test run screen
[Reported by "Space" website on November 24] Space Exploration Company’s latest "Starship" prototype arrow carried out its first test at the company’s facility near Boca Chica Village in South Texas on the evening of November 24. 4 static ignition test runs. The arrow numbered SN8 is about to usher in an important test flight at an altitude of 15 kilometers next week.
Musk, the founder and CEO of Space Exploration Company, tweeted after the test run that the test run was good, and the first 15-kilometer test flight will take place next week. He said that the goal of the test flight was to assess the "three-engine ascending" (that is, using three engines for ascending flight), the fuselage flaps, the conversion from the main tank to the high tank, and the landing flip.
"Starship" is the next-generation space transportation system being developed by the space exploration company. It will be used to transport people and goods to Mars and the moon, launch satellites, and accomplish various other things that the company needs to do. The system will eventually consist of a 50-meter-high "starship" upper stage and spacecraft combination and a giant rocket called "overweight". Both will be able to be reused completely. They will all use the company's new "Raptor" engines that use liquid methane and liquid oxygen as propellants, of which 6 "Starships" will be equipped and about 30 "Overweight" engines will be equipped.
The first "overweight" prototype arrow has not yet been built, but the Space Exploration Company has built and tested a number of "starship" experimental arrows, of which 3 have been tested. The one named "Star Jumper" made a test flight last summer, while the SN5 and SN6 took off in August and September this year. All three arrows have only one engine, and the maximum flying altitude reached is about 150 meters. The test flight height of the SN8 is much higher, so it is very different from its predecessors. It is equipped with three Raptors, and also equipped with a nose cone and stabilizing fuselage flaps.
The short-term test flights of "Star Jumper", SN5 and SN6 were all successful once. But Musk said there is little hope that SN8 will do this. But he said that even if the arrow crashed and burned, it was not a disaster. He tweeted on the evening of November 24: “There are many things that can’t go wrong, so the probability of success is about 1/3.” He added in another tweet, “But that means we want to build SN9 and The reason for SN10".
The first three static ignition tests of SN8 were carried out on October 20, November 10, and November 12, and the third test run had an accident. Musk tweeted last week to explain that the "Raptor" ignition work caused the top of the test bed to break, causing debris to enter the engine compartment and causing the engine to shut down prematurely.
