Progress on Starbase Pads ahead of Block 3 Starships

In a flurry of ground activity that underscores SpaceX's relentless drive for launch cadence, engineers at the company's Starbase facility are overhauling Launch Pad 1 while putting the finishing touches on Pad 2.

That earlier design, which lacked rapid-reusability features, forced weeks or even months of repairs after every mission. A water-cooled steel plate had to be retrofitted after Flight 1 simply to keep 33 Raptor engines from ripping the concrete apart during liftoff. The Booster Quick Disconnect (BQD) fared even worse, absorbing punishing forces during the pad-avoidance maneuver and demanding extensive rework between flights.

These parallel efforts—centered on a massive new flame trench, an on-site Air Separation Unit (ASU), expanded propellant storage, and critical tower testing—are explicitly aimed at slashing turnaround times and preparing the site for the next Starship launch, with Flight 12 in the next month or two.