SpaceX, Blue Origin, Virigin Galactic and other Private Space Companies Thread

[Elderberry]

A pic my son texted me:

[Idiot]

A pic my son texted me:

Sure didn’t stay up there long.

[Elderberry]

Elon Musk's SpaceX Assembled the Full Starship Launch System for the First Time

INTERESTING ENGINEERING by Brad Bergan 8/6/2021

https://interestingengineering.com/elon-musks-spacex-full-starship-launch-system

SpaceX just took another big step toward completing its wholly reusable launch system, stacking the Starship spacecraft atop a prototype of the Super Heavy Booster, according to a tweet from tech billionaire and CEO of the company, Elon Musk.

And at roughly 400 ft (122 m), it's really big.
SpaceX's full Starship stack is the tallest rocket ever assembled

The gigantic stacking procedure went down at SpaceX's South-Texas development site, and marks the first time both elements of the massive Starship launch system were conjoined into one colossal rocket. The Super Heavy booster is equipped with the full roster of 29 Raptor rocket engines, adding serious thrust to the Starship's already-impressive six engines.

Crucially, this is the tallest assembled rocket ever developed in the history of space flight. The combined Starship launch system reaches nearly 400 ft tall (rounding up from 390 ft), and paired with the orbital launch stand that props the system up, the entire spectacle is roughly 475 ft (145 m) tall. That's higher than the Great Pyramid of Giza. But the stack won't last long. Next on the SpaceX itinerary is to separate the two halves of the launch system, for more work, analysis, and testing before reassembly and the final preparation for the big event: a real-world orbital launch test.

The orbital launch, however, has yet to receive a precise date. This makes sense, because the disassembly of the big Starship stack, in addition to more testing and a big reassembly process, won't happen overnight. That said, it's not unrealistic that SpaceX could make the orbital launch attempt before the year is out. Think of the big picture here: Just months ago (in May), SpaceX completed its first successful launch and landing of a Starship (the SN15) rocket, after several earlier attempts ending with ground-shaking explosions. The one before that actually made a landing in March, but then exploded minutes after, due to a fire caused by the final, landing-stage rocket firing.

[Elderberry]

SpaceX takes simplicity to new extremes with two new Starship mechanisms

TESLARATI by  By Eric Ralph 8/10/2021

https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-starship-new-simplicity-extremes/

In the first two parts of a three-part interview with YouTube creator Tim Dodd, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has delved into two new Starship and Super Heavy mechanisms that take his pursuit of simplicity to new extremes.

Around the turn of the month, Starship’s first flightworthy Super Heavy booster was outfitted with a niche form of aerodynamic control surfaces known as grid fins. Those multi-ton car-sized fins have been expected ever since the original form of Starship was first revealed in 2016. What was unexpected, however, was the fact that Booster 4’s grid fins quite clearly had no retraction or deployment mechanism and were instead fixed in a deployed position after installation.

Meanwhile, just a month after SpaceX performed a partial test of the mechanisms meant to latch Starship and Super Heavy together and deploy the ship in flight, Musk says that SpaceX has also decided to almost entirely remove any recognizable separation mechanism.

In rocketry, there are generally two distinct types of launch vehicle separation strategies. All require some kind of actuating latch or frangible bolts to attach and detach stages. The differences arise during stage separation. Some rockets (particularly Russian vehicles) rely on hot staging, in which a separating stage will ignite its engine(s) slightly before or at the same time as its released, blasting the stage below it. More commonly, rocket upper stages are jettisoned a significant difference from lower stages before igniting and heading towards orbit with either small solid rocket motors, small vernier thrusters, or – in SpaceX’s case – spring-like mechanisms that can be tested on the ground and reused.

Sidestepping decades of precedent, Musk says that Starship will have no separation mechanism at all. Instead, at some point during the design or testing process, Musk decided that a separation mechanism was entirely superfluous and that the same effect could be more or less replicated by using existing systems on Super Heavy. By using the booster’s gimballing Raptor engines to impart a small but significant rotation on the rocket moments before separation, Super Heavy could effectively flick Starship away from it – a bit like how SpaceX currently deploys Starlink satellites from Falcon by spinning the upper stage end over end and letting the spacecraft just float away thanks to centripetal forces.

