SpaceX launches massive Super Heavy-Starship rocket into space in most successful test yet
SpaceX executes new flight path for Starship following 2 previous explosions
SpaceX launches massive Super Heavy-Starship into space
SpaceX launched its Super Heavy Starship rocket into space in its third and most successful test yet. (Credit: SpaceX)
SpaceX successfully launched its Super Heavy-Starship rocket on Thursday morning from Texas, in what was its third and most successful test yet.
The spaceflight company's live stream had more than 1.5 million people "feeling the rumble" following liftoff at 8:25 a.m. CT, as the broadcast host announced.
"The third flight test aims to build on what we've learned from previous flights while attempting a number of ambitious objectives, including the successful ascent burn of both stages, opening and closing Starship's payload door, a propellant transfer demonstration during the upper stage's coast phase, the first ever re-light of a Raptor engine while in space, and a controlled reentry of Starship," SpaceX wrote in a press kit about the launch.
Two previous test flights ended in explosions, resulting in a new trajectory for the launch that occurred on Thursday.
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More than 1.5 million people watched the rocket liftoff from Texas on Thursday. (SpaceX / Fox News)
"This new flight path enables us to attempt new techniques like in-space engine burns while maximizing public safety," SpaceX said of the Starship, expected to splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
Claps and cheers could be heard about a minute into the flight, right before SpaceX's host said the tallest and most powerful rocket ever launched was "moving faster than the speed of sound."
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The third time proved to be the charm for SpaceX's Starship, with the rocket flying its longest and farthest. (SpaceX / Fox News)
Onboard cameras provided incredible views during the launch. (SpaceX / Fox News)
Incredible onboard views could be seen from the spaceship's cameras, and boosters were successfully making their way back to Earth about three minutes after liftoff.
"If Starship manages to make it all the way to reentry, we'll collect valuable data on reentry at hypersonic speeds, or more than 5 times the speed of sound," SpaceX posted to X.
SpaceX's Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket explode after launch from Starbase on April 20, 2023. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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"This rapid, iterative development approach has been the basis for all of SpaceX’s major innovative advancements including Falcon, Dragon, and Starlink," SpaceX shared. "Recursive improvement is essential as we work to build a full reusable transportation system capable of carrying both crew and cargo to Earth obit, help humanity return to the Moon, and ultimately travel to Mars and beyond."
Ultimately, SpaceX announced that they lost the ship upon re-entry, and that there would be no splashdown, despite what was otherwise Starship's most successful test yet.