SpaceX is edging toward the 12th launch of its Starship rocket, which this time will see a new version of the massive vehicle head skyward.
The launch team has just completed a crucial test of the Starship’s first stage — the Super Heavy — at its Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas.
It shared a short video and some images (below) of the most powerful booster ever built with the message: “Cryoproof operations complete for the first time with a Super Heavy V3 booster. This multi-day campaign tested the booster’s redesigned propellant systems and its structural strength.”
Cryoproof operations complete for the first time with a Super Heavy V3 booster. This multi-day campaign tested the booster’s redesigned propellant systems and its structural strength pic.twitter.com/RpMQ1DoT5x
No anomalies have been reported, setting the booster up nicely for a static fire test, hopefully in the coming days.
After that, attention will shift to the upper-stage Ship, which will also undergo preflight testing prior to being lifted atop the Super Heavy in preparation for launch.
SpaceX is targeting March for the 12th Starship test flight, according to a recent post on X by Elon Musk, the company’s CEO.
The updated Starship, known as Version 3, stands about a meter higher than its 123-meter-tall predecessor, and comes with more powerful engines and a series of design tweaks to enhance performance.
In an update on Sunday that surprised many, Musk said that SpaceX is pivoting its near-term focus to building a self-sustaining city on the moon, deprioritizing his previously stated ambition of building a city on Mars.
The CEO said the lunar plan is achievable in under 10 years, with the moon offering a more rapid path due to frequent launch windows (every 10 days vs. Mars’ 26-month alignments) and shorter trips (2 days vs. 6 months).
There’s also the added challenge of safely getting humans to the red planet, a feat that has yet to be achieved.
SpaceX’s Mars‑city efforts will continue as part of a long‑term plan, while the company will continue with its involvement in NASA’s Artemis lunar program using Starship.
After 13 suborbital test flights and more than $15 billion in development costs, SpaceX's Starship has finally reached orbit. The 407-foot megarocket, the most powerful ever built, lifted off from Starbase, Texas, on Monday and delivered its first real payload on it's 14th attempt. The celebration came with an asterisk, though, since SpaceX had to cut the planned 10-hour mission to roughly three hours.
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/2104601695711904180
SpaceX is finally ready to give Starship its biggest test yet. The company says the massive rocket's 14th test flight is scheduled for September 22, when it will attempt to put the upper stage into Earth orbit for the first time. The launch is currently pending regulatory approval, with a 75-minute window opening at 7:15 a.m. CT.
Starship has 26 Starlink satellites to deliver
For decades, humanity has looked up at the Moon and wondered what it would be like to live on it. Think sprawling cities, factories, research centers, and permanent human settlements. Unfortunately, there is one fairly fundamental problem with that vision.
A new study published in Frontiers in Space Technologies argues that even the Moon's potentially enormous reserves of frozen water may be nowhere near enough to support city-sized populations sustainably. Researchers Martin Elvis and Jonathan McDowell estimate that the permanently shadowed regions near the lunar poles could contain roughly one billion tons of water. It sounds like an extraordinary amount until you put a million thirsty humans next to it.