SpaceX has just flown the latest Starship Super Heavy booster prototype to the launchpad for pre-launch testing.
The rocket, known as Booster 9, is the first to return to the orbital launch pad at Starbase, SpaceX’s facility in south Texas, since the Starship’s first fully stacked liftoff on April 20.
During that test flight, the Starship’s upper stage failed to separate from the Super Heavy booster as planned, and SpaceX sent a self-destruct command to the vehicle a few minutes after liftoff. The incredibly powerful missile also destroyed Starbase’s orbital launch pad.
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Since then, SpaceX has been busy fixing and modernizing the launch pad, including adding a steel plate intended to help protect the pad during liftoff. The company now appears confident to move forward with the next steps toward attempting another orbital launch.
Speculation about when that might be ranges from a few weeks to several months. A month ago, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted that Starship could launch again in “6 to 8 weeks,” a possibly optimistic timeline he’d offered before.
There are also regulatory hurdles that the company must consider. A coalition of environmental groups is suing the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), claiming that the agency did not properly assess the damage a spacecraft launch could cause to the south Texas ecosystem.
SpaceX chirp Photos from Super Heavy Booster 9 to the launch pad Thursday (July 20) and said the rocket will undergo testing before the Starship’s next test flight.
If these tests are completed without any complications, SpaceX will perform a test launch of the engine, followed by integration with the Starship’s upper stage. That would pave the way for take-off – provided regulatory hurdles are removed.
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