The above video is not a scene from Star Wars, it’s real, the 150-meter test flight of the Starhopper (Starship hopper) — the initial test article of Starship. The successful flight and landing of Starhopper marked the beginning of the amazing Starship program (27th August 2019).
After exactly two years today, the Starship program has come a long way. Under the agile leadership of Elon Musk as CEO, the mission to Mars is moving at an unprecedented pace.
Let’s explore the timeline of the major milestones that SpaceX has achieved since the first Starhopper hop test two years ago to date.
2019
After the Starhopper successful test flight, SpaceX moved forward with the development of the early Starship prototypes named MK1, Mk2, MK3, and MK4.
MK1
- Build start: May 20
- Location: Boca Chica, TX
- Status: MK1 was able to withstand the early cryogenic pressure tests but later on, met its fate in a rapid unscheduled disassembly (RUD/explosion).
MK2
- Build Start: May 2019
- Location: Boca Chica, TX
- Status: Cancelled/Scrapped
MK3
- Build start: Oct 2019
- Location: Boca Chica, TX
- Status: Canceled, Renamed to SN1
MK4
- Build Start: Oct 2019
- Location: Cocoa, FL
- Status: Cancelled/Scrapped
SN1
SpaceX adopts a new nomenclature for Starship prototypes i.e. the “Serial Number (SN)” prefix before its number.
- Build Start: Dec 2019
- Location: Boca Chica, TX aka Starbase
- Test history: Initial pressure tests OK. Failed in cryogenic pressure testing on 28th Feb 2020.
- Status: RUD.
Credits: Nomadd / NasaSpeceFlight.com (CC BY-SA 4.0).
2020
SN2
- Build Start: Feb 2020
- Location: Boca Chica, TX
- Test Hisotry: Passed cryo pressure test on 8th Mar 2020
- Status: Retired
SN3
- Build Start: March 2020
- Location: Boca Chica, TX
- Test History: Failed cryo pressure test on 3rd Apr 2020
- Status: RUD (partially recycled to SN4)
SN4
- Build Start: Apr 2020
- Location: Boca Chica, TX
- Test History: Passed the cryo pressure tests (26th Apr 2020),
passed 4x static fire tests,
exploded after tests - Status: RUD
SN5
- Build Start: Apr 2020
- Location: Boca Chica, TX
- Test History: Passed static Fire (30th Jul 2020),
150 m test flight (3rd Aug 2020) - Status: Retired/Scrapped
SN6
- Build Start: May 2020
- Location: Boca Chica, TX
- Test History: Passed static Fire (24th Aug 2020),
150 m test flight (3rd Sep 2020) - Status: Retired/Scrapped
SN7
- Build Start: Apr 2020
- Location: Boca Chica, TX
- Test History: Passed 1st cryo test on 15th Jun 2020,
Failed cryo test on 23rd Jun 2020, - Status: Tested to destruction/Scrapped
SN7.1
- Build Start: Sep 2020
- Location: Boca Chica, TX aka Starbase
- Test history: Cryo pressure testing throughout September,
Destructive cryogenic test on 23rd Sep 2020 - Status: Tested to destruction
SN8
- Build Start: Jul 2020
- Location: Boca Chica, TX
- Test History: 12.5 km high altitude flight test (10th Dec 2020)
- Status: RUD
SN9
- Build Start: Aug 2020
- Location: Boca Chica, TX
- Test History: Static fire (x6)
10 km high altitude flight test (3rd Feb 2021) - Status: RUD on landing
2021
SN7.2
- Build Start: Jan 2021
- Location: Boca Chica, TX
- Test History: Cryo pressure test (26th Jan 2021),
cryo test failure(4th Feb 2021) - Status: Retired
SN10
- Build Start: Sep 2020
- Location: Boca Chica, TX
- Test History: Static fire (x2),
10 km flight test (4th Mar 2021) - Status: RUD after landing | wreckage pics
SN11
- Build Start: Jan 2021
- Location: Boca Chica, TX
- Test History: Static fire tests (x2),
10 km flight test (30th Mar 2021) - Status: RUD on landing
SN12, 13, 14
- Build start: Oct 2020
- Location: Boca Chica, TX
- Status: Cancelled/Scrapped
SN15
- Build Start: Nov 2020
- Location: Boca Chica, TX
- Test History: Static fire tests (x2),
10 km flight test and successful landing (5th May 2021) - Status: Retired
SN16
- Build Start: Dec 2020
- Location: Boca Chica, TX
- Status: Paused. SpaceX might use it for hypersonic testing
SN17, 18, 19
- Build start: Oct 2020
- Location: Boca Chica, TX
- Status: Cancelled/Scrapped
SN20 (Starship 20)
- Build Start: Probably Feb 2021
- Location: Starbase Boca Chica, TX
- Test History: Stacked on Booster 4 | Waiting for cryo pressure tests
- Status: Mounted on launch pad B at Starbase (as of 27th Aug 2021)
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