Now that is a number of water.
On Friday (July 28), SpaceX conducted the primary full-up test of the brand new deluge system at its Starbase site in South Texas, spraying immense fountains of water up toward and around the power’s orbital launch mount.
The corporate and its founder and CEO, Elon Musk, posted several videos of the test via social media Friday, showing the system in motion from multiple angles.
“Latest water deluge system to guard against the immense heat & force of Starship launch,” Musk said in a single video-sharing post.
Related: Relive SpaceX’s explosive 1st Starship test in incredible launch photos
Starship is SpaceX’s next-generation transportation system, which the corporate is developing to take people and cargo to the moon, Mars and beyond.
The 394-foot-tall (120 meters) Starship is the most important and strongest rocket ever built, and its “immense heat & force” were on full display on April 20. On that day, SpaceX launched a completely stacked Starship for the primary time ever, on a test flight that aimed to send its upper stage much of the way in which around Earth. That did not occur, nonetheless; the vehicle suffered a number of problems during launch, and SpaceX sent a self-destruct command, detonating Starship 4 minutes into flight.
The April 20 launch also did significant damage to Starbase’s orbital launch mount, blasting out a large crater beneath the structure and raining rocks and other debris down on the encircling area.
The brand new deluge system, installed beneath the orbital launch mount, is an attempt to attenuate such damage going forward. It consists of a reinforced steel plate that spouts huge amounts of water upward; Musk has compared it to an upside-down shower head.
SpaceX is currently gearing up for the second-ever test launch of Starship, nevertheless it’s unclear when that liftoff will occur. Even when the vehicle is able to go soon, regulatory hurdles should remain; a coalition of environmental and Indigenous groups is currently suing the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, saying the agency — which grants launch licenses — didn’t properly assess the damage that a Starship launch could cause to the South Texas ecosystem and community.