With the sudden loss of a ship that was nearly ready for flight and significant damage to the infrastructure needed to test Starship and Super Heavy, SpaceX will face some difficult challenges in the coming months. Ship 37 recently began receiving its engines last week, but without a way to static fire them, it will remain in Mega Bay 2 until repairs can be made. Ship 38 is in Mega Bay 2 and currently needs cryogenic proof testing before getting engines. It is unclear if the ship’s cryogenic proof stand is still operational at Massey’s following Ship 36’s anomaly.

Furthermore, SpaceX is in the process of developing and constructing the first Block 3 (Version 3) variants of Starship, with Ship 39 expected to serve as the first. With Block 3 so close and the recent anomaly, SpaceX would repair Starship testing infrastructure at Massey’s, such as the quick disconnect, for two ships before having to modify it again for Block 3. The question for SpaceX is whether it is worthwhile to repair the existing infrastructure for the current ship design or to move directly to Block 3.

As for Super Heavy, SpaceX has Booster 16 ready to fly and recently removed the hot stage ring, as it will no longer be flying soon. Booster 15 is ready and waiting for its next flight, which is likely to be the last flight of a Block 2 Booster. At this point, Booster 17 will likely not fly, as SpaceX has only two Block 2 ships left.