Tag: Starship
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Photos: SpaceX’s stainless-steel Starship SN8 test vehicle
SpaceX’s latest Starship prototype, on its launch pad in South Texas, is ready for the rocket’s most daring test flight yet. The 160-foot-tall (50-meter) rocket prototype is ready to launch to an altitude of around 41,000 feet (12.5 kilometers) over SpaceX’s Starship development facility at Boca Chica, Texas, near Brownsville. This Starship test vehicle, designated…
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Gleaming prototype of SpaceX’s Starship ready for experimental flight
Credit: Isis Valencia / Spaceflight Now SpaceX is gearing up for the next big leap in the development of the next-generation Starship heavy-lift launch vehicle with a test flight to more than 40,000 feet over the Texas Gulf Coast as soon as Tuesday. The 164-foot-tall (50-meter) Starship prototype, made of stainless steel, is sitting on…
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Starship SN8 successfully completes final testing ahead of flight
Following a slightly convoluted engine testing campaign, Starship SN8 is working through the final steps to finalize its pre-flight requirements, which included a triple Raptor Static Fire test on Tuesday. Should this test go to plan – via the results of the data review – the path will be cleared for SN8 to conduct a…
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Starship SN8 hoping for speedy return to testing as additional vehicles line up
Following Starship SN8’s eventful Static Fire test, it was feared the test flight would likely suffer from a lengthy delay. However, thanks in part to a burst disk that avoided a damaging “pop” scenario, SN8 may yet still fly to 50,000 feet this month, albeit with a realigned trio of Raptor engines. While repair work…
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As Starships line up, Musk calibrates expectations for SN8 test
Starship SN8 is expected to complete the second run of Static Fire tests over the coming week ahead of test flight later this month. While SN8 will be aiming for a touchdown on the launch pad, Elon Musk provided clarity on the primary goals of SN8’s flight – with a stable, controlled descent via its…
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SpaceX executive pitches Starship for space debris cleanup
File photo of Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s president and chief operating officer. Credit: NASA/Jay Westcott SpaceX could use its Starship vehicles to clear out space debris in Earth orbit, alongside the program’s more publicized purpose of ferrying people and cargo to the moon and Mars, a company executive said. Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s president and chief operating…
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Starship SN8 preparing for a second Static Fire test
Following the first-ever triple Raptor Static Fire test, Starship SN8 is pushing through the pre-launch milestones. The nosecone has since been installed – resulting in the first full Starship stack since MK1 – allowing for a second Static Fire test this coming week. The second Static Fire test will involve propellant being fed from the…
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SpaceX Starship: The Continued Evolution of the Big Falcon Rocket
Since 2012, SpaceX has been working on a reusable rocket family, now called Starship, that will eventually replace its workhorse Falcon 9 family. Its design has evolved into a rocket possibly unprecedented in its ambition, being even larger than the venerable Saturn V rocket, but with far more uses. At launch, it will be the…
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SpaceX Starship: The Continued Evolution of the Big Falcon Rocket
Since 2012, SpaceX has been working on a reusable rocket family, now called Starship, that will eventually replace its workhorse Falcon 9 family. Its design has evolved into a rocket possibly unprecedented in its ambition, being even larger than the venerable Saturn V rocket, but with far more uses. At launch, it will be the…
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Starship SN8 conducts milestone Static Fire test ahead of nosecone install
Starship SN8 has moved SpaceX through another major milestone with the first ever triple Raptor Static Fire test. Following two preburner tests over the last two nights, SpaceX recycled SN8 and fired up the engines to set the stage for nosecone’s installation – with a header tank – for a repeat test in around a…