SpaceX has announced that it will attempt to launch the unpiloted Starship upper stage into space on its massive Super Heavy-Starship rocket for the first time on Saturday, its second test flight. Friday had been designated for the launch, but Elon Musk, the CEO, stated that some flight control hardware needed to be replaced.
Musk announced on social media platform X on Thursday that the launch has been pushed back to Saturday due to the need to replace a grid fin actuator.
The Federal Aviation Administration approved SpaceX’s launch license on Wednesday, capping weeks of waiting that resulted in the rocket’s multiple failures and April blow-up during its first flight. This cleared the way for liftoff almost seven months later.
Since then, SpaceX has carried out 63 FAA-mandated “corrections” aimed at enhancing flight performance and safety, as well as what company founder Elon Musk claimed to be “well over” 1,000 upgrades and improvements.
“Every stage of the intended operation is covered by the (launch) license,” the FAA stated in a statement. “After consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service & a written evaluation of the 2022 Programmatic Environmental Assessment, the FAA decided there are no significant environmental changes.”
Prior to Musk’s announcement of the postponement, the Super Heavy’s launch from SpaceX’s Boca Chica flight test facility on the Texas Gulf Coast was scheduled for Friday at 8 a.m. EST.
The Starship is intended to circle the planet in a loop before making a reentry and splashing down in the Pacific Ocean to the north of Hawaii.
The 30-foot-wide Super Heavy Starship, which stands 397 feet tall and weighs more than 11 million pounds when fully fueled, is the biggest and most potent rocket ever constructed.
The Super Heavy first stage’s 33 Raptor engines can produce 16 million pounds of thrust at full throttle, which is about twice as much as NASA’s Space Launch System moon rocket, which is currently the most powerful rocket in the world.
NASA, which is spending billions on a version of the Starship upper stage to transport Artemis astronauts from lunar orbit down to the moon’s surface, and SpaceX would both celebrate a significant victory with a successful flight test.
In addition to powering upcoming low-cost governmental and commercial flights to the moon, Mars, and beyond, SpaceX is depending on the rocket to significantly expand its constellation of Starlink internet satellites.
It’s unclear how long it might take to complete the necessary number of test flights to show the dependability needed for astronaut flights.
The Super Heavy Starship launch pad sustained significant damage during its first flight. Since then, in an effort to lessen the sound of engine ignition, it has been strengthened and outfitted with a potent water deluge system.
The six Raptor engines of the Starship upper stage were put to use using a novel “hot staging” method while it was still connected to the Super Heavy first stage. Engine ignition after separation, the conventional method, did not function as intended on the first flight.
Additionally, the Super Heavy had a more powerful electronic steering system that moved the engine nozzles or gimbaled them, as necessary to keep the aircraft on the intended course. Moreover, the rocket’s self-destruct mechanism has been improved to ensure that it will react quickly in an emergency.
When the first stage engines start to shut down after propelling the rocket out of the dense lower atmosphere, approximately two minutes and forty seconds after liftoff, the new staging system will be put to the test.
With a new vent system designed to divert exhaust away from the first stage, the six Raptors on board the Starship will ignite while the upper stage is still connected to the booster. A few moments later, the Starship should break free from the Super Heavy and resume its ascent into space.
Even though the Super Heavy first stage is fully reusable, it won’t be recovered. Rather than descending toward a landing pad as planned, it will fire rockets to slow down and ultimately land tail-first in the Gulf of Mexico.
Meanwhile, the engines of the Starship will run for about five more minutes. After that, it should coast around the planet before reentering the atmosphere roughly an hour and twenty minutes after launch.
The Starship is meant to be reusable, just like the first stage, but this test flight is not intended to include any recovery. The Starship’s trajectory will lead it to an impact in the Pacific Ocean north of Hawaii.
On their website, SpaceX summarizes the countdown with the words, “Excitement guaranteed.”