SpaceX has completed an extremely successful test flight of its Starship rocket, with the company achieving multiple crucial milestones, including the first time completing a soft landing of both the Super Heavy Booster and Starship itself.
The massive rocket took off at 8:50 am ET. SpaceX launched it from its sprawling Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas.
Liftoff of Starship! pic.twitter.com/2Z1PdNPYPG
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 6, 2024
This is the fourth test flight for the most powerful booster ever developed, which SpaceX is developing to be fully reusable. The booster, known as Super Heavy, which for today’s flight was the Booster 11 prototype, completed a successful landing burn in the Gulf of Mexico using only 10 Raptor engines. This was despite one of its 33 Raptor engines failing to light at lift-off.
Super Heavy has splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico pic.twitter.com/hIY3Gkq57k
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 6, 2024
The Starship, or the second stage (Starship 29 prototype), spent about 40 minutes in orbit before making a reentry for the first time. However, while the spaceship successfully landed in the Indian Ocean, it is unclear just how well the machine handled the reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere. But incredible footage from the Starship cameras, powered by Starlink, caught debris and damage to the rocket.
Starship made a controlled reentry, successfully making it through the phases of peak heating and max aerodynamic pressure and demonstrating the ability to control the vehicle using its flaps while descending through the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds pic.twitter.com/p8bC9UweLx
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 6, 2024
SpaceX says the flight has provided invaluable data that will help future tests. Another Starship test flight might come as soon as the middle of July.
Starship had its third test flight in March.
Elon Musk dreams of taking humans to Mars to establish a permanent colony there. He is banking on the reusability of the Starship to reduce the costs, time, and complexity of moving humans and cargo to the Red Planet.
However, before embarking on a journey to Mars, NASA has selected the Starship to ferry its astronauts as the agency plans to resume lunar missions with the Artemis III, tentatively scheduled for 2026.
