SpaceX Starship holds up under pressure, lines up Raptor engine test fire
TESLARATI By Eric Ralph 3/12/2021
https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-starship-sn11-pressure-tests-static-fire/After a few false starts and some minor delays, SpaceX’s 11th Starship prototype (SN11) has made it through two of the three major tests standing between it and liftoff.
SpaceX rolled Starship SN11 from the factory to the launch pad on March 8th, just five days after Starship SN10 briefly became the first prototype of its kind to land in one piece. One or two issues with Raptor’s final landing burn caused SN10 to touch down faster than expected and eventually led to the rocket’s explosive demise around 15 minutes later. Still, the test flight was an almost unequivocal success and seemingly left SpaceX with more than enough confidence to speed through preparations for the next flight test.
Heading into the next day, SpaceX had hoped to kick off cryogenic proof testing but Starship SN11 required a bit more attention than expected and unknown bugs ultimately meant that only an ambient-temperature pressure test could be completed by the end of the test window. Those issues appeared to persist through the end of March 10th, preventing any kind of proof test attempt.
Starship SN11 is undeniably on a faster track than any of its three-engine predecessors and a clean static fire on Friday or Monday would leave a launch next week –
SpaceX’s current target– well within reach.
