SpaceX is set to launch the seventh test flight of its Starship rocket on Thursday, as the company looks to push development of the giant vehicle further, including a crucial test of how satellites are deployed.
The company has an hour window, from 5pm ET to 6pm ET, to launch the spacecraft from its Starbase facility near Brownsville, Texas. If SpaceX is unable to launch during that period for weather or technical reasons, the company will postpone the attempt to a later date.
There will be no people on board the spacecraft flight. but, Elon MuskStarlink is launching 10 Starlink simulators in the rocket's payload bay and plans to try to deploy the satellite-like objects all at once in space. This is it The main test of the missile's capabilitiesBecause SpaceX needs Starship to deploy its much larger and heavier next generation of Starlink satellites.
Although SpaceX did not specify what material Starlink simulators are made of, mass simulators are commonly used in rocket vehicle development and are often simple constructions of metal or concrete that weigh roughly the same as the object in question. Since the rocket does not reach orbit, the simulators are expected to follow a similar path to the rocket, and are designed to burn up during reentry.
Assuming the launch goes according to plan, the spacecraft will arrive in space and then travel halfway around Earth before reentering the atmosphere and falling into the Indian Ocean about an hour after liftoff.
In addition, the “Super Heavy” rocket booster will return after separating from Starship and land on the arms of the company's launch tower – a feat achieved by the company The fifth trip but He missed the sixth.
A Starship rocket sits on the launch pad during stormy weather on January 14, 2025, near Boca Chica, Texas.
Sergio Flores | AFP | Getty Images
As with every previous flight, SpaceX aims to advance development further by evaluating additional spacecraft capabilities, including tests of its heat shield tiles and its extensive return trajectory.
The spacecraft is crucial to the company's plans, even as it exists $350 billion valuation And already a dominant position in the space industry.
Starship is the longest and most powerful rocket ever launched. Fully stacked on a Super Heavy booster, the Starship is 403 feet long and has a diameter of about 30 feet. SpaceX has flown the entire Starship rocket system in six spaceflight tests so far since April 2023, at a steadily increasing pace.
The super-heavy booster, measuring 232 feet tall, is what begins the rocket's journey into space. At its base are 33 Raptor engines, which together produce 16.7 million pounds of thrust — about twice the 8.8 million pounds of thrust of NASA's Space Launch System rocket, which It was first launched in 2022.
The spacecraft itself, which stands 171 feet tall, has six Raptor engines — three for use while in Earth's atmosphere and three for operation in the vacuum of space.
The missile operates with liquid oxygen and liquid methane. The complete system requires more than 10 million pounds of propellant to launch
TOPSHOT — A SpaceX Starship vehicle will lift off from Starbase near Boca Chica, Texas, on Nov. 19, 2024, to conduct a Starship Flight 6 test.
Chandan Khanna | AFP | Getty Images
The spacecraft flying this launch, designated Ship 33, also represents a second-generation version of the vehicle called “Block 2.”
SpaceX noted that “significant upgrades” to this vehicle include changes to the flaps on the front of the vehicle, a redesign of the propulsion system to enhance performance, an improved flight computer, 30 cameras placed along the vehicle to monitor the rocket, and an enhanced heat shield. .
The Starship system is designed to be fully reusable and aims to become a new way to transport goods and people beyond Earth. The rocket is also crucial to NASA's plan to return astronauts to the moon. SpaceX has won a multibillion-dollar contract from the agency to use Starship as a crewed lunar lander as part of NASA's Artemis Moon program.
