Watch SpaceX spray thousands of gallons of water for Starship test

The video from NASASpaceflight, embedded below, shows the test from several different angles.

Next, SpaceX will likely conduct a static fire test at the same time as firing the water deluge system in order to test it against the fire of its powerful Raptor engines, 33 of which power Starship at launch.

The finished water deluge system is expected to spray up to 350,000 gallons of water during each Starship launch, according to the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) from June 2022.

Most of this water is expected to be "vaporized by the heat of the rocket engines", the FAA explained in the PEA. SpaceX also recently shared footage of a test of its water-cooled steel plates which are also designed to help prevent damage at launch.

SpaceX faces environmental lawsuit

During the April 20 launch of Starship, the massive rocket's 33 Raptor engines on its first stage booster, Booster 7, produced roughly 17 million lbs of thrust at liftoff. That immense power left a 25-foot-deep crater at liftoff and spread debris and dust over a wide area.

An environmentalist group subsequently filed a lawsuit against the FAA, stating that it had not properly assessed the potential negative impact on surrounding ecosystems.

A while after the group filed its complaint, SpaceX filed a motion asking to become a co-defendant in the lawsuit. The private space company argued it should be involved as the future of the Starship program was at stake.

SpaceX wrote in its motion that "further licensing of the Starship/Super Heavy Program could be significantly delayed" by the lawsuit.

While SpaceX hopes its water deluge system will help to prevent this type of impact in future launches, there is still plenty of debate about the environmental impact of Starship. At the same time, SpaceX is under pressure to meet its deadlines for Starship, which is scheduled to take the first astronauts back to the lunar surface since Apollo 17 for NASA's upcoming Artemis III missions in 2025 or 2056.

Elon Musk recently stated that Starship could fly again within about eight weeks' time, though the FAA lawsuit will likely have to be cleared up before the government agency gives SpaceX the greenlight for another orbital launch attempt.