Starship testing is back this week with both the first stage Super Heavy booster and second stage Starship on their respective test/launch stands. Both vehicles either attempted or completed static fires this week.
Starship and Super Heavy ready for Flight 3 testing
This week Starbase action is back with a series of tests on hardware that will be eventually used on SpaceX‘s Starship Flight 3 next year. Elon Musk after Flight 2 said that he wanted hardware ready to fly by the holidays and while we’re not quite there, they certainly aren’t “behind schedule.”
Last weekend the company moved Starship 28 down the road from the production facility to the launch site closer to the beach for testing. This move was paired with festive Christmas decorations on the transport self propelled modular transporter SpaceX uses to move its hardware. Who says you can’t have fun while doing rocket science?
The move of Starship 28 was followed by two engine tests. The first was to test the turbo pumps of the six Raptor engines with full ignition. The second saw the three sea level and vacuum engines ignited for several seconds. SpaceX has a lot of history already with this system, mean while the Super Heavy Booster is still relatively new.
On the booster end, Super Heavy Booster 9 was rolled out to the launch pad later in the week and was affixed to orbital launch pad for its testing campaign. SpaceX aborted the first attempted at completing a static fire, at lease what we believed was a static fire. A second test is possibly scheduled for Wednesday per a road closure posted on Cameron County’s website. However this could be for any number of things at Starbase.
In the past these tests have taken place on the suborbital stands next to the launch mount but with Ship 28 taking up Pad B and what looks like the removal of Pad A, the launch mount is now the only spot available.
While testing is well underway to get flight hardware ready for Starship Flight 3, we might have some more time to wait as the FAA has to close out the mishap investigation first. Kathy Lueders, SpaceX’s General Manager for Starbase, said at a local meeting that she expects Flight 3 to take place in early 2024.
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HLS elevator sees astronaut tests
Test flight hardware isn’t the only thing that is being worked on as NASA shared the first info about the elevator Starship will use on lunar versions of its rocket.
NASA selected Starship to serve as the Human Landing System for Artemis 3 and 4 in the coming years. Other than a mockup seen out and about around Starbase, we haven’t seen much in terms of HLS hardware being created or tested.
Of course that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been happening. NASA shared a image and some details about one of the most important items of the HLS lander, the elevator for getting down to the surface.
NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Doug Wheelock tested out a mockup of the elevator built out at SpaceX’s headquarters in California. The two where able to get hands on experience using the new equipment while also providing much needed input to SpaceX as they continue developing the how landing system.
2024 will be an important year for Starship as it will need to complete several test flights to ensure it can meet NASA’s timelines. NASA’s GAO isn’t convinced that Starship or Axiom’s spacesuits will be ready for Artemis 3’s launch date in 2026.
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