Officials in Cameron County, Texas, which is home to SpaceX’s Starship test site near Boca Chica Village, have approved road closures ahead of an engine test and launch of the Starship SN11 vehicle on Friday. SpaceX has not stated it actually will attempt
an SN11 launch, but its test window opens at 8 a.m. EDT (7 a.m. local time, 1200 GMT) and runs for over 12 hours, according to Cameron County officials.
“I have ordered the closer of Boca Chica Beach and Hwy 4 for the purpose of protecting Public Health and Safety during SpaceX engine testing and 10 km flight, in the time period between 7:00 a.m. C.S.T. to 7:30 p.m. C.S.T., of the same day,” Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino, Jr., said in a statement. “If members of the public would like to view the flight, please do so from a safe distance and away from Boca Chica Beach.”
SpaceX’s Starship SN11 rocket is the latest prototype for a fully reusable spacecraft capable of missions to the moon and beyond. The company is developing the 165-foot-tall (50 meters) rocket and a massive booster called Super Heavy to fly astronauts and other gear to the moon and Mars. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk unveiled the first Super Heavy prototype, a test version that will not fly, last week.
As its name suggests, the SN11 rocket is SpaceX’s 11th Starship prototype. The private spaceflight company has launched three other prototypes so far— SN8, SN9 and SN10 — from its facility near Boca Chia Beach, though none of them ultimately survived.
The Starship SN10 prototype was the first to actually land, but exploded a few minutes after touchdown. SpaceX has been tweaking Starship’s design with each launch to improve its performance.
