Elon Musk
In the latest update on Elon Musk's quest to launch the Starship Super Heavy on its first orbital test flight as soon as possible, Starship Serial No. 20 (SN20) now has all six of her engines installed, and Super Heavy Booster 4 (B4) was placed near Starbase's Orbital Launch Tower about two hours ago.
Unlike the previous Starship prototypes that took flight in Texas since last December, SN20 will not only be equipped with three sea-level Raptor engines, but it will also fly with three larger Raptor Vacuum (RVac) thrusters which will be needed for Starship to maneuver in low-Earth orbit and beyond.
All three RVac engines were installed yesterday.
And at the Orbital Launch Site a few miles from the High Bay where SN20's engines were attached, B4 has now been placed atop its Orbital Launch Table...which itself was mated to its mount near the Orbital Launch Tower less than a week ago.
Also accomplished inside the High Bay was SN20's nosecone installation, of which there are no official photos yet.
Once SN20 is completed (the remaining heat tiles need to be attached to the bottom of its fuselage), it will be rolled over to the Orbital Launch Site and mated to B4 for a photo op that will no doubt set the spaceflight community abuzz.
After the photo op, SN20 will be removed from B4 and placed on a suborbital launch mount for its own engine test firing. Both SN20 and B4 will conduct cryogenic proof tests and static fires before they're re-combined in preparation for their highly-anticipated orbital flight...which does not have a launch date yet.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk
Elon Musk
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