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 made in April and November 2023, which 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.
Following the successful takeoff, which took place around 8:25 am local time, from a platform at Starbase, SpaceX's base, Both stages of the rocket separated successfully, although the first, called Super Heavy, did not complete its return to earth successfully.
The other part, the Starship itself, 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 Starhip 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 descended and re-entered the Earth's atmosphere to broadcast some impressive live images of the planet, after which, and as expected, the communication was cut off.
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 United States to return to the Moon, expected in 2026, and accelerate the path to Mars.
SpaceX, which has classified the two previous launches as learning despite the setbacks, needed approval from the government Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for today's new attempt.
The FAA said Wednesday that SpaceX “met all safety, environmental, policy and financial responsibility requirements.”
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.
The second test, which also ended in an explosion, was 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.