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.

大约两周前进行了壮观的第三次试飞后，SpaceX 在德克萨斯州第四次尝试发射世界上最大的火箭，取得了进展。 SpaceX 的星际飞船目前正在德克萨斯州博卡奇卡开发，在第三次飞行后的两周内，该公司已经开始测试第二级星际飞船，该飞船目前计划在名为 IFT-4 的第四次星际飞船发射中飞行。昨天，SpaceX 对第二级星际飞船进行了成功的静态点火测试，并向居住在其测试设施附近的当地人发出的通知显示，今天可能会进行母测试，为火箭在 IFT-4 期间的关键测试目标做好准备。

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.

作为 IFT-4 活动的一部分，SpaceX 今天可能会再次发射第二级火箭。 SpaceX 已经完成了三项全栈星际飞船测试，但仍然有几个测试目标需要演示，以便推进火箭的开发。最新的星舰测试评估了火箭重返地球大气层、机载卫星发射系统、空间推进剂转移演示以及超重型助推器的模拟着陆。

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.

到目前为止，第二级星舰尚未在太空中点燃其单个发动机，而超重型也尚未重新点燃其所有发动机以进行着陆机动。这两点对于火箭来说都至关重要，特别是因为如果没有助推器着陆，第一级星舰将无法重复使用，并大大增加火箭的每次发射成本。

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.

甚至在发射 IFT-3 之前，SpaceX 就表示下一次飞行的飞行器已经在进行准备工作。一如既往，该公司已经开始测试第二级星舰，在这方面，本周早些时候，作为德克萨斯州静态点火测试的一部分，它启动了火箭发动机。此次测试对火箭的燃料、管道、发动机等系统进行评估，确保其在发射前处于工作状态。

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.

现在，SpaceX 似乎可能会在今天再次测试第二级星际飞船，因为超压通知已发送给德克萨斯州博卡奇卡当地人。这些通知以及其他概述道路封闭日期的通知是星舰试飞活动里程碑的最明确指标。在本周早些时候进行第一次星舰测试之前，测试前一天也发出了类似的通知。

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.

虽然 SpaceX 加快了 IFT-4 第二级星舰测试的步伐，但超重型助推器仍是值得关注的火箭。 IFT-3 证明其 33 台猛禽发动机能够成功为第二级到级分离提供动力，虽然它们成功点火以进行助推回燃，但其余的旅程并不成功。

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 的直播显示，发动机在重新点火后关闭不均匀，然后未能重新点火以进行着陆燃烧。与主力猎鹰 9 号不同的是，“超重型星舰”的设计目的是被其发射塔捕获以进行回收。然而，它仍然需要重新调整自己的方向以进行垂直捕捉，到目前为止，SpaceX 尚未成功展示这种能力。

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.

据 SpaceX 总裁 Gwynne Shotwell 称，第四次 Starship 试飞最早可能在 5 月份进行。这使得该公司有一个多月的时间在飞行前对其车辆进行微调，如果这个时间表成为现实，那么今年星际飞船的发射步伐也将加快。