SpaceX's next-gen Super Heavy booster aces four days of "cryoproof" testing

"Ground teams at Starbase, Texas, rolled the 237-foot-tall (72.3-meter) stainless-steel booster out of its factory and transported it a few miles away to Massey's Test Site last week. The test crew first performed a pressure test on the rocket at ambient temperatures, then loaded super-cold liquid nitrogen into the rocket four times over six days, putting the booster through repeated thermal and pressurization cycles. The nitrogen is a stand-in for the cryogenic methane and liquid oxygen that will fill the booster's propellant tanks on launch day."

"The proof test is notable because it moves engineers closer to launching the first test flight of an upgraded version of SpaceX's mega-rocket named Starship V3 or Block 3. SpaceX launched the previous version, Starship V2, five times last year, but the first three test flights failed. The last two flights achieved SpaceX's goals, and the company moved on to V3."

"The Super Heavy booster originally assigned to the first Starship V3 test flight failed during a pressure test in November. The rocket's liquid oxygen tank ruptured under pressure, and SpaceX scrapped the booster and moved on to the next in line-Booster 19. This Super Heavy vehicle appears have sailed through stress testing, and SpaceX returned the booster to the factory early Monday. There, technicians will mount 33 Raptor engines to the bottom of the rocket and install the booster's grid fins."

SpaceX completed cryogenic proof operations on the first Super Heavy V3 booster, testing redesigned propellant systems and structural strength. Teams transported the 237-foot stainless-steel booster from the factory to Massey's Test Site and performed ambient pressure checks followed by four liquid-nitrogen loading cycles across six days to simulate cryogenic conditions. The liquid nitrogen served as a stand-in for methane and liquid oxygen. A previous Super Heavy designated for the first V3 flight ruptured during a pressure test and was scrapped. The tested booster returned to the factory for installation of 33 Raptor engines and grid fins ahead of flight preparations.

Read at Ars Technica