2023-11-18 17:46:12
SpaceX took off on Saturday, November 18, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built, Starship, whose two stages successfully separated before exploding, according to billionaire Elon Musk’s company. “Nominal Starship Trajectory”we could hear on the live video stream from SpaceXa few minutes after the rocket took off.
Shortly after 7 a.m. local time (1 p.m. GMT), the giant 120-meter-high rocket lifted off the ground from SpaceX’s base in Boca Chica, in far south Texas, in the southern United States. Placed atop the rocket, the Starship module successfully separated from the Super Heavy booster stage, but both parts of the rocket did not survive until their scheduled descent and exploded in flight.
The rocket is made up of two stages: the Super Heavy propulsion stage and its 33 engines, and the Starship spacecraft, placed above and which by extension gives its name to the entire rocket. “What we estimate at the moment is that the automatic flight termination system on the second stage appears to have activated very late in the thrust”explained a commentator on the video stream.
“A partial success”
For Laura Seward Forczyk, it was despite everything “a fantastic partial success”, the two stages of the rocket having been able to separate this time, unlike the launch in April during which Starship exploded in flight. This launch has “exceeded my expectations”explained this AFP space sector analyst.
For his part, the head of the American space agency, Bill Nelson, sent his congratulations to SpaceX for the ” progress “ carried out in this launch. “Together, NASA and SpaceX will bring humanity back to the Moon, to Mars, and beyond”he wrote on X (formerly Twitter), while NASA is counting on this spacecraft for its return missions to the Moon.
On April 20, Starship took off for the first time in its full configuration. But several engines did not work, and SpaceX intentionally blew up the rocket after four minutes. The American air regulator (FAA) opened an investigation, before finally giving the green light on Wednesday for a second flight.
In seven months, the launch pad was rebuilt, and a system of “deluge” water has been installed and tested. These downpours of water discharged when the engines are started must attenuate the acoustic waves, limiting vibrations. However, associations are separately suing the FAA, accused of having incorrectly assessed the environmental impact of the new rocket.
Development not fast enough
Despite the progress of this new launch, the development of Starship does not seem fast enough to fit with the plans of NASA, which has contracted with SpaceX. A modified version of the machine must serve as a lunar lander to place astronauts on the Moon for the first time since 1972. This mission, named Artemis 3, is officially planned for 2025. A date that seems more and more unrealistic.
Beyond the Moon, Elon Musk wants to make Starship “a widespread means of transportation to any destination in the solar system”, notably Mars. Its goal is the establishment of an autonomous colony on the red planet, in order to make humanity a multiplanetary species.
A fully reusable rocket
But the real innovation of Starship is that it must be entirely reusable, with the two stages being designed to eventually return to land on their launch pad – thus reducing costs. Only the first stage of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is currently recovered.
Starship is both larger than NASA’s new mega-rocket, SLS (98 m), which took off for the first time a year ago, and the legendary Saturn V, the rocket for the lunar program Apollo (111 m). Starship’s liftoff thrust is also about twice as powerful as these two launch vehicles.
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