Tag: Raptor
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Ship 40 Single-Engine Static Fire Signals Caution
Ship 40’s Single-Engine Static Fire: What the Restrained Test Tells Us About Starship’s Next Phase SpaceX fired exactly one Raptor on Ship 40 — and that deliberate restraint may be the most informative data point of the day SpaceX rolled Ship 40 to the orbital launch mount at Starbase, Boca Chica on June 26, conducted…
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Starship Super Heavy completes static fire with 33 Raptor engines
How many Raptor engines fired in SpaceX’s latest Super Heavy test? SpaceX completed a full-duration static fire test of its Super Heavy booster with all 33 Raptor engines igniting successfully on April 16, marking a critical milestone toward the next Starship integrated flight test. The test generated approximately 16.7 million pounds of thrust at sea…
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SpaceX Version 3 Starship Static Fire Targets May Orbital Test
What’s New in SpaceX’s Version 3 Starship That Just Completed Static Fire Testing? SpaceX successfully completed a static fire test of its Version 3 Starship prototype on April 15, marking a critical milestone before the vehicle’s planned May orbital test flight. The test fired all six Raptor engines for approximately 8 seconds at the company’s…
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SpaceX McGregor looks to the future, from Raptor 3 to potential HLS testing
SpaceX’s engine development and testing site in McGregor—the world’s most active rocket engine test facility—continues to be a hive of activity. Recent updates reveal intensified Raptor engine trials and the construction of a large-scale rig, the latter having ignited speculation about its potential ties to Starship’s Human Landing System (HLS) for NASA’s Artemis program. Since…
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Raptor 3 testing ramps up at SpaceX McGregor
SpaceX has ramped up its engine testing efforts at the McGregor test facility this past week, conducting a total of 24 Raptor engine firings and achieving multiple milestones in engine performance and durability. The activity highlights SpaceX’s ongoing push to refine its next-generation Raptor engines, crucial for the Starship program. See Also SpaceX Starship Program…
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Mystery Raptors spotted arriving at McGregor
A curious delivery caught the eyes of NSF’s cameras at SpaceX’s McGregor test site in Texas: three battered and heavily damaged Raptor engines, potentially from either the aft of recently recovered Booster 13, or the debris of Ship 36, which blew up during testing at Masseys. SpaceX’s McGregor facility is the beating heart of the…
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Starship preparations as rollouts begin ahead of full stack testing
Work on the orbital launch mount and Pad B continues, the final Block 1 ship expected to fly is preparing for launch, and Booster 13 is expected to roll out for full-stack testing any day. Considerable changes have occurred in the short time since Starship flight 5, and those changes are beginning to head toward…
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The next Starship launch may occur in less than two weeks
Less than a month has passed since the historic fifth flight of SpaceX’s Starship, during which the company caught the booster with mechanical arms back at the launch pad in Texas. Now, another test flight could come as soon as Nov. 18, the company announced Wednesday. The improbable but successful recovery of the Starship first…
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The next Starship launch may occur in less than two weeks
Less than a month has passed since the historic fifth flight of SpaceX’s Starship, during which the company caught the booster with mechanical arms back at the launch pad in Texas. Now, another test flight could come as soon as Nov. 18, the company announced Wednesday. The improbable but successful recovery of the Starship first…
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Successful Static Fire Leads to Final Preparation Before Full Stack
Activities at Starbase are on full throttle as Starship flight five pulls ever closer. Major work has been completed on Launch Pad B, altering the skyline, glimpses of the future have been witnessed with the first-ever Block 2 starship, and Ship 30 completed a second static fire with full-stack testing on the horizon. On July…