SpaceX is set to test its first attempt of Starship SN8’s high-altitude flight test on Tuesday, December 8, with live coverage starting at 6am PT/9am ET.
According to SpaceX, it will “make the first attempt of a high-altitude suborbital flight test of Starship serial number 8 (SN8) from our site in Cameron County, Texas. The schedule is dynamic and likely to change, as is the case with all development testing.”
First attempt of Starship SN8’s high-altitude flight test as early as tomorrow → https://t.co/EewhmWmFVP https://t.co/twxwPA6jkO
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 7, 2020
“This suborbital flight is designed to test a number of objectives, from how the vehicle’s three Raptor engines perform, and the overall aerodynamic entry capabilities of the vehicle, including its body flaps, to how the vehicle manages propellant transition. SN8 will also attempt to perform a landing flip maneuver, which would be a first for a vehicle of this size,” explains SpaceX.
You can see a breakdown of Starship and Superheavy prototypes below:
The current status of SpaceX's Starship & Superheavy prototypes. 5th December pic.twitter.com/J4alSB33Rr
— Brendan (@_brendan_lewis) December 5, 2020
SpaceX adds, “with a test such as this, success is not measured by completion of specific objectives but rather how much we can learn as a whole, which will inform and improve the probability of success in the future as SpaceX rapidly advances development of Starship.”
The Starship prototype SN8 is set to fly 12.5 km (7.7 miles) up in the air and attempt to land. Two previous Starship 500-foot test hops were successful in the past, using just one one of SpaceX’s Raptor engines. For SN8, three Raptor engines will be tested simultaneously. SpaceX has built numerous prototypes to test and learn from their Starship mistakes.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said in late November SN8 has “maybe 1/3 chance” of landing in one piece.
Lot of things need to go right, so maybe 1/3 chance
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 25, 2020
You can watch SpaceX and its live Starship high-altitude flight test below at the company’s Boca Chica, Texas test facility, starting as soon as tomorrow at 6am PT/9am ET and 3pm PT/6pm ET:
https://youtu.be/nf83yzzme2I
