SpaceX launched seven engines on its SuperShip Super Heavy prototype “Booster 7” on Monday (September 19), marking the largest number of the company’s new Raptor engines tested at the same time.
The company is testing some Booster 7 engines ahead of its planned first orbital flight Starship, a 165-foot (50 m) reusable spacecraft that will be lifted into orbit by 33 next-generation Raptor engines inside a 230-foot (70 m) Super Heavy booster. The Starship will feature six of the engines.
To prepare for Starship’s first orbital flight, SpaceX Performed “stationary fire” tests in which one or more engines are ignited while the vehicle remains stationary on the ground.
video: SpaceX ignites multiple engines on Starship Super Heavy for the first time
After today’s static fire test, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk tweeted that the chamber is pressurizing all seven engines.looks good (Opens in a new tab). ”
In a later tweet, Mask advertiser (Opens in a new tab) That “Booster 7 is now back in high gear for power and boost upgrades 8 is moving into a pad for testing,” adding that the company’s next big Starship system test will be “a full-stack rehearsal, then 33 engine launches in a few weeks.” From the Starship vehicle atop an extremely heavy booster rocket, which together make up the world’s tallest rocket with a colossal 395 feet (120 meters) height.
The Booster 7 is now back in place for durability upgrades and the Booster 8 moves up the bushing for testing. Perhaps the next big test will be a full-stack rehearsal, then 33 motors in a few weeks.September 19, 2022
SpaceX’s latest static fire doubled the number of engines seen in the last Super Heavy test conducted on August 31, during which the company launched a static fire. With three Raptor engines. It was the company’s first multi-engine static fire on the Super Heavy Booster, although SpaceX had previously tested two of Starship’s six Raptors simultaneously in Fixed fire on August 9.
SpaceX has not released the expected date for testing the full spacecraft stack, but has indicated that it aims to launch the craft for orbital testing in the coming months.
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