SpaceX’s Starship megarocket, made up of SpaceX’s Super Heavy Version 3 (V3) booster and Starship, completed its launch rehearsal today in preparation for liftoff as soon as May 19. At nearly 150 meters tall, the Starship V3 is the tallest rocket ever assembled. It is designed to haul up to 150 metric tons of cargo into space in its fully reusable configuration.
Credit: SpaceX
This marks the first time the upgraded Starship V3 configuration has been fully fueled in an integrated stack. V3 also represents a redesign intended to improve payload capacity, reliability and reusability. The wet dress rehearsal (WDR) was conducted on the newly built Pad 2 at Starbase, Texas.
The Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle is designed to provide a fully and rapidly reusable transportation system to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon and Mars.
The wet dress rehearsal
The WDR involved a full flight countdown and the loading of over 5,000 metric tons of supercooled liquid methane and liquid oxygen into the stacked vehicle. The test validates that the fueling systems, ground support equipment and software can handle the thermal and mechanical stresses of the mission.
Before the WDR, SpaceX technicians identified a fault in one of the skates, the vertical rails that allow the arms to slide up and down the tower. The skate was removed and replaced with a backup.
The successful test follows a previous attempt on May 9, which was aborted due to unfavorable telemetry data.
The next step is a static fire test of Booster 19’s Raptor engines. SpaceX has set an initial target launch date of May 15, which is subject to change. Navigational warnings issued to mariners (NOTAMs) now indicate a target of No Earlier Than (NET) May 19.
