Third launch of the Starship: erratic movements but a magnificent flight for the biggest rocket in history
- by Techno-Science.net
- Mar 14, 2024
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The Starship, the most imposing and powerful rocket ever conceived, crossed a new milestone by enabling the spacecraft of the same name to reach a quasi-orbital speed during its third test flight from Texas. Although the mission concluded without either the vehicle or its Super Heavy booster reaching their final destination, this mission stands as a historic moment for billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX company.
Starship's launch during its third flight.
Credit: SpaceX
Erratic movements for the booster and the spacecraft
During this flight, the Starship had to contend with the loss of its Super Heavy booster, a crucial component for propelling the rocket out of Earth's atmosphere. A few minutes after takeoff, following a successful separation of the two stages, the Super Heavy booster began its return maneuver, attempting to reverse its trajectory for a controlled descent.The last view of the Super Heavy booster during Starship's third flight, showing one of its 33 main engines reignited for an attempted landing on March 14, 2024, above the Gulf of Mexico.
Credit: SpaceX
However, a failure occurred at the moment of the engines' reignition, intended to slow the booster's descent toward the ocean. A visibly oscillating motion shook the booster, and it was at the moment of engine reignition that connection was lost. The mission was also marked by the loss of the Starship vehicle itself. After separating from its booster, the spacecraft continued its trajectory, entering a suborbital flight phase over the Earth. The goal was to demonstrate Starship's ability to perform certain key maneuvers, including reigniting its Raptor engines and transferring cryogenic fuel between tanks, crucial steps for its future use in long-distance space missions.
Stunning image of plasma enveloping the Starship spacecraft, shortly before contact was lost.
Credit: SpaceX
A promising future
During this third test flight, SpaceX's Starship demonstrated that it possesses all the capabilities required to successfully conduct commercial missions similar to those of traditional launchers. Its success in reaching a quasi-orbital velocity and executing complex maneuvers is testament to this. The main distinction, however, lies in the Starship's reusability ambitions, with the components returning to Earth. The necessary improvements mainly concern the recovery system, namely controlling the Super Heavy booster and the spacecraft itself during their descent. These challenges, although significant, are confined to the mission's final phase and do not question Starship's ability to function effectively as a super-heavy launcher. The Starship is not just a SpaceX project: it carries NASA's hopes for the Artemis 3 mission, which aims to bring humans back to the Moon. With less than two years to meet NASA's requirements, the pressure is intense. With its unparalleled payload capacity, it is also set to play a central role in deploying the next generation of Starlink internet satellites and other commercial missions.
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