SpaceX’s Starship program continues to march through a fluid set of milestones, ranging from a new record number of Raptor engines firing simultaneously, to the anticipated presence of a vehicle on the Starship pad at Florida’s historic LC-39A by the second quarter of 2023.
Booster 7 achieved the seven-engine static fire test milestone before rolling back to the Production Site for “robustness upgrades.” It is set to return for its pre-launch flow this coming week.
SpaceX chief engineer Elon Musk also confirmed Starbase would produce the initial vehicles for its KSC launch site, shipped to Florida by barge from Texas, as an interim measure before production comes online at the company’s under-construction Roberts Road facility.