SpaceX carried out fire tests of the Starship SN4 – the prototype of a promising spacecraft, which is seen as a tool for flying to the Moon and Mars.
The Starship prototype, code-named SN4, has been successfully tested with a single Raptor engine. SpaceX carried out past tests in mid-April, when the SN3 prototype then fell apart during pressure tests. The company was able to fix the problem, Starship SN4 passed this test, and now it became known that the rocket was tested with the engine running.
The results of the test were reported by Elon Musk on his Twitter account. Musk had been observing the course of the operation all this time (apparently, absent only at the maternity hospital, because Musk had recently had a baby).
Starship engine now looks something like this
Starship Test flight
Burning the SN4 engine was first scheduled for May 5, but it was canceled a few seconds after the start. Those who watched the broadcast online reported a flash of flame that occurred a fraction of a second after starting the engine. Apparently in Spacex Something was finalized again, and on May 6, the Raptor rocket prototype engine successfully worked and after a few seconds turned off in accordance with the programmed algorithm.
Starship SN4 passed static fire
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 6, 2020
What’s next? Since the rocket passed the test with the engine, SpaceX now wants to arrange a test run of 150 meters. Just in case, the company asked the US regulatory authorities for radio frequencies to conduct a test flight to a height of up to 2 kilometers, however, with a Raptor engine alone, the rocket will not be able to rise to such a mark. For such flights, SpaceX is already building Starship SN5 – another prototype of a rocket with three Raptor engines that can fly several kilometers.
During the next SpaceX tests, it is necessary for Starship SN4 not only to gain a height of at least 150 meters, but also to successfully land on a specially prepared site for this. Even if the engine works the same way as in the tests, it is not a fact that the landing will be successful.
SpaceX successfully landed Falcon 9
Why is Elon Musk building another rocket
SpaceX is engaged the development of the spaceship Starship for fast delivery of people to distant cities, as well as to Mars and other planets. The first assembled prototype of the ship was presented at the beginning of 2019 and since then the company managed to thoroughly test it. Nevertheless, SpaceX constantly has some problems with this ship. In July 2019, Starship was unable to take off, and after a few weeks again caught fire during tests. Then Elon Musk said that everything would be repaired soon, and in a couple of months the ship would fly, but in 2019 it never took place.
This is how the fire tests of the Starship engine look like.
When will Starship be launched
The subsequent launch was scheduled for the 1st quarter of 2020, but it did not take place – due to the coronavirus pandemic and quarantine. Now the company plans to carry out the first official launch of the Starship in the year 2021. To complete all the tests and assemble the final version of the aircraft by the scheduled date, the developers are building a new prototype of the ship. It is believed that the parallel design of the ship in two different places will noticeably bring the day when it can independently fly into the sky.
Now SpaceX and Elon Musk spend billions of dollars on this project (and when two rockets are developed at the same time, you need twice as much money), but Musk does not spare the money spent. In his opinion, one of the ways of our salvation, is space exploration and relocation to other planets. What threatens the planet now? Most likely, Elon Musk considers global warming and planet pollution from plastic trash.
According to Space X’s plans, fuel costs for the starship should be about $ 900,000 per launch. Operating and depreciation expenses will add to this amount another 1.2 million. Thus, the final amount should be about $ 2 million per flight in low Earth orbit.
Starship is to become the largest spaceship in history. Earlier, NASA allocated SpaceX a large sum to design a lunar landing module based on this ship.
