SpaceX has conducted a successful static fire test of the engines of its Super Heavy rocket booster. The rockets are part of the company's Starship system designed to carry out space missions, including ferrying humans to Mars and the Moon. Highlighting the success, SpaceX founder Elon Musk has reiterated that its space vehicle will one day take humans to Mars.
A video of the test was tweeted by SpaceX that shows the rocket booster engines firing up for several seconds while still strapped to the ground. A huge plume of smoke is seen at the launch site. “Views from drone of Booster 7's static fire test,” the caption read.
Responding to the video, Elon Musk wrote, “One day, Starship will take us to Mars”.
The Tesla CEO has been working on his ambitious plan to set up a permanent human colony on Mars. On being asked by when he expects humans to land on Mars, Elon Musk said, in a reply to a Twitter user, “I must admit to being congenitally optimistic (SpaceX & Tesla wouldn't exist otherwise), but I think 5 years is possible and 10 years is highly likely”.
The Booster 7 Super Heavy rocket of SpaceX, the most powerful ever built by the company, consists of 33 Raptor engines. The test, conducted in Texas, was aimed at firing up all engines but only 31 could be started. While one engine was turned off before the test, another did not ignite.
“Team turned off 1 engine just before start & 1 stopped itself, so 31 engines fired overall. But still enough engines to reach orbit!” Elon Musk tweeted.
According to Space.com, the Starship space vehicle has two elements – a massive booster called Super Heavy and an upper stage named Starship. While 33 Raptor engines power the booster, the upper stage is equipped with six such engines.
