SpaceX is gearing up to launch its fifth high-flying Starship from its rocket facilities in Texas this week.
Unlike its predecessors, this particular mega-spaceship is a relative of NASA’s next lunar lander – the vehicle that will put boots on the lunar surface for the first time since 1972.
Starship Series No. 11, or SN15, is the latest in a line of Starship prototypes that SpaceX is launching six miles above Boca Chica, Texas.
As the SN15 nears the peak of its flight, it should shut down its three truck-sized Raptor engines one by one. Then SN15 must tilt sideways and plunge back to Earth, using four wing flaps to control its fall.
As it approaches the ground, SN15 must re-ignite its engines to return itself to an upright position and gently lower to the landing pad. However, this is where its predecessors failed.
The first two prototypes that flew to high altitudes, SN8 and SN9, hit the landing pad at high speed and immediately exploded. The third, SN10, landed whole, but blew up 10 minutes later. The fourth, SN11, exploded in mid-air as it relighted its engines to land.
From left to right: the SN8, SN9 and SN10 explosions.
Gene Blevins / Reuters; SPadre.com
For SpaceX, explosions during rocket development are normal.
“They use a different development philosophy than the government, which is to fly. If something goes wrong, they try to fix it. Fly again. If something else goes wrong, they try to fix it,” said John Logsdon, George’s founder. Washington University’s Space Policy Institute and a former NASA advisory board member told Insider after the fourth Starship explosion. “People have complimented SpaceX on how fast they move.”
But, he added, “the fact that they’ve had these early development program issues means there has to be a record of success before anyone but an extreme risk taker is willing to get on board.”
Capturing the landing is even more important now that NASA has chosen Starship to land its next astronauts on the moon.
The agency announced Friday that it is working with SpaceX to convert Starship into the lunar lander that will accelerate its Artemis program, which aims to establish a permanent human presence on the moon. NASA hopes to land its first manned spaceship there in 2024, but a new report from the NASA office of the Inspector General found it “highly unlikely” that the agency will meet this deadline.
Illustration of the SpaceX Starship human lander design that will bring NASA astronauts to the lunar surface during the Artemis mission.
SpaceX
At the end of SpaceX, a big step towards the moon will be the flying and landing of starships here on Earth – without blowing them up.
However, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk has ambitions beyond the lunar surface. Ultimately, he has said, he plans to build 1,000 spaceships that will transport people and cargo to Mars and establish a settlement there.
Musk said Thursday on Twitter that the company planned to launch SN15 sometime this week. Government approvals indicate that Tuesday and Wednesday may offer flight options.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued airspace closure notices for the area Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. CT. The Cameron County Judge has also issued local road closures – another requirement for launch – from noon to 8 p.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
How to watch Starship’s flight live
As of Monday afternoon, SN15 was upright on the Boca Chica launch pad. During the test flight, SpaceX will likely live stream from that location and from cameras located in the skirt of the rocket, where the engines are located.
The close-up cameras have produced stunning images from previous Starship flights, such as the images below from SN9. (We’ll be embedding SpaceX’s live feed below once it’s available.)
Meanwhile, a few rocket enthusiasts and fans of the company are broadcasting live from Boca Chica.
NASASpaceflight broadcasters are likely to undergo a critical “static fire” engine test that SpaceX must perform prior to launch, anchoring SN15 to the launch pad and igniting the engines. It’s unclear when that will happen, but the first option is Tuesday.
LabPadre, a YouTube channel run by Louis Balderas, a Texas resident who lives across the street from Boca Chica Bay, offers six unique renderings of the Starship launch site. Below is the channel’s main 4K resolution feed.
For a further view of the launch site – broadcast from the top of a hotel resort on South Padre Island, about 6 miles away – check out SPadre’s 24-hour live feed.