SpaceX’s subsequent Starship to fly is all dressed up for launch.
On Friday (Jan. 10), SpaceX efficiently stacked its Starship spacecraft atop a large Tremendous Heavy booster to organize for the subsequent launch of the world’s largest rocket subsequent week. Liftoff is ready for five p.m. EST (2200 GMT) on Monday (Jan. 13) from SpaceX’s Starbase check website close to Boca Chica Seashore in South Texas.
“Flight 7 Starship and Tremendous Heavy stacked on the launch pad at Starbase,” SpaceX wrote in a post on the social media website X on Friday.
SpaceX’s Starship Flight 7 mission will check a brand new model of Starship and is the primary of doubtless 25 Starship launches this yr. With the Starship upper-stage car stacked atop its Tremendous Heavy booster, all the rocket stands almost 400 ft (122 meters) tall, making it the tallest and strongest launch car on Earth.
As its identify suggests, Flight 7 will mark SpaceX’s seventh check flight of Starship, which is designed to be a completely reusable launch system for missions to Earth orbit, the moon Mars and past. NASA has tapped Starship to land its Artemis 3 astronauts on the moon in 2027, whereas SpaceX founder Elon Musk hopes to launch an uncrewed model of Starship to Mars as early as 2026.
Through the Jan. 13 flight, SpaceX will check a collection of enhancements to the Starship spacecraft, together with upgrades to its flight laptop, avionics and warmth protect. The spacecraft can also be carrying a set of simulated Starlink web satellites, which SpaceX hopes to deploy in area through the 66-minute flight.
The Starship car on Flight 7 additionally has smaller ahead flaps which were moved away from its warmth protect to scale back publicity to extra warmth throughout reentry, SpaceX wrote in a mission description. SpaceX can also be reflying an engine on the rocket’s 33-engine Tremendous Heavy first stage for the primary time.
“The upcoming flight check will launch a new-generation ship with important upgrades, try Starship’s first payload deployment check, fly a number of reentry experiments geared in the direction of ship catch and reuse, and launch and return the Tremendous Heavy booster,” SpaceX wrote within the mission overview.
If all goes nicely, the Tremendous Heavy stage of the Flight 7 Starship will return to Earth to be caught by large steel “chopstick” arms at its launch pad at Starbase. SpaceX efficiently demonstrated such a rocket catch in October throughout its Flight 5 check flight however waved off an tried catch a month later through the Flight 6 launch.
SpaceX officers have stated they may solely proceed with the Flight 7 Tremendous Heavy catch if the rocket and its launch tower every meet crucial standards to make sure a protected catch. If these standards aren’t met, the Tremendous Heavy will routinely default to a mushy touchdown and splashdown within the Gulf of Mexico, because it did throughout Flight 6.
“We settle for no compromises in the case of making certain the protection of the general public and our staff, and the return will solely happen if circumstances are proper,” SpaceX officers wrote within the mission overview.
