![SpaceX performs a 281-second throttle test of its Raptor engine to demonstrate the ability of Starship to perform a powered decent to the lunar surface. Credit: SpaceX](https://www.spaceflightinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/SX-Throttle-Test-1280.jpg)
SpaceX performs a 281-second throttle test of its Raptor engine to show the power of Starship to perform a powered decent to the lunar surface. Credit: SpaceX
In a NASA update, the agency detailed two engine tests accomplished by SpaceX for the Starship human landing system, which is predicted for use for the Artemis 3 and 4 Moon landings later this decade.
The primary test detailed by NASA was accomplished in August, which the agency said demonstrated a vacuum-optimized Raptor might be began in the acute cold conditions from prolonged times in space, equivalent to those on a mission to the Moon.
“One challenge that differentiates Artemis missions from those in low Earth orbit is that the landers may sit in space without firing for an prolonged time frame, causing the temperature of the hardware to drop to a level below what they might experience on a much shorter low Earth orbit mission,” the Sept. 14 NASA blog update reads.
The agency also detailed a test that occurred in November 2021, which saw a Raptor firing for 281 seconds on a test stand to show its ability to perform the powered descent portion of a Lunar Starship’s trek to the Moon’s surface.
“The test had two goals: to point out Raptor’s ability to alter the extent of engine power over time, often known as its throttle profile, and for the engine to burn the total length of time of the powered descent phase,” NASA’s update reads. “The successful test provided NASA with early confidence in the corporate’s engine development.”
On the identical day, SpaceX released video tests on social media.
Raptor engine demonstration of a descent burn to the lunar surface pic.twitter.com/MbW19KFm2H
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 14, 2023
In April 2023, SpaceX performed the primary integrated flight test of the complete Starship launch system stack at its test facility in South Texas. While it gave the corporate a variety of invaluable data, the flight was terminated some 4 minutes after liftoff after it began to veer out of its planned trajectory.
SpaceX has since made quite a lot of upgrades to each the bottom infrastructure and rocket, including 63 “corrective actions” identified in a mishap report for the primary flight. Starship’s second integrated flight test could occur as early as next month, pending regulatory approval and licensing from the FAA.
![The hardware for the second Starship integrated flight test is stacked at the company's South Texas launch facility. Credit: SpaceX](https://www.spaceflightinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/F6F4HlObYAEmGhh.jpg)
The hardware for the second Starship integrated flight test is stacked at the corporate’s South Texas launch facility. Credit: SpaceX