Tag: Raptor
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SpaceX prepares for first Super Heavy static fire
SpaceX is readying for the first static firing of Raptor engines connected to the base of a Super Heavy booster, known as Booster 3. The test is a critical step in verifying and validating Super Heavy’s initial design for the first series of test boosters, including Booster 4, which is expected to launch Ship 20…
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Booster 3 opens Super Heavy test campaign as orbital vehicles prepare to stack
Following a test campaign focused on SpaceX’s Starship vehicle, the Super Heavy booster is now taking up the mantle of testing at the Starbase launch site. Booster 3 rolled out of the High Bay on Thursday, taking the trip down Highway 4 before being placed on suborbital Pad A’s modified mount for a series of…
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Musk says methane leak doomed latest Starship test flight
File photo of the Starship SN8 prototype, which flew last year, with three Raptor engines. Credit: Elon Musk/SpaceX SpaceX founder Elon Musk said Monday that a “relatively small” methane leak caused the explosion of the company’s latest Starship test rocket last week on an experimental flight over South Texas. The 164-foot-tall (50-meter) Starship test vehicle,…
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SpaceX’s latest high-altitude Starship test flight ends in another explosion
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated at 6:15 p.m. EDT (2215 GMT) with FAA statement and debris photos. The Raptor engines at the base of SpaceX’s Starship test rocket ignite for a landing burn at the end of Tuesday’s flight. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX’s latest Starship test flight apparently ended with another explosion Tuesday in South Texas, but dense fog…
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SpaceX’s next Starship test flight delayed to Tuesday
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated Friday and Monday after delays. SpaceX’s Starship SN11 test rocket at Boca Chica, Texas. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX scrubbed the launch of its next Starship test rocket Friday afternoon, and the the next opportunity for the atmospheric test flight is now expected Tuesday. SpaceX plans to launch and land the rocket at company’s South…
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SpaceX nails Starship landing, but rocket explodes minutes later
The latest prototype of SpaceX’s Starship launch vehicle — Starship SN10 — took off from the company’s South Texas test site and flew to an altitude of more than 30,000 feet Wednesday, then descended to a controlled vertical landing after two previous test vehicles crashed at touchdown. Minutes later, the 16-story test rocket exploded in…
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Starship SN10 successfully lands before RUD’ing on the pad
SpaceX’s Starship SN10 launched – and nailed the landing – Wednesday. However, likely due to the failure of some of the landing legs, the slightly tilted Starship caught fire on the landing pad and then blew up a few minutes later. With this advancement in the test program, future vehicles are seeing their Raptor engines…
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Starship SN9 loses a Raptor during flip. RUD comes as future Starships line up
Starship SN9 is no more, following her successful flight and return, prior to losing a Raptor during the flip maneuver, resulting in a crash landing. As with SN8, SN9 got over the pad area and did not impact SN10 or any of the Ground Support Equipment at the Tank Farm. SN10 is expected to fly…
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Starship SN9’s time to shine – test series targets a New Year’s resolution
Starship SN9 is currently tracking an early New Years’ launch, providing the upcoming test series clears the path for what will be a similar flight to SN8, albeit aiming for a “softer” landing. With the vehicle on the launch mount, the first test will involve cryoproofing as early this week, ahead of a three engine…
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Full video of Starship’s seven-minute high-altitude test flight
This video replay shot from South Padre Island shows SpaceX’s Starship SN8 prototype rocket taking off from Boca Chica, Texas, climbing high into the atmosphere, then gliding back to a fiery crash landing after an otherwise successful test flight. The nearly seven-minute experimental flight Wednesday began with liftoff at 4:45 p.m. CST (5:45 p.m. EST;…