All 33 Raptor engines in SpaceX’s Super Heavy booster will be able to try the long-awaited static fire test early next week, a company executive said on January 27. Speaking at a panel at the AIAA Science and Technology Forum, Bill Gerstenmeier, vice president of assembly and flight reliability, said the company is preparing for testing at the Starbase test site in Boca Chica, Texas.

“If things go well, maybe next week we’ll have a static fire with 33 engines,” he said. “We still have a lot of work to do to get there, and it’s not easy.”

He did not stop at the remaining work before the exam, and the group devoted to the study of the connection between science fiction and the field of aviation did not return to the topic. But the company began preparing for static fire after a test called a “wet suit rehearsal” on January 23, in which a super-heavy booster called Booster 7 and a Starship upper stage called Ship 24 were filled with fuel and airborne with a countdown.

On January 25, SpaceX removed Starship from Super Heavy, and this action was part of static fire preparation. “Today on the orbital launcher, the Booster 7 launch vehicle 24 was ejected from the launch tower and captured before a static fire test,” the company said.

According to Cameron County, Texas, where Boca Chica is located, roads on the freeway to Starbase are scheduled to be closed on January 31 and February 1, but the county has not given any reason for the closures other than “no flights.” testing”. However, it is not unusual for such shutdowns to be canceled shortly, depending on SpaceX’s plans. The shutdown, scheduled for January 30, was canceled on January 27.

Given the vehicle’s use in the Artemis lunar exploration campaign, both the company and NASA overseeing the Starship test identified both the dress rehearsal and static fire test of the 33 engines as the two remaining major milestones before the vehicle was ready. , at least technically, for an orbital launch. SpaceX needs a launch license from the Federal Aviation Administration in order to launch.

Earlier this month, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted that he believes the company could be ready to launch into orbit as early as late February, “likely March.” But SpaceX missed the previous schedule estimates Starship offered for its first orbital flight.

The first launches of a new vehicle are inherently risky, and this concern is compounded by the sheer scale of Starship. Gerstenmeyer noted that all launches carry some degree of risk, without directly addressing the specific risks of launching the Starship in the panel.

“Every launch is associated with a high risk. I’m not afraid of failure, but what do we learn from this launch and are we risking for some gain?

The starship is essential not only for NASA’s plans to return humans to the moon, but also for SpaceX to deploy the second-generation Starlink constellation and ultimately send humans to Mars. “We’re going to try to take this vision, the vision of the future we see in science fiction,” Gerstenmaier said, “and try to make it a reality.”