth. On top of the piles is another structure called the 88 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:57,319 pile cap. This begins with a massive network of rebar The mesh of steel 89 00:06:57,399 --> 00:07:00,199 is used to tie all of the vertical columns together, so the thirty two 90 00:07:00,199 --> 00:07:04,800 piles and six legs of the launch mount are all brought together as one massive 91 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:10,680 support system. On the top of the rebar structure, SpaceX welds steel integration 92 00:07:10,759 --> 00:07:14,560 plates that will be used to attach the shower head into the support system, 93 00:07:14,639 --> 00:07:17,639 and then they fill the pile cap with concrete. The base layer takes one 94 00:07:17,759 --> 00:07:23,600 hundred and thirty two mixer trucks and eleven hours to lay one thousand cubic meters 95 00:07:23,639 --> 00:07:28,560 of concrete. This creates a slab one point eight meters thick. On top 96 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:31,959 of that goes another eight hundred and fifty cubic meters of material for an upper 97 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:36,759 layer that's two point two meters thick. Next, SpaceX attaches their water supply 98 00:07:36,839 --> 00:07:42,959 manifolds into the pile cap. These will distribute high pressure water into the shower 99 00:07:42,959 --> 00:07:46,040 head. Water comes into the system through a pair of four foot diameter pipes. 100 00:07:46,519 --> 00:07:50,399 The pile cap is topped off with the steel sandwich. This is two 101 00:07:50,399 --> 00:07:56,079 plates of high strength steel between one point five and two inches thick. The 102 00:07:56,120 --> 00:07:59,959 top plate is perforated to create water jets, and in between the two are 103 00:08:00,199 --> 00:08:03,759 vertical steel beams with holes cut into them to allow water flow. Obviously, 104 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:07,040 you're not going to get one continuous sheet of steel that size, so the 105 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:11,920 core of the top plate is cut into a hexagon shape and it's surrounded by 106 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:16,519 trapezoid shapes on all sides. We can see from the operation of this system 107 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:20,680 that the water isn't distributed equally across the plate. The flow is concentrated in 108 00:08:20,759 --> 00:08:26,639 the center and directly underneath each of the booster's engine nozzles. We can also 109 00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:31,040 see that these central waterjets are firing outwards at a shallow angle of around thirty 110 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:35,240 degrees, while the outer jets are pointed at a steeper angle of around sixty 111 00:08:35,279 --> 00:08:39,919 degrees. The point of this water flow is not to cancel out the downward 112 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:43,559 momentum of the exhaust gas, but to simply help in quickly redirecting the gas 113 00:08:43,639 --> 00:08:50,000 outwards to release pressure. The water jets transfer their momentum into the exhaust plume, 114 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:54,360 and the energy released by converting water into steam is going to help accelerate 115 00:08:54,399 --> 00:08:58,960 that exhaust away from the blast surface. The remaining water that is driven down 116 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:03,240 to the surface of the plate will form an insulating layer of liquid and steam 117 00:09:03,519 --> 00:09:07,440 to absorb the thermal energy. Of the engine flame and keep the plate at 118 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:11,679 a manageable temperature. Because there are so many holes in the top plate, 119 00:09:11,919 --> 00:09:16,240 it would be virtually impossible for steam to get trapped inside the shower head and 120 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:20,480 therefore cause a pressure explosion. All of the energy hitting that steel plate is 121 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:24,799 being transferred into the bile cap and distributed evenly down through the piles into the 122 00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:28,840 earth, so none of the concrete is going to crack and break. The 123 00:09:28,879 --> 00:09:33,840 water for the flame diverter is coming from a collection of seven horizontal water tanks 124 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:37,840 that sit just behind the launch tower. The high pressure flow of water is 125 00:09:37,879 --> 00:09:43,159 created by injecting nitrogen gas into the top of the water and tank, forcing 126 00:09:43,159 --> 00:09:48,080 the liquid out through the bottom. SpaceX uses seventy six nitrogen gas canisters that 127 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:54,440 each contain somewhere between three and six thousand psi of pressure. The combined volume 128 00:09:54,519 --> 00:09:58,960 of this water is one point four million liters, and that provides eight second 129 00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:03,799 of maximum water flow, just enough time for Starship to throttle up and clear 130 00:10:03,919 --> 00:10:09,759 the launch mount. Let's move upwards from the blast surface to the orbital launch 131 00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:15,320 mount. This is yet another incredibly complex machine. When a super heavy booster 132 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:18,039 is lowered onto the launch mount. The structure is held in place by a 133 00:10:18,159 --> 00:10:24,559 series of twenty clamps all around the circumference. These are mechanical units that can 134 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:28,000 fold in and out as needed, and they are able to hold down the 135 00:10:28,159 --> 00:10:31,679 massive rocket for days at a time as tests and prep work is performed. 136 00:10:33,159 --> 00:10:37,440 Alongside each clamp is another mechanism that will connect and interface with each of the 137 00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:41,320 twenty outer ring engines on the booster. These are miniature quickness connect arms that 138 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:46,519 are used to spin, start, and ignite the outer ring of booster engines. 