SpaceX Performs Limited Static Fire Test of Starship Booster, Avoids Explosion - Gizmodo

Engineers at SpaceX have performed the first static fire test of Booster 7, a prototype of the Super Heavy first stage.

The test, in which just one of the booster’s 33 Raptor engines was ignited, moves the company closer to its first orbital test of the revolutionary Starship system.

Ground teams completed a single Raptor engine static fire test as the 227-foot-tall (69 meters) booster stood vertically at the “Mechazilla” launch tower.

Spin-prime tests, in which propellants are pumped through the engines without igniting them, are typically done in preparation of static fire tests (static fire tests involve engine burns without an actual launch of the rocket).

The company has performed a static fire test of a Starship booster prototype before, but this marks the first static fire test of Booster 7, even if limited in scale.

Not content to stop there, SpaceX also performed static fire tests of two Raptors on an upper stage, namely the prototype Starship 24.