Musk: SpaceX has a chance to launch a Starship starship in late February or March
CTOnews.com, January 9 (Xinhua)-- SpaceX's first starship / starship (Starship) orbiting launch pad (OLM) has passed stress tests, clearing the way for the company's upcoming launch mission.
With this launch pad, the Starship booster is expected to attempt to complete some hazardous testing projects at the Starbase rocket development facility.
The timing of the next test is unclear, but after that, the Super Heavy Booster 7 (B7) booster may try to be fully operational, when full static ignition tests will be conducted with its 33 Raptor 2 Raptor engines. In addition, SpaceX installed Ship 24 (S24) on top of the B7 for the first full stack "wet dress rehearsal".
So the Starship project team will be busy in the next two months. Musk, chief executive of SpaceX, said that if the next test results are good, Starship could try its first orbital launch as early as late February or March 2023.
Since returning to the orbital launch site in early August, its Super Heavy B7 has completed six static ignition tests, but up to 14 of the 33 Raptor engines have been used, but it is already the most powerful rocket in SpaceX history, with only 14 engines close to Saturn 5, which was used to land on the moon more than 50 years ago.
According to Musk and NASA, the last major independent test of the B7 in preparation for the flight will use 33 complete Raptor engines (each providing 230t thrust), which can generate about 7600 tons (1670 million pounds) of thrust, making it the most powerful rocket in human history.
CTOnews.com looked at public data and found that Saturn 5, which NASA used to put a man on the moon for the first time more than 50 years ago, generated about 7.6 million pounds of thrust during launch, while the latest SLS released about 8.8 million pounds (9.5 million pounds) of thrust during the Artemis I mission, but the launch cost was very high. According to the data, the cost of Saturn V is about 1.23 billion US dollars, while the SLS+Orion contract signed by NASA is 4.1 billion US dollars per launch, while the single cost of starships that support full recycling is about 2 million US dollars.
