SpaceX’s latest Starship prototype needs maintenance work before it can go into the air.
On Wednesday (January 13), the Starship SN9 prototype performed three “static fire” tests quickly in succession at SpaceX’s South Texas yard, and set fire to its three Raptor engines while the vehicle remained anchored.
These short burns were part of the pre-flight routine for SN9, which is being cared for for a high altitude test. That big jump could have happened over the weekend if the static fires of Wednesday had gone completely smoothly. But there were apparently a few brackets.
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“Two of the engines need minor repairs, so they will be eliminated,” said SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said via Twitter early this morning (January 15).
Musk did not set a target launch date for SN9. But he said: in another tweet, that it is “probably prudent” to carry out a static fire with the vehicle again after the engine replacement has been completed. A weekend launch for SN9 therefore seems pretty unlikely.
SpaceX develops Starship to take people and cargo to the moon, Mars and other distant destinations. The architecture consists of a 50 meter long spacecraft called Starship and a giant rocket known as Super Heavy. Both of these vehicles will be fully and quickly reusable, Musk said.
SN9’s upcoming flight is expected to be similar to that of his predecessor, the three-engine SN8, which rose about 12.5 miles in the air in Texas on Dec. 9. Musk said, even though SN8 did not make the landing.
Mike Wall is the author of “Out there“(Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.