SpaceX hussar piece aims to speed approval for orbital flight
Starship prototype on a successful landing. (Screenshot: t3n.de/SpaceX)
SpaceX attached 29 Raptor engines to the super heavy booster of its Starship spaceship in just a few hours. With this, the company wants to accelerate the planned orbital flight.
Elon Musk’s space company SpaceX has come one step closer to the planned first orbital flight of its Starship spacecraft. A total of 29 Raptor engines and four so-called grid fins were apparently attached to the first rocket stage (booster) called Super Heavy overnight. For observers, this enormous effort is a nod to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to accelerate the pending take-off permit.
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Starship: Orbital flight will probably not start until autumn
The Starship start was actually planned for July. However, the FAA has yet to complete an environmental review according to C-Net can take several months. August is also a long way off as a possible start date, although SpaceX is said to have submitted the application for the environmental assessment as early as May. A date in autumn is currently considered realistic.
In any case, the Starship itself seems to be almost finished. Ship 20, the prototype of the upper tier of the spaceship, is also nearing completion. It is currently questionable whether Super Heavy is already fully equipped with 29 Raptor engines. Originally it was said that the booster had 33 engines. With 230 tons each, they should generate a total of 7,600 tons of thrust, according to Musk. Super Heavy alone is 65 meters high, nine meters in diameter and weighs around 5,000 tons when fueled.
Starship and Booster: Landing after orbital flight
As part of the orbital flight, the Starship is to be brought to a maximum altitude of 116 meters and then touch down in the sea off Hawai, like the Futurezone writes. The super-heavy booster is to be disconnected a few minutes after take-off and then land on a converted oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. So far, Starship prototypes have not got beyond a height of 10 kilometers. After four exploded prototypes, Starship SN15 only managed a successful landing on the fifth attempt in May.
