Elon Musk wants to send the rocket the rocket up to 15 kilometers.
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Miguel Roberts / AP / SIPA
The Starship project is moving forward.
Elon Musk announced on Twitter Wednesday, November 25 that the latest prototype of the Starship rocket will take off next week, reports
Numerama
.
The boss of SpaceX stressed that the prototype called SN8 (for Serial Number 8) had perfectly passed the static firing test.
The next step is a real shot that will take the rocket up to 15 kilometers.
An altitude never reached by a Starship rocket.
This theft is important.
Elon Musk clarified the objectives: it is to check the proper functioning of the three engines during the climb, the ailerons on the cabin, the transition between the different tanks and to ensure a landing.
This is one of the peculiarities of SpaceX rockets.
They return to Earth to be recovered and thus be reused.
A real nose and fins
The SN8 is a more evolved prototype than the previous ones, thanks to its nose formed by a cone and its side fins.
This profiling should allow it to reach the 15 kilometers that are targeted, a height that can also be reached by planes.
This is less than the 18,000 meters announced in September by Elon Musk.
Starship is the future of SpaceX.
The rocket will make it possible to take people and payloads to the ISS, floating spaceports or even to the moon but also to Mars.
The launcher will be able to transport "more than 100 tonnes of payload in low earth orbit or 21 tonnes in geostationary transfer orbit", specifies
Numerama
.
1 in 3 chance of landing successfully
When an Internet user asks Elon Musk for his opinion on the chances of seeing the SN8 rocket in one piece again, the SpaceX boss says: "Maybe a one in three chance."
The boss announces that many things "have to go well" for the mission to be successful.
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