Technology
Elon Musk claims SpaceX will use a double launch pad for Starship checks, Super Powerful flights arriving in a few months
SpaceX is expected to greatly expand its Starship Production Program in more than one way in the new year. SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk said on Twitter Thursday that the company will aim to use each of its two launch pads at its construction facility in Boca Chica, Texas, with concept rockets set up on both, and that it will start developing its Super Heavy booster as soon as "a few months" from now.
SpaceX has recently set up its SN9 Starship concept (ninth in the current series) at Pad B in its Texas research facility in the Gulf of Mexico. SN9 will be next to undergo active testing, after SpaceX has successfully flown its predecessor SN8 to an altitude of around 40,000 feet, and then executes a critical belly flop maneuver that will be used to better control the powered landing of the production version. SN8 was killed when it touched down harder than expected, but SpaceX nevertheless accomplished all of its flight test goals—and more.
SN9 is first going to perform ground testing before potentially doing its own flight test later. This would provide the team with much more useful evidence to carry out additional experiments with the end aim of potentially circling a Starship concept spacecraft. Musk's tweet that two samples would be standing next to each other on Pad A & Pad B at the Boca Chica site could suggest that the rate of these test flights will ramp up to meet the fast clip SpaceX is building new rocket iterations.
News that Super Heavy will soon be undertaking trials is also a cause to get excited about 2021 for SpaceX and Starship. Super Heavy is the booster that SpaceX will ultimately use to fly Starship for orbital missions, and help accelerate it to deep space for destinations like Mars. Super Heavy will be about 240 feet tall and will have 28 Raptor engines to provide it with the lifting power required to escape Earth's gravity as it is stacked with a Starship filled with freight.
