SpaceX to static fire Starship 5 for the second time

SpaceX is ready to static fire the Starship 5 spacecraft for the second time as it is transporting the ship to Masseys for the upcoming test flight 5.

Visuals shared by @nasaspaceflight reveal Ship 30 coming out of the Starship factory en route to Boca Chica Starbase. Last month, the company conducted the first static fire on this new ship and posted a close-up shot of firing those 6 Raptor engines.

The test was successful and the ship rolled back to the factory for new fine tuning. However, the company has replaced one Raptor engine and brought it back to test its operations.

These six engines consist of three staged-combustion Raptor engines with methane-oxygen propellant. These engines lead the ship into orbit after hot-staging.

The other three are vacuum engines with larger expansion nozzles to improve efficiencies and generate 258 tf of thrust each. The new test will ensure that all engines are nominal and fire on time to support the ship in orbit.

Bottom View of Starship 5 Spacecraft during Static Fire Test at Boca Chica Starbase (Source – SpaceX)

Starship Flight 5 Objectives

Starship 5 spacecraft will once again face off with high heat during re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. During the fourth flight, Starship 4 made its way through the maximum temperature and marked a splashdown in the sea.

However, this accomplishment remains incomplete due to losing heat-shield tiles and distant landing from the targeted splash zone. Refraining from tile damage and achieving targeting landing will be important for Starship 5.

Unfortunately, the spacecraft is not ready to land on the tower and has to accomplish these two milestones. But, Super Heavy will attempt a tower landing and the arm will catch it soon after landing burn.

Elon Musk, SpaceX’s CEO, Elon Musk predicts that the booster has more than a 50 percent chance of achieving vertical landing. Meanwhile, the company is waiting for an FAA license to launch the fifth flight and the nearest launch date could be late August or early September.