(ORDO NEWS) — SpaceX is one step closer to launching its giant Starship spacecraft into orbit.
The company completed an engine test at a launch pad in south Texas.
Of the 33 boosters in the first stage, 31 fired simultaneously. The team shut down one engine before sending the start command, and the other engine shut down.
“There are still enough thrusters to reach orbit!” Elon Musk, the owner of SpaceX, wrote on social networks.
Musk estimates that the first test flight of Starship into orbit could take place as early as March if the test analysis and other preparations go well.
The launch vehicle remained attached to the pad as planned during the test. There were no signs of serious damage to the launch tower.
NASA expects Starship to take astronauts to the lunar surface in a few years. Going forward, Musk wants to use giant starships to send people to Mars.
Only the super-heavy first-stage booster, 69 meters high, was used during Thursday’s tests. The futuristic second stage the part that would land on the Moon and Mars was in the hangar, ready to fly.
In total, the Starship is 120 meters high, making it the largest and most powerful rocket ever built.
It is capable of generating roughly 7 million kilograms of liftoff thrust, nearly double that of NASA’s SLS rocket, which sent an empty capsule to the moon late last year.
Last fall, SpaceX fired up to 14 Starship engines and completed on-site refueling tests in January.
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