On Monday, Elon Musk’s commercial launch and spaceflight company SpaceX conducted a static fire test on Starship Flight 7 Super Heavy rocket booster (Booster 14).
Booster 14 is SpaceX’s rocket for the upcoming Starship Flight 7 launch and landing test. A planned schedule for Starship’s 7th orbital flight and landing test hasn’t been officially confirmed yet.
However, after Monday’s Booster 14 static fire test, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said “Getting ready for Flight 7” in a post on X. Looking at the latest preparations at Starbase (videos and report below) and FAA regulations, Starship Flight 7 is expected to happen early next year.
Flight 7 Update: SpaceX conducts a static fire test on Flight 7 Starship (Ship 33)
Last week, SpaceX transported the Flight 7 rocket booster out of the High Bay to the orbital launch mount (OLM) Pad A at Starbase. The Launch Tower 1 (Mechazilla) Chopsticks lifted the Super Heavy booster from the transport stand to mount it on the OLM Pad A. This is a momen worth a watch (video below).
On Saturday (Dec. 07), Booster 14 went through a spin prime test to check the integrity of all 33 Raptor engines before they went for the static fire test on Monday.
Booster 14 coupled with the upper stage Starship 33 (Ship 33) V2 prototypes are planned for the 7th Starship Flight test. All of these tests are in preparation for the next flight and landing test (Flight 7). Ship 33 is the first V2 Starship prototype which will be used for the first time in a live test expected early next year.
According to an email sent to the FAA by NASA, SpaceX has an initial target date of 11 January 2025 for the Flight 7 mission. NASA will be imaging the re-entry and observing the peak heating events of the Flight 7 Starship upper stage using a Gulfstream jet in the Indian Ocean (from Perth, Australia). This data will help NASA and SpaceX with future mission improvements.
SpaceX has not yet released the Flight 7 trajectory. But from NASA’s email, it’s imminent that the upper stage Ship 33 will be landing in the Indian Ocean. It’s unclear if SpaceX will attempt a landing-catch of the Flight 7 Super Heavy booster like Flight 5.
In the Flight 6 test, SpaceX aborted the landing-catch of the booster just minutes before the landing due to hardware malfunction on the tower.
SpaceX shared some stunning pictures and short video footage of the Booster 14 static fire test. The more exhilarating views were from a camera placed under the OLM, showing 33 engines throwing flames at once. A camera enduring thousands of degrees of temperature is interesting in its own right.
Flight 7 preparations are in full swing at Starbase. FAA licenses are expected to be easier for SpaceX after next month’s public meetings for the revised environmental assessment approval next month (Jan. 2025). SpaceX will be able to conduct up to 25 Starship flights from Starbase after this approval.
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