BOCA CHICA, Tex. – Third time’s the charm (of sorts) for SpaceX’s Starship, which soared over the Gulf of Mexico Thursday morning during its third flight test.
The company launched its super-heavy rocket at 9:25 a.m. ET from Boca Chica, Texas, delayed about an hour as the range was cleared.
SpaceX said it lost contact with Starship 49 minutes into the flight as it neared its ultimate goal of splashdown in the Indian Ocean. The launch vehicle’s booster — though it separated from the spacecraft seamlessly — itself plummeted into the Gulf while Starship went on to reach an altitude some 145 miles high.
Watch the launch again in the media player below:
SpaceX’s two previous attempts to successfully launch Starship into space ended in explosions, but the company said both tests completed major milestones and led to invaluable data.
“Each of these flight tests continue to be just that: a test. They aren’t occurring in a lab or on a test stand, but are putting flight hardware in a flight environment to maximize learning,” SpaceX officials said in a statement on the company’s website.
During the second test in November, the rocket ignited all engines successfully and completed stage separation, but the test was not completed and the rocket was destroyed.
The third flight attempt for Starship hoped to include several objectives, including opening and closing Starship’s payload door, re-lighting a Raptor engine while in space and a controlled reentry for the spacecraft, planned to return to Earth via splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
Starship’s flight trajectory for today's test pic.twitter.com/1YJbO1tRxz
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 14, 2024
“When you compare to the first two test flights, both of which ended with self-destruct explosions, they clearly have made major strides,” CBS News space consultant Bill Harwood said.
Starship is the vehicle that is expected to land astronauts on the moon as part of the Artemis program. That mission is expected to happen no earlier than September 2026.
However, a Government Accounting Office report last year said delays in Starship’s development are hampering the launch of the Artemis III mission. The report said 2027 was a more likely scenario for launch.
Harwood told News 6 reporter James Sparvero that it’s too early to tell whether Thursday’s flight test will impact the Artemis III timeline.
“SpaceX does a lot of testing very rapidly so it’s possible they can get this vehicle certified and ready to go in time for that. Although I think it’s still a stretch,” Harwood said. “Multiple launches are going to have to go well before NASA is going to risk putting astronauts on board, so they’ve got a big challenge ahead of them.”
Harwood said he wouldn’t be surprised if SpaceX can launch Starship again within weeks, pending another FAA review.
“It’s going to depend on what went wrong, what it’s going to take to fix those things, but they turn things around pretty quickly,” he said.
During its broadcast, SpaceX said Thursday was its birthday.
Elon Musk founded the company on March 14, 2002.
Twenty-two years later, he posted a picture saying, “Starship will take humanity to Mars.”
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