Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Image credit: SpaceX

The eighth flight test of the SpaceX Starship is preparing to launch no earlier than March 3. The launch window will open at 5:30 p.m. Central (Texas) Time.

Due to the loss of Starship on flight test seven, several hardware and operational changes have been made to increase reliability of the upper stage.

“The upcoming flight will target objectives not reached on the previous test,” the SpaceX posting notes. They include:

• Starship’s first payload deployment involves four Starlink simulators that will be on the same suborbital trajectory as Starship and are expected to demise upon entry.
• Multiple reentry experiments geared towards returning the upper stage to the launch site for catch.

Image credit: SpaceX

Extensive upgrades

Starship’s upper stage that debuted on the previous flight test, focused on adding reliability and performance across all phases of flight.

“Starship’s forward flaps have been upgraded to significantly reduce their exposure to reentry heating while simplifying the underlying mechanisms and protective tiling,” SpaceX explains.

There are also redesigns to the propulsion system, including a 25 percent increase in propellant volume over previous generations. These redesigns add additional vehicle performance and the ability to fly longer duration missions.

Image credit: SpaceX/Inside Outer Space screengrab

Furthermore, the vehicle’s avionics has undergone a complete redesign, adding additional capability and redundancy for increasingly complex missions like propellant transfer and ship return to the launch site.

Vehicle and pad criteria

The upcoming test flight also includes the launch, return, and catch of the Super Heavy booster.

The Super Heavy booster for this flight features upgraded avionics, including a more powerful flight computer, improved power and network distribution, and integrated smart batteries.

“Distinct vehicle and pad criteria must be met prior to the return and catch of the Super Heavy booster, requiring healthy systems on the booster and tower and a final manual command from the mission’s Flight Director,” the SpaceX posting observes.

Refueling in space.
Image credit: SpaceX

If this command is not sent prior to the completion of the boostback burn, SpaceX adds, or if automated health checks show unacceptable conditions with Super Heavy or the tower, “the booster will default to a trajectory for a soft splashdown in the Gulf of America.”

Given a go to catch the Super Heavy booster, several radar sensors will once again be tested on the launch and catch tower’s chopsticks with the goal of increasing the accuracy when measuring distances between the chopsticks and a returning vehicle.

Flight test 7 image.
Image credit: SpaceX

Starship 7 leftovers arc into the Atlantic near the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Image credit: Dean Olson

Unpredictable

Lastly, as pointed out by the SpaceX posting, “developmental testing by definition is unpredictable.”

“But by putting flight hardware in a flight environment as frequently as possible, we’re able to quickly learn and execute design changes as we seek to bring Starship online as a fully and rapidly reusable vehicle,” the SpaceX overview statement concludes.

A live webcast of the flight test will begin about 40 minutes before liftoff, now slated for Friday, February 28, pending regulatory approval. The launch window will open at 5:30 p.m. Central (Texas) Time.

The flight test can be viewed on X @SpaceX. You can also watch the webcast on the X TV app. The live broadcast can also be viewed at:

https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-8

To read an update on the seventh test flight, go to:

https://www.spacex.com/updates/#flight-7-report

Image credit: SpaceX