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UPDATE: SpaceX’s latest prototype was successfully launched, but like its previous test flight, the rocket exploded during an attempted landing during an impact. Read more here.
SpaceX is preparing for the launch of the latest prototype of its next-generation Starship rocket on Tuesday, during the system’s second flight test.
Starship prototype number 9, or SN9, will fly as high as 10 kilometers, or about 32,800 feet altitude. The flight will be similar to the one that SpaceX undertook in December, when it launched prototype SN8 on the highest and longest flight to date. The SN8 flight completed several development objectives, including the aerodynamics of the system and the completion of a turn to orient it for landing, but the prototype exploded during the impact as the rocket could not slow down enough.
SN9 is built of stainless steel, with the prototypes representing the early versions of the rocket that CEO Elon Musk introduced last year. The company is developing Starship with the goal of sending cargo and as many as 100 people at a time on missions to the moon and Mars.
Starship prototype rocket SN9 is on the launch pad of the company in Boca Chica, Texas.
SpaceX
Like SN8, the purpose of the SN9 flight is not necessarily to reach the maximum altitude, but rather to test several important parts of the Starship system. The Starship prototype is about 150 feet long, or about the size of a 15-story building, and is powered by three Raptor rocket engines. SpaceX will turn off all three engines and then turn them off sequentially as it approaches the top of the intended flight altitude.
The launch effort of SN9 was delayed by about a week as SpaceX worked to get the Federal Aviation Administration’s permission to launch. The SN8 flight violated the company’s existing Starship license, The Verge first reported, and the FAA later confirmed it, as the federal aviation regulator issued a SpaceX request for a waiver of the maximum public risk imposed by federal safety regulations. allowed, would exceed, the FAA said in a statement.
SpaceX had to be investigated for non-compliance, forcing Musk’s company to discontinue the launch until the investigation was completed and the FAA signed.
“The FAA determined late Monday (February 1) that SpaceX complies with all safety and related federal regulations and is authorized to conduct Starship SN9 flight operations in accordance with the license,” the FAA said.
Important tests for the SN9 flight include switching off the engines sequentially, thanks to the propulsion from the main tanks to the head steering, thanks to the flip-flop maneuvering and controlling the descent through the air with the four valves on the rocket. .
SpaceX stressed that ‘the dynamic schedule of development tests’ could cause the launch effort to be delayed, as happened with the previous launch of Starship.
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