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SpaceX's "Water Tower" aka "Grain Silo" aka "BFR" (Big FALCON Rocket or "F word of your choice" ) Starship prototype is scheduled to make a high altitude test flight complete with landing today out at Boca Chica, Texas site. Expecting a launch sometime between 3:30pm and 4:30pm based on flight plans filed by NASA aircraft that will be monitoring the tests.
Live video at -
From SpaceX:
As early as Tuesday, December 8, the SpaceX team will make the first attempt of a high-altitude suborbital flight test of Starship serial number 8 (SN8) from our site in Cameron County, Texas. The schedule is dynamic and likely to change, as is the case with all development testing. Today’s window for the test opened at 7:00 a.m. CST and goes through 5:00 p.m. CST, and we also have opportunities available on Wednesday and Thursday. This suborbital flight is designed to test a number of objectives, from how the vehicle’s three Raptor engines perform, and the overall aerodynamic entry capabilities of the vehicle, including its body flaps, to how the vehicle manages propellant transition. SN8 will also attempt to perform a landing flip maneuver, which would be a first for a vehicle of this size. With a test such as this, success is not measured by completion of specific objectives but rather how much we can learn as a whole, which will inform and improve the probability of success in the future as SpaceX rapidly advances development of Starship.
Live video at -
From SpaceX:
As early as Tuesday, December 8, the SpaceX team will make the first attempt of a high-altitude suborbital flight test of Starship serial number 8 (SN8) from our site in Cameron County, Texas. The schedule is dynamic and likely to change, as is the case with all development testing. Today’s window for the test opened at 7:00 a.m. CST and goes through 5:00 p.m. CST, and we also have opportunities available on Wednesday and Thursday. This suborbital flight is designed to test a number of objectives, from how the vehicle’s three Raptor engines perform, and the overall aerodynamic entry capabilities of the vehicle, including its body flaps, to how the vehicle manages propellant transition. SN8 will also attempt to perform a landing flip maneuver, which would be a first for a vehicle of this size. With a test such as this, success is not measured by completion of specific objectives but rather how much we can learn as a whole, which will inform and improve the probability of success in the future as SpaceX rapidly advances development of Starship.
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