SpaceX's upcoming Starship has passed a crucial refueling test, paving the way for a highly anticipated third launch attempt of the world's largest rocket.
The gleaming stainless-steel Starship rocket and its super-heavy booster, both 400 feet (122 meters) tall, were filled with more than 10 million pounds of liquid methane and liquid oxygen fuel during the final launch rehearsal, which took place at SpaceX's Starbase facility near From Boca Chica Beach in South Texas.
“Starship 3 is preparing for launch,” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk He wrote in another On X (formerly Twitter), SpaceX shared photos of a refueling test on March 4. SpaceX shared a series of stunning photos of its refueling test Share X separate.
Related: Elon Musk says SpaceX could launch Starship again “in about 3 weeks.”
SpaceX's Starship and Super Heavy rocket is designed to be the world's most powerful, fully reusable rocket, capable of delivering up to 165 tons (150 metric tons) to orbit. NASA has selected Starship to eventually land the next astronauts on the moon as the Artemis 3 lunar lander in 2026. But first, SpaceX must successfully launch Starship on at least one suborbital flight, the first of its two test flights in April. And in November of 2023, he failed to do so.
In a recent interview, Elon Musk said SpaceX's third Starship test flight could launch in early March, but the company is still waiting for authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the upcoming flight.
Last week, Federal Aviation Administration officials closed an ill-fated investigation into the testing of SpaceX's Starship Flight 2 vehicle, which launched a Starship booster and a Super Heavy on November 18. That mission ended with two explosions, the first of the Super Heavy booster 3.5 minutes after liftoff and then the explosion of the spacecraft. Eight minutes after launch, the spacecraft is at a maximum altitude of 91 miles (148 kilometers).
The FAA investigation identified 17 corrective actions that SpaceX must address before its next Starship launch. These procedures include 10 repairs on the 165-foot (50 m) Starship and seven repairs on the Super Heavy booster.
In the current situation Released on February 26, SpaceX wrote that Flight 2's Super Heavy booster exploded over the Gulf of Mexico after “one of the Raptor's 33 engines failed” after the separation phase, likely due to a clogged filter in the liquid oxygen line, resulting in Cascade failure.
“SpaceX has since implemented hardware changes within future booster oxidizer tanks for improved propellant filtration capabilities and enhanced operations to increase reliability,” SpaceX wrote in the statement.
Meanwhile, the Flight 2 Starship likely malfunctioned after a leak occurred at the back of the spacecraft during a planned venting of liquid oxygen, resulting in “a combustion event and subsequent fires that led to a loss of communication between the spacecraft's flight computers.”
“SpaceX has implemented hardware changes on upcoming Starship vehicles for improved leakage reduction, fire protection, and improved thruster-related operations to increase reliability,” SpaceX wrote in its statement. “The pre-planned transition from the vehicle’s Raptor engines’ hydraulic power steering to an all-electric system also eliminates potential sources of flammability.”
SpaceX moved its Flight 3 Starship and Super Heavy booster vehicles to the Starbase launch pad separately in early February. The company installed the Starship atop a Super Heavy booster in a flight stack configuration on February 13.
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