Starship SN5

Source and verification limitations (2026-11-02): The original WeChat article and SpaceX material support SN5 completing a 150-meter test flight and landing in Texas on August 4, 2020, using a single Raptor engine. Any claim of a “first” must be limited to the relevant prototype scope and cannot disregard the earlier Starhopper tests. SN7 was a test tank, not a subsequent flight prototype. The 20-kilometer flight was a plan at the time, not an accomplished result. Claims including four explosions have not each been verified. Sources and reference links (see the explanation above for the scope of verification): https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/MxbbHxFWEX4hF6q1BvsDtw https://www.spacex.com/launches/starship-sn5 https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2020/09/starship-sn6s-hop-sn7-1-prepares-pop/ ---- Elon Musk essentially applies an internet and software mindset, pursuing progress through rapid product iteration. Two key elements of that lean startup spirit are: 1. Low cost. 2. Rapid iteration (continual trial and error). Two other keys to accomplishing great things are “great dreams” and “persistence.” A great dream is one that other people find unbelievable—even laughable—when you say it aloud. For example, Elon Musk's goals are human migration to Mars and space travel. Pursuing great dreams requires execution, continuous improvement, and persistence, rather than mere wishful thinking. A few days after the much-watched SpaceX Dragon completed its mission bringing astronauts back to Earth, the Starlink project continues to advance. Elon Musk's new Starship project has also made progress after four consecutive prototype explosions. ------------ A test prototype of the Starship spacecraft, carrying Elon Musk's dream of human settlement on Mars, has performed its first hover test reaching a height of 150 meters. Starship is SpaceX's next-generation crewed spacecraft for future interplanetary flight, consisting of a rocket booster below and a spacecraft above. Fully reusable, Starship can carry satellites into Earth orbit and meet the need to transport cargo—and even people—to the Moon and Mars. Elon Musk believes that if space travel becomes as common as flying on an airplane today, civilization's future will be secure. He now appears increasingly confident in that claim. Just a couple of days ago, SpaceX completed the recovery of its first crewed spacecraft, bringing its first crewed flight to a perfect close. Now Starship, the spacecraft intended for future interplanetary travel, has also made major progress. The SN5 Starship prototype is as tall as a small building and carries a single latest-generation Raptor rocket engine. After ignition and liftoff, it slowly rose to roughly the height of a 50-story building, hovered briefly, then adjusted direction by pivoting its engine and varying its thrust, descending slowly to a precise landing. Since Elon Musk unveiled the Starship spacecraft last September, SpaceX has repeatedly encountered setbacks in testing. Several full-scale Starship prototypes it began building last year have exploded at the test site. Although this flight reached only 150 meters—barely a gentle “hop” for a rocket or spacecraft—for SpaceX, finally getting Starship successfully off the ground in a test was a huge step. SpaceX's approach is to advance Starship's development little by little through continual testing. From this perspective, Starship testing has formally moved from ground tests into flight. After SN5 completes its mission, SN6 and SN7 will take their turns, conducting further test flights. Meanwhile, SpaceX and its contractors are building an enormous new vehicle assembly building (VAB). In the future, SpaceX will begin fitting the spacecraft with a first-stage booster. Elon Musk has also said that assembly of the next-generation SN8 prototype is progressing smoothly. It features a new stainless-steel alloy and, more importantly, SpaceX has prepared three Raptor engines for it. Building on SN5's successful “hop,” subsequent prototypes are expected to conduct suborbital flight tests reaching 20 kilometers. Orbital launches will then be placed on the agenda. According to Elon Musk, SpaceX may need to build 20 prototypes for testing before Starship reaches its final form. We can therefore expect intensive testing to create a future scene of “spacecraft filling the sky.” By then, routine flights may no longer be hugely exciting events. But just as successful launches have become familiar for Falcon 9, making flight routine will signal Starship's maturation. “Increasing production will solve many problems,” Elon Musk says. “A high production rate means a high product iteration rate. Almost all technological progress depends on the number of iterations and the progress made between each iteration. Only with sufficiently strong production capacity can SpaceX carry out more iterations and keep improving through them.” Original: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/MxbbHxFWEX4hF6q1BvsDtw