The Launch Pad
Friends-and-family notes from Starbase.
This is where I'll share updates when SpaceX puts out a new hype video, plus public-safe notes about life around Starbase and an open invitation to come watch a launch.
What this is
The Launch Pad is my personal newsletter for family and friends — not an official SpaceX channel. I'll keep it to things that are already public, and I'll point you at official pages rather than repeating details that shouldn't be shared.
I work in Super Heavy booster engineering at SpaceX, in the Starbase / Port Isabel, Texas area. When I write about the hardware, I'll use SpaceX's own public words and link the source.
Come visit for a launch
You have a standing invitation to come visit and watch a launch, hosted by me. When SpaceX publishes a launch time, I'll point you to the official livestream and to the City of Starbase's notes on watching from nearby Brownsville, Port Isabel, or South Padre Island.
Latest from Starbase
Official and public pages worth a look. I'll refresh this list when SpaceX posts something new.
Super Heavy & Starbase
According to SpaceX, Super Heavy is the first stage, or booster, of the Starship launch system, powered by 33 Raptor engines. SpaceX describes Starship and Super Heavy together as a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
Source: SpaceX, Starship
In a July 9, 2025 post, SpaceX wrote that it was installing “the redesigned fuel transfer tube into the first next generation Super Heavy booster.” In SpaceX's words, the tube is “roughly the same size as the first stage of a Falcon 9 rocket” and is “responsible for channeling cryogenic fuel from Super Heavy's main tank to its 33 Raptor” engines.
Source: SpaceX on X, July 9, 2025
SpaceX says development, manufacturing, testing, and launch of Starship takes place at Starbase, home to SpaceX headquarters and “one of the world's first commercial spaceports designed for orbital missions.”
Source: SpaceX, Starship
The City of Starbase notes that visitors can watch launches from neighboring Brownsville, Port Isabel, and South Padre Island.
A closer look at Super Heavy
A community 3D model of Super Heavy, embedded from Sketchfab so you can spin it around. This is not an official SpaceX model, and the file is not hosted on this site.
SpaceX Starship Superheavy V3 by Ijsz23 on Sketchfab, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Embedded from Sketchfab; the model file is not hosted here.
Newsletter issues
Each issue is a markdown file in content/launch-pad/. Add a new .md file with a short header, and it shows up here.
The Launch Pad is personal and unofficial. It is not a SpaceX communications channel.