Watch SpaceX Stack Starship Megarockets Using ‘Chopsticks’ (VIDEO)
SpaceX’s “chopsticks” have been busy lately, and a new video shows them in action
Chopsticks are weapons attached to the starbase’s launch tower “Mechazilla”. SpaceXIts facilities in South Texas. Mechazilla lifts and lowers the Super Heavy Booster and Starship spacecraft – two components of SpaceX’s giant, next-generation Starship The vehicle — using chopsticks on Starbase’s orbital launch mount, as new video shows.
The video, tweeted by SpaceX on Friday (Oct. 21), captures the stacking of Vessel 24 on top of Booster 7 on Thursday (Oct. 20). SpaceX is preparing the pair for the Starship program First orbital test flightWhich could happen in the next few months if the test goes well.
Video: SpaceX fires multiple engines on Starship Super Heavy for the first time
Launch and capture tower stacking starships at Starbase pic.twitter.com/KOpX8tZMHhOctober 21, 2022
“Launch and Hold Starship Stacking Tower at Starbase,” SpaceX wrote in a tweet on Friday (opens in new tab).
As that note indicates, Mechazilla is envisioned as a multipurpose structure, hosting starship touchdowns as well as liftoffs. If all goes according to plan, the giant tower will finally be Catch the returning super heavy vehicle (opens in new tab)Their steering “uses chopsticks to support the boosters below the grid fins,” SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said
Mechazilla would then place the Super Heavy directly into an orbital launch mount, potentially enabling incredibly short turnaround times for starship missions, according to Musk. (SpaceX is already known for frequent reuse of its workhorses Falcon 9 (rockets, but these boosters touch down at the landing zone or on ships at sea and must then be carried to the launch pad.)
Thursday’s stacking over Booster 7 of Ship 24 was actually a restacking, as the pair first joined on Oct. 11. Mechazilla de-stacked them on October 16, presumably so SpaceX could do some additional testing or maintenance work.
And there’s a lot of work to be done before Booster 7 and Ship 24 are ready for their orbital moments. For example, SpaceX has yet to launch all 33 of Booster 7’s Raptor engines; The company is testing “static fire” with the rocket but so far a maximum of seven engines have fired simultaneously. And none of the Booster 7 engine tests were attached to Ship 24.
SpaceX isn’t focusing all of its starship energy on this particular pair; The company is also developing and testing other prototypes. For example, SpaceX took the Ship 25 vehicle to Starbase’s suborbital launch pad on Wednesday (Oct. 19). As noted by NASASpaceflight’s Jack Baer (opens in new tab).
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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