Starship Flight Test Set for Next Week
SpaceX will attempt a high-altitude flight test of its Starship prototype sometime next week. Teslerati reports:
CEO Elon Musk says that SpaceX’s first fully-assembled Starship prototype is on track for its 15-kilometer (~50,000 ft) launch debut after completing a second three-engine static fire test on Tuesday.
Starship serial number 8’s (SN8) three Raptor engines ignited for a few seconds around 5:30 pm CST (UTC-6) on Tuesday, November 24th, less than four hours before a record-breaking Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of Starlink satellites roughly a thousand miles to the east. Perhaps briefly producing upwards of 600 metric tons (6000 kN/~1.3M lbf) of thrust, Starship SN8’s second triple-engine static fire was actually the first with that particular trio of engines.
Cameron County has posted the following schedule for closing Highway 4 and Boca Chica Beach to allow SpaceX to conduct the test.
| TEMP. CLOSURE DATE | TIME OF CLOSURE (CST) | CURRENT BEACH STATUS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary Date | Nov 30, 2020 | 7:00 am to 6:00 pm | Closure Scheduled |
| Secondary Date | Dec 1, 2020 | 8:00 am to 5:00 pm | Closure Scheduled |
| Secondary Date | Dec 2, 2020 | 8:00 am to 5:00 pm | Closure Scheduled |
Musk has estimated there is a one-in-three chance of Starship landing successfully. There are two more Starships in production.
9 responses to “Starship Flight Test Set for Next Week”
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That’s my Monday schedule locked up! Fingers crossed but whatever happens, it’s going to be a hell of a show! (scrub delays excepting)
Due to high winds, another static fire on Monday and the 15km flight NET Wednesday – of perhaps later in the week.
I am glad that SN9 is already waiting in the wings and will soon be doing fueling and static test fires soon. If SN8 has a bad hair day and goes bang on landing the program will not grind to a halt.
Not unless it lands somewhere really really bad. I hope they are able to keep it in the box. But yes, SN9 is in the batter’s circle and SN10 is waiting after it. Either way it should produce a good video.
“There are two more Starships in production”
Nope, more than that! SN’s to 15, and BN1 (Super Heavy #1)
https://twitter.com/brendan…
SN9’s looking purdy…
https://twitter.com/BocaChi…
Yes, they have a good assembly line going as they plan to build dozens of them until the bugs are worked out. No billion dollar one off test articles like NASA builds that become too valuable to lose.
But SN9 and SN10 are basically finished, ready and waiting to see what happens with SN8.
I guess they got the pad concrete fixed. When they fired the engines Musk said a piece flew up cutting a cable to an engine.
Yes, lesson learned which is the SpaceX way.
They also have a second test stand (B) south of test stand A.