Because Starship is something like five times heavier than Super Heavy at stage separation, the ship would effectively float away from the booster in a straight and stable line, use cold gas thrusters to settle its propellant, and ignite its six Raptor engines to head to orbit. In return for the slightly unorthodox deployment profile, if this new approach works, SpaceX can entirely preclude the development of a pusher/spring system capable of pushing a ~1300 ton Starship away from Super Heavy. That approach is possible on Starship in large part because the ship’s six Raptor engines are completely tucked away inside a skirt, meaning that there is zero chance of nozzles being damaged by impacting the booster interstage.

The situation with Super Heavy’s grid fins is not dissimilar. By keeping the fins deployed at all times, SpaceX doesn’t need to develop a complex retraction mechanism that maintains a mechanical linkage while still providing enough strength to push and drag a several-hundred-ton rocket around at hypersonic speeds.

Five step process to project success, from Elon Musk:

1. Make requirements less dumb and attach these to a person, not a department

2. Delete a part or process

3. Simplify or optimize, only after completing the above

4. Accelerate cycle time

5. Automatehttps://t.co/JONgo2OBUs

— Giorgos Bogosian (@philoTechnica) August 9, 2021

Notably, during Tim Dodd’s tour and interview, Musk revealed that another SpaceX employee – not him – was responsible for that design change, throwing up a bit of a foil to the common notion that Musk is very authoritarian and inflexible as chief engineer. Combined with a surprisingly elegant and responsive five-step approach to engineering, it’s clearer than ever that there is a great deal of well-considered method behind the surface-level madness of some of Musk and SpaceX’s less intuitive decisions.

[Idiot]

SpaceX takes simplicity to new extremes with two new Starship mechanisms

TESLARATI by  By Eric Ralph 8/10/2021

https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-starship-new-simplicity-extremes/

After watching several videos about Musk, he's a very "unique" individual.  As hard as he works and as much as he demands from his employees, I can't imagine working for him.  I read that he walked in one time and fired his entire engineering team.  Not to mention him cursing and screaming at his employees.  No doubt the guy is brilliant though.

[Elderberry]

Super Heavy Booster 4 Removed from the Launch Mount | SpaceX Boca Chica

NASA Spaceflight 8/10/2021

SpaceX removes Booster 4 from the Orbital Launch Mount as they prepare to proof test it. Booster 4 may roll back to the Production Site prior to testing. Meanwhile, sections are spotted for Booster 5 and work on Ship 20's tiles continues.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woaLnJvgxGs

[Cyber Liberty]

The names SpaceX uses for the components of the completed rocket are confusing.  I hope they start numbering the stages like NASA used to.

[Elderberry]

SpaceX Always Operates With Extreme Urgency

NextBigFuture by Brian Wang  August 11, 2021

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2021/08/spacex-always-operates-with-extreme-urgency.html

Tim Dodd, the Everyday Astronaut, had the third part of his interview with Elon Musk.

What comes through is the intense focus Elon Musk and his teams have.

They are focused and operating with extreme urgency to make humanity a multi-planetary species.

Elon needs to get to Mars, colonize Mars and then make Mars self-sustaining.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Zlnbs-NBUI&t=262s

[Elderberry]

SpaceX’s first orbital-class Starship and Super Heavy to return to launch pad next week

TESLARATI by Eric Ralph 8/12/2021

https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-orbital-starship-super-heavy-pad-return/

CEO Elon Musk says that SpaceX could return the first orbital-class Starship prototype and its Super Heavy booster to the launch site after rolling the rockets back to the factory for finishing steps.

In response to a video of Super Heavy Booster 4 (B4) returning to the build site, Musk rather specifically stated that both Booster for and Starship 20 (S20) will return to the orbital launch pad on Monday, August 16th. SpaceX returned Ship 20 to its ‘high bay’ vertical integration facility mere hours after the Starship was stacked atop a Super Heavy booster (B4) for the first time ever on August 6th. For unknown reasons, perhaps due to high winds, Booster 4 spent another five days at the pad before SpaceX finally lifted it off the orbital launch mount and rolled it back to the high bay, where it took Ship 20’s place on August 11th.

Almost immediately after S20’s August 6th return, its six Raptor engines were removed to make way for an engine-less proof test campaign that Musk has now implied could start as early as next Monday. Mirroring S20, SpaceX also begin uninstalling Super Heavy Booster 4’s 29 Raptor engines the same day it returned to the high bay.

    Booster & Ship will return to orbital launch pad on Monday (winds allowing). Just finishing off some small plumbing & wiring, which is easier in high bay.

