Starbase This Week (2026-10-11) | Written by @TheCosmicNebu1a A moderately busy week at Starbase after the craziness of Flight 14. Ship 40 returns home, and work continues on Flight 15 vehicles. Welcome to this week’s Starbase this Week. Production Site A heavy week of vehicle construction, starting out with something we missed from last week. That being Booster 24’s A5:4 section which rolled from SFC (Starfactory) to MB1 (Megabay 1) on Friday October 2nd. That was followed by B24’s A6:4 section on Wednesday. Given the mixup with the A5 and A6 sections (we thought A6 rolled when A5 actually did), Booster 24 is roughly on pace to match B23’s construction timeline. B24’s Methane Landing Tank and Lower portion of its transfer tube also rolled from SFC to MB1 on Wednesday. Ship 44’s A2:4 section rolled into MB2 on Monday as well. B24’s full transfer tube was then rolled into MB1 on Thursday. Work also steadily continued on Pad 1’s new OLM (Orbital Launch Mount), SQD (Ship Quick Disconnect) Arm and Flame Deflector in the Sanchez lot. Launch Site A quiet week at the Launch Site, with work continuing on Pad 1, as well as inspections on Pad 2 after Flight 14. Massey’s Heading over to Massey’s, starting out with S39.1 rolling from the production site late on Sunday night. It is currently unclear why S39.1 has rolled back to Massey’s and if it had any changes made during its stay at the Production Site. It is quite likely that it had some modifications, potentially from data gathered from its own testing, or Flight 14, however this is speculation on our part. On Tuesday whilst the Booster Landing Tank test article was undergoing a cryo test, it appeared to burst open near the base, spilling out liquid nitrogen. It is currently unclear if this failure was intentional stress testing, or a mechanical failure of the tank itself. After having all 6 of its engines removed following Flight 14, Ship 42 was placed onto the Ship Cryo Stand on Thursday, and departed the Production Site for Massey’s late Thursday night. It was then cryo tested yet again on Friday and rolled back to the Production Site on Friday night. We are currently unsure as to why S42 had its engines removed or was cryo’d again, but the speculation is that either Flight 14 gave teams a reason to remove/replace the engines, or SpaceX already had plans to replace them. Lastly, the OG Can Crusher was moved back to Massey’s on Thursday. Ship 40 Early on Tuesday morning, Forte loaded with S40 arrived at the Port of Brownsville after its almost two month long journey from Christmas Island! Forte was then docked and preparations for offloading began. SPMTs were placed underneath the support blocks on Forte’s deck and S40 was carefully maneuvered off on Saturday afternoon. Teams then began securing S40 ahead of its roll from the Port to the Production Site. S40 was surrounded by an entourage of vehicles as it began the final stretch of its journey home late Saturday night. It wheeled past Massey’s where it was once cryo tested and static fired, and a large crowd gathered to welcome it back to the very same place it once started life. S40 safely arrived at the Production Site in the small hours of Sunday morning. Welcome home S40! It is unclear what SpaceX has in store for Ship 40 at this stage, many of us here at SST believe it should be proudly displayed alongside Booster 12, however knowing SpaceX, it is also quite likely that it is inspected and then disassembled. Other A new CADENA Flight Advisory was posted on Thursday, updating the NET Date of Flight 15 from Starbase Texas to November 8th 2026, and Flight 16 (or Starlink 30-1) from LC-39A to December 10th 2026. In an interview on Saturday, Elon Musk provided some updates on Flight 14, specifically that the early RVac shutdown was due to a ‘software issue’. Elon characterized the issue as a ‘software glitch’ that on review, would not stop Ship from heading into orbit. He also noted that the ‘heat shield was robust’. Elon went on to say that Flight 15 should launch ‘hopefully in 4-6 weeks’ and that ‘a big milestone coming up… to catch the Ship… marking the first full recovery of an orbital class rocket’. This seems to indicate that SpaceX are going for both a Booster catch as well as a Ship catch for Flight 15. Lots of work is needed to meet that date, including re-installing all engines on Ship (and potentially booster) as well as another round of Launch License modifications to suit. YTML (You’ll Thank Me Later) also departed from the Port of Brownsville on Friday. What do you think SpaceX has planned for S40? Do you think that Flight 15 will hit the NET Date of November 8th? Certainly an exciting last few months of 2026 to look forward to! That’s all for this week’s Starbase this Week. For real-time updates, join us in the Discord: discord.gg/ZbrSYPzDAq To explore our maps yourself and track every movement, check out our Figma, now at both Starbase and Cape Canaveral: Starbase: figma.com/design/2AvC161FuB1… Cape Canaveral: figma.com/design/lHRSgzUwyjD… #SpaceX #Starbase #Starship