The upcoming seventh test flight of Starship promises to be cosmic. SpaceX will use a next-generation vehicle with significant upgrades, conduct the first payload deployment test, test multiple re-entry experiments designed to capture and reuse the spacecraft, and attempt to recapture the SuperHeavy rocket.
New Starship with significant improvements
At first glance, the next Starship test mission looks boring, because it is supposed to have the same profile as the previous one. However, as usual, the devil is in the details, which make this a breakthrough test. Firstly, it will debut an all-new version of the Starship upper stage (SN33), introducing significant improvements in reliability and performance. The ship’s front flaps have been reduced in size and moved closer to the tip of the vehicle, away from the heat shield, significantly reducing their exposure to heating upon re-entry and simplifying the layout of the protective plates. In addition, the ship will take as much as 25% more fuel thanks to enlarged tanks.
In addition, many smaller changes have been introduced, such as vacuum insulation for fuel lines, a new fuel delivery system for Raptor vacuum engines, and an improved avionics module that controls the vehicle’s valves and reads data from sensors. The ship’s heat shield will feature the latest generation of tiles and an additional layer of protection against missing or damaged tiles. The vehicle’s avionics have been completely redesigned, adding additional capabilities and redundancy for increasingly complex missions, such as on-orbit fuel transfer and return of the ship to the launch site.
Improvements also include a more powerful on-board computer, integrated antennas combining Starlink, GNSS and RF backup capabilities in each unit, redesigned inertial navigation and star tracking sensors, integrated smart batteries and power units that distribute up to 2.7 MW of power throughout the ship for up to 24 high voltage actuators. What’s more, the ship now has over 30, which allows engineers to monitor the operation of the equipment during the flight and allow us to observe the flight from a new perspective. Thanks to the Starlink system, the ship is able to transmit over 120 Mbps of high-resolution video and real-time telemetry at every stage of the flight.
First test of payload deployment in orbit
During Starship’s seventh test flight, it is planned to deploy as many as 10 Starlink satellite simulators, which are similar in size and weight to the Starlink V3 satellites, which will significantly increase the capabilities of this system. The simulators will be on the same suborbital trajectory as Starship, and their launch is planned in the Indian Ocean. It is also planned to launch one Raptor engine in space again.
SpaceX is also planning several experiments focused on returning the ship to the launch site. A significant number of plates were removed from the Starship’s upper stage to test sensitive areas of the vehicle, and some were replaced with ones made of different materials and even with active cooling. Test versions of the capture tabs were installed on the sides of the vehicle to test their thermal performance, and the edge of the tile lines were smoothed and tapered to eliminate hot spots observed during the previous test flight. The atmospheric re-entry profile was designed to deliberately load the flap structure at the point of maximum dynamic atmospheric pressure.
Another attempt to catch SuperHeavy
SpaceX has also prepared several radars on the launch tower that will be tested to increase the accuracy of distance measurements between the tower and the returning vehicle during capture. Additionally, the Super Heavy rocket will use equipment that has already completed a previous flight for the first time. This will be the Raptor engine used during the 5th test flight, when the booster was captured. Improvements to the launch and capture tower hardware also include protection for the tower’s sensors, which were damaged during a previous launch, which ultimately prevented the rocket’s capture attempt.
We don’t know yet when exactly Flight No. 7 will take place, but we can assume that it will take place in the first half of January, i.e. during the coming week.
Source: antyweb.pl
