SpaceX's new prototype super-heavy rocket Starship (SN8) has successfully passed firing tests with three Raptor engines running at once. The tests were carried out at the company's private launch site in South Texas in Boca Chica. In previous tests, only one engine was installed on the prototype. Another SN8 test is expected to be carried out before uncrewed flight to an altitude of 18 km. This is the first time a launch vehicle will fly to such a height. Three previous tests with the SN5 and SN6 models were carried out at an altitude of 150 meters.
Space X is now focused on the development of a reusable super-heavy rocket. Its main feature is the integration of the spacecraft into the second stage. This step, like the first, will be reusable. The payload of the launch vehicle in low Earth orbit is 100 tons. If all goes well, the launch vehicle could be used to launch payloads and send people to the Moon and Mars.
Preparations for a series 8 prototype are proceeding quickly. The core of the rocket was built this fall, and three control tests of the integrity of stainless steel fuel tanks took place from 6 to 8 October. And the fire tests have already been completed.
Musk said the final prototype of the rocket will have a nose cone, fins and flaps. Now prototypes are more like granaries than launch vehicles. The rocket will eventually be powered by six Raptor engines, Musk said. Three of them have been tested. The remaining three optimized options are designed for flight in space vacuum.
If all goes well, SpaceX will use Starship for all flights: interplanetary transportation of people and cargo to the Moon and Mars, as well as launching satellites. One of Musk's long-term goals is to colonize Mars. The Raptor engine is well suited for this. It runs on a mixture of liquid oxygen and methane that could theoretically be mined on the Red Planet.
As part of the Starship program, SpaceX has been experimenting with rocket prototypes since late 2019. Three missiles were lost during various benchmark tests. The first successful test took place in May 2020 with a single-engine SN4 Raptor rocket.
SpaceX expects that Starship will eventually replace the Falcon 9 rocket , which has become the most launched rocket in the United States in 10 years: 95 launches have been made during this time. Unlike Starship, Falcon 9 engines are Merlin rocket engines. Merlin runs on a mixture of kerosene and oxygen. Commercial tourist flights to the moon
are due to begin in 2022 .
