The SpaceX's solution for the Starship rocket launch pad and its risks

@ElentirENG ES 8·01·2023 · 23:11 0

On April 20, Starship SN24, the largest rocket in the history of the space race, exploded shortly after launch.

A walk through the destruction of the launch of the big Starship SN24 rocket in Boca Chica
The complete video of the failed launch of Starship SN24, the largest rocket in history

As you will remember, the launch caused damage in a 10-kilometer radius area, since the launch platform installed at the SpaceX Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, did not have diverters flames, those tunnels that we usually see on NASA launch pads that serve to reduce the expulsion of material and also to mitigate the thunderous noise of a space launch.

The launch pad was also badly damaged, so it had to be built again. The new platform has flame deflectors that launch 1.3 million liters of water with high pressure nitrogen for 40 seconds. You can see under these lines the photo of the test of these deflectors published by SpaceX on July 28, a truly surprising image.

Even more surprising is the video of testing these baffles posted by SpaceX on its Twitter account that same day:

To find out the details about this new launch platform and specifically about these new flame deflectors, and also their risks, I recommend that you watch the video that the Spanish YouTube channel has published today about it Mission Control, which publishes very good content on issues related to the space race. The video also covers the latest improvements that have been made to the Super Heavy propellant of this huge rocket (the video is in Spanish, you can activate the automatic English subtitles in the bottom bar of the player):

---

Photo: SpaceX