SpaceX Fires Up Starship Rocket Ahead Of Second Orbital Test Flight

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SpaceX took the first step towards another highly anticipated orbital test flight later this year after it conducted a static fire of the Starship second stage spacecraft earlier today. Starship, which aims to be the world's largest rocket when operational, is currently under development at Boca Chica, Texas. SpaceX conducted the first Starship orbital test in April, and the event marked the first time that the massive rocket's Super Heavy booster took to the skies. SpaceX's confidence in its equipment was evident as it chose to fly the booster with the second stage for the first test instead of simply testing the booster first. Since then, the firm has made countless changes to the rocket and added concrete to the launch pad as well, with the aim to add a water cooling system later as well.

Today's static came soon after SpaceX shared on its Twitter page that it had conducted a spin prime test of the upper stage. A spin prime test checks the rocket's engine pumps, and the static fire came within days of the test. By the looks of it, the test was a success and SpaceX soon confirmed on its Twitter later on that the test was a success.

Before the firm's tweet, the test was caught by dedicated onlookers, and their footage revealed large dust clouds rising from the test site. These were quite reminiscent of the Starship orbital test launch in April, and SpaceX's footage provided better views as it showed the top of the rocket with a 'skirt' of dust surrounding its bottom.

The static fire started at 7:27 pm local time and lasted for six seconds. According to SpaceX, it used six Raptor 2