As part of the preparations for the second test flight of its Super Heavy rocket and Starship spacecraft, SpaceX conducted a static launch test of the Starship this week. The spacecraft has undergone over 1,000 changes this year.
The exercise, which took place at SpaceX’s Starbase facilities in Boca Chica, Texas, involved igniting the six engines of the Starship for several seconds.
Elon Musk’s company released some impressive images of the brief event on Wednesday.
They also shared a video of the dramatic moment when the starship’s engines were ignited.
Here’s how SpaceX explained it in their tweet: “Starship 25 completes a static fire test of six engines at the Texas Starbase.”
The test comes a couple of months after a failed attempt by SpaceX to send the starship on its first orbital flight. About four minutes after a successful launch of the most powerful rocket in history, the vehicle exploded in the air shortly after the Starship failed to separate from the Super Heavy.
SpaceX is now examining the data from the brief flight to make the necessary changes before a second attempt at an orbital flight. Elon Musk, the head of SpaceX, recently stated that engineers have been working on “over a thousand” changes to the vehicle before its next launch.
Preparations also include the construction of a more robust launch platform following the significant damage caused by the impressive power of the Super Heavy during liftoff in April.
Musk said that SpaceX could be ready for launch within six weeks, although they will need permission from the Federal Aviation Administration before initiating the countdown.
SpaceX intends to use the Super Heavy and Starship to transport crew and cargo to the Moon and even Mars. NASA plans to use a modified version of the Starship for the first human lunar landing in five decades, currently scheduled for 2025.
Both parts of the vehicle are designed to be reusable, and once fully developed, they will be capable of autonomous landings similar to the first stage of the company’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket.
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