Starship/SuperHeavy | Starship Flight Test

[Elderberry]

Everyday Astronaut byAustin DeSisto April 5, 2023

Lift Off Time       (Subject to change)   April 17 2023 – 13:00 UTC | 08:00 CDT
Mission Name   Starship Flight Test
Launch Provider       (What rocket company is launching it?)   SpaceX
Customer   (Who’s paying for this?)   SpaceX
Rocket   Starship/Super Heavy
Launch Location   Orbital Launch Pad, Starbase, Texas, USA
Payload mass   N/A
Where is the spacecraft going?   Hopefully to space
Will they be attempting to recover the first stage?      No
Where will the first stage land?   It will “land” in the Gulf of Mexico
Will they be attempting to recover the fairings?   There are no removable fairings on Starship
How’s the weather looking?   TBD
This will be the:   – 1st flight of the Starship/SuperHeavy stack
– 25th mission for SpaceX of 2023
– 229th mission for SpaceX overall
– 1st orbital launch attempt from the state of Texas
– 49th flight of a liquid fueled rocket from the state of Texas
– 60th orbital launch attempt of 2023
Where to watch   Official livestream

Tim Dodd, the Everyday Astronaut, will be streaming on launch day; come ask questions and join the conversation live!

What’s All This Mean?

After years of prototype testing, crash landings, and explosions, the Super Heavy booster and Starship second stage are ready for the inaugural flight. This test flight will pave way for future missions to the Moon and Mars, but first, SpaceX must get Starship off the ground.

Due to the nature of this test flight, the launch date and time are fickle and subject to great change as SpaceX will take all precautions necessary to ensure Starship/SuperHeavy collects as much data as possible during its flight.

The vehicles set to perform this inaugural test flight are Booster 7 and Ship 24. The last ship to complete a test flight was SN15, which survived its short suborbital test hop. All of the prior ships and boosters are detailed in the History section of this article. For a comprehensive log of all testing done on Ship 24 and Booster 7, check out our Starship Orbital Launch Timeline Checklist [S24 and B7] | Live Updates article!

Starship Flight Test

With the first flight of a fully stacked Starship/Super Heavy comes various objectives and challenges. The end goal of this mission is for Ship 24, also known as “Starship” or the upper stage, to successfully reenter the atmosphere and land about 100 km (62 mi) off the coast of Kauai. Kauai is an island in the Hawaiian islands chain located in the Pacific Ocean. Currently, there is no known payload on Ship 24; the payload bay door has been welded shut.

After stage separation, Booster 7 will perfrom a boostback burn and attempt a soft water landing in the Gulf of Mexico. If Ship 24 makes it to reentry, it will not attempt a soft water landing; meaning it will not splash down under the power of engines.

Recently posted exclusion zones and other notices give a greater indication of the trajectory that Starship will take. It will fly slightly South of East, just over the northern tip of Cuba. Starship will then travel across the southern Atlantic Ocean and pass over Namibia before traveling over the Indian Ocean. The final piece of land Starship is expected to pass over is Indonesia before heading out over the Pacific Ocean, and reentering near Hawaii.

The Pad

In the days prior to launch, Ship 24 will be placed on top of Booster 7 via the chopstick arms, also known as Mechazilla. Once on top, the arms will release and open wide near the top of the tower in order to get as far away from the stack as possible. These chopstick arms are designed to catch both the booster and ship on future missions.

In the weeks after the 31-engine static fire and leading up to launch, SpaceX has been installing enhanced shielding on the Orbital Launch Table in order to provide better protection during launch. There is no flame diverter, unlike on other launch pads, so the exhaust from all 33 engines will be able to spread in all directions.

Launch Viewing

The closest in-person viewing point is expected to be on South Padre Island about eight kilometers (five miles) away. Despite uncertainties in the exact dimensions of the exclusion zone, it will be large due to the size of Starship/SuperHeavy and the fact that it is an unproven rocket.

If attending in person is not an option, Everyday Astronaut will be live on location from Studio B with views all around the island and pad. Tim will be available to answer questions. A livestream link can be found here once we get closer to launch.

SpaceX is also expected to have an official live stream.

Starship/Super Heavy

For the past seven years, SpaceX has been developing their facility in Boca Chica, Texas. They have dubbed it “Starbase” and it contains tents, bays of various heights and widths, as well as all the infrastructure to produce the world’s largest and most powerful rocket. Information on the test campaign and the construction of Ship 24 and Booster 7 can be found in the “History” section below.

The full stack consists of two vehicles, each with different jobs relating to the launch process. On the bottom is the booster, also known as Super Heavy, which makes up about 58% of the full stack. The orbital ship rests on top of the booster to enable easy separation during staging.

The Booster

The booster, or bottom part of the rocket, is powered by 33 Raptor 2 engines formed in a series of rings standing 69 m (230 ft) tall. To fuel all 33 engines, uses a liquid oxygen (LOx) tank and a methane (CH4) tank on the bottom and top, respectively. The booster is fueled by the Booster Quick Disconnect (BQD) which is located on the Orbital Launch Table and connects to the booster near the bottom.


Layout of all 33 Raptor engines on the booster. (Credit: SpaceX)

All 33 sea-level Raptor 2 engines are arranged in three clusters or rings. The three inside engines form a triangle and have the ability to gimbal. The next ring contains 10 engines which also have the ability to gimbal. Finally, the outer ring contains the remaining 20 engines that do not have the ability to gimbal.

The Ship

The Ship, or top part of the rocket, is powered by three sea-level Raptor 2 engines, and three vacuum optimized Raptor 2 engines, and stands 50 m (160 ft) tall. The three vacuum optimized engines have elongated bells to adapt to the lack of air pressure in space. To learn more about Raptor engine development, check out Everyday Astronaut’s video “How SpaceX Is Upgrading Raptor To Be The Ultimate Rocket Engine!“

On the bottom of the ship is a skirt which encloses the engines and provides a structural element for the booster and ship to connect. Unlike the Falcon 9, the interstage section on starship is on the ship and the top of the booster is the top bulkhead. During stage separation, the booster will perform a kick and flip maneuver to separate the ship from the booster. Using the inertia of the kick from the booster, the ship will separate and then ignite all six engines to continue on its path to orbit.

More: https://everydayastronaut.com/starship-superheavy-orbital-flight-test/