StarShip’s SN9 prototype is waiting for clearance to travel today

This time it was. SpaceX Announced: Prototype Serial No. 9 (for SN9 Serial number 9) His future ship Starship Today, on January 28, 2020, a high-altitude flight test will be conducted.

Like its ancestors SN8, The craft is powered by three raptor engines, each stopping in a row before reaching it apogee 10 kilometers above sea level.

SN9 again descends into active aerodynamic control. Raptor engines ignite again when a rollover maneuver is attempted before the vehicle lands on the runway.

Objective: To achieve the system Transport spatial Fully reusable for transporting cargo and personnel Alien flights.

The Window The shooting range opens to KST at 4pm and closes at 1am. The test should be followed directly.

SpaceX: Starship’s SN9 prototype launch near suborbital flight

Development of the future space transport system SpaceX, Starship, is expected to accelerate this year. SpaceX plans to increase the rate of performance flights Prototypes SN And fly the first prototype of the Super Heavy, which is the starting point for starship. After a successful static test on Wednesday, the SN9 will be able to fly by Wednesday and repeat the good performance of the SN8 but with the goal of making a full landing!

Article by Remy Court Published on 01/11/2021

A few weeks later Exciting flight of SN8 Despite some problems, SpaceX is preparing to fly the SN9, not just on landing. It was more or less a repetition of SN8’s flight, but with the intention of landing in one piece. Following a successful static test on Wednesday, January 6, SN9 will have a second Monday, January 11. If all goes as planned, the sample will fly in three days depending on the circumstances Weather.

Powered by three raptor engines, the SN9 must fly at an altitude of 12.5 km before landing, a “belly flop” maneuver feature Launchers Reusable. This maneuver involves controlled tilting from the horizontal position of the machine to the vertical position to prepare for its landing. A ” Landing desirable at this time », Wants to clarify Elon Musk, Good ” We cannot prevent from technical boredom .

The causes of the SN8 crash are known (they were not enough after the Raptors engines were re-ignited) and changes were made in the SN9 to prevent this from happening again. Excluding these changes, SN9 and SN8 are very similar. Many significant changes and improvements were not planned before SN15.

The first super heavy prototypes will fly this year

Next to this experiment, Elon Musk Announced that it wanted to speed up the pace of the experiments Patterns Of Starship. Two launch pads are now in operation at the Boca Chica launch site (SpaceX South Texas launch site). SN10 may take off by the end of January.

This year, the first prototype of the Super Heavy main stage is expected to fly. BN1 – Booster Number 1 – Is present Construction. When in service, this floor has a total record number Raptor engines : 30 in the current version (initially 31 Raptor engines were planned for Super Heavy and 7 for Starship). This first model does not include 30 engines. It should only be tested with two engines.

For recollection, Starship Refers to a two-component transportation system. The “Starship” specifies the spacecraft and the upper stage of the launcher, the main stage, ie Booster StarShip needs to be launched, which is called “super heavy”.