Late on Sunday evening, at their launch site along the South Texas-Mexico border, SpaceX – the space transportation company led by Elon Musk – successfully completed a critical cryogenic test of its Starship prototype, said Musk on Twitter.

Credit: nasa.com

The test involved chilled nitrogen being loaded into pressurised fuel tanks. The Starship vehicle, named SN4 – which stands for Serial Number 4 -– was pressurised to 4.9 times the atmospheric pressure at the Earth’s surface. This level of pressure is enough for basic flight.

This test is a landmark is an important step for the Starship program to establish the integrity of a rocket’s fuelling system. Since November 2019, Starship has had three full-scale prototype failures due to cryogenic pressure testing.

The next step is for SpaceX engineers is to conduct a static fire engine testing with a reusable Raptor engine. Should the engine be successfully lit, Musk has reported hoping the SN4 vehicle will meet a 150-meter “hop” test, for which the company has not yet received regulatory approval.

SpaceX already has also built most of the parts for its SN5 vehicle to attempt a higher flight using reusable Raptor engines. Musk said, if all goes well with SN4, the plan is to attach three Raptors to SN5 for a higher flight test later this spring.

Sunday’s test was the latest in SpaceX’s build-test-fly-iterate process that has seen them learn quickly from failures and churn out new prototypes within months. Starship is the “upper stage” of a “Super Heavy” two-part, totally reusable launch system, that will carry cargo or dozens of passengers to outerspace.