NOTE THE CAN: Updated at 4:30 pm EDT (2030 GMT) after delay.
SpaceX launched its next Starship test rocket on Friday afternoon, and the next opportunity for the atmospheric test was expected Monday. SpaceX plans to launch and land the rocket at the company’s South Texas development center after they lost three prototypes in explosions.
The privately developed Starship test vehicle – named SN11 – is the fourth full-size Starship vehicle to be removed from the SpaceX test site in Cameron County, Texas. Like three previous Starship test flights in December, February, and earlier this month, the prototype will attempt to fly to an altitude of about 33,000 feet, or 10,000 meters, before returning to land to land just with rocket support.
SN11 is the latest in a series of proteins for SpaceX’s next-generation launch vehicle that will stand nearly 400 feet, or about 120 meters, high and carry more than 220,000 pounds, or 100 metric tons, of cargo to low orbit on Earth. That’s more lifting capacity than any rocket in the world.
With internal life support and refueling systems, the Starship was able to carry heavy loads and people outside Earth orbit. SpaceX is made up of three NASA-contracted industry teams to design and update concepts for a human-level lunar speaker for the space agency’s Artemis lunar program.
The Starship program plans to bring passengers and supplies to deep space destinations to Mars, according to Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX.
The Starship vehicle includes the upper part of the giant orbital rocket, also known as the SpaceX the Starship. The first level upgrade is called the Super Heavy. Both vehicles are designed to be fully reusable.
SpaceX confirmed plans for Friday’s Starship SN11 flight on their website, but Musk tweeted Friday afternoon that the company was “standing down” from the announcement “probably until Monday.”
“There needs to be more pay space. Doing our best to get ashore and get over it completely, ”Musk tweeted.
The company says it plans to launch a live video stream and launch Starship.
SpaceX tested a Starship rocket launched Friday morning, clearing the way for final preparation before managers stopped the final test flight.
The 164-foot (50-meter) SN11 Starship vehicle will be powered by a three-methane-powered Raptor engine, delivering more than a million pounds of effort at full power.
After climbing away from the launch pack, the Starship closes all three of its Raptor engines in sequence before the rocket reaches the top of the track.
“SN11 will transition transitions to the internal head tanks, which will hold landfall, before returning to reentry and controlled aerodynamic recovery,” SpaceX wrote on its website.
“The Starship prototype comes under active aerodynamic control, accomplished by the independent movement of two forward flaps and two aft on the vehicle,” SpaceX wrote. “The four flaps are powered by an onboard flight computer to control the Starship’s view in flight and to allow it to land at the intended location.
“SN11 Raptor Bird engines will re-operate as the vehicle attempts to land a whiplash immediately before sitting down on the block next to the launch pad. ”
The entire flight is expected to last between six and seven minutes. This time, SpaceX hopes the Starship vehicle survives intact.
He landed hard on a successful Dec. 9 test flight with low pressure from head tanks feeding the vehicle’s Raptor engines for the emergency firing just before it went around, and none of the Raptor engines failed. to rule for the shooting landing test trial February 2.
The SN10 rocket hit the first soft landing of a full-size Starship vehicle at the end of a March 3 test flight, but the rocket exploded minutes later
Despite the explosion, the Starship SN10 flight appeared to be a major achievement for SpaceX’s Starship test flight program. SpaceX aims to build on that experience with SN11 flight.
The early focus of the SpaceX Starship program is on building infrastructure at the Boca Chica test site, located on the Texas Gulf coast near the U.S.-Mexico border. Earlier this month, SpaceX completed the stacking of the first Super Heavy Boost, which Musk said is a “production spy tool.”
SpaceX has compiled the first Super Heavy test article, dubbed BN1, to help learn how to lift and maneuver the first 229-foot (70-meter) level, which itself is as tall as a Falcon 9 rocket. used SpaceX for launch operating satellite.
The second Super Heavy lift, which is being made but not yet assembled, is designed to fly, apparently on a suborbital test launch, according to Musk.
SpaceX is aiming to launch its first full-stack Super Heavy and Starship on an orbital launch attempt from South Texas in July. “That is our goal,” Musk tweeted.
An orbital launch attempt before July is an aggressive goal, as many of the records are described by the SpaceX hardware founder and chief executive officer.
The orbital version of the Starship vehicle will feature six Raptor engines, including three engines with extended bell-shaped nozzles boosted for higher efficiency in space space. The orbital class Starship will also have a heat shield to survive in the atmosphere.
During an orbital launch attempt, the re-used Super Heavy will detach from the Starship – which will be both a high-end and inland carrier – and return to Earth for direct landing. . The Starship will continue into orbit and use its orbiters or travel to its deep space destination, eventually returning to Earth to fly again.
SpaceX’s long-term plans for Starship work include the use of a launch pad parked in the ocean. SpaceX is changing a decommissioned offshore drilling platform for its future Super Heavy and Starship launch facility.
The Super Heavy lift will be powered by 28 Raptor engines, producing about 16 million pounds of effort, more than twice the power output of five engines on NASA’s Apollo-era Saturn 5 moon rocket.
The entire Super Heavy and Starship stack measures about 30 feet (9 meters) wide, about an hour and a half the diameter of a Boeing 747 jumbo jet.
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