SpaceX launched its Starship rocket on Thursday morning for a third test flight, a huge milestone in Elon Musk’s ambitions to send humans to Mars, although the spacecraft was later lost on re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.
The massive Starship rocket launched from SpaceX’s Boca Chica, Texas-based facility at 9:25 A.M. ET.
The rocket reached orbital velocity about 15 minutes later, Musk announced, shortly before the spacecraft tested opening its payload door, showcasing how future Starship rockets will deploy Starlink satellites.
SpaceX lost contact with Starship as the rocket re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, suggesting the spacecraft was broken apart, though the company said Starship still achieved some key milestones during its journey.
A failed return to Earth still provides SpaceX with data it hoped to retrieve, the company said, including how Starship could survive orbital velocity and atmospheric entry.
SpaceX hoped to achieve several goals during Starship’s flight, including firing one of Starship’s Raptor engines in space for the first time; opening and closing the rocket’s payload door; an in-flight propellant transfer; and demonstrate “a controlled reentry” back to Earth from space.
Standing at around 400 feet tall, Starship is the largest and most powerful rocket ever developed. It is central to Elon Musk and SpaceX’s ambitions of ferrying cargo, and eventually humans, to the moon, Mars and beyond and the rocket is expected to play a key role in NASA’s plans to return American astronauts to the moon. SpaceX says the vehicle will be able to “carry up to 100 people on long-duration, interplanetary flights,” help deliver satellites and enable “the development of a moon base” when finished and it is intended as the first reusable rocket, which would drastically lower the costs associated with reaching space.
The company said the launch “aims to build on what we’ve learned” from previous test flights. Though both of these ended in fire—the first damaged the launch pad when it exploded seconds after launch and the second blew up shortly after separation, which the company described as “a rapid unscheduled disassembly”—they were hailed as a success by the company and scientists, who said the data gathered will be invaluable for improving the rocket. “This rapid iterative development approach has been the basis for all of SpaceX’s major innovative advancements, including Falcon, Dragon, and Starlink,” SpaceX said. “Recursive improvement is essential as we work to build a fully reusable transportation system capable of carrying both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, help humanity return to the Moon, and ultimately travel to Mars and beyond.”
Source: Forbes
