WASHINGTON: SpaceX successfully test-firing the engines on its most powerful rocket ever designed to eventually send astronauts to the Moon and beyond.
The test of 33 Raptor engines on the boosters of the first stage of SpaceX’s Starship took place at the private space company’s base in Texas.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk said just before the start of the test one engine shut down and one stalled itself.
“So in total 31 engines gone,” Musk said in a tweet. “But it still has enough engines to get it into orbit!”
SpaceX said the test ran for its “full duration”.
Huge sheets of orange flame shot from the base of the rocket and clouds of smoke rose into the air during the test-firing, which lasted several seconds.
The 230-foot (69-metre) Super Heavy booster was anchored to the ground during the test-firing to prevent it from tipping over.
Starship consists of a reusable capsule that will carry crew and cargo and a first-stage booster that was tested on Thursday.
SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwen Shotwell said at a conference in Washington on Wednesday that if the test is successful, the first orbital launch could happen within the next month.
“This is really the last ground test we can do before we burn them up and go,” Shotwell said.
NASA has selected the Starship capsule to ferry its astronauts to the Moon as part of the Artemis 3 mission, scheduled for 2025 at the earliest.
The US space agency will take astronauts to Moon orbit using its own heavy rocket called the Space Launch System, which has been in development for more than a decade.
Starship is both larger and more powerful than the SLS.
It generates 17 million pounds of thrust, more than twice that of the Saturn V rocket used to send the Apollo astronauts to the Moon.
SpaceX eventually puts one Starship into orbit, and then refuels it with another Starship so it can continue its journey to Mars or beyond.
Other super heavy rockets under development include Blue Origin’s New Glenn, China’s Long March 9 and Russia’s Yenisei.