Trevor Mahlmann
SpaceX is likely to launch its third full-scale Starship prototype – called Serial Number 10, or SN10 – from South Texas from Wednesday.
With this vehicle, the company wants to successfully land the Starship vehicle where the last two versions, SN8 and SN9, each failed in the last seconds of the mission to stabilize themselves for a controlled landing. Both flights ended at the landing site. SpaceX founder and chief engineer Elon Musk estimates a 60 percent chance of success this time around – suggesting the probability is a bit higher than that, given his penchant for setting expectations.
Similar to the previous two flights, which took place in December and early February, SpaceX will launch its Starship vehicle at an altitude of about 10 km under the power of three Raptor engines. There, he will switch from his main propellant tanks to smaller ones near the top of the vehicle and perform a “belly flop” maneuver, reorienting himself to simulate the return of a lane. This allows Starship to blow down the speed and ensure that it can be used again without a massive heat shield.
The challenge will be to eventually successfully re-ignite two of the three Raptor engines close to the ground to slow down the vehicle’s descent and make a controlled landing. There will be guaranteed entertainment, regardless.
SpaceX has already received the approval of the Federal Aviation Administration for this launch, and the window will open at 09:00 (15:00 UTC) local time in South Texas. As always, preparatory activities are likely to delay the test further in the window, and there may be unplanned blows or the need to refuel and refuel as part of the test program. But the weather looks great, with clear and sunny skies in South Texas.
The test comes a day after Yusaku Maezawa announced an update of the “dearMoon” mission he bought on Starship. This flight sends the Japanese billionaire and about ten other people to the moon and back for about a week-long mission on Starship. It is expected to be the first human flight to a low-Earth orbit on the vehicle and to go further from Earth than any previous human mission.
Maezawa said he held an online competition to ‘join the crew’ and welcomed people to apply. He will select ‘talented’ and ‘creative’ people who want to inspire others across space, share the journey with those back on earth and who are willing to be good crew members.
The video announcement includes some remarks from Musk about Starship’s readiness for a mission that would begin as early as 2023. “I am very confident that many times before 2023 we will reach an orbit with Starship and that it will be safe enough for human transport by 2023,” Musk said. “It looks very promising.”
We are not quite sure about the date of 2023, but it does sound nice. Maezawa admitted he was a little nervous about the flight, but said he was more curious to find out what was there. None of this, of course, will happen until SpaceX flies safely with Starship to spin dozens of times. The repeated steps towards the goal will continue with Wednesday’s flight test.
The video of the flight will be embedded below when the SpaceX webcast is launched.