On August 9, Maxar Technologies' WorldView-3 satellite captured an excellent image of the SpaceX Starbase complex in South Texas, where the company builds and tests rockets for space flight.
SpaceX is building Starship to deliver people and cargo to the Moon, Mars, and other distant places. The system consists of two reusable elements: a 70-meter-high first stage booster called the Super Heavy and a 50-meter-high Starship spacecraft, which is supposed to sit on top of a huge rocket.
The photo shows two rockets: Booster 3, which is located on the left edge of the image, and Booster 4, located on the right of the orbital launcher. Booster 3 never leaves the ground. However, the 29-engine Booster 4 is preparing for the Starship program's first-ever orbital test flight. The giant ship was lifted into an orbital launch pad on August 5. A day later, technicians mounted a six-engine Starship SN20 prototype on a Booster 4, building the tallest rocket in history. However, on the same day, the ship was removed from the rocket.
It is not yet clear when Booster 4 and SN20 will launch. SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said Saturday that the Starship spacecraft will be ready for orbital flight in the coming weeks.
The WorldView-3 satellite was launched into low-earth orbit in August 2014. It is capable of recognizing details up to 31 centimeters in size on the surface of our planet.
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