Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, has confirmed that Starship and Raptor’s first triple engine static fire was a success, opening the door to the Nakkon installation.
At around 3:30 a.m. on October 20, CDT, Starship Serial No. 8 (SN8) successfully fired three Raptor engines in less than two hours after completing the first successful three-engine preburner test. With zero direct human intervention, SpaceX remotely shut down the rocket’s cryogenic liquid methane and oxygen propellant – the remnants are now too hot to be reused in a controlled manner. In less than an hour or so, SpaceX engineers combed the data and concluded that all three Raptor engines were healthy after their partial ignition test.
Upon effectively resetting to a steady state, SpaceX once again proceeded to load Starship SN8’s propellant tanks with supercooled lacs and a small amount of LCH4, almost exactly the mirror of the preburner test. About 50 minutes after recycling began and 25 minutes after propellant loading, the starship SN8 burned three raptors simultaneously – the main targets for any rocket engine. Stable fire now complete, Starship S.N. The 8 has been cleared to be the first operational prototype to reach its full 50m (~ 165 ft) reach.
Shortly before Musk confirmed the SN8’s steady fire success, SpaceX canceled the October 20 fixed fire window and scheduled some new road closures on Wednesday, October 21st. Unlike the company’s recent stationary fire closures, one of them is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., with SpaceX’s new Wednesday shutdown scheduled for 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. local (CDT).
While the trivial data point, in terms of Starship SN8’s steady fire success, shutting down alone made it clear that SpaceX has started installing Starship SN8’s Nakcon from October 21st. Kasturi confirmed that the completion of the road is expected a few hours after it was released.
it’s not Absolutely Clearly, however, most observers believe that a large, new crane transport between SpaceX’s Boca Chika factory and launch facilities on Wednesday morning from 7 to 12 o’clock is necessary for 2 miles of transport. The stacked nose section of the Starship SN8 will then be installed on the same Automatic Mobile Transporters (SPMT) and rotated on the lunch pad from 3pm to 5pm, then the nose will be raised and stacked on the Starship SN8.
SpaceX has only stipulated the starship prototype once only when the nose section of the MK1 was temporarily mated to its tank section to become the focal point of CEO Elon Musk’s October-October 2019 Starship event. It is not clear why SpaceX will not use one of the mobile cranes rented for the Starship tank division operation (and stacking MK1) in the past, so it remains to be seen what will actually be used for Wednesday’s road closure.
However, SpaceX’s plan to close the route ends with a wildcard. Once installed, the plan is to fire another triple-raptor static while S.N. Drawing only propellant from the header tanks of 8 – small internal tank, designed to hold the landing propellant, one of which is located at the top of the starship’s nose. On October 21 and 22, SpaceX still has “S.N. 8 Static Fire ”Two closed at 9 to 6 p.m., scheduled for testing. Filed in early October 20th, S.N. Prior to the successful Fixed Fire of 8, the possible explanation is a simple clerical error or malpractice, Cameron County or SpaceX failed to communicate properly that there is no need for further Fixed Fire Test windows.
If the intent was to maintain stable fire closures, it would mean that SpaceX – possibly at Musk’s insistence – would be able to capture the starship S.N. 8 is intended to install a nook. It is almost inconceivable that Starship S.N. Nicecon 8 – powered by Tesla motors, liquid oxygen header tanks, vents and plenty of plumbing, lots of gas thrusters, forward flute ps – can be installed and ready for testing in less than 12 hours. S.N. With the exception of the surprising method of mating the nose and tank parts of the 8, the nosecon has to be welded to the rest of the SN8 and the weld inspected – usually a multi-day process.
Regardless of how fast SpaceX moves forward and how Dead-Set CEO Elon Musk pushes forward and breaks barriers, it seems reasonable to assume that Starship SN8 could be ready for another steady fire test a few days from now. . Once completed, the SN8 will be ready to attempt the Starship’s first high-altitude flight test, launching an untested Skydive-style descent and landing એક 15km (~ 9.3 miles) to try.
