Latest at Starbase with LabPadre: Preparations for Flight 9

STARBASE, Texas (ValleyCentral) — It's been nearly three months since flight eight launched.

SpaceX is ready to give it another shot on May 27.

According to FAA documents, flights seven and eight had the same issues — a harmonic response several times stronger than seen during testing.

We won't get too deep into that, but this effect turns the rocket into a pogo stick, causing vibrations much stronger than anticipated, which can lead to a catastrophic failure.

To fix these problems, SpaceX made changes to its fuel system and how it deals with internal tank pressure, as the thrust-to-weight ratio constantly changes as the vehicle accelerates and consumes fuel.

After several pressure tests and a few static fires over the past few weeks, it seems that they're finally seeing the data that they want and are ready to push forward with flight nine.

Booster 14, which was flown and caught during flight seven, was moved back to the launch complex as SpaceX preps it to be flown for a second time.

This is a first for a super heavy booster, a huge milestone in making this generation of rockets reusable.

Since this will be the first attempt at reusing a super heavy booster, they won't catch it this time.

Instead, they'll do a mock landing in the Gulf, collecting the data to ensure that it can withstand re-entry for a second time before bringing a reused booster over the Launch Complex.

As the launch day nears, Starship 35 was also moved to the launch complex to be prepped for vehicle stacking.

If all goes as planned, the ship should be stacked on the booster by the time you tune into this update.

LabPadre will be live from the rocket ranch around 4 p.m., Tuesday, May 27.

For continued live coverage and other detailed Starbase content, visit the LabPadre YouTube channel.