We could see Starship fly again as soon as next week.

The next test flight of SpaceX's Starship rocket could come as soon as next week.

SpaceX is targeting March 14 for the third flight test of its Starship vehicle, according to a post on X (formerly Twitter) the company quietly published announcing a livestream of the launch. Starship somewhat confusingly consists of two parts: The stainless-steel reusable upper stage known also as Starship, and its Super Heavy first-stage booster. Together, the two stand over 400 feet tall (122 meters).

The company recently performed a critical fueling test on March at its Starbase facility near Boca Chica, Texas. During the test, over 10 million pounds of liquid methane and liquid oxygen were pumped into the rocket. "Starship Flight 3 preparing for launch," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote in a post on X accompanying photos of the fueling test. You can watch the test here at Space.com, when the time comes, courtesy of SpaceX.

Starship and Super Heavy are designed to be fully reusable. Together, they are the world's most powerful rocket and are capable of launching up to 165 tons (150 metric tons) into orbit.

NASA selected Starship to land astronauts on the moon during its upcoming Artemis 3 mission scheduled for no earlier than 2026. But Starship still has a few hurdles to clear before that can happen. For one, it needs to reach orbit first. On the rocket's first two test flights, one in April 2023 and another in November 2023, Starship failed to do so. 

During the first test flight, Starship failed to separate from its first-stage booster and began tumbling. SpaceX detonated the rocket just under four minutes after liftoff.

On its second test flight, Starship separated successfully from Super Heavy around 2 minutes and 40 seconds into flight, but Super Heavy blew up shortly after in a massive aerial explosion.

Following that second test flight, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) identified 17 corrective actions for SpaceX to take before the next flight: 10 on Starship and seven on the Super Heavy booster.

SpaceX has completed those, according to a Feb. 26 statement, noting that the company has "implemented hardware changes on upcoming Starship vehicles to improve leak reduction, fire protection, and refined operations associated with the propellant vent to increase reliability."

Quelle: SC

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Update: 13.03.2024

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Startvorbereitung für STARSHIP'S THIRD FLIGHT TEST

The third flight test of Starship could launch as soon as March 14, pending regulatory approval.

A live webcast of the flight test will begin about 30 minutes before liftoff, which you can watch here and on X @SpaceX. As is the case with all developmental testing, the schedule is dynamic and likely to change, so be sure to stay tuned to our X account for updates.

Starship’s second flight test achieved a number of major milestones and provided invaluable data to continue rapidly developing Starship. Each of these flight tests continue to be just that: a test. They aren’t occurring in a lab or on a test stand, but are putting flight hardware in a flight environment to maximize learning.

The third flight test aims to build on what we’ve learned from previous flights while attempting a number of ambitious objectives, including the successful ascent burn of both stages, opening and closing Starship’s payload door, a propellant transfer demonstration during the upper stage’s coast phase, the first ever re-light of a Raptor engine while in space, and a controlled reentry of Starship. It will also fly a new trajectory, with Starship targeted to splashdown in the Indian Ocean. This new flight path enables us to attempt new techniques like in-space engine burns while maximizing public safety.

This rapid iterative development approach has been the basis for all of SpaceX’s major innovative advancements, including Falcon, Dragon, and Starlink. Recursive improvement is essential as we work to build a fully reusable transportation system capable of carrying both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, help humanity return to the Moon, and ultimately travel to Mars and beyond.

Quelle: SpaceX

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SpaceX continues progress towards Starship’s 3rd test flight

SpaceX is at least two days away from the potential 3rd test flight of Starship.

The company is still targeting the morning of Thursday, March 14th, while they await the launch license from the Federal Aviation Administration, which could come at any time between now and the evening before launch.

While SpaceX waited for the launch license from the FAA, teams continued working on preparing Ship 28 and Booster 10, including installing the Flight Termination System on Ship 10 before it was stacked back on top of Booster 10 for the final time.

Teams also removed all of the scaffolding surrounding Booster 10, signaling the work on that section of Booster 10 is completed, barring any unforeseen technical issues.

Another sign we are closer to launch is that people have started making their way to the South Texas launch site, from launch photographers to SpaceX enthusiasts.

Even a few Cybertrucks are making an appearance for photo ops with the massive rocket. This awesome photo below of two Cybertrucks and Starship in the predawn hours by photographer John Kraus is a good example.

SpaceX recently announced a slight change in the mission’s launch profile. Previous attempts aimed for a splash down North of the Hawaiian Islands, but with IFT-3, SpaceX is aiming for another suborbital trajectory with a splash down just East of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.

The company is using the new trajectory to perform in space engine burns while flying over much less populated areas and increasing public safety. NASA has also said they could perform a fuel transfer demonstration by flowing fuel from the header tank to the main fuel tank, but SpaceX has yet to confirm this.

As soon as the FAA approves the launch license for IFT-3, we will have the updates for you here!

Quelle: TESLARATI