SN8

Serial Number 8

SN8 during nosecone mating
Also Called	SN8
Status	Destroyed
Testing History
Ambient Temperature N2 Pressure Test	Completed
Cryogenic Liquid N2 Pressure Test	Completed
1st Wet Dress Rehearsal	Completed
1st Static Fire	Completed
2nd Wet Dress Rehearsal	Completed
2nd Static Fire	Completed
3rd Static Fire	Complete
4th Static Fire	Completed

SN8 was first rolled out without its nosecone. After a cryo, pre-burner, and static fire the nose cone was attached. They then hit a bit of a rough patch. The second static fire (first one with the nose cone) damaged some of the concert pad under the test stand. The third static fire ended with one of the raptors taking serious damage, from flying bits of concrete. That raptor was replaced. By the 4th static fire they had gotten the issues ironed out. In total SN8 was on the test stand for a 74 days, the longest of all Starships thus far. That is about 1.5 times as long as SN5 was on the stand, and a little over 2.7 times as long as SN6. SN8 finally took flight on 12/9/2020, after an abort the day before and earlier that afternoon. It reached a max height of roughly 12.5km before transition into free fall. At roughly 6 minuets and 30 seconds, 2 of 3 engines re-light and SN8 successfully performed its landing flip maneuver, bringing it back vertical for landing. Unfortunately due to low pressure in the fuel header tank during the landing burn, one of the 2 engines flamed out and the other become engines rich, resulting in hard landing that ended with a RUD and a complete loss of the vehicle. Despite the ending the test flight was a overall success.

SN8 was also a flight of many firsts,

• First Starship flight to fly with 3 raptors
• First Starship flight to fly with a nose cone
• First Starship flight to fly with the flings and flamps
• First Starship flight to fly higher then 150m
• First time transitioning fuel from one tank to the other in-flight to prepare for landing
• First in-flight re-ignition
• First Starship to perform the "belly flop" and the "landing flip"

Testing

SN8 Test History Date Event 26 Sep 2020 SN8 tank section rollout to Launch Site. 30 Sep 2020 Lifted onto Test Stand A. 05 Oct 2020 Ambient Pressure Test 1. 06 Oct 2020 Cryogenic Pressure Testing starts. 09 Oct 2020 Cryogenic Pressure Testing finishes. 09 Oct 2020 Thrust Simulator removed. 11 Oct 2020 Raptors moved to launch site. 12 Oct 2020 Raptors SNs 30/32/39 installed. 16 Oct 2020 Wet Dress Rehearsal 1. 19 Oct 2020 Preburner test fire. 20 Oct 2020 Static Fire 1. 21 Oct 2020 Downcomer testing. 21 Oct 2020 Crane and Nosecone moved to Launch Site. 22 Oct 2020 Raptor SN39 removed, SN36 fitted. 22 Oct 2020 Nosecone mated to tank section. 26 Oct 2020 Crane detached from Nosecone. 03 Nov 2020 Cryogenic test with Nosecone. 09 Nov 2020 Wet Dress Rehearsal 2. 10 Nov 2020 Static Fire 2 (from header tank). 12 Nov 2020 Static Fire 3 - Raptor damaged. 14 Nov 2020 Raptor SN32 removed. 15 Nov 2020 Raptor SN42 fitted. 21 Nov 2020 Ambient Pressure Test 2. 24 Nov 2020 Static Fire 4 - all three engines. 02 Dec 2020 Wet Dress Rehearsal 3. 07 Dec 2020 Wet Dress Rehearsal 4. 08 Dec 2020 Flight attempt 1 - Aborted T-1.03s. 09 Dec 2020 Flight attempt 2 - Aborted T-2:06. 09 Dec 2020 12.5km Flight and RUD.