The latest from SpaceX Starship prototype goes to the skies Wednesday (01/27), if everything goes as planned.
The company originally intended to launch the Starship vehicle SN9 on a high-altitude test flight yesterday (January 26), but was apparently hampered by bad weather at SpaceX facilities in southern Texas, near the village of Boca Chica on the Gulf Coast. The new scheduled date is now Wednesday, according to SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk.
“We expect FAA approval for a test flight tomorrow afternoon,” Musk said via Twitter this morning (January 26), referring to the US Federal Aviation Administration.
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The next SN9 flight is expected to be similar to that carried out last month by its predecessor. The SN8 spacecraft – which, like SN9, boasted three Raptor engines – flew about 7.8 miles (12.5 kilometers) above Boca Chica on December 9, perform all your tasks except the final. SN8 landed at its designated landing site a little too quickly, exploding in a dramatic fireball.
SpaceX is developing the Starship to take people and cargo to the Moon, Mars and other distant destinations. The architecture consists of two reusable elements: a 165 foot high (50 meter) spacecraft called Starship and a giant rocket called Super Heavy.
The final ship will be powered by six Raptors, and the Super Heavy will have about 30 of the engines, said Musk. (The ship will be able to launch itself from the moon and Mars, but it will need the Super Heavy to leave Earth.)
Many other starship prototypes will follow SN8 and SN9 in the skies in the near future, if all goes according to SpaceX’s plan. For example, the SN10 vehicle was fully assembled and should start testing soon.
Mike Wall is the author of “Out there“(Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book on the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.