NASA expects SpaceX to be ready to attempt a first orbital flight of its Starship vehicle, an essential element in the agency’s Artemis lunar exploration plans, as soon as early December, pending tests and
regulatory approvals.
That schedule is dependent on several upcoming milestones, including a static-fire test of all 33 Raptor engines in the Super Heavy booster
designated Booster 7. SpaceX has yet to fire all 33 Raptor engines simultaneously, having done tests of up to seven engines at a time as
well as a “spin prime” test where the engines’ turbopumps are turned on and propellant flowed through the engines without igniting them.
https://tinyurl.com/2avty6yo
The outcome of this test may well change the future of rocketry from
single use and dispose to reuse of all rockets stages multiple times
bringing costs down allowing robust rocket fleets to explore the Moon
and Mars and might well but a dagger into the single use of the
Frankenstein SLS that auditors put costs at over 2 billion!
--
Frank Howell
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