New SpaceX Video Shows Starship Facility, Raptor Engine Test, Rocket Prototype [Watch]

Elon Musk-led SpaceX has teased a video that highlighted key aspects of the next-generation Starship rocket aiming Moon and Mars colonization.

The video offers broad views of the Starship Mk1 prototype in Boca Chica and slow-motion clips of Raptor engine static fire tests in McGregor, Texas.

Videos were part of the snippets from SpaceX presentations in the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) 2019.

The sessions culminated in a panel discussion on October 22 featuring SpaceX COO and President Gwynne Shotwell.

The panel also offered new updates and details on the progress made by the SpaceX Starlink program by Shotwell.

The SpaceX president displayed a new Starship video, featuring many views of SpaceX’s next-generation rocket development program.

IAC 2019 attendee Trevor Mahlmann streamed many portions of the panel, including Shotwell’s minute-long Starship program redux.

The video gave a new perspective of Starhopper after its final test flight and select glimpses of Starship Mk1’s build process, per SpaceX news.

The video taken inside of Starship’s tank section confirmed SpaceX has been acquiring high-quality footage throughout the development program. The footage seemed to have been shot before the installation of its third and final dome.

The videos on Raptor engine static fire testing highlighted the resilience of Raptor SN06 – the first engine that successfully supported the SpaceX pre-flight test regime and SpaceX launch of the Starhopper flight test in August 2019.

What did the video show?

The slow-motion video shows Raptor completing a test fire in McGregor, Texas.

SpaceX Principal Mars Development Engineer Paul Wooster also revealed some unseen views of Starship. That was a lunar landing render.

The large Moon rover appears to be heading to the lunar surface on a section of Starship’s detached hull transformed into an ad-hoc elevator.

The burst of Starship-related disclosures from SpaceX is a sign of seriousness in the flagship project and company-wide interest in the next-generation rocket. But more work remains.

Starship has to do a critical 20 km (12 miles) flight test that will use the Mk1 prototype to determine SpaceX’s exotic skydiver-like recovery method is effective for landing on Earth and Mars.

While one SpaceX presenter said the next test flight could occur in December 2019, SpaceX CEO Elon added the next Starship flight will be followed up by the spacecraft’s first attempted orbital flight.

Musk believes it could occur in six months from now, while President Shotwell is more modest and said it would happen “within a year. ”

Meanwhile, SpaceX timeline says Starship’s first operational cargo mission to Moon’s surface might take place in early 2022.

NASA to send women to Moon and Mars

Evan as SpaceX is working on its Mars-colonization rocket, Starship, NASA chief has said the agency’s current priority is the Moon and it would ensure that its crewed missions to Moon and later to Mars will have women on board.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said this at a news conference while hailing the feat of the first all-woman spacewalk last Friday.

“We could very well see the first person on Mars be a woman. I think that could very well be a milestone," he added.

Per NASA news, despite great data from Mars rover missions, currently, NASA has no plans for landing humans on Mars. In NASA’s agenda, Moon is the priority.

Bridenstine, however, said the U.S space agency’s first crewed Mars landing can happen in the 2030s.