2023-11-18 17:11:35
SpaceX took off this Saturday, November 18, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built, Starship, whose two stages successfully separated before exploding, according to Elon Musk’s company.
“Nominal Starship Trajectory”, we could hear on SpaceX’s live video feed, a few minutes after the rocket took off. A first launch in the spring ended in a gigantic explosion.
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The giant 120-meter-high rocket ripped off the ground shortly after 7 a.m. (1 p.m. GMT) from SpaceX’s base in Boca Chica, in the far south of Texas, in the southern United States.
“A fantastic partial success”
The Starship module, placed atop the rocket, successfully separated from the Super Heavy booster stage, but the two parts of the rocket did not survive until their scheduled descent and exploded in flight, according to SpaceX.
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.
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“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.
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For Laura Seward Forczyk, space sector analyst, “it was a fantastic partial success”. This launch has “exceeded my expectations”she explains to AFP.
Scrutinized by NASA
The second test flight of SpaceX, the company of billionaire Elon Musk, is being closely scrutinized by NASA, which is counting on this vessel for its return missions to the Moon.
The head of the American space agency, Bill Nelson, sent his congratulations to SpaceX on Saturday for the ” progress “ carried out in this launch, evoking a “opportunity to learn, then fly again”. “Together, NASA and SpaceX will bring humanity back to the Moon, to Mars, and beyond”he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Congrats to the teams who made progress on today’s flight test.
Spaceflight is a bold adventure demanding a can-do spirit and daring innovation. Today’s test is an opportunity to learn—then fly again.
Together @NASA and @SpaceX will return humanity to the Moon, Mars & beyond. https://t.co/QGjwr45KM1
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— Bill Nelson (@SenBillNelson) November 18, 2023
Twitter – Bill Nelson on Twitter / X
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 takeoff had propelled a cloud of dust several kilometers from the launch pad, itself heavily damaged. Pieces of concrete were catapulted under the power of the engines, and a fire broke out in a nearby regional park.
“Flood” of water
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.
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During the first test, the two stages were unable to separate in flight before finally succeeding on Saturday.
The flight plan was the same as in April: the ship was to make a turn “almost complete Earth” and land in the Pacific, off the coast of Hawaii, Elon Musk had described.
Too slow development
However, the development of Starship does not seem to be fast enough to fit in with the plans of NASA, which has signed a contract with SpaceX. A modified version of the machine must serve as a lunar lander to place astronauts on the lunar surface for the first time since 1972. This mission, named Artemis 3, is officially planned for 2025 – a date which seems increasingly unrealistic.
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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.
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But the real innovation of Starship is that it must be entirely reusable, with the two stages being designed to eventually return to their launch pad – thus reducing costs. Only the first stage of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is currently recovered.
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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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