SpaceX’s gigantic Starship successfully took off from the launch pad into space at around 15:25 Finnish time. The ship landed after more than an hour of flight, but unfortunately, it was destroyed when it hit the Indian Ocean. It could have burned or decomposed in the air due to the atmosphere and plasma causing radio communication to be lost when the ship heated up from atmospheric friction. Despite this setback, the Starship was protected by hundreds of heat shields, but the connection was lost before it hit the sea.
This was SpaceX’s third test within a year, with each test revealing new information about the Starship’s capabilities. During the first test, the first stage separated from the rocket’s lower part after about three minutes and fell into the Gulf of Mexico. The upper part quickly rose to a height of 150 kilometers and eventually surpassed 200 kilometers, entering space. Despite this destruction upon landing, tests such as opening and closing cargo spaces, restarting engines in space, and transferring propellant between tanks were successful.
The Starship is capable of carrying up to 150 tons into orbit around Earth and is designed for future missions beyond Earth’s atmosphere. SpaceX aims to get it into lunar orbit for a test run before potentially traveling to Mars and other destinations in our solar system. NASA has selected SpaceX’s Starship for an upcoming mission to take two astronauts to the Moon’s surface as part of their Artemis program aimed at returning humans to space exploration.
Prior to this successful test flight, previous attempts had ended in explosions due to various issues that needed fixing. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) found and addressed 17 issues before granting SpaceX permission for this flight.
In conclusion, despite its unfortunate outcome upon landing, this third test flight demonstrated how far SpaceX has come with its development of its Starship technology. With continued testing and refinement, we can expect great things from this revolutionary spacecraft in future missions beyond Earth’s atmosphere.
