Following the static fire test of Booster 9, which saw the Raptor engines ignite on the Orbital Launch Mount (OLM) for the primary time in months, SpaceX lifted Booster 9 off of the OLM for its trip back to the production site.
While 33 Raptor engines did ignite, 4 of them shut down early throughout the 2.74-second test. SpaceX does have the power to examine and work on Raptor engines on the launch pad, but with 4 having apparent issues throughout the test, they elected to maneuver the large booster back and make repairs or change the engines out.
Additional views from Super Heavy Booster 9 static fire pic.twitter.com/gQt3rzydGN
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 8, 2023
This does raise just a few questions on the reliability of the present version of Raptor engines. Having eight exit throughout the first Integrated Flight Test is one thing, but having 4 shut down early during a test fire after months of development and test fires on the McGregor Test Facility is one other. Elon Musk has said they’re working on Version 3 of Raptor, which can help with issues which are occurring on the Version 2 Raptor.
As for Booster 9’s counterpart, Ship 25, it was also moved back to the production site on August sixth, where it’s going to proceed its preparations, including ending heatshield installation and inspections following its static fire test in June.
Ship 25 completes a six-engine static fire test at Starbase in Texas pic.twitter.com/wCCrh0RRNA
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 27, 2023
Ship 28 was moved back from the Masseys Test Facility after undergoing a thrust simulation test. The subsequent step for this vehicle will probably be Raptor installation, followed by engine testing of its own.
Throughout all of those tests, the production site is actually non-stop, working on future Boosters and Ships. SpaceX definitely doesn’t let anytime go wasted while they test and iterate on current and future designs on Starship.