CEO Elon Musk says that SpaceX could return the first orbital-class Starship prototype and its Super Heavy booster to the launch site after rolling the rockets back to the factory for finishing steps.

In response to a video of Super Heavy Booster 4 (B4) returning to the build site, Musk rather specifically stated that both Booster for and Starship 20 (S20) will return to the orbital launch pad on Monday, August 16th. SpaceX returned Ship 20 to its ‘high bay’ vertical integration facility mere hours after the Starship was stacked atop a Super Heavy booster (B4) for the first time ever on August 6th. For unknown reasons, perhaps due to high winds, Booster 4 spent another five days at the pad before SpaceX finally lifted it off the orbital launch mount and rolled it back to the high bay, where it took Ship 20’s place on August 11th.

Almost immediately after S20’s August 6th return, its six Raptor engines were removed to make way for an engine-less proof test campaign that Musk has now implied could start as early as next Monday. Mirroring S20, SpaceX also begin uninstalling Super Heavy Booster 4’s 29 Raptor engines the same day it returned to the high bay.

    Booster & Ship will return to orbital launch pad on Monday (winds allowing). Just finishing off some small plumbing & wiring, which is easier in high bay.

Around 12 hours after the process began, SpaceX appeared to have removed 14 (just shy of half) of Super Heavy B4’s Raptor engines – a pace almost as spectacular as their 12-18 hour installation a bit less than two weeks prior. Aside from making engine removal dramatically easier, Musk says that SpaceX moved Ship 20 and Booster 4 back to the build site to expedite some minor final integration work – namely “small plumbing and wiring.”

However, aside from Raptor removal, the most obvious and significant work ongoing since the pair’s return to the high bay is the process of inspecting Starship S20’s heat shield and repairing or replacing broken, chipped, and loose tiles. Not long after Ship 20 arrived back at the build site, workers in boom lifts began a seemingly arduous process of inspecting the Starship’s nose heat shield and marking – with colored tape – hundreds of tiles with cracks, chips, or other less visible issues.

After several days of inspections and hundreds of tiles marked, SpaceX finally began the process of removing off-nominal tiles early on August 12th. According to NASASpaceflight.com, that removal process is not particularly easy and can require the use of power tools to effectively cut tiles off their embedded mounting frames. Given the amount of force required, some level of care is also almost certainly needed to avoid damaging any adjacent tiles, which could quickly cause a minor misstep to exponentially spread. Nevertheless, a small team of SpaceX technicians seemingly managed to remove no less than several dozen (and maybe 100+) broken tiles in a few hours.

[Elderberry]

SpaceX Starship Refilling Plan Change? Catching Arms Coming Soon, Cygnus NG-16 Mission

 Marcus House 8/14/2021

After the previous few breakneck weeks in Boca Chica, things seem to be just a little calmer this week and we get to finally dive a little deeper into everything going on at Starbase. Do we have a SpaceX Starship Refilling Plan Change? We believe so! Catching Arms coming soon as well. A great deal of important work has been going on and several things have to happen before SpaceX can start the fiery testing campaign of Booster 4 and Ship 20. We will discuss orbital propellant transfer and the most recent numbers regarding the Raptor design. Then of course we had the successful launch of Cygnus-16 carrying supplies for the International Space Station!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtGiMWWqvwM

[Elderberry]

Musk says Starship orbital stack to be ready for flight in few weeks

Reuters by Jahnavi Nidumolu and Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru 8/15/2021

https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/musk-says-starship-orbital-stack-be-ready-flight-few-weeks-2021-08-15/

Aug 14 (Reuters) - SpaceX founder Elon Musk said on Saturday the first orbital stack of the Starship rocket should be ready for flight in the coming weeks, taking the unorthodox billionaire a step closer to his dream of orbital and then interplanetary travel.

"First orbital stack of Starship should be ready for flight in a few weeks, pending only regulatory approval," Musk tweeted.

An orbital Starship flight is planned for year's end, and Musk has said he intends to fly Japanese billionaire entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa around the moon in the Starship in 2023.

[Elderberry]

Ship 20 Lifted Onto Pad B for Proof Testing | SpaceX Boca Chica

Aug 18, 2021 NASA Spaceflight

SpaceX moved Ship 20 to Suborbital Pad B as they prepare to pressure test its tanks. Parts for Booster 5 were spotted, work on the catch arms and Quick Disconnect arm continued. Meanwhile, construction on new hardware to test Booster 4 continued.

