SpaceX has released epic footage showing the assembly of a new instance of Starship. The video demonstrates how the manipulators of the 140-meter Mechazilla tower install a prototype spacecraft on a Super Heavy booster.
Currently, SpaceX specialists are actively working on the preparation of a new Starship test. They recently conducted a successful burnout of the spacecraft’s engines. Now the refueling test is next, when the Super Heavy and Starship tanks will be filled with 4,600 tons of liquid oxygen and methane.
If the refueling test is successful, the last key test will be the simultaneous burning of 33 Raptor engines installed on the Super Heavy. After that, SpaceX will have to get permission to fly from the US Civil Aviation Administration (FAA). It is expected that it will be issued in late May or early June.
The main task of the fourth Starship flight will be to enter the atmosphere. During the previous test, the spacecraft collapsed at this stage. SpaceX hopes that the changes made to the design and thermal protection of the spacecraft will allow Starship to successfully survive entry into the atmosphere. At the same time, the rescue of the prototype is still not planned. Even if the Starship does not burn up in the atmosphere, it will inevitably collapse during the landing.
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