Latest on Starbase with LabPadre: May 19

BOCA CHICA, Texas (ValleyCentral) — This week at Starbase, demolition wraps up at Starfactory, paving the way for the new expansion.

Starship 35 departed masses on Tuesday morning and headed to the build site.

The ship pulled in through the Sanchez gate, taking the back route into the factory area.

Booster 14 was soon lifted onto the launch mount, ready for final preparations ahead of the second flight, which may come in a few weeks.

Ship 35 eventually finished its journey back, stopping outside of Mega Bay two,

Back at the build site, Ship 35 was moved into Mega Bay Two and connected to the overhead crane for placement inside the bay.

Over at Pad B, the tower chopsticks were tested, opening and closing a few times.

The final sliver of the Starfactory building was cut loose and pulled down early on Wednesday morning.

A large ventilation line for the methane sub-coolers was moved into place at the tank farm pumping station.

Following the chopstick actuation tests, the carriage was lowered back down to the hard stop after being stopped several times in the process.

Late-night tests were performed on the new tank farm equipment as build-out continues with the new pumping stations.

On Friday afternoon, the Pad B chopsticks were put through a rigorous weight test.

Four water ballasts were attached and filled to simulate the weight of a starship, second-stage rocket.

The ballasts were filled with water, each holding up to 50 metric tons, with a total weight of up to 200 metric tons with all four bags filled.

The test is designed to simulate more weight than the ship, around 150 metric tons.

The Pad B chopsticks were raised and held the weight for about an hour before being lowered to drain the 48,000 gallons of water.

While the chopsticks weight test was going on, the booster transport stand unexpectedly came down the road.

This was not a good sign, indicating that the booster would soon be removed from the launch mount.

Later in the evening, the chopsticks were deployed and moved into place for the move.

After nightfall, the booster was dismounted and rolled back to the build site for unknown reasons.

SpaceX has been tight-lipped about the unforeseen events, but the launch date has been pushed back to no earlier than May 27.

Ship 35 has also been behind closed doors inside Mega Bay Two, indicating other potential issues.

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