SpaceX will run out of one of three Raptor engines Starship SN10 prototype, which probably makes the vehicle’s high-altitude test flight a bit slower.
The decision to trade was made yesterday (Feb. 23), shortly after SN10 (“Serial Number 10”) first ignited its engines in a “static fire” test at SpaceX’s facilities in South Texas.
“One of the bikes is suspicious, so we trade it,” said the company’s founder and CEO Elon Musk said yesterday via Twitter
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The static fire was part of SN10’s preparatory work for a roughly 6-mile (10-kilometer) aerial test hop off Texas, which could have happened already on Thursday (February 25). The engine change will probably slow down the flight a bit, but it’s unclear how much; Musk did not mention a new timeline.
SN10 will be the third prototype of the spaceship to fly that high. The SN8 and SN9 vehicles operated similar flights on December 9, 2020 and February 2, respectively. Both flew well to the end, and already fell off many milestones crashing on the landing zone
As with SN10, the path to the flight of SN9 included an engine change. SpaceX replaced two of SN9’s three engines after the vehicle made three static fires in quick succession on January 13.
SpaceX is developing Starship to take people and cargo to the Moon, Mars and beyond. The system consists of two reusable elements: a 50 meter long spacecraft called Starship and a giant rocket called Super Heavy. The final Starship will have six Raptors, and Super Heavy will be powered by about 30 of the engines, Musk said.
SpaceX wants a prototype Starship to make an orbital test flight sometime this year. And Musk recently said he thinks it will be the last vehicle operational in 2023
Mike Wall is the author of “Outside(Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the quest for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.