spacex has done something which was nearly impossible it is a truly impressive feat of
engineering and it brings spacex's first starship orbital test flight that much closer to being
a reality want to know more hello everyone and welcome back to elon musk evolution where we bring
you the most recent news about elon musk and his multi-billion dollar companies but before we begin
make sure you subscribe to our channel and please click the bell icon so you don't miss any of our
amazing videos and let's begin within a few years elon musk's fantasy of conducting a greenhouse
experiment on mars was transformed into a massive number of rocket launches by establishing spacex
a private aerospace company although the company's early years were bleak
with musk claiming that it was on the verge of failing the platform went on to make history
by launching its falcon 1 rocket succeeding in its fourth attempt with their fourth rocket
after three failed attempts to reach orbit spacex was not an overnight success with the
company's founders and investors playing a significant role in its current success
spacex appears to be making significant progress towards the start of a first full
super heavy static fire campaign following extensive starship testing and a single booster
static fire completed recently booster 7 will be the first to execute a static fire test campaign
on the orbital launch mount as such several key components and systems of the entire starship
enterprise will also be tested including the new orbital fueling farm and fueling systems
any of these systems could reveal an issue that needs to be addressed before continuing with the
test program have you ever thought what actually were the drawbacks of b7 starship is spacex's
new rocket which will serve as the company's backbone in its efforts to launch the first
human missions to mars and rapidly expand its starlink small satellite internet constellation
according to an image shared on several social media platforms a critical component of starship's
rocket booster was recently damaged the starship is made up of two parts this is its upper stage
also known as starship and its lower stage known as super heavy booster spacex conducted a ground
test of one of these boosters that being booster 7 earlier this month and the results appear to have
revealed an apparent flaw it is unclear whether this flaw is the result of the testing itself
indicating a design flaw or a procedural error implying that the event was a one-time occurrence
this component transports fuel from the rocket's tanks to the engines passing through the booster's
liquid oxygen tanks it too must be pressurized to withstand the forces acting upon it as the oxygen
tank is pressurized for structural stability and optimal storage starship uses a combination
of methane and liquid oxygen to power its raptor full-flow methane-fueled stage combustion engines
this occurred after spacex performed pneumatic tests on booster 7 earlier this month and the
image was released after the booster returned from the testing pad this isn't the first time a
downcomer has made headlines with photojournalists spotting the pipes from both the starship upper
stage and the super heavy during transportation the pipe connects the booster's methane tank to
its engines and it is housed inside the liquid oxygen tank the oxygen tank will be chilled at
extreme temperatures and due to the size of the booster it is expected to be pressurized at a
higher level than the upper stage starship in 2016 a rare falcon 9 explosion was caused by a similar
failure though not with the same component or fuel the fully fueled rocket with its payload attached
exploded at florida's cape canaveral space force station and spacex's months-long investigation
revealed that supercooled oxygen may have breached tiny tanks within the primary liquid oxygen tanks
these tanks are filled with a non-reactive gas and ensure that the primary tank maintains pressure
as it empties during flight as pressure loss structurally damages the vehicle after completing
a successful round of tests and smoothing out an otherwise rocky start to its life the upgraded
super heavy booster b7 was moved back to spacex's south texas starbase starship factory on may 14th
after leaving the starbase nest on march 31st booster 7 suffered significant internal damage
during a structural stress test on april 14 and was forced to return to the factory for repairs
booster 7 passed a new round of crush-proof testing on may 9th and 11th despite the cramped
environment and extremely limited access to the interior of the super-heavy's primary
and secondary propellant tanks spacex teams have been hard at work preparing super heavy b7
for its next major challenges and the 20 days since its second return the results of which
could determine whether the massive rocket helps launch a starship into space later this year the
goal as it has been for the past six months is to qualify the first super heavy booster for flight
to do so spacex must finally static fire a super heavy equipped with all necessary raptor engines
that means 33 new raptor 2 engines capable of generating a total of 7 600 metric tons
of thrust for booster 7 and its near-term successors that is precisely what spacex
employees have been working on since booster 7's second return to a starbase assembly bay
they have spent every day since installing raptor 2 engines one at a time bit by bit unfortunately
due to the super heavy's relocation inside a brand new assembly building known as the mega bay
high bay 2 or wide bay the half dozen or so unaffiliated photographers who have come to
photograph starbase on a regular basis have yet to find an angle that shows the state of that engine
installation progress two weeks later it's clear that spacex is taking its time which likely means
that the company is also encasing booster 7's raptors an engine section and shrouds to protect
them during static fire testing as well as launch re-entry and landing if b7 makes it that far
that is not guaranteed and it's also possible that installing 33 engines on the first attempt
and installing any raptor twos on any rocket proved much more difficult than expected
ceo elon musk appeared to confirm on june 1st that engines are still being installed on super heavy
b7 but he also confirmed that all raptor 2 engines required for the first orbital flight are complete
that could include starship s24 which requires three c-level raptor twos and three vacuum
optimized raptor twos but even if he only means it for booster 7 it's still fantastic news for
the last month or so spacex has been spotted delivering at least a handful of new raptor 2
engines per week implying that all 33 engines may already be on site at starbase if some engines
are still undergoing proof testing at spacex's mcgregor texas facilities it could be a few more
weeks before all necessary engines are on site but if it hasn't already been reached that milestone
is likely close at hand musk confirmed in a series of tweets on june 1st spacex intends to proceed
cautiously with its first true super heavy static fire campaign testing engines just one at a time
at first musk is most likely not being literal as a campaign in which booster 7 says that each
of its 33 raptors individually could easily take weeks so it's safe to interpret his words to mean
that spacex will not jump straight from the first limited test of one or a few engines to all 13
center engines all 20 outer boost engines or all 33 engines at once booster 7 is nearly 3
weeks into the process of installing engines and heat shields and could potentially be ready to
return to the orbital launch site any day now though there's a good chance it's still a few
weeks away nonetheless spacex is on the verge of launching one of the most exciting and significant
test campaigns in starship history the failure of the downcomer was caused by a spacex employee
leaving it unpressurized while the pressure in the surrounding tank was increased if this is correct
structural or material failures would be ruled out as the cause it would also imply that the
remaining booster prototypes are defect-free and do not need to be overhauled even as it deals with
booster 7 spacex is moving forward with rocket production with new footage from its facilities
revealing steady progress with the next booster in line booster 8. finally it's unlikely that spacex
was testing its equipment to failure because any such tests would have occurred before the
downcomer was sealed inside the booster and that's it for today's video we sincerely hope you enjoy
the video and if so please give it a like and share it with your friends and family let us
know if you have any questions or comments in the section below and don't forget to subscribe to our
youtube channel so you see more of our incredible videos you can also watch our other videos that
have been specially selected for you and we look forward to seeing you in the next video