SpaceX begins catch arm installation on second Starship launch pad

SpaceX has begun the process of installing new catch arms on its second Starship launch pad down in Starbase, Texas. The company has made a large number of changes to the previous tower design as it continues to learn more about what is needed for a rapidly usable rocket.

As recently as last week, SpaceX began moving hardware from the build site, closer to Boca Chica Village, and down towards the launch site, near Boca Chica Beach. The hardware consisted of the catch arm carriage, which can move up and down the tower, and both catch arms.

A temporary support structure has been erected to aid in the assembly of the hardware, as this can take several days, if not possibly weeks. A constant load on cranes would not be ideal.

While the carriage looks similar to its Pad A counterpart, the two catch arms are much shorter compared to Pad A’s. This is because SpaceX has already noticed that its accuracy is better than planned when making Pad A’s arms. The shorter arms will also make moving them easier as there’s less mass and less momentum when stopping.

SpaceX has successfully caught Starship’s booster twice, on Flight 5 and Flight 7. The company intends to make that a regular occurrence on future missions and eventually catch the ship’s upper stage as well. This was hoped to be done on a mission coming up soon but will likely be delayed due to Flight 7’s upper stage anomaly.

Starship Pad B down at Starbase is a new design from Pad A. While the tower is very similar in height and design, the pad features a flame trench and a new launch mount. The launch mount assembly is still underway at the build site.

SpaceX initially began building a second Starship tower at LC-39A in 2019. That was halted as both NASA and SpaceX agreed that finishing up development flights from Starbase would be the better route.

Starship flights from Florida may be back in the minds of SpaceX managers as large developments at the company’s Roberts Road facility show expansion for potentially Starship-like facilities. While the tower is still unfinished and will likely need many changes to fit the new design, SpaceX has begun using its facilities at Kennedy Space Center to build large components for Starbase to be barged over to Texas.

Once Pad B is complete, which is likely several more months away, the general consensus is that SpaceX will likely move regular operations to Pad B while they make modifications to Pad A. Then, once both test pads are in their final form, SpaceX will resume work on Florida’s launch site.

Starship Flight 8 is expected to launch before the end of February if all goes well with the FAA investigations. Both the booster and ship are in the final stages of testing, and we could likely see static fires in the coming weeks.