SpaceX starship attempts to start all 33 rocket engines simultaneously for the first time

CTOnews.com, February 10 (Xinhua)-- SpaceX has completed the first full static ignition test of the starship (Starship) and plans to conduct its first orbital test flight next month.

Elon Musk, chief executive of SpaceX, pointed out that two engines failed to ignite in the experiment. According to reports, the SpaceX task force shut down one before starting, while the other was "stopped on its own", but Musk claimed that 31 rocket engines alone would be enough to fly into orbit.

As Gwen Schottwell, the company's president, said at the FAA's annual commercial space transport conference, the Starship must "conduct hundreds of flights before manned flights". She also reminded everyone that the starship's first flight was "actually a test flight" and that the real goal was "not to blow up the launch pad."

CTOnews.com reported that SpaceX conducted a test on the Booster 7 prototype in mid-2022 to start 33 booster engines on super-heavy rockets at the same time, but the booster ended in fire.

Musk revealed on Twitter at the time that the problem with the explosion was a unique "engine rotation start test" because the start sequence of the Raptor engine was so complex that it could not be reversed with a slight error. Today's test seems to have made great progress, and I hope the next test will go more smoothly.