Hello, stargazers! 🚀 It’s time for my first monthly Gigabay Progress Report. This month I got two drive-by chances at the SpaceX Gigabay at Kennedy Space Center: January 9 and January 28, 19 days apart. What impressed me most? How fast it climbs. More on that below. 🏗️
A reminder: I took every one of these as I drove by. I didn’t stop, so expect glare, wobble and the occasional mirror. They aren’t fantastic, but most people can’t get this close, and I know how lucky I am. I’ll show you what I can actually see, say “appears” when I’m not sure, and add the proper construction words so we can all learn together. 🌟
How I take these
The road I drive runs north and south, and the Gigabay sits on its west side. That means it’s on my left when I drive north and on my right when I drive south, and I’m always looking west at it. I usually drive north and take a few pictures, then turn around and take more on the way back south. I think most of my photos are from the morning, but I don’t remember exactly. So the viewing angle changes from photo to photo, which is also why my two sets don’t line up perfectly. I’ll use “left end” and “right end” of the building as I see it in each photo.
Where we left off in December
Back in my January 4 post I said the first half looked about two stories high. Looking closer now with a counting eye, the taller side is more like about five levels of floor deck (my best count), so I’m updating that. Here’s what my December 17 and 31 photos show:
- A bare steel skeleton. White-primed steel, with no walls, siding or roof yet. That’s still true today.
- Uneven height. In my Dec 31 wide shot, one big section towers over the right-hand end, which had only about two or three levels of floor beams with column stubs sticking up.
- Levels. In my Dec 31 close-up I count about three levels of floor deck on the lower side and about five on the taller side.
- Four tower cranes around the frame in the Dec 31 wide shot. NASASpaceflight (NSF) reported two more cranes up by Dec 12, which makes four.
- Bracing and decking were already visible on the taller side.
- Footprint. I can’t see the frame spreading out sideways. The growth is upward, plus filling in the shorter parts.
For an outside check, NSF reported parts of “Level 4” started around the turn of the year, and (on Jan 20) the first-started side at Level 4 with the other side starting Level 3. Their “levels” are tiers of columns, so they won’t match my floor-deck counts exactly.
January 9 snapshot
Shot from the road, looking at the long side. Two chunks stand out: a lower near end (about three to four levels of floor deck) and a taller section (about five). Four tower cranes, column stubs everywhere, no siding.
January 28 snapshot
Wide shots and close-ups under a cloudy sky. The skeleton looks denser: lots of diagonal bracing, gray floor deck level after level, and steel stacked at the base for the next lifts.
Jan 28 – wide, from the road (this is also my header photo above). Same palms and orange rope as my Dec 31 wide shot, from farther back. Look for the tall block at left and the right-hand end, now much taller than in December.
What changed from Jan 9 to Jan 28
Big caveat: my two sets were shot from different spots and angles (see “How I take these”), so I’m comparing carefully and I say “appears” when I can’t be sure.
- The lower near end appears to have caught up. On Jan 9 that end had about three to four levels of floor deck. In my Jan 28 long-side shot it looks like about four to five, nearly even with the taller section. (My Jan 28 wide shot from farther along the road still shows that end lower, so this is my best reading.)
- Still no enclosure, no sideways growth. I see no siding, roof deck or doors in either set, and the footprint looks the same.
- Cranes appear unchanged. I see four tower cranes on Jan 9 and four on Jan 28 (some hide behind each other in the close-ups). I can’t tell if any crane has been climbed higher.
- More bracing, in more bays. Jan 28 shows X-bracing in nearly every bay I can see, but I can’t say exactly which braces are new since Jan 9.
- Column stubs are still rising above the top deck. Some appear to have small splice plates on top, ready for the next tier of columns. So the frame isn’t topped out yet.
- Busy ground. Jan 9 shows a flatbed trailer, a lift and stacks of steel. Jan 28 shows stacked steel, boom lifts, dumpsters, portable toilets and workers in orange vests. I can’t say which are new.
Terms to know ✨
- Column: a vertical steel post that carries weight down to the foundation. The “stubs” above the top deck are columns waiting for the next tier.
- Beam and girder: horizontal steel pieces that span between columns. A girder is a main beam that carries other beams.
- X-bracing (diagonal bracing): diagonal steel that makes X or V shapes between columns and keeps the frame from swaying.
- Metal deck: corrugated steel sheets laid across beams to make each floor surface. The gray “floors” in my photos look like metal deck.
- Bolted connections and splices: beams are bolted to columns with shear connections. A splice joins one column tier to the next, usually with bolted plates.
- Tower crane vs. crawler crane: a tower crane stands on a tall fixed mast and is lifted up as the building grows. A crawler crane rolls around on tracks. All the tall cranes I see here are tower cranes.
- Bay / work cell: a “bay” is the space between rows of columns. SpaceX says the finished Gigabay will have 24 “work cells” for integration and refurbishment.
What impressed me most
Honestly, the speed. Put my Dec 31 and Jan 28 photos side by side (about four weeks apart) and the right-hand end of the frame has shot up while the cranes keep working around it. They seem to work so fast. SpaceX wastes no time. 🚀
What I’m watching next
- The top of the frame. Once the last columns are up, steel crews normally set the long roof trusses and roof steel across the top.
- Enclosure. Siding or cladding normally begins at the bottom once the steel is high enough, and I’ll look for the first panels and for the doors. I haven’t seen any yet.
- Bridge cranes. SpaceX says the Gigabay will have bridge cranes of up to 400 US tons, which will run on rails high inside. Look for rail brackets near the top.
- Cranes coming down. Tower cranes usually come down only after the high steel is done.
I’ll keep snapping photos every few weeks as I drive by. Look out for the next report!
Sources
- SpaceX, “Future of Building Starship” (Mar 3, 2025): 380 ft building, 24 work cells, bridge cranes up to 400 US tons. spacex.com/updates
- NASASpaceflight, Dec 12, 2025 (two more tower cranes up): article
- NASASpaceflight, Jan 3, 2026 (parts of Level 4 started): article
- NASASpaceflight, Jan 20, 2026 (first-started side at Level 4, other side starting Level 3): article
All photos by The Star Queen, taken from the road at Kennedy Space Center. Photos are not official and are not affiliated with SpaceX or NASA.
Thank you for stargazing with me. Until next time, keep looking up (and sideways, at the cranes). ✨