Watch Elon Musk show off SpaceX's massive launchpad and new 'Starfactory'
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- Elon Musk gave YouTuber Tim Dodd a tour of SpaceX's Starfactory rocket production center.
- Starbase, located in south Texas, has transformed from tents to a massive production facility.
- SpaceX hopes the factory will lead to serialized production of the Starship rocket.
Elon Musk gave an early glimpse into SpaceX's new Starfactory production facility.
Just a day before Starship's Flight 4 successfully landed in the ocean, Musk was at the SpaceX site giving science YouTuber Tim Dodd, known by his channel moniker "Everyday Astronaut," an exclusive tour of SpaceX's rocket factory, including the new facility.
Located in south Texas, Starbase, which just a couple of years prior consisted mostly of tents, has now transformed into a massive facility that Musk anticipates will "dramatically improve production."
"We've got this pretty good-looking rocket factory building that we've almost completed," Musk said. "This will enable us to have serialized production of the rocket, especially the ship, which would ultimately, long term, probably be making a thousand a year of the ship."
Musk showed off various sections of the factory, including the Megabay, which holds three booster rockets. Viewers also saw a closeup of the Raptor engines that power Starship's Super Heavy booster.
Musk explained the new design of the next-gen Raptor, which will not require a heat shield but instead will have integral cooling circuits throughout the engine. "So it looks very simple on the outside, but it's complicated on the inside," Musk said.
The SpaceX CEO also took Dodd inside the brand new Starfactory, which, once completed, is expected to have multiple production stations. Musk said that the now barren site "will be filled with equipment in three months."
"We'll finally have a real factory for Starship," Musk said. "Not just making it in tents."
In a second video uploaded a few days later, Musk also toured the launchpad, where the full-stack Starship awaited launch. The spacecraft, which weighs 5,000 tons at liftoff, is the largest flying object of any kind, Musk said.
"I mean, it's a damn tall rocket," he said. "And it's going to get taller."
The billionaire is already planning to add an even taller, more upgraded second launch tower for the next generation of rockets. But for now, Musk is pretty pleased with the orbital launch mount.
"This is the best launch site and the best rocket we've ever made on Starship," he said.