Click here to Join L2 After SpaceX took over the facility in 2003, they planned on modifying the tripod to support the first stage of the Falcon 5 – a planned medium-lift launch vehicle. Eventually, SpaceX cancelled the Falcon 5 in favor of a larger launch vehicle – the Falcon 9. On top of the tripod, SpaceX added a tall tower with retractable floors to give engineers access to the entire first stage. Later, a large, water-cooled flame diverter was added at the base of the stand to help divert the exhaust of the first stage’s engines. The tripod was used to test the 9 Merlin engines of each Falcon 9 first stage from 2008 until mid-2015. Its first test – a firing of two of the qualification first stage’s engines – occurred in 2008. When SpaceX switched from the Falcon 9 v1.1 to the upgraded Falcon 9 Full Thrust, they opted to construct a larger, partially-underground test stand for the first stages. This would solve multiple problems at once – such as lowering the sound levels of the tests, not needing to update the tripod to work with the Full Thrust’s chilled propellants, and having the ability to test all three Falcon Heavy boosters at once. In the end, SpaceX opted not to test the complete Falcon Heavy at McGregor- instead only testing one booster at a time. They would only test the three cores together on the launch pad, when they perform the traditional static fire test. As such, the stand has remained in a single-core configuration. After the final v1.1 first stage – for the Jason-3 mission – was tested on the tripod, the stand was mothballed. From late 2015 to the present day, all Falcon 9 first stages have been tested on the new test stand. The tripod has sat idle since 2015 – in essentially the same condition that it was left in when Jason 3’s first stage was removed. However, recent aerial images show that the stand is all but sitting idle. SpaceX’s McGregor Tripod test stand under modification – via Gary Blair Aerial Photo for NSF/L2 The tripod’s access tower has been completely removed and laid on its side. Many items that were formerly on the top deck of the tripod have been removed – including propellant lines and a large tank from behind the tower. According to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the tripod stand is being modified to be a new vertical Raptor test stand. Yeah, will be Raptor vertical test stand. Hopefully allows simplification of Raptor design, as pump shaft wear & drainage is better in vertical config. Also, more representive of flight. Test as you fly …