In what is likely the biggest week in Starship development since the last flight of its full rocket, SpaceX completed two static fires of its next-generation Starship rocket down in Starbase, Texas. Both tests are major steps forward in getting both the booster and upper stage, called the ship, ready for Starship flight 12.
On Tuesday, April 14, SpaceX conducted what it calls a “full duration static fire” of its Ship 39 vehicle down at Starbase. This was the first static fire to take place at SpaceX’s Massey’s test outpost after its test stand was destroyed testing Ship 36.
One day later, SpaceX conducted another static fire test on Booster 19, this one located on Starbase’s new Launch Pad 2. This short static fire tested all 33 engines on the bottom of the booster, as well as the new pad’s deluge and detonation system.
With these two tests out of the way, both vehicles have returned to their respective MegaBays: MegaBay 1 for Booster 19 and MegaBay 2 for Ship 39. SpaceX will now perform the final checkouts of the vehicles before sending them both to Launch Site 2 for full-stack integration before launch.
Full-duration static fire for the first time on Starship V3 pic.twitter.com/Q1HZIX53HB
