SpaceX eyes November for the first Starship orbital flight test, more updates from Starbase

-

-Advertisement-

“November seems highly likely,” said the SpaceX CEO and Chief Engineer Elon Musk in a tweet responding to a follower about the 1st Starship orbital flight test.

Starship’s first orbital flight test has been getting delayed since last year mainly due to the spaceship failing in some tests, heat tiles falling off, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) not giving approval to SpaceX.

The FAA finally approved Starship orbital flights from Starbase, Boca Chica, Texas only in June 2022. After this approval, Elon Musk predicted that the first orbital flight test would occur in July but SpaceX’s efforts didn’t come to fruition.

Scheduling Starship’s first orbital flight in November 2022 will give SpaceX ample time to ready 2 Starship prototypes and 2 Super Heavy rocket boosters by then.

– Advertisement –

Currently, 2 Super Heavy rocket boosters are actively being tested and worked on at Starbase — Booster 7 and Booster 8.

But Elon Musk also tweeted that while SpaceX is working on Booster 7 upgrades, it’s completing Booster 9 simultaneously which has several design changes from its predecessors.

Our focus is on reliability upgrades for flight on Booster 7 and completing Booster 9, which has many design changes, especially for full engine RUD isolation.

Elon Musk via Twitter.

Musk did not explain what he means by “full RUD isolation”, it might mean that in an event of rapid unscheduled disassembly (RUD/explosion), the Super Heavy rocket booster and the engines will remain isolated from each other, minimizing the damage.

On 30th March 2021, SpaceX performed a high-altitude flight test on the Starship SN11 prototype, although the ship landed back, it experienced RUD after a few mins. RUD isolation might come in handy in these types of scenarios.

In the meanwhile, SpaceX shared the following aerial timelapse footage of Booster 7 getting transported back to the Starship factory for reliability and robustness upgrades after a successful static fire test.

Detailed video by NASASpaceFlight.com below.
– Advertisement –
Video: Booster 7 removed from the launch mount using Mechazilla Chopsticks and rolled back to the Starship factory for upgrades.

SpaceX also performed an interesting test at Starbase, a water test on the Starbase orbital launch mount. This water deluge system was tested was conducted when the launch mount was empty.

A water deluge (flooding) system is installed on the orbital launch mount to suppress the fire and engine sound at the time of static fire tests and actual launches — let’s watch.

Stay tuned for future updates on Starship and SpaceX, Follow us on:
Google News | Flipboard | RSS (Feedly).

Video: SpaceX conducting water deluge system test on the Starship launch mount at Starbase.

Related

Iqtidar Ali
Iqtidar Alihttp://www.teslaoracle.com
Iqtidar has been writing about Tesla, Elon Musk, and EVs for more than 3 years on XAutoWorld.com, many of his articles have been republished on CleanTechnica and InsideEVs, maintains a healthy relationship with the Tesla community across the Social Media sphere. You can reach him on Twitter @IqtidarAlii

Latest News

2023 Tesla Holiday Update (2023.44.25) release notes leak ahead of its public rollout

Just like last year, many of the Tesla Holiday Update features have been leaked ahead of its official rollout...

Cybertruck in Beast Mode beats a Porsche 911 in drag racing while pulling another one

"Dopamine on tap," is the slogan for Tesla's Cyberbeast (Cybertruck performance variant). The automaker guarantees a dopamine rush when...

Cybertruck’s range figures disappoint Tesla customers, even the range extender doesn’t match expectations

Tesla revealed the final features, specifications, and pricing of the Cybertruck at its Delivery Event on Thursday last week....

Watch how Tesla Cybertruck performs in a crash safety test against ICE pickup trucks

We didn't hear much about Tesla Cybertruck's safety from the company's CEO Elon Musk during the Delivery Event presentation...
- Advertisement -

Elon Musk’s iPhone wallpaper of Starship’s 2nd launch tells us a bit about his phone preferences

CEO of Tesla and SpaceX Elon Musk shared his personal phone's wallpaper on X (Twitter) a couple of days...

2nd Starship launch was a success, it went way beyond stage separation and then missing in space

After 7 months of excitement, hurdles, and wait, SpaceX finally launched Starship for the 2nd time. Although both Super...

SpaceX delays Starship launch to Saturday 18th Nov to fix a grid fin on the Super Heavy rocket, says Elon Musk

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has announced on his social media platform X that the 2nd Starship launch which was...

Tesla Tips & Tricks

Tesla Model Y/3 heat pump issue in cold weather might not be fixable with just a software update

Canada's extreme cold weather is taking a toll on...

Even red wine doesn’t stain Tesla white seats (video)

Tesla's futuristic white interior option is the most popular...

Here’s how to clean jeans stains from white seats of your Tesla Model S, 3, X, or Y

The white interior is the most popular option among...

Tesla Quarterly Reports & Eearnings

- Advertisement -

You might also likeRELATED
Recommended for You