139 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:50,120 This is essentially taking equipment out of the rocket and moving it into the 140 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:56,320 launch mount, thereby making each booster cheaper and easier to manufacture. The orbital 141 00:10:56,399 --> 00:11:01,679 launch mount is absolutely loaded with an intricate network of plumbing that we can't even 142 00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:07,080 begin to properly explain here. But some other key functions of the ground system 143 00:11:07,159 --> 00:11:11,360 are pre chilling the raptor engine so that they don't experience thermal shock from the 144 00:11:11,399 --> 00:11:16,240 cryogenic propellant, and pressurizing the tanks that are hidden underneath the aerodynamic chines of 145 00:11:16,279 --> 00:11:22,200 the booster. There are pressurized nitrogen tanks for restarting the booster engines after stage 146 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:28,000 separation and pressurized co two tanks for fire suppression in the engine bay. Then 147 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:33,000 on top of the launch mount is one singular umbilical arm that is responsible for 148 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:37,519 sending liquid oxygen and liquid methane into the booster's tanks. At the moment of 149 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:43,399 lift off, all of these different connection systems will instantly retract from the booster 150 00:11:43,679 --> 00:11:48,200 and snap back behind plates of steel armor to protect them from the world's largest 151 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:52,720 blow torch as it ascends into the sky, moving up again, way up 152 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:56,639 to the towering steel structure that is known around Starbase as the Mechazilla. At 153 00:11:56,679 --> 00:12:01,720 one hundred and forty five meters in height, this is by far the most 154 00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:05,720 intense launch tower ever constructed, and it has to be because this one doesn't 155 00:12:05,759 --> 00:12:09,879 just hold the rocket steady as it prepares for launch. The Mechazilla is a 156 00:12:09,919 --> 00:12:15,200 machine in itself that can lift both the booster and ship from the ground and 157 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:20,000 stack them on the launch mount. One key characteristic of Starship is that the 158 00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:24,159 rocket needs to be kept vertical at all times. If you tipped it over 159 00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:28,440 on one side, the body would crumble under its own weight. So in 160 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:31,679 the past this meant that a crane had to accompany each ship and booster to 161 00:12:31,679 --> 00:12:35,759 the launch mount for every stack and d stack event. This can get very 162 00:12:35,799 --> 00:12:39,840 tricky when the Gulf Coast winds pick up, because you don't want a gigantic 163 00:12:39,919 --> 00:12:46,000 rocket swinging like a pendulum on a steel wire. Instead, the mechanized arms 164 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:50,240 of the launch tower lift the rocket stages off of their transport vehicles and can 165 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:56,840 hold them securely in any reasonable weather condition. These chopstick like arms are powered 166 00:12:56,840 --> 00:13:01,080 by a hydraulic drawwork system that SpaceX took off off of an oil rig. 167 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:05,519 The company purchased two decommissioned oil drilling platforms with the idea of converting them into 168 00:13:05,559 --> 00:13:09,679 spaceports. That's not going to happen, but at least they gained something useful 169 00:13:09,679 --> 00:13:15,080 from the deal. The chopsticks have motorized capture rails on the inside of each 170 00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:18,559 arm. These interface with steel pins on the bodies of the rockets. This 171 00:13:18,639 --> 00:13:24,360 allows ground crews to fine tune the rotation and front to back movement of each 172 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:30,080 rocket to ensure precise integration. The launch tower has its own quick disconnect arm. 173 00:13:30,279 --> 00:13:33,399 This is the umbilical connection that provides fuel and pressurized gas to the upper 174 00:13:33,399 --> 00:13:37,519 stage of the rocket during launch. Prep. Eventually, someday in the not 175 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:43,320 so distant future, these chopstick arms will also be called into service for an 176 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:48,080 unprecedented maneuver. The thing about Starship and Super Heavy is that they are so 177 00:13:48,399 --> 00:13:54,360 incredibly large and massive that trying to integrate landing legs into the design that would 178 00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:58,600 be sturdy enough to support them would be totally impractical. The landing gear would 179 00:13:58,639 --> 00:14:03,600 introduce so much extra complexity and weight to the rocket that it just wouldn't be 180 00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:07,759 able to serve the purpose it is intended for. Landing the ship stage on 181 00:14:07,799 --> 00:14:11,600 a place like the Moon or Mars is more practical because we are talking about 182 00:14:11,639 --> 00:14:16,120 significantly lower gravity environments than the Earth, so legs are not as much of 183 00:14:16,159 --> 00:14:20,159 an issue there. But when it comes to landing on the Earth, SpaceX 184 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:26,000 needs a better way. This is where we get to the catch maneuver. 185 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:30,720 Just like SpaceX offloaded the engine, plumbing and start systems into the launch mount, 186 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:35,120 they have also offloaded the landing gear into the tower. So when the 187 00:14:35,159 --> 00:14:39,000 ship and booster return from flight, they are coming straight back to the launch 188 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:43,039 site. Now before they get anywhere close to the ground, the engine's landing 189 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:46,120 burn is going to shelve off the majority of the air speed, so they're 190 00:14:46,159 --> 00:14:52,000 not coming in hot. The rocket is coming down relatively slowly and will gently 191 00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:56,399 settle into a hover, right within reach of the mechazilla, at which point 192 00:14:56,480 --> 00:15:00,159 the chopsticks close, The pins on the rocket, hit the catch rails on 193 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:05,039 the arms, and shock absorbers cradle the remaining momentum and bring the rocket to 194 00:15:05,159 --> 00:15:11,080 a halt. In theory, this is genius, but in practice we will 195 00:15:11,159 --> 00:15:16,960 just have to wait and see. One thing's for sure, excitement will be guaranteed.