Elon Musk’s SpaceX launches Starship rocket in astonishing test flight

3 days ago

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SpaceX - Figure 1 — Photo The Independent

SpaceX has accomplished the successful launch and landing of Starship, the spacecraft designed to transport people across the solar system.

In a remarkable achievement, SpaceX utilized mechanical arms, which they call “chopsticks,” to capture their booster on the launchpad in an effort to make it reusable.

The core section of the spacecraft, known as Starship by SpaceX, is intended to eventually transport humans. After reaching orbit, it returned to Earth and landed in the Indian Ocean.

Starship is the strongest rocket ever created. SpaceX, led by its CEO Elon Musk, envisions that it will eventually transport humans to the Moon and Mars.

Standing nearly 400 feet tall, the vacant Starship launched at dawn from the southernmost part of Texas close to the border with Mexico.

It soared over the Gulf of Mexico, much like the four previous Starships that ultimately met their fate by crashing into the ocean.

The final test flight in June was the most successful to date, successfully finishing its journey without any explosions.

This time, Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX, raised the stakes and took on even greater challenges and risks.

The company successfully returned the first-stage booster to the launch pad, where it had taken off just seven minutes before. The launch tower was equipped with large, metallic arms known as "chopsticks," which helped to catch the 232-foot tall booster as it descended.

SpaceX - Figure 2 — Photo The Independent

"Is this for real?" Dan Huot from SpaceX exclaimed with enthusiasm while standing close to the launch area. "I can barely contain my excitement!"

"This is a moment that will go down in engineering history," remarked Kate Tice from SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorne, California.

The flight director had the responsibility of making a real-time decision, using manual controls, on whether to go ahead with the landing.

SpaceX stated that it was crucial for both the booster and the launch tower to be in excellent and stable condition. If not, they risked ending up in the Gulf, similar to earlier incidents. Ultimately, all signs indicated they were prepared for the recovery.

After detaching from the booster, the vintage-style stainless steel spacecraft continued its journey around the globe, aiming for a carefully planned landing in the Indian Ocean.

The June flight fell short in the end when some components broke off. SpaceX enhanced the software and made changes to the heat shield, resulting in better thermal tiles.

For the past nine years, SpaceX has been retrieving the first-stage boosters of its Falcon 9 rockets after launching satellites and astronauts into orbit from sites in Florida and California. However, instead of landing back on the launch pads, these boosters return to landing platforms in the ocean or to concrete pads located several miles away from where they took off.

Reusing Falcon boosters has increased the frequency of launches and saved SpaceX a substantial amount of money.

Mr. Musk plans to take a similar approach with Starship, which is the largest and most powerful rocket ever created, featuring 33 methane-fueled engines just on the booster.

NASA has commissioned two Starship spacecraft to transport astronauts to the moon later this decade.

Further coverage provided by various agencies.