Super heavy rocket prototype Super Heavy mask with 29 Raptor engines installed on launch pad

Elon Musk’s SpaceX rolled out its first Super Heavy launch vehicle to the launch pad of the space base in Boca Chica (Texas, USA). writes Space. For several days, the company’s engineers were installing 29 Raptor engines, after which the Super Heavy rocket prototype, called the Booster 4, went to the launch pad, located a few kilometers from the assembly site.

SpaceX will test the rocket for leaks, as well as test the engines. If all goes according to plan, the 70-meter Super Heavy rocket could be ready for orbital flight in the coming months.

Super Heavy is the first stage of the Starship reusable space transportation system, which is being developed by SpaceX for flights to the Moon and Mars. Earlier, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) selected HLS Starship as the lunar lander under the US Artemis program, which aims to ensure a sustainable human presence on the moon by the end of the decade.

The upper stage of the system is the 50-meter Starship, the final version of which is expected to be powered by six Raptor engines. And the final version of the Super Heavy rocket will use 32 Raptor engines.