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For the first time ever, SpaceX stacked a section of Super Heavy tanks to its full height, completing the assembly of the largest rocket booster ever built.
While there is still a lot of work to be done soldering the two halves together and connecting their preinstalled plumbing and avionics circuits, these tasks are largely marginal and will modify the massive steel tower which is now firmly in one piece. . Made up of 36 of the steel rings also used to assemble spaceships, the first Super Heavy prototype – serial number BN1 – will stand approximately 67 meters (220 feet) high from the top of its highest ring to the tail of its future. . -Raptor engines installed.
At this height, Super Heavy BN1 is only 3 meters (~ 10 feet) shorter than a full two-stage Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy rocket – the second and third tallest rockets in operation today. Of course, Super Heavy is just a booster and SpaceX says the rocket will be at least 120m (~ 395ft) tall with an upper stage and spaceship installed on top, making it easily the launcher. tallest (and possibly heaviest) ever assembled.
In particular, Super Heavy BN1 is not fully representative of the boosters that will support Starship’s first orbital launch attempts. For reasons unknown, SpaceX seems to have given up on installing any type of landing legs on the first scout and prototype. CEO Elon Musk has expressed a desire to avoid the need for legs entirely by grabbing Super Heavy boosters (and maybe even Starships) with a tower equipped with giant arms, but it’s virtually impossible to imagine that one such a totally unproven recovery mechanism will be ready for full scale testing – not to mention operational use – later this year.
First reported by NASASpaceflight and then confirmed by Musk himself, SpaceX hopes to be ready to begin the Starship’s orbital launches as early as July 2021, in just four months. According to NASASpaceflight, this first launch attempt will nominally use the Super Heavy BN3 and Starship SN20 booster. The Super Heavy BN1 is expected to remain grounded, serving as a test bed for the inaugural pressure and proof tests, as well as one or more possible static fires on Raptor (Update: confirmed by Musk).
If this process goes as planned, Super Heavy BN2 will pick up where BN1 left off and attempt at least one short jump test, among other qualifying tasks. In the interval between this feat and preparations for the launch of Super Heavy BN3, it’s safe to assume that BN2 or BN3 will support some sort of iterative static fire test campaign similar to what SpaceX has already done with Falcon. 9, gradually building – a dozen static fire engines with 20 or more – possibly up to and including a full complement of 28 Raptors.
The first of its kind, the BN1 booster’s “ push donut ” – a donut-shaped plate for the rocket’s Raptor mid-engine group to attach – appears to have been fitted with hardware for four engines, suggesting a cap for static fire tests. It’s unclear when Super Heavy will roll onto the launch pad for testing, but it’s safe to say SpaceX likely won’t wait long after Starship SN11 wraps up its high altitude launch campaign. Stay tuned for updates!
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