SpaceX has conducted a full-scale static fire test of the Starship Super Heavy booster engines in preparation for its eighth test flight. After the spacecraft’s upper stage exploded during Starship Flight 7, its launches have been grounded while the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigates the incident.
Image source: Spacex
As the Wccftech resource believes, the burn of the engines, which is one of the last tests before the launch, may mean that the FAA investigation is nearing completion and the next test flight of Starship will take place soon. Before the launch of the ship, the final testing of all systems will be carried out – a dress rehearsal for the launch.
SpaceX’s filing with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) indicates that a launch window will be open on February 24. However, a final launch date will be announced after the regulator completes its investigation into the incident during Starship Flight 7, which is still ongoing.
Following the test fire, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk posted an image of the Starship upper stage on social media, demonstrating SpaceX’s readiness to conduct a dress rehearsal.
With the seventh flight failing to complete most, if not all, of its intended test objectives, Starship’s eighth flight will need to be a repeat of the January test. As Wccftech noted, SpaceX will need to ramp up the frequency of test launches in 2025, which is a key year for the Starship program, especially since the company is planning to conduct the first orbital refueling test of a Starship rocket in the near future.
Previously, it was expected that the company would begin practicing the procedure for refueling the Starship in space in March 2025, but now, apparently, this deadline will have to be pushed back. In any case, NASA expects that SpaceX should practice the process of pumping fuel in orbit from one Starship to another in 2025, since this is extremely important for the implementation of the space agency’s program to fly to the Moon and, subsequently, to Mars.