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posted by martyb on Wednesday April 29 2020, @03:01AM   Printer-friendly
from the Break-Things-and-Iterate-Past-the-Failures dept.

Starship chilled. Starship pressurized. And for the first time, it didn't explode:

This marks an important moment in the Starship program. Since November 2019, the company has lost three full-scale Starship prototypes during cryogenic and pressure tests. The most recent failure came on April 3. This is the first time a vehicle has survived pressure testing to advance to further work. Such tests are designed to ensure the integrity of a rocket's fueling system prior to lighting an engine.

SN4 passed cryo proof! pic.twitter.com/EJakThZRGF

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 27, 2020

Now, Musk said, SpaceX engineers will attach a single Raptor engine to this vehicle and conduct a static fire test. The company hopes to move forward with this test later in the week.

Should the static fire test be successful, Musk has said the SN4 vehicle will make a 150-meter "hop" test, much as the "Starhopper" prototype performed in August 2019. The company has yet to receive regulatory approval for this test, so it may not happen for several weeks.

SpaceX already has fabricated most of the parts for its SN5 vehicle, which may be the first prototype to attempt a higher flight. Musk said, if all goes well with SN4, the plan is to attach three Raptors to SN5 for a higher flight test later this spring.


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  • (Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday April 29 2020, @04:37PM

    by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday April 29 2020, @04:37PM (#988237)

    Thanks for everything TPTB do, but you all missed a good article title opportunity something like "Space-X and Chill"

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