Future Unity
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With the hectic pace of work on SpaceX’s Starship, it seems if you blink, you will miss a
lot! While attention has been on prototypes S20 and Booster 4, SpaceX is charging
ahead with prototypes S21 and Booster 5! Not only that, but SpaceX is also focusing on
getting its orbital launch pad ready!
Join us as we explore SpaceX’s latest S21 and Booster 5 prototypes!
In the development life-cycle of a SpaceX rocket, many prototypes will come and go as
the company makes refinements by carrying forward lessons to new prototypes. This is
part of SpaceX’s strategy of continuous development, a trick that has allowed it to
leapfrog established players in the space travel industry!
When a prototype ends up in flames, crashes, or meets other unfortunate ends, it might
appear like wasted effort. However, to SpaceX, the data collected from the outcome is a
trove of information that at least shows the design team how not to build a rocket.
Sometimes, the development of a prototype takes place simultaneously with its
successor. Take, for instance, prototypes S20 and Booster 4.
The assumption for some time has been the two prototypes stacked together would
carry out the first orbital test flight of the Starship.
SpaceX has even demonstrated stacking them on the launch site, managing to
generate an iconic photo that reminds viewers of the famous Empire State Building
workers’ photo, before uncoupling and sending them back to the production facilities.
During this time, both the upper and lower stages had the full collection of Raptor
engines.
Both prototypes look advanced enough to be used for an orbital flight. However,
SpaceX is already working on the successors of the two prototypes, namely the S21
and Booster 5!
Before we dive into the details of the new prototypes, how advanced is the S20?
The S20 is already wearing a coat of heat shield made from ceramic tiles on half of its
body. These tiles will protect the side of the Starship that will be exposed to the
tremendous heat generated when the Starship reenters the earth’s atmosphere.
Showing how fragile the tiles are, many of the over 15 thousand pieces got damaged
during the installation process. However, a SpaceX crew painstakingly replaced all the
damaged tiles.
Some of the tiles would go on to fall off during a basic qualification test known as the
venting test. The flying tiles posed a threat of injury to the workers still on the pad.
Now, this is why SpaceX does frequent tests, to know what works and what doesn’t. It is
now left for SpaceX to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it. The fix would be
imported into the latest prototypes.
SpaceX has put the Starship 20 through a cryogenic test, which is basically loading and
unloading the prototype with cooled fuel or other liquid to observe how it would behave.
For the prototype S20 which has tiles fixed, SpaceX needs to see how the tiles behave
when the steel body of the Starship contracts or expands due to the change in diameter
caused by cooled propellants. During expansion, the tiles could crack and get damaged
by pressing against one another.
Disclaimer:
Our videos are made for entertainment purposes only. Many of our video topics relate to speculation. Many things have not yet been officially presented, but it is only suspected that these could appear at some point. You should therefore do your own research and question the truthfulness of the topics. If you have any questions about copyright or other questions, please write to us at: stienlemane2379@gmail.com