SpaceX completed the sixth test of Starship, the largest space rocket ever built, successfully, under the watchful eye of the CEO of the aerospace company, Elon Musk and the president-elect of the United States, donald trump.
The rocket, the largest built to date, took off around 5:00 pm local time, from Starbase, the base located in Boca Chica, near the border with Mexico.
Unlike the fifth launch, this time SpaceX engineers decided not to try to recover the ship’s booster rocket – known in English as ‘Super Heavy’ – but instead dropped it into the Gulf of Mexico.
The company’s engineers have not yet explained why this difference occurred between this launch and the previous one, and in the images broadcast live it was observed how the propellant slowly fell onto the ocean, causing a cloud of smoke when it hit the water.
In the fifth test mission, carried out on October 13, the ‘Super Heavy’ was captured on a platform, with the help of a crane called ‘chopsticks’ to facilitate its descent.
The Starship wants to become the first private service to reach the Moon and Mars and establish permanent presences and colonies on those planets, a vision considered viable by Musk.
To achieve the certifications of the POTStarship will be part of the Artemis III mission, the first in more than half a century to return a crew to the lunar surface and which is scheduled for 2026.
Several environmental groups have criticized the Starship launches from Bocachica, as well as SpaceX’s activity in the region, given the proximity to a national park and wildlife refuge where several endangered species live.
In July of this year, a handful of environmental organizations called on the federal government to ban SpaceX rocket launches and accused federal agencies of failing to adequately evaluate the environmental impact of Musk’s company.
The billionaire, who gave financial and political support to the candidacy of future President Trump, has positioned himself against the government’s regulatory agencies and will lead an initiative – commissioned by the Republican – to end federal “bureaucracy.”