The countdown is running again. After the eventful test flight last April, Elon Musk is trying again. Your company SpaceX has announced that this Friday at 7 a.m. local time in the United States (8 a.m. on the East Coast and 2 p.m. on the Spanish mainland) a new window will open for the second full-scale flight test of its gigantic device with an altitude of 120 and Nine meters in diameter, the Starship ship coupled with the Super Heavy fuel, the most powerful rocket in history.
The company’s announcement came shortly after the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced it would reactivate SpaceX’s permit. “The FAA has granted approval for the second launch of SpaceX’s Super Heavy Starship. “The FAA has determined that SpaceX meets all safety, environmental, regulatory and financial responsibility requirements,” the agency tweeted.
In a 45-page report, the FAA examines some of the incidents that accompanied the initial test launch and the improvements SpaceX has since implemented to prevent them from happening again. On April 20, the plane flew over the platform and beach and eventually disintegrated when it exploded over the Gulf of Mexico. The concrete launch pad was damaged during the test launch, resulting in the spread of sand and debris, some of which was deposited outside the potential debris study area evaluated in the permit. When the launch pad deck broke, the ship’s thrust also caused sand to be thrown out from under the launch pad.
Overall, SpaceX considered the launch a success because the rocket moved far enough away from the launch platform without causing damage, and the failure only occurred at a more advanced stage, when the two parts of the device were uncoupled. “Starship’s first test flight provided numerous insights that directly contributed to several improvements to both the vehicle and ground infrastructure to increase the likelihood of success on future flights,” assures SpaceX. Nevertheless, the destruction in the starting area caused a stir among the authorities, who put the now reactivated license on hold.
After the April 20 launch, the FAA says SpaceX reinforced the launch pad’s foundation with thicker concrete and additional piles and also added steel plates to the foundation. Both improvements are intended to protect the platform from possible breakage or a large cloud of dust. The steel plates contain a water cooling element that is activated to protect the steel plates during an engine ignition and to allow the plates to be reused.
SpaceX has also added a forward heat shield to the Starship/Super Heavy vehicle to provide thermal protection from the heat generated by the Starship’s engines during stage separation. The second test also introduces a new electronic thrust vector control system.
“This rapid and iterative development approach has been the foundation for all of SpaceX’s major innovative advances, including Falcon, Dragon and Starlink,” says SpaceX, which considers this system “essential” in its work to achieve a system for “fully reusable transportation.” “It is capable of carrying crew and cargo into Earth orbit and helping humanity return to the Moon and ultimately travel to Mars and beyond,” the statement announcing the launch said.
The launch window this Friday lasts two hours. About 30 minutes before launch, SpaceX will launch a live broadcast of the flight test on the Internet, both on its website and on the social network X, also owned by Musk.
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