The aerospace giants called to be the companies that conquer space in the next decade they are making us wait too long. I mean, just this morning, Blue Origin has once again canceled and delayed the inaugural flight of its New Glenn megarocket.
SpaceX, its most direct competition, had also planned a takeoff for this Monday, scheduled for 11:00 p.m. Spanish peninsular time. However, Elon Musk’s aerospace company announced in the early hours of the morning that The launch of Starship’s seventh test had to be postponed.
As SpaceX says in its X (Twitter) post, the company is “now targeting the Wednesday January 15 for the seventh Starship flight test.” However, they do not clarify the reasons for the delay.
Let us remember that the last Starship test flight, number six, took place on November 20 and in this launch we were not able to see Mechazilla in action, since SpaceX canceled the capture of the Super Heavy rocket with the tower. This had been achieved in the previous flight testa milestone that has undoubtedly been one of the most exciting moments in the aerospace industry of 2024.
News on Starship’s seventh test flight
As reported on the SpaceX website, the next flight test will launch a new generation ship “with significant improvements”, it will attempt the first test of Starship payload deploymentwill perform “multiple reentry experiments” oriented to the capture and reuse of ships and “launch and return Super Heavy booster”.
As we already told you in detail in 20bits, some of the most important physical changes in this flight test They are a new generation upper stage – called Starship v2, Starship 2 or Starship Block 2 -, somewhat taller and with the capacity to carry a heavier load by housing larger tanks of methane and liquid oxygen; improved tiles for its heat shield and redesigned avionics—for example, with a more powerful flight computer or an increase in the number of cameras included in the vehicle.
Regarding changes to the mission, one of the most important moments of the test will occur around minute 17 after launch, at which time Starship is scheduled to demonstrate payload deployment: will deploy 10 Starlink simulatorssimilar in size and weight to the next-generation Starlink satellites, which will be on the same suborbital trajectory as the ship, with a planned splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
It is also planned to return to firing a Raptor engine during Starship’s stay in spacejust as was done on the previous flight.
Finally, it is important to note another novelty on this flight: for the first time, SpaceX to reuse Raptor engine for Super Heavy rocket. This is a piece launched and returned in Starship’s fifth flight test. However, the use of hardware ‘old’ does not make the company lose optimism and They will try again to catch the vehicle with Mechazilla.
Of course, they warn that if the conditions for the maneuver with the tower are not met, it would be aborted and the rocket will end up in a “soft landing in the Gulf of Mexico”, as happened with test flight number six.
How to watch Starship’s seventh flight
Approximately 35 minutes before takeoff the live broadcast will begin through the SpaceX website or your profile on X.
The company has indicated that the launch window will open at 4:00 PM Central Time in the United States — that is: 23:00 Spanish peninsular time—. According to the chronology published on the SpaceX website, it is expected that the test lasts about 47 minutes.
However, “as with all development tests, the schedule is dynamic and is likely to change,” SpaceX warns in its statement. In 20bits we will inform you of any modifications and updates that may arise..
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