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SpaceX begins stress-testing upgraded Super Heavy booster

Super Heavy Booster 7 appears to have made it through its first day of structural testing. (NASASpaceflight)

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3 years ago

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In a what is likely a prelude to engine installation, SpaceX has begun stress-testing an upgraded Super Heavy booster prototype.

Known as Super Heavy Booster 7 or B7, the prototype is the first of its kind designed to support up to 33 new Raptor V2 engines – each potentially capable of producing up to 230 tons (~510,000 lbf) of thrust at liftoff. Even with just 20 such engines installed, Super Heavy – measuring around 69 meters (~225 ft) tall and nine meters (~30 ft) wide – will be the largest and most powerful rocket stage ever tested. That potentially unprecedented power is why SpaceX has custom-built a complex structural test stand to explore Super Heavy’s true performance envelope in a slightly less risky manner.

In the second half of 2021, that structural test stand briefly tested an unusual half-Starship, half-Super Heavy test tank with a nine-engine thrust section (‘puck’) and later compressed a different test tank until its reinforced steel skin buckled. In the interim, SpaceX removed its nine-ram setup and modified the stand to support 13 rams, guaranteeing that its new purpose was to test Super Heavy’s new 13-engine thrust section. Prior to Booster 7, all Super Heavy prototypes have had a similar nine-engine puck and an outer ring of 20 engines that would attach directly to the rim of each booster’s cylindrical body.

SpaceX tests Starship and Frankenstein ‘test tank’ simultaneously

Increasing the central engine count from 9 to 13 was already certain to up the amount of stress future Super Heavy thrust pucks would need to survive by almost 45%. But combined with Raptor V2’s thrust increases, Super Heavy Booster 7’s thrust puck could actually be subjected to at least 80% more thrust at liftoff. Altogether, Super Heavy B7’s 33 engines should be able to produce ~7600 tons (~16.8M lbf) of thrust compared to Super Heavy B4’s ~5400 tons (~11.9M lbf). As a result, though it’s odd that SpaceX never did significantly test Booster 4, it’s no surprise that the company chose to give Booster 7 priority as soon it was ready.

After a few false starts and at least one ‘pneumatic proof test’ that likely saw Booster 7 pressurized with benign nitrogen gas, SpaceX began stress-testing the upgraded Super Heavy in earnest on April 14th. First, the booster was filled about a third of the way with roughly 1000 tons (~2.2M lb) of liquid nitrogen (LN2) or a combination of liquid oxygen (LOx) and LN2. Once the rocket was fully chilled, there were clear signs of some kind of added stress as large sheets of ice that had formed on the side of B7’s skin broke apart and fell off.

Only ice close to Super Heavy’s base was visibly disturbed, increasing the odds that the behavior was a sign of some or all of the structural test stand’s hydraulic rams simulating Raptor engines. It’s also possible that the stress was caused by pressurizing Super Heavy’s tanks to the point that they began to appreciably deform, though that type of testing is far harder to differentiate. Without official comments, it’s unfortunately impossible to ever know what exactly SpaceX is testing or how successful those tests are when the structural test stand is involved.

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Nonetheless, it’s likely that Booster 7 isn’t done with the stand just yet. SpaceX could benefit from just about any data gathered about the performance of Super Heavy’s new thrust puck during simulated Raptor startup, throttling, and shutdown both at liftoff and during boostback and landing burns. SpaceX might also want to simulate engine-out scenarios that would result in asymmetric thrust.

Assuming Booster 7 survives this particular series of tests and SpaceX is happy with its performance on the structural test stand, the upgraded Super Heavy could be ready for Raptor installation and integrated wet dress rehearsal and static fire testing in the near future. SpaceX began delivering upgraded Raptors V2 engines to Starbase in late March.

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Eric Ralph is Teslarati's senior spaceflight reporter and has been covering the industry in some capacity for almost half a decade, largely spurred in 2016 by a trip to Mexico to watch Elon Musk reveal SpaceX's plans for Mars in person. Aside from spreading interest and excitement about spaceflight far and wide, his primary goal is to cover humanity's ongoing efforts to expand beyond Earth to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere.

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SpaceX calls off Starship 10 flight attempt once again

SpaceX is calling off a potential launch of Starship this evening, marking the second consecutive night the tenth test flight of the massive rocket will be delayed.

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4 hours ago

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August 25, 2025

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Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX is calling off a potential launch of Starship this evening, marking the second consecutive night the tenth test flight of the massive rocket will be delayed.

