SpaceX is preparing for the seventh test flight of its Starship megarocket, scheduled for January 13. The launch will feature several upgrades, including redesigned forward flaps, improved propulsion and avionics systems, and the first deployment of Starlink satellites by Starship.
SpaceX is targeting Monday, January 13, for the seventh test flight of its Starship megarocket. The 120-meter-vehicle will lift off from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, as it did on its six previous test flight s. SpaceX will live stream the launch — the first Starship flight since November — from its X account, and also via its website.
The upcoming flight test will launch a new generation ship with significant upgrades, attempt Starship’s first payload deployment test, fly multiple reentry experiments geared towards ship catch and reuse, and launch and return the Super Heavy booster. SpaceX also said that the vehicle’s forward flaps have been reduced in size and moved toward the vehicle tip, away from the heat shield, a redesign that significantly reduces the flaps’ exposure to reentry heating while also simplifying the underlying mechanisms and protective tiling. Other upgrades include improvements to the propulsion system, which will bring additional vehicle performance and the ability to fly longer missions, and also to the vehicle’s avionics, which have undergone a “complete redesign.” When it reaches space, the upper-stage Starship spacecraft will deploy 10 Starlink simulators, similar in size and weight to next-generation Starlink satellites, in the first such satellite deployment by the Starship. The mission will also attempt to “catch” the returning Super Heavy booster using giant mechanical arms on the launch tower. SpaceX achieved this spectacular feat at the first attempt in the fifth test flight in October, but an anomaly during the sixth flight meant that the rocket had to come down in the Gulf of Mexic
Spacex Starship Megarocket Test Flight Upgrades Starlink Satellite Deployment Super Heavy Booster
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Watch SpaceX Starship test fire engines ahead of flight 7 launch (video)Josh Dinner is Space.com's Content Manager. He is a writer and photographer with a passion for science and space exploration, and has been working the space beat since 2016.
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