Ship 24 and Booster 7 \u2013 now returned to a full-stack stance \u2013 are waiting to attempt their historic test flight. While a launch date remains fluid, hopes remain high that the vehicle could rise out of Starbase in the second half of April.<\/p>\n
Numerous prelaunch objectives have already been achieved before the approval of a launch license from the FAA, with final processing flow items lined up ahead of the launch attempt.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Starship at Starbase<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been a relatively long road to launch for Booster 7, compared to its siblings that enjoyed advancing success with their hops into the South Texas sky.<\/p>\n
That extended timeline is mostly related to the huge leap Booster 7 will make with Ship 24, both figuratively and literally.<\/p>\n
This test flight is far in excess of the standalone prototype Ship hops to just over 10 miles in altitude that also included Return To Launch Site landing attempts.<\/p>\n
With the Super Heavy booster now included, the expanded testing program has seen numerous improvements during ground testing, resulting in earlier boosters falling by the wayside \u2013 or in Booster 4\u2019s case, parked at \u201cRocket Garden\u201d \u2013 before Booster 7 held on to the position of being tasked with the maiden mission.<\/p>\n
Rocket building kits (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n On a few occasions, Booster 7 looked like it wouldn\u2019t make it to the launch campaign, having suffered a crumpled downcomer (transfer tube) during testing that has since been replaced, followed by a Spin Prime test that was more \u201ceventful\u201d than planned.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n