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SpaceX deployed its next version of Starship to the pad on Thursday August 5 as the company prepares for an ambitious orbital test.
The prototype of the spacecraft, known as the SN20, left its production facility near the village of Boca Chica, South Texas, to arrive at the launch pad – joining the Super Heavy first-stage booster. who had arrived there two days before.
While SpaceX and founder Elon Musk have yet to comment on the deployment on Twitter, the event unfolded live as the company prepares for this new mission – which SpaceX hopes to fly in the coming months, according to technical and regulatory progress of the mission. .
Video: Watch SpaceX’s SN20 spacecraft and fuel tank deploy to launch site
Pictures: SpaceX lifts huge Super Heavy rocket at launch stand
The 70-meter-high Booster 4 will soon go through a series of pressurization and engine tests. If Booster 4 passes the tests, the rocket will then be ready to send SN20 around the world. But it’s unclear when the rocket will launch, given that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is conducting an environmental review of Starship’s launch operations, and we don’t know when that will end.
The orbital flight plan calls for Booster 4 to land in the Gulf of Mexico, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) offshore, a few minutes after launch. SN20 will continue in orbit, circle the Earth and then descend into the Pacific Ocean approximately 90 minutes after take-off, near the Hawaiian island of Kauai.
NASA recently selected Starship as a crewed lander for its Artemis program, which plans to place humans on the moon later in the 2020s. Starship is a fully reusable two-stage transport system that SpaceX plans to use to transport goods and people to the moon, Mars and other destinations in the solar system.
SN20 (short for “Serial No. 20”) is the latest in a series of prototype launches for the Starship series. For example, a three-engined vehicle known as the SN15 flew to a maximum altitude of 6.2 miles (10 km) in May and descended for a safe landing on Earth.
The final version of the Starship spacecraft will have six Raptor engines, and the final Super Heavy version will likely be powered by 32 Raptor engines, Musk said. The top floor is 165 feet (50 meters) tall and is also confusedly known as the Starship.
Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
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