14/03/2024|Source: SpaceX, ČTK, Space.com
Studio ČT24: The third test flight of the Starship rocket (source: ČT24)
SpaceX’s Starship space transportation system failed to complete a test flight for the third time when the company lost contact with the spacecraft about fifty minutes after launch. The vessel, which SpaceX wants to use for trips to the Moon or Mars, did get into space and much further than in the previous two attempts, but it was finally destroyed when it returned to Earth, the company’s commentators said in a live broadcast. Nevertheless, the system achieved several key successes during the test flight.
Over thirty super-powered Raptor rocket engines ignited after minor delays at 14:25 CET, and the giant structure headed up to cheers that echoed in the control center in the Texas city of Boca Chica.
SpaceX’s first success occurred less than three minutes after launch, when the Super Heavy rocket and spacecraft separated without difficulty; the fifty-meter craft continued into space while the launch stage began preparing for refueling to return to Earth.
A landing maneuver over the Gulf of Mexico was to follow a few minutes later. However, it appears that the Super Heavy’s rocket engines failed to ignite as planned, resulting in the loss of the rocket. “Not all the expected engines fired and we lost the carrier,” SpaceX spokesman Dan Huot said, according to Space.com. “We will have to examine the data obtained to find out exactly what happened,” he added.
The investigation into Thursday’s incident will be conducted by SpaceX itself, but according to Reuters, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which granted permission for the test flights, will oversee the process.
It was a quarter of an hour away
The upper stage of the Starship had almost completed its journey halfway across the globe within an hour. It was supposed to fall into the Indian Ocean 65 minutes after takeoff. High above the ground, the ship ignited its own six engines and showed in a live broadcast through the installed cameras how it was surrounded by plasma as it returned to Earth. Then the connection was lost. “We’ve lost the ship,” the broadcast said shortly afterwards.
However, SpaceX achieved significantly more goals in the third test than in the previous two attempts. During the first test last April, the entire rocket system exploded after just a few minutes. During the second test in November, both rocket stages separated and the second stage continued to fly, but both parts exploded shortly afterwards.
A spaceship that is supposed to fly to Mars
The Starship consists of a huge Super Heavy launch vehicle and a second stage, the Starship spacecraft. The system measures 120 meters in total, making it the largest system of its kind built to date. It is also the most powerful space transportation system – the carrier is powered by 33 Raptor rocket engines, the spacecraft by six of the same units. Test flights are currently planned without a crew, but according to SpaceX, the vessel is supposed to carry up to a hundred people or a large amount of cargo and equipment in the future.
SpaceX has designed the system to be fully reusable and hopes to use it for deep space exploration, particularly for trips to Mars. The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which chose Starship to land its astronauts on the moon, also relies on successful tests. This phase of the Artemis program is planned by the authority for 2026. However, SpaceX must first prove that its spacecraft can even reach Earth’s orbit, writes Space.com.