SpaceX to launch next prototype spacecraft on Monday

It’s finally time to find out if the prototype of the # 9 spacecraft will become SN Fine or SN No..

After a series of static fire tests on its latest prototype spacecraft, SpaceX appears ready to launch the vehicle on a large scale as early as Monday afternoon from its rocket installation in South Texas. The nominal plan is for the prototype to ascend to an altitude as high as 12.5 km, perform a “belly flop” maneuver to simulate energy leakage upon returning through the Earth’s atmosphere, reorient itself and lands near the launch pad.

Only a little over six weeks have passed since SpaceX conducted a similar test of the SN8 vehicle in South Texas. This flight test went wonderfully until the end of his flight. However, due to a pressure failure in a fuel tank at the top of the vehicle, the vehicle’s Raptor engines were deprived of the fuel needed to perform a soft landing.

The vehicle therefore made a spectacular landing on the platform.

Fortunately, the wreckage was quickly cleaned up. And at its neighboring factory, SpaceX had the SN9 vehicle almost ready to go. It might have moved to the launch pad earlier, but in mid-December, the SN9 prototype leaned over, falling into the wall of its upper bay. This required several days of checkouts and shutter replacement. Then there were issues with the Raptor engines which were discovered during several static fire attempts. All this and other intensive work required the preparation of SN9 for its flight.

Sources said SpaceX is eager to get SN9 in the skies as SN10 itself is almost ready to stretch its wings. We can probably expect this vehicle to be moved to the launch site within days of SN9’s flight, regardless of the outcome. Often testing for bugs is a feature of a hardware-rich program like the one SpaceX uses to develop Starship.

The six-hour launch window for Monday’s test runs from noon local time (6:00 p.m. UTC) to 6:00 p.m. (24:00 UTC). As with previous tests, a technical problem can cause the attempt to launch the test campaign to be canceled at any time. If needed, SpaceX has backup launch opportunities on Tuesday and Wednesday, although weather conditions look more favorable for Tuesday.

It is likely that SpaceX will provide an official webcast of the launch attempt; if so, it will be integrated here.