After a spectacular third test flight roughly two weeks back, SpaceX is making progress with attempting to fly the world's largest rocket in Texas for a fourth time. SpaceX's Starship is currently being developed in Boca Chica, Texas, and within two weeks of the third flight, the firm has already started to test the second stage Starship that is currently slated to fly on the fourth Starship launch called IFT-4. SpaceX ran a successful static fire test of the second stage Starship yesterday, and notices sent to locals living close to its test facilities show that a mother test might take place today to prepare the rocket for a key test objective during IFT-4.

大約兩週前進行了壯觀的第三次試飛後，SpaceX 在德克薩斯州第四次嘗試發射世界上最大的火箭，取得了進展。 SpaceX 的星際飛船目前正在德克薩斯州博卡奇卡開發，在第三次飛行後的兩週內，該公司已經開始測試第二級星際飛船，該飛船目前計劃在名為IFT-4 的第四次星際飛船發射中飛行。昨天，SpaceX 對第二級星際飛船進行了成功的靜態點火測試，並向居住在其測試設施附近的當地人發出的通知顯示，今天可能會進行母測試，為火箭在IFT-4 期間的關鍵測試目標做好準備。

SpaceX Might Fire Up Second Stage Rocket Again Today As Part of IFT-4 Campaign

With three full stack Starship tests in its belt, SpaceX is still left with several test objectives that it must demonstrate in order to move forward with the rocket's development. The latest Starship test evaluated the rocket's re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, its onboard satellite launch system, in space propellant transfer demonstration and a simulated landing of the Super Heavy booster.

作為 IFT-4 活動的一部分，SpaceX 今天可能會再次發射第二級火箭。SpaceX 已經完成了三項全端星際飛船測試，但仍然有幾個測試目標需要演示，以便推進火箭的開發。最新的星艦測試評估了火箭重返地球大氣層、機載衛星發射系統、太空推進劑轉移演示以及超重型助推器的模擬著陸。

So far, the second stage Starship has yet to fire its single engine in space, and the Super Heavy has not reignited all of its engines for a landing maneuver. Both of these are crucial for the rocket, especially since without a booster landing, the first stage Staship will not be reusable and drastically increase the cost per launch of the rocket.

到目前為止，第二級星艦尚未在太空中點燃其單一發動機，​​而超重型也尚未重新點燃其所有發動機以進行著陸機動。這兩點對於火箭來說都至關重要，特別是因為如果沒有助推器著陸，第一級星艦將無法重複使用，並大大增加火箭的每次發射成本。

Even before it launched IFT-3, SpaceX shared that the vehicles for the next flight were already undergoing preparations. True to form, the firm has started to test the second stage Starship, and on this front, it fired up the rocket's engines earlier this week as part of a static fire test in Texas. This test evaluates the rocket's fuel, piping, engine and other systems to ensure that they are in working condition before launch.

甚至在發射 IFT-3 之前，SpaceX 就表示下一次飛行的飛行器已經在進行準備工作。一如既往，該公司已經開始測試第二級星艦，在這方面，本週早些時候，作為德克薩斯州靜態點火測試的一部分，它啟動了火箭發動機。此次測試對火箭的燃料、管道、引擎等系統進行評估，確保在發射前處於工作狀態。

Now, it appears that SpaceX might test the second stage Starship again today as overpressure notices have been sent to locals in Boca Chica, Texas. These notices, along with others that outline road closure dates, are among the clearest indicators for milestones in the Starship test flight campaign. Before the first Starship test earlier this week, a similar notice was sent out a day before the test.

現在，SpaceX 似乎可能會在今天再次測試第二級星際飛船，因為超壓通知已發送給德克薩斯州博卡奇卡當地人。這些通知以及其他概述道路封閉日期的通知是星艦試飛活動里程碑的最明確指標。在本週稍早進行第一次星艦測試之前，測試前一天也發出了類似的通知。

While SpaceX has picked up the pace with its second stage Starship tests for IFT-4, the Super Heavy booster is the rocket to watch out for. IFT-3 demonstrated that its 33 Raptor engines were able to power the second stage to stage separation successfully, and while they lit up successfully for boost back burn, the rest of their journey wasn't successful.

雖然 SpaceX 加快了 IFT-4 第二級星艦測試的步伐，但超重型助推器仍是值得關注的火箭。 IFT-3 證明其 33 台猛禽發動機能夠成功為第二級到級分離提供動力，雖然它們成功點火以進行助推回燃，但其餘的旅程並不成功。

SpaceX's live stream showed that the engines shut down unevenly after their reignition and then failed to reignite for a landing burn. Unlike the workhorse Falcon 9, Starship Super Heavy is designed to be caught by its launch tower for recovery. However, it still has to reorient itself for a vertical catch, and so far, SpaceX has been unsuccessful in demonstrating this capability.

SpaceX 的直播顯示，引擎在重新點火後關閉不均勻，然後未能重新點火以進行著陸燃燒。與主力獵鷹 9 號不同的是，「超重型星艦」的設計目的是被其發射塔捕獲以進行回收。然而，它仍然需要重新調整自己的方向以進行垂直捕捉，到目前為止，SpaceX 尚未成功展示這種能力。

According to SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell, the fourth Starship test flight can take place as soon as in May. This leaves the firm with a little over a month to fine-tune its vehicles before the flight, and should this timeline materialize, then the pace of Starship launch this year will also pick up.

據 SpaceX 總裁 Gwynne Shotwell 稱，第四次 Starship 試飛最早可能在 5 月進行。這使得該公司有一個多月的時間在飛行前對其車輛進行微調，如果這個時間表成為現實，那麼今年星際飛船的發射步伐也將加快。