SpaceX just popped another Starship Test tank.
Stainship S.N. tank. The tank crashed at SpaceX’s South Texas facility on Tuesday night (Sept. 22) during a pressure test designed to deliver stainless-steel hardware to its burst site.
SpaceX has conducted several other tests of this type, including one this past June SN7 blew the top out of the tank. Such tests inform future repetitions of the starship, the company of 100 passenger spacecraft Elon Musk is developing to deliver people to Mars, the moon and other global destinations.
Related: Starship of SpaceX and super heavy rocket in pictures
The death of the SN 7.1 clears the way for testing of the SN8 prototype, which could begin as early as this week. If S.N. Entering a series of 8 checkout and engine tests, it will attempt a 12-mile (20-kilometer) flight over South Texas skies, Musk said.
The SN5 and SN6, two full-size Starship prototypes have already landed, each reaching a height of about 500 feet (150 m) during recent test flights. (“SN” means “serial number”, if you’re wondering.)
Both SN5 and SN6 flights were powered by a single Raptor engine. The SN8 will have three raptors, as well as nasal cones and body flips with improved control, further proof of its lack of previews.
The final starship will have six Raptors, which will power a 165-foot-tall (50m) vehicle to land itself on the moon and Mars, Musk said. But the starship will need help to land on our bulky earth, so it will come to the top of a huge rocket called Super heavyWhich will be powered by about 30 Raptors of its own.
Starship and Super Heavy are both designed to be fully and quickly reusable. Kasturi envisions both dramatically reducing the cost of spaceflight – so dramatically, in fact, ambitious feats such as Mars colonization are economically possible.
Mike W. Wall is the author of “Out There” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Carl Tate), a book about the quest for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @Mamildld. Follow us on Twitter @speed.com or Facebook.
