SpaceX Runs Final Tests On Starship IFT-4 Rockets In Texas As It Waits For FAA

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Ahead of the fourth Starship test flight and after stacking the second stage Starship spaceship on the Super Heavy booster in Boca Chica, Texas, SpaceX conducted a wet dress rehearsal of its rockets earlier today. Before a test launch, SpaceX fills up the two rockets with their propellants to evaluate their performance ahead of flight. These tests allow it to certify the rockets' multiple systems to ensure that they will be able to handle the high propellant pressures on the day of flight. A fuel up, which might also be a wet dress rehearsal, is not indicative of an imminent launch since SpaceX has to make last minute changes on the rocket before flight.

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Footage from local media in Boca Chica, Texas showed SpaceX starting to load up its rockets with methane and oxygen early in the morning. Due to Starship's size and the temperature of the propellants, it isn't hard to determine when SpaceX starts to fill the rockets.

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For today's filling test, the first signs of a propellant load appeared fifteen minutes before 9 a.m. local time in Texas, with the characteristic frost starting to become visible on the rocket. Ahead of the condensation, SpaceX had already started to vent propellants out of its filling lines and other equipment.

Remarkably, the two Starships were filled with fuel in less than an hour. Starship is the world's largest rocket and SpaceX has to load it up with thousands of gallons of propellants for the flight and rehearsals like today's. SpaceX typically confirms on social media whether it has run a wet dress rehearsal, and the firm's latest post on X confirmed the wet dress rehearsal as well.

Today's test sees SpaceX pick up the pace with Starship testing