SpaceX is ‘proceeding very carefully’ with Starship tests, Elon Musk says
SpaceX isn’t racing to get its giant Starship rocket into orbit for the first time.
That landmark orbital test flight will likely involve Booster 7 and Ship 24, the prototype vehicles. stacked together Above the orbital launch pad at Starbase, SpaceX’s South Texas facility last week.
SpaceX Several tests have already been done on Booster 7 and Ship 24, but more are awaited Starship The duo — and the company — plan to check the remaining boxes in a measured fashion before they can take the flight.
SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said, “We’re moving very carefully. If there’s a RUD on the pad, Starship progress will be delayed by ~6 months.” tweeted on Sunday (opens in new tab) (Oct. 16), using his favorite accent for an outburst. (RUD is short for “rapid unscheduled disassembly”.)
Video: SpaceX fires multiple engines on Starship Super Heavy for the first time
SpaceX has already conducted brief “static fire” tests with both Ship 24 and Booster 7, firing their Raptor engines while anchoring the vehicles to the ground. In fact, the company burned out All six of Ship 24’s Raptors at the same time
But Booster 7’s steady fire engaged a handful of the vehicle’s 33 Raptors simultaneously. and no ignition occurred while the vessel was sitting atop 24.
The coming weeks are likely to see various tests featuring the full starship stack. The fueling trial will pave the way for increasingly ambitious static fires, possibly culminating in a full 33-engine firing of Booster 7. NASASpaceflight.com noted (opens in new tab).
The upcoming orbital test flight will send Ship 24 around Earth once, wrapping up with a splashdown from the Hawaiian island of Kauai. (Booster 7 makes its own waves in the Gulf of Mexico off the Texas coast, descending shortly after liftoff.)
Elon Musk Expressed confidence that the mission can be launched As soon as next month. But SpaceX isn’t eyeing such an aggressive schedule, as Sunday’s tweet makes clear.
Although the Starship is still in development, many customers have already signed up to use the massive vehicle. Starship will be the first crewed lander for NASA Artemis program Exploring the moon, for example. And the company lined up two private starship missions around the moon, including the second Just announced last week.
Mike Wall is the author of “there (opens in new tab)” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Carl Tate), a book about the search for extraterrestrial life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in new tab). Follow us on Twitter @space.com (opens in new tab) or on Facebook (opens in new tab).
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