Late in the evening on February 9, SpaceX conducted static fire tests of the Super Heavy B7 at Starbase in Texas A full-scale 70-meter prototype of a reusable Super Heavy rocket – the first stage of the ship. in a configuration with 33 oxy-methane Raptor engines. The tests could be watched live on the SpaceX YouTube channel; there are also already many fragments with the most juicy shots of tests from different angles – from a drone too.

Since May 2021, when Starship SN15 made its first fully successful altitude flight, SpaceX has adjusted the schedule and postponed the first orbital flight many times. At the end of September 2022, SpaceX first conducted fire tests of the 70-meter Super Heavy Booster 7 rocket with 7 Raptor methane engines, and in November, fire tests of the Starship already took place with 14 engines – then 14 Raptor 2 engines gave thrust to 3 Falcon Hea2 . At the end of January, the 120-meter system (Starship SN24+Super Heavy B7) underwent a test refueling in a fully assembled form (this test is a dress rehearsal of the pre-launch countdown. And yesterday, fire tests of the system took place in a full configuration with 33 engines).

This is the final ground test before attempting the first orbital launch of a system designed to carry people to the Moon and Mars, as well as to launch cargo into orbit. Theoretically, the Super Heavy in the full configuration with 33 engines will be able to produce a thrust of up to 7590 ts. This is more than double the capabilities of the current record holder, the famous NASA Saturn V rocket.

Video of Super Heavy B7 static fire tests with 33 Raptor methane engines

In general, yesterday’s tests were considered successful. The head of the company, Elon Musk, noted that the SpaceX team turned off one engine immediately before the start of the tests, and another – already during the test. At the same time, 31 engines worked normally and this is enough to put the 120-meter system into orbit. Prototype is okay. The starting table looks visually intact this time as well.

A few days ago, Elon Musk said that if this test with 33 engines is successful, the company will prepare for the first orbital flight of Starship already next month (before March 1). It remains to obtain an FAA license for Starship orbital launches (recall that for this SpaceX must complete all 75 measures required by the regulator) and permission for a specific flight. And, of course, to ensure the technical readiness for flight of both prototypes and infrastructure. The 140-meter Mechazilla launch tower plays a big role here – with its help, SpaceX has already several times connected the 50-meter Starship ship with the 70-meter Super Heavy accelerator. This giant structure will be used both to collect rockets on the launch pad and to return the Super Heavy – it will catch the booster after reentry. SpaceX leader Elon Musk previously drew an analogy between mechanical chopsticks and the scene in the movie The Karate Kid (1984) where Mr. Miyagi catches a fly with chopsticks.

The profile of the Starship test orbital launch remains unchanged – 3 minutes after launch from the launch pad of the SpaceX Starbase in Texas, the Super Heavy accelerator will separate and be guided in the Gulf of Mexico, and the Starship will go into orbit (at least 160 kilometers), perform the deed. , brakes with engines and is guided 100 kilometers from the Hawaiian archipelago of the island of Kauai, which is included in the composition. The company expects the entire test flight to last 90 minutes.

Regarding the first orbital launch of Starship, at the end of 2021, Elon Musk in one of the interviews expressed doubt that Starship would reach orbit the first time, and then repeated this assessment more than once. SpaceX President Gwen Shotwell said the day before at the 25th annual FAA conference that the main goal now is not to blow up the launch pad. And it will be a success.

Recording of Super Heavy B7 static fire tests with 33 Raptor methane engines

At the end of 2021, SpaceX planned to perform up to a dozen test launches of Starship in 2022 to complete the test program and move to the launch of real payloads in 2023. The development lags behind these plans by at least a year – in June 2022, Elon Musk said that further improved pairs of the ship and the accelerator will appear every month, and according to the new plan, this year they plan to assemble 5 systems – in order to achieve the goal, the company must prepare in an average of one Starship Full Stack every 2.5 months. Gwenn Shotwell also said the day before that SpaceX does not plan to launch people already in the 15th flight of the ship, but plans to carry out 100 or 200 launches in an unmanned version before that. At the same time, SpaceX is targeting 2030 as a target for sending humans to Mars. This is in line with previous estimates by Elon Musk, who recently expressed hope that humanity will live on Mars in 20 years.

Learn more about the program’s key milestones, details of the first orbital launch, and Starship’s outlook in our log-in grid from last year.

The US regulator has given SpaceX the green light for Starship’s first orbital flight from Starbase in Texas. It may take place before the end of summer

• Super Heavy and Starship are promising reusable super-heavy rockets and spacecraft developed by SpaceX since 2016 to replace the current family of Falcon rockets and Dragon spacecraft and are designed to deliver cargo and people to Earth orbit, the Moon, and Mars. SpaceX is also developing a Starship variant under the contract of NASA for the Artemis lunar program, which involves a manned flight and landing on the Moon.
• Once operational, the Super Heavy + Starship system will be the most powerful in the history of space exploration. The rocket will be able to deliver a cargo weighing up to 150 tons in a fully reusable configuration to low Earth orbit – with the return of both parts (Super Heavy and Starship) to Earth, as well as the possibility of docking and refueling in orbit.
• SpaceX is also developing a Starship variant under contract to NASA for the Artemis lunar program, which involves a manned flight and landing on the Moon. At the end of 2022, NASA chose SpaceX Starship for the second landing of a crew on the moon under the “Artemis” program – it is not expected before 2027.