SpaceX on its page on the social network X (formerly Twitter) announced that it would conduct static fire tests of the Starship engines on July 26, 2024. Soon the ship will go on its fifth test flight using the Super Heavy booster. This could happen either in the coming days or with a delay of a month – SpaceX has everything ready, but it needs a decision from the regulator.
Image source: SpaceX
To date, Starship and its Super Heavy booster have completed four test flights, one better than the other. The first two – in April and November 2023 – ended in explosions of boosters and ships. Two launches this year – in March and June – were relatively accident-free, and on the last flight the company was even able to gently lower the heaviest accelerator into the ocean waters.
The fifth test flight is expected to attempt to scoop up the Super Heavy booster as it returns to earth with “chopsticks,” the manipulative grippers on top of the launch complex. The procedure for capturing the accelerator by the truss mechanisms will speed up the preparation of the first stage and the spacecraft for re-launch. According to the head of SpaceX, Elon Musk, only such complexes, together with the power of new reusable rockets, will allow people to colonize the Moon and Mars.
In early July, Musk claimed that Starship’s fifth test flight would take place “in four weeks.” If his words come true, the launch will take place this week. However, there are suspicions that the test flight may be postponed until the end of August or even until September, although SpaceX received permission from the regulator (FAA) to launch without a special accident investigation.
Formally, everything is ready for the next flight. The static fire test of the first stage engines took place on July 15. The ship itself tested the engines last weekend.