Eric Berger
It has been just under two months since SpaceX unexpectedly destroyed its latest prototype spacecraft in South Texas. Shortly after a static fire test of this vehicle in late May, called Serial Number 4 or SN4, a problem with ground systems caused a dramatic explosion, destroyed the large vehicle, and severely damaged its test bench.
Since that failure, SpaceX has, if anything, accelerated work in South Texas. The company completed the development of a second test bed for Starship and began construction of several new prototypes. In addition to finishing the SN5, which was moved to the test bench earlier this month, components of the sixth, seventh, and even eighth Starship vehicle are in various build states at the SpaceX rocket factory in South Texas.
There have also been indications that SpaceX may begin developing and testing the Super Heavy rocket relatively soon in South Texas. This is the gigantic first-stage rocket that will propel the spacecraft vehicle, which is the upper stage, into low Earth orbit. Boca Chica’s weekly video update from NASASpaceflight.com showed the development of a high bay in which to stack the Super Heavy rocket, as well as the preliminary construction of a launch pad.
Now, the time has come to shoot again, with engineers preparing SN5 for further testing. This campaign may culminate with a short flight later this week or early next.
Lets jump
On Monday, the company conducted what appeared to be a vehicle fueling test, a new test bench, and improved ground systems. At the time of writing this Wednesday, SpaceX is in the midst of a tank test to determine the feasibility of the prototype’s methane and liquid oxygen fuel tanks.
If this test goes well, SpaceX will likely continue a static fire test of SN5 later this week with a single Raptor rocket engine. It is unclear whether the company will conduct only one static fire test or more than one. However, if these tests are successful, the company may attempt to launch the prototype on a large scale on a 150-meter test flight. On Tuesday, SpaceX founder Elon Musk said on Twitter that the company would try to fly “later this week.”
Some of the flaws in the Starship program have not been pretty, to be sure. But no one was hurt, and with an iterative testing program, one must accept a reasonable level of risk to move fast. And SpaceX has been doing that, reducing the time to build a single starship from months to weeks, bringing it closer to Musk’s ultimate goal of mass-producing the large interplanetary spacecraft that could one day allow humans to settle on Mars.
But first, there must be small steps. So we’ll be watching with interest to see if SN5 takes that step with a small but significant leap in the coming days.
