Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, 'Out There,' was published on Nov. 13, 2018.
SpaceX just fueled up its giant Starship rocket, checking another box ahead of the vehicle's fourth test flight.at its Starbase site in South Texas today , filling both of the vehicle's stages with supercold liquid oxygen and liquid methane in a key prelaunch test.Starship's Super Heavy first stage gets frosty white thanks to the flow of supercold propellants during a fueling test on May 20, 2024., among other ambitious tasks. And the company already has customers lined up.
The vehicle consists of two stainless-steel stages, both of which are designed to be fully reusable: a huge booster called Super Heavy and a 165-foot-tall spacecraft known as Starship, or simply"Ship." When these two stages are stacked, Starship stands about 400 feet tall — higher than any rocket ever built. It's also the most powerful launcher in history, boasting about 16.7 million pounds of thrust at liftoff. That's nearly twice as much thrust as NASA's Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsThat thrust comes courtesy of Super Heavy's 33 Raptor engines. Ship, for its part, is powered by six Raptors.
SpaceX has applied for a Starship launch license modification from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration , for example, a request that is apparently still pending. The FAA is also overseeing an investigation into what happened on Starship's third flight. to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: and joined the team in 2010.
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SpaceX stacks Starship megarocket ahead of 4th test flight (video, photos)Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, 'Out There,' was published on Nov. 13, 2018.
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