Space X Starship Tests, Super Heavy Flights Ramping Up in Texas

Article by Darrell Etherington                                   December 24, 2020                               (techcrunch.com)

• On Christmas Eve, SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk tweeted that the company would employ both of its two launch pads in Boca Chica, Texas simultaneously to test its prototype ‘Starship’, and will begin flight testing its ‘Super Heavy’ booster rocket (formerly called the ‘Big Falcon Rocket’) – starting with low-altitude “hops” – within a few months.

• SpaceX’s ‘Super Heavy’ is the booster rocket that will fly the Starship craft into orbital launches and propel Starship to deep space toward destinations including Mars. At 240 feet tall, Super Heavy will include 28 Raptor engines to provide it with the lift capacity needed to break Earth’s gravity when it’s stacked with a Starship loaded down with cargo (illustrated above)

• SpaceX is currently undergoing ground tests on its SN9 Starship prototype at Pad B at its Texas facility on the Gulf of Mexico, before beginning its flight testing. SpaceX successfully flew its predecessor, SN8, to an altitude of around 40,000 feet, and executed a crucial ‘belly flop’ maneuver that will be used to help control the powered landing. But SN8 was destroyed when it touched down harder than expected.

• The fact that the wo rockets will be stood up next to each other on Pad A and Pad B at the Boca Chica site indicates the pace of these test flights might speed up to match the fast clip at which SpaceX is constructing new rocket iterations.

SpaceX is set to significantly ramp up its Starship development program in the new year, in more ways

than one. SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk noted on Twitter on Thursday that the company will seek to make use of both of its two launch pads at its development facility in Boca Chica, Texas with prototype rockets set up on each, and that it will begin flight testing its Super Heavy booster (starting with low-altitude “hops”) as quickly as “a few months” from now.

Recently, SpaceX set up its SN9 prototype of Starship (the ninth in the current series) at Pad B at its Texas testing facility, which is on the Gulf of Mexico. SN9 will be next to undergo active testing, after SpaceX successfully flew its predecessor SN8 to an altitude of around 40,000 feet, and then executed a crucial belly flop maneuver that will be used to help control the powered landing of the production version. SN8 was destroyed when it touched down harder than expected, but SpaceX still achieved all its testing goals with the flight — and more.

SN9 will now undergo ground tests before hopefully doing its own flight test later on. That’ll provide the team with even more valuable data to carry on to further tests — with the ultimate goal of eventually achieving orbit with a Starship prototype vehicle. Musk’s tweet that two prototypes will be stood up next to each other on Pad A and Pad B at the Boca Chica site could indicate the pace of these test flights might speed up, to match the fast clip at which SpaceX is constructing new rocket iterations.

Meanwhile, news that Super Heavy could be undergoing testing soon is also reason to get excited about 2021 for SpaceX and Starship. Super Heavy is the booster that SpaceX will eventually use to fly Starship for orbital launches, and to eventually help propel it to deep space — for destinations including Mars. Super Heavy will be around 240 feet tall, and will include 28 Raptor engines to provide it with the lift capacity needed to break Earth’s gravity when it’s stacked with a Starship loaded down with cargo.

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