It’s beginning to look like SpaceX will attempt to make the 15-kilometer (9.3-mile) hop test before Christmas. After two successful 150-meter (~500 foot) hops with the SN5 and SN6 prototypes, engineers at SpaceX’s Boca Chica launch facility in South Texas rolled out the SN8—the first Starship prototype to have three Raptor engines. But before the SN8 can conduct a high-altitude test…
Tag: sn5
SpaceX Launched and Landed Another Starship Prototype
“SpaceX took another step forward Thursday in developing its next-generation Starship rocket, conducting the second short flight test of a prototype in the past month,” reports CNBC:
Starship prototype Serial Number 6, or SN6, took off from the launchpad at SpaceX’s facility in Boca Chica, Texas. It gradually rose to about 500 feet above the ground before it returned back to land,…
SpaceX’s Starship SN5 Testbed Successfully Makes 150m Controlled Flight
Zitchas writes: On Tuesday evening, SpaceX launched a testbed system which flew 150m into the air, hovered, and made a controlled landing. This testbed is noteworthy for being made out of stainless steel, as well as for being powered by a single off-center raptor engine. It demonstrates that the propulsion system can successfully compensate for the off-balanced propulsion via vectored thrust,…