Something went wrong when Spacex tested a prototype of the giant rocket stage Super Heavy. The fireball spread quickly – but total disaster could be avoided. CEO Elon Musk: “Actually not good”.
A large fireball occurred when Spacex on Monday conducted tests of Booster 7, a prototype of Starship’s first Super Heavy rocket launch, at the company’s Starbase facility in Texas.
The event was broadcast live by Nasa Space Flight and can be seen on Youtube:
The fire first seemed to be spreading but subsided after a while. CEO Elon Musk commented on the incident as follows: “Yep, actually not good. The team is investigating the injuries. ”
Yeah, actually not good. Team is assessing damage.
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 11, 2022
He later explained that the fireball occurred during a test of so-called rotation start (English: Spin start), which did not go as it should. At the start of rotation, a gas is used at high pressure to make the turbine pumps spin before the engines are started up, which pre-pressures the entire system and provides a more powerful start sequence, Nasa has previously explained in a blog post.
Cryogenic fuel a challenge
In the future, Spacex will not try to test the rotation start of all Super Heavy’s 33 Raptor engines at the same time, Elon Musk announced further. He also pointed out that cryogenic (heavily cooled) fuel poses a challenge because it evaporates and creates a risk of explosion when it mixes with the oxygen in the air atmosphere.
Spacex’s proprietary Raptor engine has a more or less unique design with an internal combustion cycle called full flow stepped. Elon Musk states that the start sequence is complex. Here is a description of how the engine works compared to more conventional combustion cycles.
The Moon, Mars and beyond
When Starship will be launched into orbit for the first time has not yet been decided. One month ago, Elon Musk said that the craft will be ready for launch this July, but no date has yet been set. According to Space.com it can happen within a couple of months.
The purpose of Starship is to be able to go to the moon, Mars and beyond.
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