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Dec. 5, 2020
Starship - SN8 ready for highest altitude test
The latest SpaceX Starship prototype could reach the highest altitude yet though its test flight has been pushed back to Monday.
Following a successful static fire test last week, CEO and founder Elon Musk tweeted that SpaceX is ready to launch its heavy-lift rocket to 50,000 feet. But that has since been trimmed to about 41,000 feet.
Starship static fire test
The SpaceX Starship launch will test the rocket's "3 engine ascent, body flaps and transition from main to header tanks & landing flip."
The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday the launch window opens Friday and closes Sunday. But that was pulled in favor of the new Monday timeline.
Starship - SN5 - 150m Flight Test
Starship has flown three prior test flights with a max height of 500 feet at its south Texas test flight facility.
Musk tweeted last week that there was a one in three chance that the Starship would land in one piece but said more prototypes have been built for future tests.
SpaceX Starship Delays
The SpaceX Starship is being designed as a deep-space spacecraft to travel to the moon and colonize Mars. But it is also envisioned as a heavy-lift launcher to put payloads in orbit as well as a hypersonic intercontinental passenger vehicle.
SpaceX Starship description
The final version of the rocket will have six Raptor engines, which will help it carry up to 100 people into space.
At the virtual Humans to Mars Summit in September, Musk said that the SpaceX Starship would make its first orbital flight "probably next year."
Starship Launch Animation
The SpaceX Starship is scheduled to send Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa and other passengers on a trip around the moon in 2023. But that timeline is in question as Musk predicted Starship will do "hundreds of missions with satellites before we put people on board."
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