SpaceX did a Brilliant Upgrade On Starship Booster For 33 Engines Static Fire this week
SpaceX did a Brilliant Upgrade On Starship Booster For 33 Engines Static Fire this week
Huge thanks to:
Starship Gazer: https://www.youtube.com/@StarshipGazer
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Starbase Surfer: https://twitter.com/cnunezimages
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C-bass Productions: https://www.youtube.com/@CbassProductions
Farrielle: https://twitter.com/FarryFaz
William Harwood: https://twitter.com/cbs_spacenews
ErcX: https://twitter.com/ErcXspace
Evan Karen: https://www.youtube.com/@EvanKaren
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Finally, SpaceX Booster 7 - our hero is back and better than ever with some robustness Upgrade to gear up for 33 Engines Static Fire this week!
So, what has the SpaceX team upgraded on the B7 over the past month?
Discuss everything about this in today's episode of Alpha Tech:
Until now, Booster 7 and Ship 24 continue to be cited as the pairing that will conduct the orbital test flight, with Musk citing that the latest schedule is hopeful the first orbital flight of Starship could happen as soon as next month.
"We have a real shot at late February. March launch attempt appears highly likely," Musk wrote.
Schedule clarity will be gained via the return of Booster 7 on last Sunday from its time back in the Mega Bay (High Bay 2) after it was transported away from its perch on the Orbital Launch Mount (OLM) in December.
With road closures posted for this week, we hope a big test comes soon.
Booster 7 alone completed more than 24 distinct tests (including six static fires) between early April and late November.
Now back to the main topic, let's see what's new on B7 after the latest reborn.
Firstly, have you noticed that its appearance has become more attractive?
Well, Booster 7 is surprisingly shiny. Doesn't look like there are any missing tiles now.
Yeah, SpaceX’s futuristic Starship interplanetary craft may embody the golden age of sci-fi in more ways than one: in addition to (theoretically) taking passengers from planet to planet, it may sport a shiny stainless-steel skin that makes it look like the pulp covers of old.
This is a special full-hardness steel alloy mentioned as being among the 300 series of high-strength, heat-resistant alloys — not the plentiful, pliable stuff we all have in our kitchens and buildings. Musk also ever mentioned another “superalloy” called SX500 that SpaceX’s metallurgists have developed for use in the Raptor engines that will power the vehicle.
Secondly, full engine shields.
One month ago, B7 has 20 missing panels for each of its outer Raptor engines. That engine shielding looks great now!
Any replacements would need to be modified to ensure that the ad-hoc system installed to prevent the conditions that led to Booster 7’s first explosion from recurring can still be used for future static fire tests.
But honestly, it’s unclear why SpaceX would need to reinstall those panels now for Booster 7’s upcoming 33-engine static fire(s) and a full-stack wet dress rehearsal(s) when they weren’t needed for 11 and 14-engine static fires and a dozen other fire-free tests.
SpaceX did a Brilliant Upgrade On Starship Booster For 33 Engines Static Fire this week