SpaceX fires world's most powerful rocket Starship during test ahead of 3rd flight

SpaceX, on December 21, completed a full-duration static fire test of Starship's upper stage ahead of the rocket's third flight. During the test, the Ship 28 prototype fired all six of its Raptor engines, each one of which is capable of producing 230 tons of maximum thrust.

"Flight 3 Starship completed a full-duration static fire with all six of its Raptor engines," SpaceX captioned the video of the static fire test on X.

Flight 3 Starship completed a full-duration static fire with all six of its Raptor engines pic.twitter.com/Mxn8faKcEv

— SpaceX (@SpaceX)

SpaceX is progressing toward the third launch of Starship, which has failed to reach orbit in the last two attempts. The first on April 20 and another on November 19 both failed after explosion of the rocket just few minutes after lift off.

Additional drone view of Starship static fire pic.twitter.com/rpIN9shSwt

— SpaceX (@SpaceX)

The company has been building up toward the next launch attempt with new pictures of the rocket's assembly at Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas.

What's sure, however, is that Starship will not launch before the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) completes its investigation for the second launch. Since the vehicle exploded mid-air, the FAA launched a probe to avoid similar accidents in the future.

According to Ars Technica's report, SpaceX General Manager Kathy Leuders said that the company will target first quarter of 2024 for Starship flight 3. 

SpaceX is building Starship as the full resuable vehicle which will be used to carry crew and cargo to the Moon and eventually Mars. It also has won over $4 billion worth of contract from NASA to develop landers for the Artemis missions but the setbacks have pushed the launch timeline well beyond the schedule.

Artemis 3 for example, which was targeted for launch in 2025 and would use Starship is likely to be delayed by 2027, says a new NASA report. Apart from missions for NASA, Starship also has contracts to launch private missions with tourists to the low-Earth orbit and the Moon in 2024. Needless to say, those particular missions will also be delayed indefinitely.