Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, February 13, SpaceX completed the first full static ignition test of a starship / starship (Starship) last week. According to Musk, they plan to conduct their first orbital test flight next month, but he also stressed that the launch "cannot be said to be a success, it can only be guaranteed to be absolutely exciting."

Although the company has not released details of the test flight, a possible launch date appears on NASA's launch schedule-March 11. This may mean that SpaceX has notified NASA of the preliminary launch data, or it may just be a placeholder.

In last week's test, SpaceX finally tried to start all 33 engines on the starship, and the test was almost a complete success because it had met the duration requirements, except that one engine was accidentally shut down and one was artificially shut down, so only 31 engines were ignited.

Just a day earlier, SpaceX President Gwen Schottwell (Gwynne Shotwell) announced that the company would not only conduct high-temperature tests, but also try to fly in orbit next month.

Now, according to the NASA calendar, the SpaceX starship could be launched on March 11, when NASA will use WB-57 aircraft to track high-altitude objects.

CTOnews.com simple science popularization, the spacecraft in the process of re-entry due to severe friction will produce high temperature, resulting in a short period of communication interruption. Therefore, this period is often one of the most stressful periods during space missions, because the ground control team cannot contact the astronauts, and WB-57 can provide important re-entry confirmation support to the ground team during this period.

According to SpaceX, tests last week showed it generated 7.9 million pounds of thrust (50% ignited), indicating that the lift-off goal could be achieved even if the two engines were turned off.

It is worth mentioning that although only 31 engines were turned on, the starship still set a world record for igniting the most engines at the same time. If successful in the next orbital test mission, it will also set a record for the maximum thrust of the rocket.

The current record for maximum thrust is still held by the former Soviet N1 rocket, which has a designed thrust of 1020 million pounds, but unfortunately there are only four failed launch attempts.

At present, the most powerful rocket in service on Earth is the newly launched SLS, which is powered by four liquid fuel engines and two side boosters with a thrust of 8.8 million pounds. If the starship does what Musk says in this test flight, it means it will easily surpass the new record of 1530 million pounds for SLS and N1 rockets.

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