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Update: At around 9:00 a.m. CDT (UTC-5), SpaceX successfully ignited all three Raptor engines from Starship Serial Number 11 (SN11), completing the static fire test on the first test of the day and barely two hours after. Monday’s eight o’clock window.
As for the static fires of the three-engine ships, Monday’s test of SN11 was about as smooth and clean as it gets, bodes extremely well for an attempt to launch soon. either Tuesday or Wednesday, under Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR) filed with the FAA. With the Flight Termination System (FTS) explosive charges already installed and an FAA license in hand, everything between the Starship SN11 and flight is a closer look at the static fire and the cooperation of local weather conditions. Stay tuned for updates!
A group of NASA astronauts appear to have taken an agency-sanctioned trip to the facilities of SpaceX’s Boca Chica spacecraft, including a tour with a prototype set to start and launch as early as this week.
Seemingly in tune with the accelerated pace of Starship’s production and testing, the frequency of NASA astronaut visits to SpaceX facilities in south Texas has also seen an increase over the past six months or so.
In 2019, SpaceX built Starhopper, performed extensive testing with early Raptor engine prototypes, and performed two unattached jumps. With that success in hand, SpaceX focused on Starship Mk1 and suffered an almost immediate pressure test failure, spurring a series of rapid manufacturing upgrades largely completed within months.
In 2020, SpaceX pushed these new facilities to their limits while pursuing major expansions. In 12 months, SpaceX built and tested five small “ test tanks ” and six sections of complete Starship tanks, carried out nearly a dozen Raptor static fires with this material, blew up two of these tanks (SN5 and SN6) at 150 m, fully integrated the first fill. -height Starship (SN8), and nearly landed this vehicle after a clear 12.5 km (7.8 mi) launch and descent.
In 2019, NASA signed its first monetary contract with SpaceX, granting $ 3 million to prototype a coupling mechanism that ships will need to dock and refuel in space. In April 2020, NASA revealed that SpaceX – along with its Starship launcher – was one of three finalists shortlisted to compete for a Human Landing System (HLS) lunar landing contract, providing the company with 135 million dollars out of the total amount of $ 970 million to start the preliminary design. and certification work.
About five months later, a group of NASA astronauts made their first public tour of SpaceX’s Starship Development Center in South Texas, flying over the factory and launch pad in training jets during ‘a routine outing from Houston and Johnson Space Center. Days later, SpaceX won a $ 53 million “Tipping Point” contract from NASA to demonstrate large-scale cryogenic thruster transfer with a prototype spacecraft.
Ultimately, excluding the strong partnerships with commercial and cargo crew, NASA’s relationship with SpaceX and the company’s spacecraft seems to grow stronger every day. While it’s hard to say how revealing this growth is to the visible attention of the NASA Astronaut Corps, it’s worth noting what these same astronauts are not (publicly) flying over, visiting and on tour – namely factories, R&D facilities or prototype hardware of competitors HLS Dynetics and Blue Origin.
Delayed by about a week, SpaceX is currently preparing to launch its fourth full spacecraft prototype – SN11 – for the first time as early as Monday, March 22, 19 days after Starship SN10 briefly landed in one piece. SpaceX has filed Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR) with the FAA for the 10 km (6.2 mi) SN11 launch from Tuesday to Friday, leaving plenty of opportunities for a launch this week if the rocket can successfully test its three Raptor engines by Wednesday.
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