In recent weeks, there has been a lot of activity at the Boca Chica starbase in the Rio Grande delta. Elon Musk's aerospace company SpaceX is planning another orbital flight of the Super Heavy.
Starship Super Heavy
Just like a few months ago, employees have begun hectic preparations for the largest and most powerful rocket of all time. With an incredible height of 119 meters and a diameter of 9 meters, there is little more to add. Not to mention its weight of nearly 8,000 tons, which will be lifted into space by 33 Raptor 2 engines, each providing approximately 240 tons of thrust.
Tesmanian reports that the test mission could take place in a very short timeframe. Musk was more specific in this regard and informed the media that it will happen approximately in 6 to 8 weeks.
Will the second attempt be more successful?
The Starship Super Heavy will build upon the first attempt that took place on April 20th. It didn’t go completely smoothly due to technical issues. Six engines gradually ceased to function, causing the rocket to tilt and perform some random maneuvers, leading the SpaceX team to initiate a self-destruct sequence.
Nevertheless, the company claims to have gained valuable insights from the incident, viewing the overall first test positively. Based on the incident, several significant improvements are reportedly planned, including advanced and massive cooling systems aimed at minimizing potential damages.
The article concludes by mentioning that parallel to the preparations, additional tests of Starship SN25 and Super Heavy Booster 9 prototypes are taking place. During these tests, cryogenic nitrogen turbo pumps were tested without ignition, serving as a significant development.
Leave a Reply