Starship stacked on the B4 booster for the first time!

There are so many news from Starbase in these last hours, in fact, SpaceX has finally unveiled the prototype of Starship SN20 to the world, that is the one that will be used for the first and expected orbital test. The last few days have been quite hectic, so let's quickly take stock of the main news.

After seeing the construction progress of the launch tower, baptized by Elon Musk with the name of Mechazilla, much of the media attention has focused on the Super Heavy B4 first stage prototype. Within a couple of days the supporting structure designated to house the engines was implemented, and with it a few hours later the first image of the 29 Raptor units installed was shared. Before that we had only seen renders, then everything became real within 14 hours.

Only the day after the same fate fell to Starship SN20, the prototype spacecraft that will very soon be used for the first orbital test. Elon Musk did not resist, showing it to the world with 3 standard Raptor 3 motors installed and as many Vacuum units designed to work in vacuum.

After a few hours, the FAA has thought to cool the spirits, as it has confirmed that thorough environmental assessment tests will be required before giving the okay to the orbital test. Not only that, he reminded everyone that at the moment there are no well-defined plans or dates. Nothing new or exaggerated in reality, since performing a thorough risk control is a necessary procedure given the complexity of an orbital test of this kind, unique in the aerospace segment store.

"And finally Starship arrives", in fact, on August 5th Starship SN20 left the assembly area to go and position itself on one of the launch pads, not far from Super Heavy B4. Here it is to follow! And you immediately notice a substantial difference compared to previous prototypes.

For the first time Starship SN20 showed itself in all its beauty, complete with engines and with an evident greater extension of the heat shield on the external surface .