(Washington) SpaceX reached an important milestone in the development of its Starship mega-rocket, intended to take humans to the Moon and Mars, on Thursday by carrying out an impressive ground test of its engines, paving the way for a possible first orbital flight. next month.
For a few seconds, with a huge roar, the rocket’s first-stage Raptor engines ignited, forming a huge ball of fire and sending a thick cloud of smoke over the SpaceX base in Boca Chica, in the far south of the Texas.
A total of 31 of the 33 engines ignited, company boss Elon Musk said on Twitter. “But that’s enough engines to reach orbit!” he exclaimed.
One of them was turned off by SpaceX teams “just before the start” of the test, and one engine “stopped on its own”, he detailed.
This launcher has never flown in its complete configuration, with its first stage, called Super Heavy and 69 meters high.
Only the Starship spacecraft, the rocket’s second stage, made suborbital test flights, several of which ended in impressive explosions.
In early February, Elon Musk tweeted that “if all remaining tests go well,” a Starship launch with Super Heavy would be attempted in March.
Starship was chosen by NASA to land its astronauts on the Moon during the Artemis 3 mission, which is officially scheduled to take place in 2025.
But the road is still long.
“We don’t want the 15e flight carries people”, but rather “the 100e or the 200e “, said Wednesday at a conference in Washington Gwynne Shotwell, the number 2 of SpaceX. “We should be able to have hundreds of flights before getting people to the moon, that’s the goal. »
She said the rocket would first carry the company’s satellites, for its Starlink constellation providing internet from space.
Last year, US billionaire Jared Isaacman announced a partnership with SpaceX for three space missions, the last of which is to be Starship’s first manned flight.
Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, then American entrepreneur Dennis Tito (the first space tourist in history), also announced that they would board this rocket for a trip around the Moon.
“We designed Starship to be as close to airline operations as possible,” explained Mr.me Shotwell, speaking ultimately of “tens” or even “hundreds” of take-offs per day.
Both rocket stages must be salvaged and reusable. According to SpaceX, it must allow humanity to colonize Mars.