SpaceX Stacks Full Starship Launch System for First Time, Standing Nearly 400 Feet (122 Meters) Tall
TheMightyChickadee writes:
Booster stacked! Story at Techcrunch, and everywhere else.
SpaceX has achieved another major milestone in its Starship fully reusable launch system: It stacked the Starship spacecraft itself on top of a prototype of its Super Heavy booster, which itself is loaded up with a full complement of 29 Raptor rocket engines, and the Starship on top has six itself. The stacked spacecraft now represents the tallest assembled rocket ever developed in history.
This stacking, which happened at SpaceX's development site in south Texas, is a significant development because it's the first time the two elements of the full Starship system have been united as one. This is the configuration that will be used for launching the next Starship prototype on its test mission that will hopefully achieve orbit.
Taken together, the massive combined launch system reaches nearly 400 feet [122 meters] tall (around 390 feet [118 meters], to be more precise), and combined with the orbital launch stand on which it rests, the whole thing is about 475 feet [147 meters] high, which is taller than the Great Pyramid of Giza[*].
The stacking itself is impressive, but don't expect it to last: The likely next step is for the two halves of the launch system to be separated again, with both undergoing more work, analysis and testing ahead of a reassembly in preparation for the actual eventual orbital launch test.
[*] Great Pyramid of Giza on Wikipedia.
Enjoy it while it lasts!
[Ed. note: too late, but all is not lost. Here is a 10m28s YouTube video of the stacking and unstacking of "Ship 20" onto "Booster 4" as well as its return trip over Highway 4 from the launch site to the High Bay on the build site! NB: You'll probably want to fast-forward through the first minute or so.]
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