Originally planning to launch on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. local time in Starbase, Texas, SpaceX was forced to delay the tenth launch of Starship due to a hardware issue.

“Ground side liquid oxygen leak needs to be fixed. Aiming for another launch attempt tomorrow,” CEO Elon Musk posted on the social media platform X.

Starship Flight 10 rescheduled as SpaceX targets Monday launch

The launch was then pushed to Monday night, and the launch window was set to start at the same time as Sunday. However, SpaceX would push it back to 6:44 p.m. due to some weather issues.

Eventually, Starship seemed like it was trending toward a launch, but weather continued to persist in the area, with thunder, rain, and lightning all threatening in the area.

At around 7:03 p.m., SpaceX decided to stand down once again, confirming weather was the culprit of yet another delay:

SpaceX will likely try again on Tuesday night, but the company has not yet confirmed if it will open another launch window.

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WATCH: SpaceX Starship Flight 10 launch

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5 hours ago

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August 25, 2025

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Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX is set to launch its tenth test flight of the Starship program, with a launch window that will open at 6:44 p.m. local time, or 7:44 p.m. on the East Coast.

Starship’s tenth test flight was originally scheduled for launch yesterday with a one-hour window that opened at 7:30 p.m. ET, but it was called off 17 minutes before that window even had a chance to open.

Starship Flight 10 rescheduled as SpaceX targets Monday launch

SpaceX moved the flight to tonight. It was also originally scheduled to have a launch window at the same time as Sunday, but it was pushed back 14 minutes to around 6:30 p.m. ET. There are storms in the area, as well as clouds over Starbase, so there is the off chance for another launch delay.

There are several big objectives for this launch, including the expansion of the operating envelope for the Super Heavy booster. SpaceX says there are “multiple landing burn tests planned.”

The booster will also be performing a few in-flight experiments to help with data collection. Specifically, real-world performance data on future flight profiles and off-nominal scenarios will be on the list of things SpaceX will be looking for.

Starship itself will have a few in-flight objectives that include the deployment of eight Starlink simulators that are similar in size to the next-gen satellites for the internet service. SpaceX was set to test this with Starship’s seventh test flight, which occurred in January 2025. However, the task was abandoned as the vehicle was destroyed before deployment could occur.

Liftoff conditions are currently looking favorable, and SpaceX will be eager to improve upon its Starship launch program as CEO Elon Musk has big plans for it in the coming years.

You can watch the launch below via SpaceX:

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Tesla looks to expand Robotaxi geofence once again with testing in new area

It looks as if Tesla is preparing for its next expansion of the geofence, potentially moving toward a much larger service area that could eclipse 150 square miles.

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8 hours ago

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August 25, 2025

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Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer | X

Tesla looks to be preparing for the potential expansion of the Robotaxi geofence once again, as the company was spotted testing the suite in an area well outside of the Austin service area.

After it first launched the Robotaxi platform on June 22, Tesla has managed to expand its geofence twice, essentially doubling the travel area both times.

The most recent expansion took the size of the geofence from 42 square miles to about 80 square miles, bringing new neighborhoods and regions of the city into the realm of where the driverless vehicles could take passengers.

However, it looks as if Tesla is preparing for its next expansion of the geofence, potentially moving toward a much larger service area that could eclipse 150 square miles.

Over the weekend, one fan noticed a Robotaxi validation vehicle testing in Bee Cave, Texas, which is roughly 25 minutes from the edge of the current geofence:

Tesla has been testing vehicles in the western suburbs of Austin for some time, and it seems the company is laying some groundwork to push its geofence expansion into Plaid Mode as competition with Waymo continues to be at the forefront of the conversation.

Waymo has been expanding with Tesla for some time, as the pace of expansion for the two companies has been relatively accelerated for the past couple of months.

Tesla’s expansions of the geofence sent a clear message to competitors and doubters, but it is still aiming to keep things safe and not push the envelope too quickly.

The geofence expansion is impressive, but Tesla is also focusing on expanding its vehicle fleet in both Austin and the Bay Area, where it launched a ride-hailing service in July.

Tesla Bay Area autonomous fleet to grow to over 100 units: Elon Musk

Still, safety is the priority at the current time.

“We are being very cautious. We do not want to take any chances, so we are going to go cautiously. But the service areas and the number of vehicles in operation will increase at a hyper-exponential rate,” CEO Elon Musk said during the Q2 Earnings Call.

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