SpaceX plans 11th test of Starship later this month from South Texas
When fully stacked, the 403-foot-tall Starship includes a 232-foot Super Heavy rocket and the 171-foot upper stage, where crew and cargo would someday ride.
SpaceX's Starship successfully splashed down in the Indian Ocean after launching from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, in August. SpaceX is planning the 11th flight test of Starship as early as Oct. 13 from South Texas. (Photo Credit: SpaceX | License Photo)
Oct. 3 (UPI) -- SpaceX is planning the 11th flight test of Starship, the most powerful rocket ever developed, as early as Oct. 13 from South Texas.
The private company, which is developing the fully reusable transportation system, said the launch window will open in 10 days at 6:15 p.m. CDT but said "the schedule is dynamic and likely to change." A webcast will begin 30 minutes before the window opens.
On Aug. 26, SpaceX had its most successful test of Starship, which includes the Super Heavy first stage. The booster separated from the rocket about three minutes after launch and the upper stage landed in the Indian Ocean.
When fully stacked, the 403-foot-tall Starship includes a 232-foot Super Heavy rocket and the 171-foot upper stage, where crew and cargo would someday ride.
SpaceX has conducted these tests at its complex about 23 miles from Brownsville and near the U.S.-Mexico border.
Like then, the plan is for the upper stage to land in the Indian Ocean about one hour after liftoff. The Super Heavy, like previous times, is planned to land in the Gulf of Mexico, renamed by the Trump administration as Gulf of America.
The first test was in April 2023.
The company had problems with three previous tests as the upper stage exploded.
The latest mission is designed to conduct flight experiments for the next-generation Super Heavy booster as well as stress-testing the heatshield and maneuvers that will mimic the upper stage's final approach for a future return to the launch site.
A SpaceX Starship rocket ignites on Aug 26 for the 10th flight test from Launch Complex 1 in South Texas. The 11th test is scheduled for Oct. 13. (Photo Credit: Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo)
The 11th flight tests will utilize a booster used in the eighth test.
"Its primary test objective will be demonstrating a unique landing burn engine configuration planned to be used on the next generation Super Heavy," SpaceX said. "It will attempt this while on a trajectory to an offshore landing point in the Gulf of America and will not return to the launch site for catch."
Thirteen engines will be ignited at the start of the landing burn and then transition to a new configuration utilizing five engines running for the divert phase.
Also deployed will be eight Starlink simulators, similar in size to next-generation Starlink satellites that have been launched from Florida and California.
The Starlink simulators, which will be on the same suborbital trajectory as Starship, are expected "to demise upon entry," SpaceX said.
For re-entry, tiles have been removed from Starship "to intentionally stress-test vulnerable areas across the vehicle," SpaceX said.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has sought to increase tests, which require government approval. He wants to send an uncrewed Starship to Mars as early as next year. To go to the moon or Mars, Starship will need refueling in space from a tanker.
NASA also wants to use Starship to send Artemis III astronauts from an Orion capsule in orbit to the moon as early as 2027.
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