SpaceX is another step closer to the 11th flight of the mighty Starship rocket after it completed a test fire of the Ship’s engines on Monday.
The test, which took place at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in southern Texas, appeared to go without a hitch, suggesting the 11th Starship flight could take place by the end of this month, or early next.
NASASpaceflight shared footage of the Ship’s engine test on X. The static engine fire lasted a matter of seconds, with the video showing it from multiple angles.
SpaceX also shared its own footage of the engine test.
SpaceX performed a similar test on the Starship’s first stage — the Super Heavy booster — earlier this month.
If data from the Ship’s test on Monday looks good, then the upper-stage spacecraft will be placed on top of the Super Heavy in readiness for launch from Starbase.
The Starship made its inaugural flight in April 2023, and most recently launched last month, on August 26. The rocket’s performance has been mixed, but progress has been made over the last couple of years, with the 10th flight last month easily one of its most successful to date.
The Starship generates around 17 million pounds of thrust at launch, making it the most powerful rocket ever to fly. Once testing is complete and the Starship becomes fully certified, NASA will use the 121-meter-tall vehicle for crew and cargo missions to the moon and possibly even Mars.
But there are still many challenges ahead before SpaceX’s rocket is ready for prime time.
Indeed, just last week, NASA safety officials said that SpaceX’s lunar lander, which is supposed to be used to land astronauts on the lunar surface in the Artemis III mission currently scheduled for 2027, could be delayed by “years” as SpaceX works to ready the lander, which will be a modified Ship called the Human Landing System (HLS).
In the Artemis III mission, four astronauts will head to lunar orbit aboard the Orion spacecraft launched by NASA’s new SLS rocket. SpaceX will send the HLS to lunar orbit using the Super Heavy booster. Two astronauts will then transfer to the HLS for the descent to the moon. The vehicle will then return the astronauts to the Orion, which will bring the crew back to Earth.
With all that in mind, NASA — and SpaceX too, for that matter — will be keen to see the Starship make some serious progress in the coming months.
