SpaceX’s Advanced Welding Technology Revealed in Stunning Robot-Mounted Footage

A Cure for Weldness: SpaceX’s Starship Prototype Takes Shape

SpaceX is pushing the boundaries of innovation as it prepares for its upcoming test launches of the Starship spacecraft next year. Footage shared by NASASpaceflight shows a large robotic arm welding one of the company’s Starship nosecones inside the “Starfactory,” a massive facility at the company’s “Starbase” launch complex in South Texas.

The Block 2 Prototype: A New Era for Starship

According to documents obtained by The Launch Pad Network last month, SpaceX is targeting no earlier than January 11 for its upcoming seventh Starship test. The launch is expected to involve a new generation of Starship prototypes dubbed “Block 2,” the first of which will be “Ship 33.” The prototype’s design features a new forward flap design, a new heatshield layout, increased propellant capacity, and possibly even more thrust than its predecessors.

Early Cryogenic Testing and the Acid Test

Ship 33 completed early cryogenic testing in late October, but whether it survives its upcoming test flight unscathed remains unclear. During the previous two launches, SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft splashed down in the ocean after experiencing scorching and metal-melting temperatures during reentry. To SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, getting to the point of being able to launch again shortly after landing will be the real litmus test for an extremely ambitious, heavy-lift launch platform that NASA is still hoping to use for its first human landing on the Moon since the 1970s.

“The biggest technology challenge remaining for Starship is a fully & immediately reusable heat shield,” Musk tweeted last month. “Being able to land the ship, refill propellant and launch right away with no refurbishment or laborious inspection. That is the acid test.