SpaceX fired up a Super Heavy booster on the launch pad Tuesday (Aug. 9) for the first time ever, notching a big milestone in the development of its Starship deep-space transportation system.

The Super Heavy in question, a prototype known as Booster 7, is scheduled to launch on the Starship program's first orbital test flight in the coming months. SpaceX is gearing up for that mission, as today's engine test shows.

The test, which took place Tuesday afternoon at SpaceX's Starbase facility in South Texas, involved just one of Super Heavy's 33 Raptor engines, company representatives said via Twitter (opens in new tab). The engine lit up while Booster 7 remained anchored to the orbital launch mount, in a test known as a static fire. SpaceX also test-fired its Starship SN24 vehicle and shared the stunning sunset test on Twitter.