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SpaceX's Starship SN5 prototype conducted a successful 150-meter hop test on August 4:
The Starship SN5 prototype has successfully conducted a 150-meter test flight on Tuesday from SpaceX's Boca Chica test site in Texas. Monday's opening attempt was scrubbed after the Raptor SN27 engine aborted at ignition. Following an abort early in the window on Tuesday, the attempt late in the window saw SN5 take to the air and land in one piece. The hop was the first flight of a full-scale Starship tank section, clearing the way for SpaceX to attempt higher altitude flights with Starship prototypes.
[...] SpaceX had not performed a flight from their Boca Chica facility since Starhopper – a smaller-scale Starship test vehicle – hopped to 150 meters in August, 2019.
Starship SN5 features a thrust section with liquid oxygen and methane tanks stacked on top. A nose cone and aero surfaces are the only significant components missing between SN5 and a full-size Starship vehicle.
While SpaceX has not released the official height of SN5, it is estimated to be in the ballpark of 30 meters.
To perform the 150-meter hop, SN5 used Raptor SN27. While SN5's thrust section was built to support up to three Raptor engines in a triangle configuration, only one methane-fueled engine has been installed for the flight. This means that the thrust during the hop was asymmetric. The asymmetric thrust caused Starship SN5 to powerslide as it left the pad.
[...] Starship SN8 – the prototype which is currently under construction – is expected to feature three Raptor engines, a nose cone, and aero surfaces. These features would allow the vehicle to perform flight tests to much higher altitudes. However, plans are very fluid with Starship testing, so until SpaceX has had a chance to review the data from Starship SN5's hop, future testing activities remain very much in flux.
SpaceX video (1m). spaceXcentric video (2m39s). NASASpaceflight video (skips to 39:50).
Also at Teslarati, Ars Technica, and Space News.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Wednesday August 05 2020, @08:51PM
They provided more than enough thrust. There is dead weight on the top, simulating a payload of grain.
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