SpaceX Prepares the Pad for the Fourth Starship Mission by Moving the Super Heavy Rocket

SpaceX is still preparing for the next Starship megarocket test launch.

Super Heavy, a 33-engine booster, is the first stage of a Starship, and SpaceX said on Thursday, April 4, that it has been relocated to the launch pad at its Starbase location in South Texas.

recently posted two images of the enormous stainless-steel booster held in the “chopstick” arms of the tower at the orbital launch mount of Starbase.

It is most likely being done in preparation for a prelaunch test called a static fire, in which Super Heavy will be tethered to the pad and its 33 Raptor engines will burn for a brief period of time.

A 165-foot-tall (50-meter-tall) upper-stage spacecraft that will sail with this Super Heavy on the fourth Starship test mission has previously been through static burns by SpaceX.

According to SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell’s statement from last month, that mission may launch as early as May.

To transport people and goods to the moon, Mars, and beyond, SpaceX is building Starship, the largest and most potent rocket ever constructed. Starship is a fully reusable vehicle.

To date, Starship has launched three times: on March 14, 2023, November 20, and April 14, 2023. With each subsequent flight, the megarocket has performed better, albeit none has been completely effective.

On its first mission, Starship’s two stages did not split as expected, and after only four minutes, SpaceX purposefully destroyed the spacecraft. Although there was a satisfactory stage separation on the flight in November, the mission ended eight minutes after takeoff.

On the other hand, the flight on March 14 lasted about 50 minutes. During that period, the upper stage of the starship achieved several firsts, such as opening its payload doors in space, before ultimately disintegrating upon reentering Earth’s atmosphere.