We're getting closer to Starship launch number 7.

SpaceX's Starship upper stage stands ready for testing ahead of the megarocket's seventh launch. (Image credit: SpaceX)

 

The world's most powerful rocket is nearing its next test flight.

The seventh launch of SpaceX's Starship megarocket is expected within the next month or so. After a recent static fire of the vehicle's massive Super Heavy first-stage booster, the company has prepped the Starship upper stage for testing of its own.

"Starship ready for testing ahead of Flight 7," SpaceX said in a post on X on Wednesday (Dec. 11), sharing photos of the Starship vehicle on the move to its test stand at the company's Starbase facility in South Texas.

The Flight 7 Starship upper stage at SpaceX's Starbase facility. (Image credit: SpaceX)

SpaceX has not announced a date for the upcoming integrated test flight (IFT), but an email from NASA to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration identifies Jan. 11as the likely target.

When the Starship upper stage is stacked atop Super Heavy, the integrated vehicle stands nearly 400 feet (122 meters) tall — bigger than any other rocket ever built. The upper stage, known as Ship, measures 165 feet (50 m) tall by itself.

Ship 7 on the move. (Image credit: SpaceX)

Starship is the first-ever fully reusable launch vehicle; both Super Heavy and Ship are designed to return to their launch sites to be caught mid-air by the Starship launch tower's "chopstick arms".

SpaceX first attempted to catch Super Heavy during IFT-5, which launched in October. That try succeeded; the chopsticks made a picture-perfect snag of the returning booster.

The company wanted to make another booster catch on IFT-6, which flew on Nov. 19. But communication issues with the tower scuttled that attempt, and Super Heavy instead diverted for a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Starship upper stage stands about 165 feet (50 meters) tall. (Image credit: SpaceX)

 

IFT-7 will be SpaceX's first Starship launch of 2025. This year saw the launch of four Starship flights, spaced out over March, June, October and November, and doubling the number of Starship flights from 2023.

The number of Starship launches in 2025 is expected to increase again, as Starship checks off boxes toward operational qualification. SpaceX and NASA are eager for Starship's success, as the space agency has tapped the new SpaceX vehicle as the lunar lander for the upcoming Artemis 3 mission to put astronauts on the moon.

Quelle: SC

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Update: 20.12.2024

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FAA grants license for SpaceX’s next launch at Boca Chica Beach

A date for that launch, however, has not yet been set.

SpaceX has conducted three launches this year, including one that produced a sonic boom that could be felt as far away as Harlingen.

Its most recent flight was on Nov. 19 and was attended by President-elect Donald Trump, who has become close to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk — even nominating him to a position to shrink the federal government in his upcoming administration.

SpaceX had sought to replicate its Oct. 13 launch, which included a successful booster catch. That did not work and the Super Heavy booster B13 was diverted away for a soft landing in the Gulf of Mexico. The company had indicated the booster catch would be attempted only with “healthy systems on the booster and tower.”

The Starship S31, meanwhile, which was pushed to the limit with a much harder reentry to test the limits of control flaps and thermal-protection material, successfully conducted a soft landing in the Indian Ocean near Australia.

That flight, SpaceX’s sixth, was the first test flight to carry a payload: a single plush banana, which was not released during the mission.

SpaceX also conducted a launch in March of Starship S28 and Super Heavy booster B10, which was the company’s third orbital flight attempt.

Activity at SpaceX’s Starbase facility has increased over the year and SpaceX has proposed launching up to 25 times a year from Boca Chica Beach.

Meanwhile, the company also filed a petition with Cameron County to incorporate Starbase into a city.

Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño said in a statement that attorneys are reviewing the petition and if it meets all the requirements, an election will be held.

Quelle: myRGV