SpaceX fired up the engines of Super Heavy Booster 9 for the first time during a static fire test on the 6th of August 2023. The booster filled the liquid oxygen tank almost entirely with a small amount of liquid methane for safety and to prevent an unscheduled liftoff. SpaceX said the following after the static fire;
"Booster 9 completed a 2.7 second static fire test with 4 Raptors shutting down early"
SpaceX was aiming for a five-second static fire so another test firing may be needed before further progression towards another integrated flight test with Starship. This test however proved that the next water-cooled plate under the booster was able to withstand the energy of the Raptor engines firing onto it.
What is Super Heavy?
Super Heavy is the first stage booster for SpaceX in development Starship super heavy-lift launch vehicle and is planned to be fully reusable but is currently the most powerful rocket stage ever flown. The Super Heavy booster is seventy-one meters tall and nine meters wide. The booster is powered by thirty-three Raptor engines burning liquid methane and liquid oxygen with a maximum thrust of 7545 tons. Super Heavy is believed to weigh two hundred tons empty and three thousand six hundred tons fully fuelled. For reusability, Super Heavy will launch from the Orbital Launch Mount and will then perform a boost back burn and land on the 'chopsticks' of the launch tower, also called Mechazilla, using its grid fins at the top for greater aerodynamic control during unpowered flight. SpaceX also plans to add a 'hot staging' ring to the top of the booster before it flies for the second integrated flight test.
So far the Super Heavy booster has flown once but was destroyed in flight during the first integrated flight test.