Photo: NASASpaceflight
SpaceX performed static fire tests on its Super Heavy Booster on Monday, after issuing an overpressure alert notice.
The static fire tests were shown and reported in a video from NASASpaceflight on YouTube, which @Elon Musk said included a full test duration of 14 different engines on the booster.
The news comes just a couple of months after SpaceX announced plans to test 33 engines, ahead of plans to help launch the company’s Starship reusable rocket — currently slated for early December.
When posting the video to Twitter, NASASpaceflight’s Chris Bergin also noted that the 14-engine static fire test represents a record-breaking amount of Raptor engines being fired at once in a test.
Full test duration of 14 engines
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 14, 2022
Earlier this month, SpaceX built its 200th MVAC and Raptor 2 engine, after rumors of the company going bankrupt and facing a crisis over the Raptor engine surfaced last year.
SpaceX also stacked the Starship rocket on the Super Heavy Booster in a test in February this year, before the company began performing static fire tests of the Raptor engines.
Upon its first launch, SpaceX plans to catch the Starship booster on the spacecraft’s first orbital flight, according to filings with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Starship’s Falcon Heavy Booster will effectively be “caught” using the SpaceX’s Starbase launch tower.
