No planned time for the test is available, but Space.com reports that ship 14 was stacked on the launch pad today, and a WDR is planned for tomorrow. Unfortunately, they don't even hint at a test time, which tells me I'll have a YouTube screen connected to NASA Spaceflight's coverage, expected to start at 7:00 AM. That's about all we know, but since the booster had previously been tested before, it's pretty much a test of "did we break anything," or "did we hook everything back up correctly?"
As has been reported for days, launch is expected on Monday, Sept. 28 with the 75 minute launch window opening at 8:15 AM EDT (1215 UTC). Also as reported, this flight will be the first attempt at orbit for Starship, carrying a load of 26 Starlink V3 satellites.
Starship 41 and SuperHeavy booster 21 attempting orbit for a Starship is a super big deal for SpaceX, and NASA is probably at least as anxious for success as SpaceX is. All Starship test flights through last month's Flight 13 have been suborbital.
In addition to SpaceX’s own eagerness to begin launching the Starlink V3 megaconstellation, NASA has also contracted the vehicle as a lunar lander for the Artemis program. NASA is expecting an orbital spacecraft capable of docking with the agency’s Orion spacecraft in time for Artemis III in mid-2027, and a crew-certified vehicle to land astronauts on the moon on Artemis IV, in 2028.
Screen capture of the SpaceX flight web site.
"did we hook everything back up correctly?"
ReplyDeleteOr: "We are nervous as hell. Let's add suspenders to the belt."
Looking back at this, I see I wasn't clear enough that a Wet Dress Rehearsal doe NOT automatically imply they're going to fire the engines. They tend to call those Static Firings. They have to do the WDR part (loading fuel and oxidizer) to do the Static Firing, but the source (at least skimming it now) doesn't say anything about proceeding to lighting the engines.
DeleteGenerally, doing a static fire on a fully-stacked bird is frowned upon because if there is a failure you needlessly waste a ship. They are static-fired separately.
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