SpaceX carried out this Thursday, from Boca Chica (Texas), the third test flight of Starship - the largest and most powerful ship in the world that seeks to reach outer space - after two failed attempts that ended in explosions.
The company confirmed the "
loss
" of the ship shortly after making its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere and before it reached the waters of the Indian Ocean, however the test was described as a
"huge success"
during the live broadcast.
After the successful takeoff, which took place around 8:25 local time from a Starbase platform, the
SpaceX
base , both stages of the rocket separated successfully, although the first, called Super Heavy, did not complete its mission. return to land successfully.
Watch the super hot plasma field grow as Starship re-enters the atmosphere!
pic.twitter.com/to4UOF2Kpd
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 14, 2024
The
Starship
successfully continued its planned journey of almost one orbit around the planet, during which it traveled at an altitude of about 160 kilometers and at a speed of more than 26,000 km/h.
During more than an hour of flight, a considerably longer time compared to previous tests, the Starship managed to open and close the ship's doors and transfer fuel from one tank to another, part of the
tests
planned for today.
The ship had time while it was descending and re-entering the
Earth's atmosphere
to broadcast some impressive live images of the planet, after which, and as expected, the communication was cut off.
"Elon Musk":
Because the Starship rocket was successfully launched by SpaceX.pic.twitter.com/IriSNkKtG3
— Trends in Argentina (@becauseTTarg) March 14, 2024
Moments later, mission controllers confirmed that they "lost" the ship during its descent at more than 25,000 kilometers per hour.
Although
Starship did not survive the harsh conditions
during its reentry, the test accomplished several of its objectives.
The owner of SpaceX, Elon Musk, indicated that they plan more tests for this year.
The idea with these tests is to prepare
the ground for the United States to return to the Moon
, expectedly in 2026, and accelerate the path to
Mars
.
SpaceX Starship launches successfully, notches new milestones on way around Earth#SpaceX #Starship pic.twitter.com/3BCa2fguaH
— Sumit (@SumitHansd) March 14, 2024
SpaceX, which has classified the two previous launches as learning despite the setbacks, needed approval from the government's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for this Thursday's new attempt.
The FAA noted that SpaceX "met all safety, environmental, policy and financial responsibility requirements."
Background of Starship in space
Last April,
Starship's two stages failed to separate
and mission controllers activated an emergency system that intentionally blew up the rocket about four minutes after launch.
Size of spaceX's starship is hugeee.#SpaceX#ElonMuskpic.twitter.com/RklL4Urka6
— Khan🇵🇰 🇩🇪 (@saqi_tweets_) March 14, 2024
The second test, which also ended in an
explosion
, was nevertheless more successful, as both stages separated and SpaceX "achieved a number of important milestones and provided invaluable data to continue rapidly developing Starship," the company explained.
Minutes before the launch
, Musk made a surprise appearance in Boca Chica
to call on the public present and those who followed the broadcast online to make donations through an investment program with cryptocurrencies to make space travel "accessible to everyone." a future.
Spectacular pic.twitter.com/DgYgZIOV5E
— Musk University |
Quotes (parody) (@MuskUniverse420) March 14, 2024
He stressed that this is an initiative to "
democratize
" space exploration and offered to double the investment made in bitcoin to those who participate in said donation program.
Starship will make life multiplanetary pic.twitter.com/Ul7ksiAHBZ
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 14, 2024