Image: SpaceX

In what is likely the biggest week in Starship development since the last flight of its full rocket, SpaceX completed two static fires of its next-generation Starship rocket down in Starbase, Texas. Both tests are major steps forward in getting both the booster and upper stage, called the ship, ready for Starship flight 12.

On Tuesday, April 14, SpaceX conducted what it calls a “full duration static fire” of its Ship 39 vehicle down at Starbase. This was the first static fire to take place at SpaceX’s Massey’s test outpost after its test stand was destroyed testing Ship 36.

One day later, SpaceX conducted another static fire test on Booster 19, this one located on Starbase’s new Launch Pad 2. This short static fire tested all 33 engines on the bottom of the booster, as well as the new pad’s deluge and detonation system.

With these two tests out of the way, both vehicles have returned to their respective MegaBays: MegaBay 1 for Booster 19 and MegaBay 2 for Ship 39. SpaceX will now perform the final checkouts of the vehicles before sending them both to Launch Site 2 for full-stack integration before launch.

Both of these vehicles are the first of Starship’s V3 configuration. The third generation of SpaceX’s Starship rocket, they are taller, more capable, and hopefully more reliable than the previous two generations.

One big upgrade for V3 Starships will be the third generation of SpaceX’s Raptor, a methane-powered engine used on both stages of the rocket. These engines have been simplified, which makes them much more reliable. Seeing both these engines side by side, it’s hard to tell they were even the same engine to begin with.

Raptor 1 (left), Raptor 3 (center), Raptor 2 (right), and Raptor 2 Vacuum (behind Raptor 2) side-by-side. Image: SpaceX

The engines are also much more powerful than previous Raptor iterations. SpaceX hopes to get as much as 300 tons of force out of each engine; so far, they have reached up to 280 tons.

Starship V3 will be a major step forward for SpaceX’s Moon and Mars plans (with new focus now being put on the Moon). Starship V3 will allow SpaceX to begin testing in-orbit refueling; it should be the version that will launch NASA’s HLS variant of the Starship vehicle for future Artemis lunar landings and will begin deploying next-generation Starlink satellites.

Space Explored’s Take

For the last few weeks, NASA‘s focus has been on Artemis 2, the first crewed mission around the Moon since Apollo. With that over, focus is back on the next steps to move Artemis forward: lunar landers.

SpaceX is a leading pain point for Artemis’ success as it, in regular Elon Musk fashion, has sailed past every milestone it said it could make. Starship has yet to make it to orbit, and we’re less than two years away from landing humans on the surface of the Moon. It still hasn’t tested the most important part to make its HLS variant work: in-orbit refueling.

It’s go time for the company you should never bet against; however, more and more times I find myself thinking to do so. Which either means SpaceX is slowly not losing its edge, or it’s about to do some absolutely great things.

Starship Flight 12, no matter the outcome, will be a great step forward for the company that hasn’t launched one of its Starship rockets in six months. It spent a lot of time refining its production and the launch infrastructure needed for the program to be a long-term success. So getting back in the saddle and getting another launch underway will do nothing but help the notion that the program isn’t stagnant.

Starship Flight 12 will hopefully be the first of many flights from Texas this year.