Video and Pictures from Mary (@BocaChicaGal and) and the NSF robots. Edited by Nate Shields.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIVvL0lXspA

[Elderberry]

SpaceX Starship & Super Heavy Orbital Timeline Update!

What about it!? Aug 17, 2021

Today we’ll talk Starship and Super Heavy timeline! How long until SpaceX lights the candle again? Heatshield, tank farm, prototype testing. What’s left to do, and can we make an educated guess as to how many more weeks? Yes, we can! Let’s find out!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBmbkK043nw

[Elderberry]

SpaceX Starship Explosive Potential, and Big Bang Theory

 Marcus House 8/24/2021

Today, we are talking about SpaceX Starship Explosive Potential and general Big Bang Theory of rockets!  Typically I don’t like to stress anyone out with such questions and I’m sure SpaceX is doing everything they possibly can to minimize any such issue from occurring in the first place. Thanks to SpaceX's iterative design the chance of a catastrophic explosion is very low, all the static fires and flight tests leave us feeling confident in the starship's first orbital flight test at least clearing the tower. However, in an unlikely event of a Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly on the pad, we were thinking about what the damage potential could be and it isn’t as easy to predict as you may think.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJUegAJTtO4

[Elderberry]

SpaceX Starship's Stage Zero Progress, CRS-23, Firefly Alpha, Astra Sideways Launch, RFA Test

 Marcus House 9/4/2021

Wow do we have a lot to share today! SpaceX Starship's Stage Zero Progress continues, CRS-23 took flight, Firefly Alpha exploded, Astra Sideways launch makes headlines, and an RFA Test (plus more). Loads of updates at Boca Chica, especially with the ground support equipment systems. Other exciting events outside Starbase as well with SpaceX’s CRS 23 mission sending cargo to the international space station yet again, but this time we have the very first use of the new droneship 'A Shortfall of Gravitas'. An eventful first launch for Firefly Alpha. We also had Astra's sideways launch creating a bit of a buzz, and some other interesting updates you may have missed as well.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu1vfEo-l0w

[Idiot]

SpaceX Starship's Stage Zero Progress, CRS-23, Firefly Alpha, Astra Sideways Launch, RFA Test

 Marcus House 9/4/2021

Wow do we have a lot to share today! SpaceX Starship's Stage Zero Progress continues, CRS-23 took flight, Firefly Alpha exploded, Astra Sideways launch makes headlines, and an RFA Test (plus more). Loads of updates at Boca Chica, especially with the ground support equipment systems. Other exciting events outside Starbase as well with SpaceX’s CRS 23 mission sending cargo to the international space station yet again, but this time we have the very first use of the new droneship 'A Shortfall of Gravitas'. An eventful first launch for Firefly Alpha. We also had Astra's sideways launch creating a bit of a buzz, and some other interesting updates you may have missed as well.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu1vfEo-l0w

They moved the booster back to the launch pad area today.  Maybe another test fit?

[Elderberry]

SpaceX Could Ignite Super Heavy Booster Raptor Engines For The First Time Next Week

TESMANIAN by Evelyn Arevalo September 11, 2021

https://www.tesmanian.com/blogs/tesmanian-blog/booster4-1

The world’s most powerful rocket will soon roar to life at SpaceX’s Starbase launch site in Texas. The monstrous Super Heavy Booster 4 will be the first rocket prototype to propel Starship (SN20) to orbit during the debut orbital flight test. It is equipped with 29 methane-fueled Raptor engines that can generate over 16 million pounds of thrust at full throttle. Engineers plan to launch the stainless-steel spacecraft to orbit from Boca Chica Beach, Texas, and conduct a soft-touchdown in the ocean near a military base off the northwest coast of Kauai, Hawaii. To prepare for this ambitious space flight they will conduct a series of ground tests. Starship SN20 and Super Heavy Booster 4 will undergo individual testing before being stacked again. “Booster static fire on orbital launch mount hopefully next week,” SpaceX founder Elon Musk shared on September 10.

The 230-foot-tall Super Heavy rocket was transported to the launch pad early September and was placed on the orbital launch tower mount to initiate its pre-flight test campaign. The first test is expected to be a cryogenic proof test during which the vehicle will be subjected to very cold temperatures and pressure with liquid nitrogen. This test is designed to assess the vehicle’s strength. If the vehicle endures this test, SpaceX will ignite Booster 4’s Raptor engines during a static-fire test, the engines will be ignited for a few seconds while the vehicle remains grounded to the mount with hold-on clamps. It is still unknown how many engines will be ignited simultaneously during the ignition test(s) [pending information]. The max number of engines that engineers have tested at once with previous Starship prototypes is three; Igniting 29 Raptors at once is an extremely powerful force to attempt to hold-down at the launch mount without causing damage to the launch pad zone. Maybe SpaceX will risk it and ignite all engines during the first test, Or maybe they plan to conduct multiple static-fire tests with a dozen engines or so. We could know this information as soon as next week!

