SpaceX previously used Super Heavy Booster 14 and was able to catch it. They have now rolled Booster 14 back out to the launch tower and plan to reuse it for Starship flight 9.
SpaceX has switched to a new generation of engine bell covers.
There is orange and orange and white tape on the parts and the booster indicating previously flown hardware.
There are some engine bells that are still warped. SpaceX has determined that the warping of engines does not matter or the engines will unwarp during test firing and other operations.
Raptor engine 314 which flew on Booster 12 was already reflown.
There was a successful static fire of the recovered Booster 14.
FAA has closed the flight 7 investigation.
FAA is still working on the flight 8 investigation.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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