In preparation for the eighth spaceship launch, SpaceX is finishing up the first stage of Megarocket, or super-heavy booster, and the second stage of preflight shakedown, known simply as “ship.” So things were busy at SpaceX’s Starship Manufacturing and Test facility in Star Base, Texas.
More specifically, the company recently completed a static test fire on both ships that it tapped to fly on Starship’s next integrated test flight (IFT-8). SpaceX’s 233-foot (71 meters) Super Heavy Booster 33 Raptor engines all fired for the vehicle’s launch simulation run. “Super Heavy Full Period Static Fire Test” SpaceX was posted on X on Sunday, February 9th, with a set of photos from the pre-flight booster test.
The next step involves this particular rocket’s ship and the ultra-heavy components that progress towards the stack of vehicles.
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Super Heavy Pic.twitter.com/jwvwdyarfdfebruary Full Period Static Fire Test 2025
On Tuesday evening (February 11th), SpaceX completed engine testing for the soon-to-be-released spacecraft ship. Ship’s test stand is located just a short distance from Starbase’s launch facility. The ship’s testing lasted longer than the booster and was more dynamic. In another post from Wednesday (February 12th), SpaceX explained that the engine “recreates the various conditions seen within the propulsion system during flight” via various thrusts.
The Starship test flights gradually became more complicated as SpaceX was improved with each iteration of the vehicle. According to the company’s Wednesday post, Tuesday’s test fire also included new hardware. Soon the ship is rolled onto the launchpad, where a super heavy partner is eagerly awaited, and the two are stacked for flight. Mating, the super heavy/spacecraft stack is an incredible tower 403 feet (123 meters) tall, with only the ship taller than the statue of freedom.
Starship’s final test flight, the IFT-7, was released on January 16th, with mixed results. Previous flights saw a successful splashdown of the ship at sea, and a full return of the very heavy booster painting back to the Starbase Pad. Thanks to the “chopstick arms” at the launch tower, there was also an aerial catch of super heavy boosters. The IFT-7 successfully made a booster catch, but SpaceX lost communication with the ship about 8.5 minutes after flight. The setting was soon seen after it was broken in explosive pieces by an entire Caribbean witness as it collapsed into the atmosphere. No doubt SpaceX wants a different outcome for IFT-8.
The IFT-8 will be available for release as early as the end of February, but this will depend on several factors, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which grants the required launch licenses for SpaceX.
This marks the second launch of the spacecraft in 2025. This will slightly slow SpaceX this year from a steady pace of 25 launches the company is hoping to get off the ground.
Still, these are still test flights for the Gargantuan Rocket. The path to operational missions is one of the increased scrutiny as missions that require the ability of Starships to gradually approach the ability will be dated. So, NASA’s Artemis 3 mission scheduled for 2027 is planned to use a spacecraft to land the next astronaut on the moon.
