SpaceX
Starship Flight 8 could launch as soon as next week
SpaceX Starship Flight 8 could launch as soon as next week suggests the latest airspace advisory. The company has been preparing for this new mission to test the new upper stage and get it through orbit.
The advisory document mentioned Starship Flight Test 8 with a launch window starting February 26-27 and the backup launch dates are the following:
- Backup Launch Day (1) 27/28 Feb 2330Z-0109Z
- Backup Launch Day (2) 28 Feb/01 Mar 2330Z-0109Z
- Backup Launch Day (3) 01/02 Mar 2330Z-0109Z
- Backup Launch Day (4) 03/04 Mar 2330Z-0109Z
- Backup Launch Day (5) 04/05 Mar 2330Z-0109Z
- Backup Launch Day (6) 05/06 Mar 2330Z-0109Z
SpaceX Starship Flight 8 Launch Advisory (Source – Cadenaois)
This earliest launch date makes sense as the company has already completed static fire tests on the first and second stages. There’s an entire week to complete and integrate flight wet dress rehearsal.
Similar to the previous liftoffs, Starship Flight 8 will also launch from Starbase Texas and it will attempt vertical landing on the catch tower for the first stage.
The focus on this flight will be on the second stage, which met to blast a few minutes after hot-staging during Flight 7. However, there’s a brief history of this failure on the ship.
SpaceX Starship liftoff (Credit – SpaceX)
With the recent flight test, SpaceX employed a brand new ship with next-generation upgrades. It triggered all six-raptor engines after hot-staging for ascent burn to space. Before completing the burn, the ship blasted into the orbit entry point.
The reason behind this blast is a fire that developed in the aft section of the ship, leading to a rapid unscheduled disassembly.
SpaceX has made some improvements in this new ship for Flight 8 to fix past design flaws. So, it has better chances of measuring the sub-orbital journey and marking a reentry phase to Earth’s atmosphere. Eventually, it will perform a splashdown in the Indian Ocean to conclude the mission if everything goes right.
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