SpaceX SN8 Static Fire: When will the SN8 prototype perform a test flight?

Elon Musk’s private aero company is all set to perform a landmark flight test with its latest Starship proto called SN8. Chris B of NASA Flight recently confirmed on Twitter that SN8 proto alrey went through a successful static fire for a high-altitude test flight that could be conducted as early as next week.

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X SN8 Static Fire

latest Starship proto SN8 underwent a fourth static fire test on vember 24 at 6:23 PM EST from X's South Texas facility ahe of its milestone test flight. SN8 is aiming to reach an altitude of around 15 km (50,000 ft). This is obviously a much higher altitude than earlier starship proto. test flight is being targeted for vember 30, 2020.

X StarShip is next-generation transportation system developed by aero company. transportation system aims to carry people and cargo into Earth's orbit, between destinations on Earth, and or planetary destinations to launch satellites and or missions.

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While X is yet to build its super heavy proto, aero company has alrey developed a number of test vehicles over years which h also been tested. Star Hopper, SN5, and SN6 are three of X test vehicles that are currently in flight. company launched its Starhopper proto on its highest flight last year in August, whereas SN5 and SN6 proto were launched August and September this year respectively.

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three rocket protos came with single-engines and were able to reach maximum altitudes of about 150 m (500 feet) at launch. Unlike se three protos, SN8 aircraft equips three of engines and also features a se cone which helps stabilize  body flaps. It is due to se reasons that SN8 will be able to reach a much higher altitude than earlier rocket protos.

Starship SN8 proto underwent its third static fire on vember 12, however, it was faced with some issues which resulted in an early shutdown of aircraft.

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Im credits: X