Starship launches have become a regular occurrence at SpaceX’s rocket-development facilities in Boca Chika, Texas. For the second time this month, the company is preparing to fly an advanced prototype of its next spaceship.
Known as Starship Serial No. 11 or SN11, this prototype could launch early Tuesday. It will roar thousands of feet in the air, turn off its engine, flip to the side, and then freeze to the ground. The four-winged flaps should control the fall of the rocket, and its engines should re-fire to flip it straight and land it on the landing pad.
SpaceX has already launched three such high-altitude test flights, but each ended in a catastrophic explosion. The first two prototypes, S.N. 8 and SN9, rushed into the landing pad at high speed and immediately exploded. The third, SN10, landed in one piece, but flew 10 minutes later.
Left to right: SN8, SN9 and SN10 blasts.
Jean Blvins / Reuters; Spidre.com
All of these prototypes represent the upper stages of a two-part system: finally, a nearly 23-story booster, called the Super Heavy, extends the starship spaceship into orbit. The entire system is complete and quickly reusable, which could enable SpaceX to reduce the cost of reaching space by 1,000 times.
The long-term vision of Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, is for the power of astronauts to fly to the moon and to transcend the earth. He has said he plans to build 1,000 starships to carry people and goods to Mars and establish a Mars eclipse.
Viewers gather to watch the SpainX SN11 prototype roll out.
Spidre.com
SpaceX may attempt SN11 takeoff and landing earlier this week. Airspace closures have been issued in the area for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday by the Federal Aviation Administration, and a Cameron County judge has issued local roadblock notices on Wednesday and Thursday. The launch requires both air and passage to be closed.
However, these dams can be rearranged if SpaceX is not ready to fly. Ahead of the SN9 flight, new closed posts were placed weeks after any launch attempt by SpaceX. We will update this post once we confirm the launch date for SpaceX SN11.
Watch Starship Prototype Fly Live
In a screenshot of SpaceX’s livestream, on March 3, 2021, SN10 shows up in the sky above Boka Chika, Texas.
SpaceX
The test flight is expected to be broadcast live by SpaceX, as it was with the last three. Once it becomes available it will be embedded below the livestream.
Meanwhile, some fans of the company are broadcasting preparations activities at the launch facilities. Some of their video feeds captured a steady-fire test last week – at the same time as the SpaceX rocket fires to test the engines ahead of the flight.
LabPadre Starship offers six unique views of the launch site. Below is the channel’s main 4K-resolution feed.
For a more distant view of the launch site – broadcast from the top of a resort about 6 miles south of Pedre Island – check out SpadDrena’s 24-hour live feed.
NASSpaceflight also covers events in Boca Chika, broadcast with multiple high-quality camera views and input from critics. Its live stream will be added once it becomes available.
