SpaceX launched upgraded and most powerful version of its starship expected by the United States National Aeronautic Space Administration (NASA) to land astronauts on the moon. The redesigned mega rocket made its debut two days after SpaceX chief executive, Elon Musk, announced plan to make the company public.
The flight blasted off from the southern tip of Texas with 20 mock Starlink satellites that were released midway through the hour-long spaceflight that stretched halfway around the world.
The spacecraft reached its final destination — the Indian Ocean — despite some engine trouble, before erupting in flames upon impact. That last part was not unexpected, according to SpaceX. Speaking on the starship takeoff, Musk described it as “an epic” launch and landing.
“You scored a goal for humanity,” Musk posted on X. The starship is the 12th test flight of the rocket that Musk is building with the plan to get more people to Mars, taking advantage of NASA’s Artemis programme.
NASA administrator, Jared Isaacman, who flew in for the launch, said starship was now one step closer to the moon.
The last of the old spaceskimming Starships lifted off in October. SpaceX’s third-generation Starship — a souped-up version dubbed V3 — soared from a brand new launch pad at Starbase, Jared Isaacman, Administrator, United States National Aeronautic Space Administration (NASA) near the Mexican border.
Though last-minute pad issues thwarted the launch attempt earlier on last Thursday evening, SpaceX was hoping to avoid the fireworks it experienced during back-to-back launches last year when midair explosions rained wreckage down on the Atlantic, ending earlier flights in flames.
The spacecraft, however, plummeted upright into the Indian Ocean under seemingly full control, then toppled over and ignited.
While the liftoff itself went well, not all of the engines fired as the booster attempted a controlled return. The spacecraft also had to make do with fewer engines, but kept heading eastward 120 miles (194 kilometers) up.
A pair of modified, camera-equipped Starlinks ejected from Starship provided brief views of the spacecraft in flight — a remarkable first. At 407 feet (124 meters), the latest model eclipses the older Starship lines by several feet (more than 1 meter) and packs more engine thrust.
