120 With the Ship static fire stand and trench at Masseys out of commission, SpaceX appears to be attempting a path toward static firing a Ship on Pad 1 (A). There are numerous elements to this plan, and it’s not the first time SpaceX has attempted to use a pad for a different vehicle. If successful, it could cut months off the supposed downtime due to the damage at Masseys caused by Ship 36’s explosion. SpaceX’s Ship Static Fire Problem As covered for the past few weeks, SpaceX no longer has a way to static fire Ships at Masseys, or anywhere else, for some time. And the repair times for Masseys appear to be at least three to four months in a best-case scenario. With this in mind, SpaceX had a few options. Option one was to repair Masseys and have a multi-month stand-down in testing and flights while teams repaired Masseys for further development of Block 2, and later convert it to Block 3. This would result in a lengthy stand-down between flights, but once up and running again, there would likely be a quick succession of back-to-back launches of the remaining two Block 2 Ships before switching to Block 3. Option two is to repair and upgrade Masseys for Block 3 testing and scrap the rest of Block 2. This would result in a long gap between any testing, as every item required to get Block 3 flying is either under construction, in development, or in need of repair. This could have led to a stand-down of flight tests for at least eight months or more. Masseys After Ship 36’s RUD (Credit: Jack Beyer for NSF) Option three, which is the most SpaceX-like of them all, would involve the repair Masseys for Block 3 and, in parallel, attempt to come up with a plan to static fire Ships on Orbital Launch Pad 1 (A). This would allow SpaceX to continue testing and flying the remaining Block 2 Ships while preparing for Block 3 of Starship. This is what SpaceX is planning. This solution isn’t as straightforward as simply placing a ship on the Orbital Launch Mount (OLM). Firstly, the clamp systems on Ships and Boosters are not the same, which means you would need an adapter placed between the Ship and the OLM clamps. Something that could be used as an adapter rolled to the launch site on the night of June 27, this was a vacant Ship transport stand. The next step is to determine how to integrate this into the OLM to facilitate Ship static fire testing. Teams could find a way to weld the ship stand to the OLM using several I-beams welded to the top deck plating. Part of this solution would involve having the I-beams protrude into the center opening of the OLM, as it is larger than a Ship transport stand. This solution requires modifying the OLM deck and could interfere with Booster stacking operations and launch later down the line, unless SpaceX makes the necessary modifications, performs static fires tests of Ship 37 and Ship 38, and then removes everything from the launch mount. Empty Ship Transport Stand at the Launch Site (Credit: Ceaser G for NSF) The other solution is to modify the bottom of the ship transport stand to allow it to become compatible with the OLM Booster clamps. This prevents any welding onto the OLM and is cleaner. See Also