During an interview with YouTuber Everyday Astronaut, Musk said that he hopes the launch pad area that includes all ground support equipment and ‘Stage Zero’ does not get damaged. “[…] For the first orbital launch our goal is to make it to orbit without blowing up,” Musk said in August, “And frankly, […] if the booster does its job and something goes wrong with the ship, I will still count that as great progress. “To be totally frank, if it takes off without blowing off the stand, Stage Zero, which is much harder to replace than the booster – that will be a victory. So, ‘please do not blow up on the stand,’” he said. ‘Stage Zero’ is the launch pad support structures, which include the launch tower, mount, propellant tanks, flame diverter system, among many other things surrounding the launch pad.

[Elderberry]

Blue Origin just got HUMILIATED by a new company after SpaceX. Is Any Chance for Blue Origin?

Tech Fans 9/13/2021


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWfnI5XOzJc

[Elderberry]

Blue Origin & Jeff Bezos is totally getting Crushed by SpaceX & Elon Musk.

 Tech Fans 9/15/2021


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO_1O_2HBls

[Elderberry]

Jeff Bezos Grits Teeth to Congratulate Elon Musk, Who Makes Fun of Him Constantly

But there's some speculation that he might have copied the tweet from Branson.

The_Byte by Tony Tran 9/16/2021

https://futurism.com/the-byte/bezos-congrats-musk-inspiration4

Gritted Teeth

Blue Origin CEO Jeff Bezos congratulated his rival and occasional cyberbully Elon Musk for the successful launch of Inspiration4 on Thursday — which may have been difficult for the billionaire to do, considering reports of his personal jealousy toward Musk.

“Congratulations to @ElonMusk and the @SpaceX team on their successful Inspiration4 launch last night,” Bezos tweeted. “Another step towards a future where space is accessible to all of us.”

Bad Blood

It was a surprisingly respectful move considering that there’s no shortage of bad blood between the competing billionaires — especially when you consider all of the times Musk has taken to Twitter to lob digital mud at the Amazon founder, along with Bezos’ attempts to block SpaceX from lucrative NASA contracts.

Now, with the Inspiration4 launch, SpaceX has a considerable edge on its competitors in the space tourism industry. Not only has it sent actual tourists into space, it’s sent them further and longer than Bezos’ own recent foray into space (or at least the upper atmosphere).

Copycat Congrats

There is some speculation, to be fair, that the Blue Origin chief’s tweet wasn’t entirely sincere.

For one, it came hours after fellow billionaire and space traveler Richard Branson’s tweet of congrats to Musk and his company. Bezos’ message is also suspiciously similar to Branson’s in a way that makes it seem as though he — or maybe some unidentified social media manager — simply reworded the tweet to make it sound somewhat original.

[Elderberry]

SpaceX Chief Engineer Shares Starship SN20 Passed Proof Test

TESMANIAN by Evelyn Arevalo September 30, 2021

https://www.tesmanian.com/blogs/tesmanian-blog/sn20-cryo

South Texas will become the ‘Gateway To Mars’, SpaceX is building a 21st Century Spaceport at Boca Chica Beach from where a fleet of Starships will liftoff on voyages to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. The aerospace company is in the initial phase of developing the two-stage launch vehicle. It is currently preparing to conduct the first orbital flight test during which a Super Heavy rocket booster will propel the Starship spacecraft for the first time to orbit. Engineers are working on two prototypes, Booster 4 and Starship SN20. This past week they started SN20's test campaign.

On September 27, SpaceX first tested Starship SN20’s Reaction Control System (RCS) which is a set of thrusters designed to control the vehicle in space. By Monday night, SpaceX engineers proceeded to conduct a cryogenic proof test of the Starship SN20 prototype. During the test, engineers assess the stainless-steel spacecraft’s structural integrity by filling it up with cryogenic liquid nitrogen to pressurize SN20’s tanks, they also simulate the forces of the Raptor engines. Starship will be equipped with six Raptors during the upcoming orbital flight.

