It is absurd at its sheer size.
Mounting super heavy
SpaceX has lifted its first Super Heavy booster prototype into orbit at its testing facility in South Texas.
Starship and Super Heavys' sheer size is now in perspective with today's mounting. NASASpaceFlight captured the mounting of Booster 4, a massive structure that dwarfed all the humans involved.
The Super Heavy and Starship spacecrafts will be almost 400 feet high once they are fully stacked. This is 85 feet higher than the Statue of Liberty (with the pedestal).
Booster tests
The booster will be mounted by the company to go through a series tests in the coming days and weeks. This includes a static fire test of the 29 Raptor engines (though reports earlier suggest that only two of those engines are yet to be installed).
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According to Chris Bergin, NASASpaceFlight reporter Chris Bergin, there is also the possibility that the company is doing another test flight on the pad.
Heavy touching down at the orbital launch stand. @spacex teams ready to receive #Starship pic.twitter.com/5b1w9CAl2c Cosmic Perspective (@considercosmos) September 8, 2021
Stacking Starship
This is the second time Booster 4 has sat at the orbital launchpad. It was first lifted onto the mount on August 3, to allow for eventual stacking of S20, an orbital-class Starship prototype by the company, on top.
SpaceX dismantled the structure to make room for the fluid lines and hydraulics.
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SpaceX then reinstalled 29 Raptor engine onto Booster 4 late last month, presumably to prepare for future tests.
It is still not clear when or if Booster4s engines will be fired in the coming days or weeks. Rocket science is not rocket science. It takes time to test one of the most powerful rocket stages.
READ MORE: SpaceX's first orbital-class Super Heavy booster joins Starship at the launchpad [Teslarati]
Elon Musk: SpaceX to Catch Starship Booster with Giant Robot Chopsticks
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