Less than one month ago, SpaceX blasted a full-scale prototype of its Starship vehicle to an altitude of 150 meters above South Texas before returning it safely to the ground. On Thursday, the company did it again with the latest version of the vehicle, dubbed Serial Number 6, or SN6.
As outdoor temperatures soared into the mid-90s Fahrenheit shortly after noon, the prototype was loaded with liquid methane and liquid oxygen before igniting its single Raptor engine. This engine, situated off-center, powered the vehicle at a slight angle into the sky, where it moved several dozen meters laterally before descending and coming to rest near the launch stand.
An early version of Starship takes its first tentative steps off Earth
These test flights represent significant technical achievements, as they involved testing out the large, complex plumbing systems for Starship's fuel tanks and rocket engine as well as pushing the thrust vector control system of the Raptor engine in flight.
Now that SpaceX has completed two relatively short hops, the company's engineers have demonstrated basic control of the vehicle. The time may have come to go higher. SpaceX founder Elon Musk has said the company may attempt several intermediate hops before proceeding to a 20km test flight.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/09/spacex-hops-a-full-scale-starship-prototype-for-the-second-time/
4 Comments
antsays...*wings
siftbotsays...Adding video to channels (Wings) - requested by ant.
lucky760says...Where's this sucker supposed to go when it's ready?
greatgooglymooglysays...Earth orbit, of course! A version may also be made to go to the moon or mars.
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