SpaceX today completed a 7-engine static fire test on its Super Heavy Booster 7 on Monday, at Starbase. The compared shared two photos of the static fire on Twitter.
Super Heavy Booster 7 completed a 7 engine static fire test at Starbase pic.twitter.com/Ak84goSydZ
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 19, 2022
As for when SpaceX will static fire all 33 Raptor engines on its Super Heavy Booster 7, CEO Elon Musk said it will happen “in a few weeks.”
Previously, the company tested a static fire of one Raptor engine on Super Heavy Booster 7. But testing 7 at one time is a new record.
“Booster 7 now returns to high bay for robustness upgrades & booster 8 moves to pad for testing,” said Musk on Monday. “Next big test is probably full stack wet dress rehearsal, then 33 engine firing in a few weeks.”
A full stack would see Starship on top of the Super Heavy Booster, while a wet dress rehearsal means a simulation of all stages of a rocket launch but without anything leaving the pad.
Booster 7 now returns to high bay for robustness upgrades & booster 8 moves to pad for testing.
Next big test is probably full stack wet dress rehearsal, then 33 engine firing in a few weeks.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 19, 2022
Check out a video of the 7-engine static fire below, captured by NASA Spaceflight; Musk replied “Chamber pressure looked good on all 7 engines”:
STATIC FIRE! Booster 7 fires up multiple engines (the target was for seven). Let's see if @elonmusk confirms all seven, (which would be a new record!)
Super cool!https://t.co/NSTKFLryfS pic.twitter.com/QM12fz11iu
— Chris Bergin – NSF (@NASASpaceflight) September 19, 2022
It’s unclear when SpaceX will be able to test the first orbital flight of its Starship rocket system, but it should happen soon, and hopefully before the end of the year or early next.
