2024-03-16 00:17:20
“Starship” is the most powerful rocket system ever built. A third launch of the super rocket was now successful. However, the test could not be completed.
The largest rocket system ever built also failed to complete a third test flight. The unmanned “Starship” made it into space after taking off from the spaceport in the US state of Texas, but was then destroyed upon re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere, as commentators on the live stream from the space company SpaceX said.
A test flight lasting around an hour was planned, after which both rocket stages were to land in the sea. The lower rocket stage also attempted to land, but then failed to make it. “We lost the rocket stage, so we have to look at the data again,” said SpaceX commentators.
Third test more successful than the first two attempts
However, further tests such as opening and closing the payload doors in orbit were successful. The upper rocket stage also managed to reach space for the first time, where it flew for around half an hour before landing. This means that significantly more goals were achieved in the third test than in the previous two.
During entry into the Earth’s atmosphere, connection to the spacecraft was then lost. Presumably the upper stage was destroyed during the maneuver and parts of it fell into the Indian Ocean.
Congratulations for the mission came from, among others, Esa Director General Josef Aschbacher. He wrote on X that he was “very impressed” by the test flight. SpaceX is pushing boundaries and the US is showing how public and private forces can join forces to advance the commercialization of the space industry.
Bill Nelson, head of the US space agency NASA, also congratulated SpaceX on a “successful test flight”. The German astronaut Alexander Gerst described the test flight at “Congratulations to the SpaceX team for the very informative and largely successful test flight into space and re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere!”
“Starship” will eventually fly to the moon and Mars
During a first test last April, the entire rocket system exploded after just a few minutes. During a second test in November, the two rocket stages separated and the upper one continued to fly for a while, but shortly afterwards both exploded separately.
“Starship” consists of an approximately 70 meter long Super Heavy booster and an approximately 50 meter long upper stage, also called “Starship”. The spacecraft is intended to enable manned missions to the Moon and Mars.
The system is designed so that the spacecraft and rocket can be reused after returning to Earth. The system, which is around 120 meters long in total, will be able to transport well over 100 tons of cargo in the future. NASA wants to take astronauts to the moon with the “Starship”. SpaceX hopes to one day get to Mars.