SpaceX’s Starship Super Heavy Booster 33 engines will be ignited simultaneously this week

News on January 19, according to foreign media reports, SpaceX is preparing to conduct the first full- engine static ignition test of the super-heavy booster of the Starship (Starship) this week. This means that after a year and a half of waiting, the Starship is about to make its first trip into space.

Before this, SpaceX had never conducted a static ignition test of the 33 Raptor rocket engines carried by the Super Heavy rocket at the same time.

The Starship spacecraft, which plans to send astronauts to the moon and more humans to Mars, could make its first orbital test flight within weeks. SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, is currently making final preparations for this.

A spate of recent operations and related reports at SpaceX’s Starship base in Texas suggests that the Super Heavy booster No. 7 may undergo a static fire test this week, the first of 33 Raptors aboard the rocket. The rocket motors all ignite.

The local government has issued an announcement stating that highways and beaches near the starship base may be closed from Wednesday to Friday this week and next Monday and Tuesday. Reports suggest that SpaceX’s static fire test is scheduled for Friday.

SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

When engineers carry out static ignition tests, the booster will be fixed on the test stand, and the rocket engine will be activated briefly to conduct tests and collect various performance data before launch. SpaceX conducted a static fire test of the Super Heavy booster No. 7 last year, but only some of the rocket’s engines were activated. This is the first time that all 33 rocket engines have been activated.

If SpaceX successfully completes this static fire test, it means that SpaceX is close to completing all pre-launch preparations before the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issues the company with a launch permit. Musk previously said that the Starship will eventually fly to space in late February or early March this year.

The most recent flight of the interstellar spacecraft is in 2021. The prototype SN15 of the spacecraft rose to an altitude of 10 kilometers above the ground without a super heavy booster, and then returned to the ground and landed smoothly. In Starship’s upcoming first orbital flight test, the Super Heavy booster will carry the prototype into orbit, separate and land on a platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The Starship is scheduled to splash down on the coast of Hawaii after completing a brief space trip in Earth orbit.

If all goes well with Starship’s first orbital flight, more testing events will follow in 2023. Currently, SpaceX is participating in NASA’s Artemis moon landing program, which plans to send cargo and astronauts to the moon with an interstellar spacecraft. (Chenchen)