Pre-flight testing is important to ensure the stainless-steel vehicle is structurally sound before it takes flight. SpaceX performed a second cryogenic proof test on Wednesday night. Soon after the test was completed, SpaceX founder Chief Engineer Elon Musk shared – “Proof was good!”

[Elderberry]

SpaceX’s first orbital Starship launch slips to March 2022 in NASA document

TESLARATI  By Eric Ralph 10/18/2021

https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-starship-first-orbital-launch-date-nasa-update/

A NASA document discussing a group’s plans to document SpaceX’s first orbital-velocity Starship reentry appears to suggest that the next-generation rocket’s orbital launch debut has slipped several months into 2022.

In March 2021, CEO Elon Musk confirmed a report that SpaceX was working towards a target of July 2021 for Starship’s first orbital launch attempt. At the time, it seemed undeniably ambitious but far from impossible. Less than half a year prior, SpaceX had kicked off a series of suborbital Starship test flights to altitudes of 10-12.5 km (6.2-8 mi). Beginning in December 2020, SN8 – effectively the first structurally complete Starship prototype – nearly stuck a landing on its first try, only narrowly falling short due to an engine and pressurization issue.

Less than two months later, SpaceX completed and launched Starship SN9 – again with a nearly flawless six-minute flight capped off with an unsuccessful landing attempt. Starship SN10 followed less than a month later and became the first prototype to land in one piece – albeit only for a few minutes. It was two weeks after that near-success – SpaceX’s third launch in as many months – that Musk revealed a goal of July 2021 for Starship’s first orbital launch. At that point in time, it appeared all but inevitable that SpaceX would be technically ready for an orbital launch before the end of the year.

[Elderberry]

How did the SpaceX Starship 20 static fire go? New Starbase Mechazilla details!

 What about it!? 10/19/2021


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cbjk8aloEM

[Elderberry]

UPDATE on Lunar Starship and Blue Origin - Congress ORDERS NASA to build second HLS with NO MONEY?!

The Angry Astronaut 10/20/2021

One of the most absurd decisions to come out of the Senate yet, and what it could mean for Artemis.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcjcL06C8IQ

[Elderberry]

Musk says Starship may be ready for orbital launch next month, but FAA review continues

Spaceflight Now October 22, 2021 Stephen Clark

https://spaceflightnow.com/2021/10/22/musk-says-starship-may-be-ready-for-orbital-launch-next-month-but-faa-review-continues/

Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of SpaceX, said Friday the company’s huge new Starship rocket could be ready for its first orbital test launch from South Texas as soon as November, but the schedule comes with two big uncertainties that may push the launch to next year.

“If all goes well, Starship will be ready for its first orbital launch attempt next month, pending regulatory approval,” Musk tweeted.

The new schedule update from Musk came the day after SpaceX test-fired the newest Starship vehicle, known as Ship 20 or SN20, at the company’s development facility near Boca Chica Beach east of Brownsville, Texas. A vacuum-rated Raptor engine, similar to the engines Starship will use in space, ignited for several seconds on a launching stand at SpaceX’s Starbase complex Thursday night.

SpaceX briefly fired the privately-developed rocket again later the same night.

It was the first test-firing of a Raptor vacuum engine mounted to a Starship rocket. The vacuum variant of the methane-fueled Raptor engine has a larger nozzle to improved performance in the airless environment of space.

Three vacuum-rated Raptor engines will fly on orbital-class Starship missions. Three sea level Raptor variants, with smaller nozzles, will be used for vertical Starship landings after returning from space.

Unlike the Starship prototypes flown on the recent atmospheric hops, Ship 20 is covered in thousands of heat-resistant tiles to protect the craft’s stainless steel structure from the scorching heat it will encounter during re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.

-----

Another schedule hurdle might be the Federal Aviation Administration, which is reviewing the environmental impacts of SpaceX’s operations in South Texas. The FAA issued a draft environmental report last month after consultation with several federal and state agencies.

The draft report marks a re-evaluation of the FAA’s original environmental impact statement before SpaceX started construction of the Boca Chica site in 2014. At that time, SpaceX planned to launch Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets from South Texas, but the scope of the project has since changed to focus on development of Starship and Super Heavy.

The FAA held public hearings Monday and Wednesday, and some 120 people voiced their opinions on the project’s environmental impacts. The public comments were more than two-to-one in favor of the FAA finalizing the draft programmatic environment assessment, and issuing SpaceX a launch license for the Starship orbital test flight.