Only a few days after successfully repeating the launch timeline with padding (wet dress rehearsalin the jargon of NasaNasa), it is a major test of the development of the Starship which is organized. Indeed, the giant 120-meter launcher which is preparing for a test flight, is today much smaller on its launch pad. A few hours ago the two parts of the launcher were separated to prepare for the static and unprecedented test of the 33 engines of the Super Heavy main stage in order to check their proper functioning for several seconds. This will be the first time that all of the Super Heavy’s engines will be fired at once. A previous test had been carried out with “only” 14 engines.
A last step not to be missed
This static test is the last major step before the Starship’s test flight. If this trial goes well and the resulting data analysis reveals no anomaliesanomalies, the giant launcher could therefore make its maiden flight during the month of March, or even as early as the end of February. However, this flight cannot take place until SpaceXSpaceX will not have received launch clearance from the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Fly a multi-engine launcher
To understand the difficulty of making a launcher with several engines fly, it is necessary to know that from one engine to another the level of combustioncombustion is never the same and is very difficult to model, hence the importance of ground tests and the experience acquired with the flights of the Falcon 9, whose main stage has nine engines, and the Falcon Heavy and its 3×9 engines – its main stage consists of three Falcon 9 main stages.
The jet of each engine does not mean that together these jets work as if they were separate engines. They will in fact interact with each other and this can pose many aerodynamic constraints, in particular lateral, and therefore hinder the ascent of the machine. One of the jets can also extinguish that of another engine! Another problem is the orientation of the motors. It’s obviously not the same to have three engines rather than just one! With some debitsdebits important, suction can occur in the skirt and create a vacuum effect.
Article of Remy DecourtRemy Decourt published on 01/24/2023
Preparation for the test flight of SpaceX’s giant launch vehicle, the Starship, continues. After fully assembling it on its Starbase launch pad, SpaceX conducted a full launcher fueling test. Next step, a static ignition of all 33 engines on the main stage..
Preparations for the Starship’s first test flight are continuing at a pace that suggests the maiden flight could take place in the coming weeks, likely sometime in March. However, the launch authorization to be issued by the United States Federal Aviation Administration (the FAA) is still pending but, on the side of SpaceX, we are confident about obtaining this “open sesame”. .
In the meantime, preparations for this test flight are well underway. Earlier this week, SpaceX conducted a full-fuel test of the Starship. This consisted of filling the two parts of the launcher with fuel: the Starship transport vehicle and the Super Heavy main stage, i.e. the booster needed to launch Starship. This is the first time that it has been completely filled with 5,000 tonnes of methalox, a mixture of liquefied methane andoxygenoxygen.
SpaceX also confirmed that the full countdown procedure was successfully run through in a simulation.
Article by Rémy Decourt published on 01/20/2023
SpaceX’s giant launch vehicle, the Starship, has been fully assembled on its Starbase launch pad. He stands ready for his test flight which will take place after two important tests. A one-time repeat of the launch procedure and a static ignition of all 33 main stage engines.
On January 9, 2023, SpaceX assembled the two parts of the Starship, its future 120-meter-high giant launcher, on its launch pad! The upper stage, which is the transport vehicle and is called Starship, was installed on the Super Heavy main stage, i.e. the booster needed to launch Starship.
This is the third time since August 2021 that the two parts of the launcher have been joined together and form the Starship launcher. The first two times, they were placed on top of each other. This time, they are assembled (or in the process of being assembled). The two parts of the launcher were assembled using the “chopstick” arms of the huge crane nicknamed Mechazilla and built by SpaceX in two copies: one in Boca Chica, Texas, the other in cap Canaveralcap Canaveral in Florida.
Elon Musk expects the Starship’s maiden flight to take place within weeks, in March. Before that, two main crucial tests must be passed. A launch timeline repeat with padding (wet dress rehearsal, in NASA jargon), which will consist of filling the tanks and carrying out all the stages preceding takeoff but which will stop before the end of the countdown. This will be followed by a static ignition of the 33 Raptor engines on the main stage. This will be the first time that all of the Super Heavy’s engines will be fired at once. A previous test had been carried out with “only” 14 engines.
From Texas to the Hawaiian Islands
This first test flight is scheduled to last more or less 90 minutes. Starship will be put into orbit by the Super Heavy launch vehicle about nine minutes after liftoff and will fly to the Hawaiian archipelago, with a passage through space, but without making a orbitorbit complete around the Earth. If all goes as planned, the main stage of the Super Heavy will return to land on dry land, which will not be the case for the Starship. After an atmospheric reentry, it should sink in the open sea off the coast of Hawaii, after a controlled landing. Early 2021, Elon MuskElon Musk explained that ” if he did not expect any particular problems during the takeoff of the Super Heavy and the Starship “, he had conceded on the other hand that it will probably take ” many attempts before SpaceX perfected the Starship’s reentry and landing maneuvers from orbit ».
Fly a multi-engine launcher
To understand the difficulty of flying a launcher with several engines, it is necessary to know that, from one engine to another, the level of combustion is never the same and is very difficult to model, hence the importance of ground tests and the experience acquired with the flights of the Falcon 9, whose main stage has nine engines, and of the Falcon Heavy and its 3×9 engines – its main stage and made up of three main stages of the Falcon 9.
The jet of each engine does not mean that together these jets work as if they were separate engines. These jets will interact with each other and this can pose many aerodynamic constraints, in particular lateral, and therefore hinder the ascent of the machine. One of the jets can also turn off the jet of another engine! Another problem is the orientation of the motors. It’s obviously not the same to have three engines rather than just one! With such high flow rates, suction can occur in the skirt and create a vacuum effect.
