SpaceX Initiates Starship SN20 Testing To Prepare For Orbital Flight

Featured Image Source: @StarshipGazer via Twitter 

On Monday, September 27, SpaceX initiated Starship SN20’s testing campaign to prepare for an orbital flight test. If the stainless-steel spacecraft prototype passes all pre-flight testing it will be propelled to orbit by a Super Heavy Booster for the first time. The debut orbital flight attempt is planned to liftoff from Starbase launch site in South Texas and Starship SN20 will attempt to soft-land in the ocean off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii. Before the ambitious flight, SpaceX needs to test both vehicles separately to ensure each is structurally sound to take flight.

Starship 20 heat shield and all thrust simulators installed:

~ 8:00 am 9/27/21 pic.twitter.com/hq9ieQtMfI

— Starship Gazer (@StarshipGazer) September 27, 2021

SpaceX engineers first tested Starship SN20’s Reaction Control System (RCS) which is a set of thrusters designed to steer/control the vehicle in space. Boca Chica photographers captured footage of the vehicle’s RCS thruster testing, shown below. Starship SN20’s back side is covered in black heat tiles designed to withstand extremely hot temperatures to protect the structure from burns upon atmospheric reentry. During the RCS testing, SN20 lost a few heat tiles. –“Headed tank vent knocked off a few tiles,” SpaceX founder Elon Musk shared via Twitter.

Headed tank vent knocked off a few tiles

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 27, 2021

Rocket science YouTuber Everyday Astronaut asked Musk, “How’re the titles gonna stay on during ascent?” he wrote, “I’m still a little surprised nature didn’t have the right idea and do the tiles more like scales. On ascent there’d be less room for aerodynamic forces to rip them off and it’d allow for expansion and contraction of the steel,” Everyday Astronaut suggested. “If tiles are not super thin, you get hot plasma ‘waterfalling’ off edges of tiles, creating hotspots,” Musk said in response, “That said, I’m not entirely convinced that this couldn’t be done with several overlapping scales of metal sheet with an insulator between scale armor & primary structure.”

If tiles are not super thin, you get hot plasma “waterfalling” off edges of tiles, creating hotspots.

That said, I’m not entirely convinced that this couldn’t be done with several overlapping scales of metal sheet with an insulator between scale armor & primary structure.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 27, 2021

Later on Monday night, SpaceX engineers proceeded to conduct a cryogenic proof test of the Starship SN20 prototype. During the test, engineers assess the stainless-steel spacecraft’s structural integrity by filling it up with sub-chilled liquid nitrogen to pressurize SN20’s tanks and they also simulate the forces of the Raptor engines. Starship will be equipped with six Raptors. The company has only flown prototypes with three Raptors, when Starship SN20 flies to orbit it will utilize vaccuum-optimized Raptors (R-Vac) for the first time. These R-Vac engines have a much larger nozzle than sea-level Raptors for atmospheric flight.

Ship 20 into proof testing! https://t.co/9oVsusNUQU pic.twitter.com/D9Gyp0X7Sn

— Chris Bergin - NSF (@NASASpaceflight) September 28, 2021

We can expect to see Starship testing activity pick up at Starbase in the weeks ahead. SpaceX is still pending regulatory approval from U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to launch Starship. The FAA is conducting an environmental review of the SpaceX site at Boca Chica to ensure the company can run safe operations at the village that is situated close to a public beach and a wildlife refuge. SpaceX also needs to conduct pre-flight testing on the gigantic Super Heavy Booster that will propel Starship SN20 to orbit. If all goes according to plan, we could see a fully-stacked launch vehicle soar to orbit before this year ends.

Featured Image Source: @StarshipGazer via Twitter