On September 8, while testing the engines of the prototype Starship spacecraft, a fire broke out at the SpaceX Starbase site in South Texas. All six Raptor engines on the SpaceX Ship 24 briefly caught fire in a controlled manner. The test marked another step towards the launch of the spacecraft, which plans to make the first-ever orbital test flight of the Starship program in the coming months.
The engines only worked for a few seconds. But after their shutdown, the flame from the high temperature continued to burn on the territory of Starbase, which caused a fire of dry grass around the base. The local fire service was called for precautionary measures. The fire was quickly extinguished. At the same time, the engine test was considered successful. This is the second successful test of the engines after August 9, when the first launch was made.
Starship is SpaceX’s next-generation transportation system for deep space. The spacecraft is designed to deliver people and payloads to the Moon, Mars and to remote regions of the Solar System. Starship consists of two parts that can be reused. Both parts are equipped with powerful Raptor engines: the first stage called Super Heavy and the Starship spacecraft itself. SpaceX is preparing for the iconic Starship orbital flight, which will involve Ship 24 and Super Heavy, known as Booster 7.
SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk has said that Starship has the potential to open up the heavens, making colonization of Mars and other daring exploration exploits economically feasible. If all goes according to plan, Starship will land the first NASA astronauts at the south pole of the moon in 2026.
Earlier we reported on how SpaceX Raptor engines were compared to an army of killer robots.
According to Space
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