Airbus is currently operating two Earth-imaging satellites, Pléiades Neo, which can capture high-resolution images and detect objects as small as 30 cm from low Earth orbit. These satellites are widely used in various fields such as urban planning, resource management, construction, and environmental monitoring.
Pléiades Neo satellite capturing Starship prototype. (Photo: Airbus).
SpaceX constructed its massive Starship rocket earlier this week, positioning the Ship 24 spacecraft on the first stage called Booster 7 at the Starbase facility near Brownsville, Texas. Together, Ship 24 and Booster 7 stand approximately 120 meters tall, surpassing the height of the Moon rocket Saturn V and NASA’s new Space Launch System (SLS) used for the Artemis 1 mission. Starship is large enough to be visible from orbit using high-resolution satellites. On January 12, Airbus shared images of the Starship system captured by its Pléiades Neo satellite.
Airbus currently operates two Earth-imaging satellites, Pléiades Neo. In December 2022, the company launched two more Pléiades Neo satellites into orbit, but they were lost due to a failure of the Arianespace Vega C rocket.
SpaceX also shared images of Starship on January 12, taken from closer to the ground. The photos reveal the stainless-steel vehicle and the massive launch tower known as “Mechazilla” rising through low clouds at Starbase. SpaceX is preparing Ship 24 and Booster 7 for an orbital launch test. This critical test could take place as early as the end of February this year, according to SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk.
However, Starship will be disassembled before the launch takes place. SpaceX plans to conduct a full static fire test of all 33 engines with Booster 7, and this test will occur without Ship 24. During the static fire test, the engines will be fired for a short duration while the vehicle remains anchored to the ground.
Like Booster 7, Ship 24 is powered by SpaceX’s next-generation Raptor engines. Ship 24 fired all six Raptor engines during a static fire test in September 2022. Previous static fire tests of Booster 7 have never included more than 14 engines.
The orbital launch test will mark the first liftoff of Starship in nearly two years. The last Starship launch involved the upper stage prototype SN15, equipped with three engines, which ascended to an altitude of 10 kilometers over Texas in May 2021 and successfully landed.
