SpaceX Transports Super Heavy Booster To The Launch Pad To Initiate Pre-flight Tests

Featured Image Source: @StarshipGazer via Twitter 

SpaceX is preparing to conduct the first orbital Starship flight during which the spacecraft will liftoff from South Texas to orbit and splashdown off the northwest coast of Kauai, Hawaii. It will be the first time the company attempts to propel Starship to orbit with a Super Heavy rocket. Engineers fully-stacked the world’s tallest launch vehicle for the first time on August 6 during a fit test. Musk said that it was a “Dream come true” to see the vehicle he designed in its full form. “An honor to work with such a great team,” he said last month. The 394-foot-tall vehicle was then unstacked and transported back to the assembly facility where engineers have worked on the vehicles for the past month.

Booster 4 rolling: pic.twitter.com/gw6uT58WeH

— Starship Gazer (@StarshipGazer) September 7, 2021

Today, September 7, SpaceX transported the Super Heavy Booster 4 prototype back to the launch pad to initiate pre-flight tests ahead of the debut orbital flight attempt. The gigantic rocket is equipped with 29 powerful methane-burning Raptor engines. A local Boca Chica photographer StarshipGazer captured images of the 230-foot-tall stainless-steel rocket rolled out from the Starbase assembly facility to the launch pad. Booster 4 will propel Starship SN20 to orbit sometime before this year ends, if SpaceX receives all the necessary regulatory approvals and if the vehicle passes all pre-flight ground tests. The company is also pending an environmental review by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that needs to give SpaceX the green-light for launch.

Booster 4 getting closer to destination: pic.twitter.com/eGiQ3uGONX

— Starship Gazer (@StarshipGazer) September 7, 2021

Starship SN20 is already at the launch pad as well. Both, SN20 and Booster 4 are expected to undergo separate pre-flight testing campaigns. Each vehicle will undergo a cryogenic proof test and a static-fire test of their engines in the weeks ahead. Starship SN20 is equipped with 6 Raptors, three are vacuum-optimized Raptors specially designed for propulsion in space. The company has never fired over three engines simultaneously, Booster 4 has 29 Raptors, it is unclear how many will be fired at a time during pre-flight testing. All engines combined can produce over 16 million pounds of thrust! In the days ahead, teams will place the enormous rocket on the orbital lauch mount to initiate testing.

Booster 4 moving towards the orbital launch mount:

9:56 am pic.twitter.com/OfrbrcEaxf

— Starship Gazer (@StarshipGazer) September 7, 2021

Musk is confident that the company will have a space-ready Starship launch system before the year 2023. Japanese Entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa booked the first Starship voyage around the moon by then. NASA also targets to land astronauts on the lunar surface by 2024 aboard a lunar-optimized Starship Human Landing System (HLS). The agency awarded SpaceX $2.9 million HLS contract to develop the lunar lander. SpaceX and NASA hope to build a permanent base on the moon.

Booster 4 sitting near the launch mount now:

10:07 am 9/7/21 pic.twitter.com/5wpwb8G5wQ

— Starship Gazer (@StarshipGazer) September 7, 2021

All Featured Images Source: @StarshipGazer via Twitter