Watch SpaceX blast its megarocket engines in spectacular test

SpaceX recently lit all 33 Raptor engines on the Super Heavy booster in a static fire test ahead of its fourth flight.

The tethered test took place at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, and was performed without the Starship spacecraft atop the booster. The company shared a video showing the engines firing up:

Static fire of the Flight 4 Super Heavy booster pic.twitter.com/6KMgvKSmSK

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 6, 2024

It also posted some dramatic images captured during the same test:

Additional views from today’s Super Heavy static fire pic.twitter.com/jSmw7UxKF8

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 6, 2024

Once SpaceX receives launch permission from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), SpaceX will lift the Starship into position. Fully stacked, the vehicle is known as the Starship, and with 17 million pounds of thrust at launch, the rocket is the most powerful rocket ever to fly.

Its first test flight took place in April last year but lasted only a few minutes before an anomaly prompted SpaceX engineers to blow up the rocket. Seven months later, in November, the Starship flew again. That time it managed to achieve stage separation but once again, the vehicle failed relatively early on.

After much work, the third test took place in March and was by far the Starship’s most successful flight to date, completing many of the mission’s objectives. SpaceX said the fourth flight could launch in May, subject to approval from the FAA.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said recently that for the fifth flight, he wants to attempt to land the first-stage Super Heavy booster back at Starbase in the same way that SpaceX lands its smaller Falcon 9 rocket shortly after launch, a process that paves the way for repeated use of the same components, thereby cutting costs. It could also attempt to land the Starship spacecraft in a test in 2025. At the current time, both parts of the Starship are designed to fall into water at the end of their respective flights.

Musk also said that he wants to increase the frequency of Starship tests as it seeks to prepare a modified version of the Starship spacecraft to land NASA’s Artemis III astronauts on the moon in a mission currently targeted for September 2026. Looking further ahead, the megarocket could also be used to carry the first humans to Mars.

Editors’ Recommendations

SpaceX shares stunning night shot of its Super Heavy booster

SpaceX already has a date in mind for next Starship launch

SpaceX shares awesome rocket imagery from Starship flight

SpaceX’s Starship reaches orbit on third test flight

Watch SpaceX’s cinematic video previewing Starship megarocket test

Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…

How to watch SpaceX launch the third flight of its Starship rocket on Thursday

SpaceX has announced when it will hold the next test of its Starship rocket. Itwill be the third test flight of the vehicle to date. The launch aims to send the vehicle, consisting of the Super Heavy booster and the Starship spacecraft, on a new trajectory, with a splashdown in the Indian Ocean.

SpaceX will be live-streaming the launch, and we have the details on how to watch below.

SpaceX’s mighty Starship rocket stacked for 3rd test flight

SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft stacked atop the Super Heavy booster ahead of its third test flight. SpaceX

SpaceX has stacked the Starship rocket in preparation for its third test flight.

How to watch homecoming SpaceX astronauts fly overhead on Tuesday

SpaceX’s Crew-7 astronauts undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) at 11:20 a.m. ET on Monday after a six-and-a-half-month stay aboard the orbital outpost.

NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov are expected to splash down in the Gulf of Mexico at around 5:50 a.m. ET on Tuesday morning. If the skies are clear, folks in more than a dozen states will be able to witness the crew’s homecoming as the capsule flies overhead.