A spacecraft lifted off from Boca Chica, Texas
SpaceX
SpaceX’s Starship, the largest rocket ever built, has effectively completed a fourth flight, with its first and second stages completing their missions as planned before crashing into other oceans.
After liftoff from SpaceX’s site in Boca Chica, Texas, at 7:50 a. m. local time, one of the 33 Raptor engines of the first Super Heavy level failed to ignite. Despite this, the rocket continued its journey and the two levels separated. neatly.
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Its consistent with Heavy landed as planned about 7 minutes after liftoff in the Gulf of Mexico, not far from the launch site. The booster managed to start its engines after falling to Earth at an altitude of more than a hundred kilometers, slowing through more than 4,000 kilometers per hour until it floated a few meters above the sea, before the living force was cut off and plunged into the water.
During this time, Starship reached its orbit at an altitude of more than two hundred kilometers and traveled at more than 27,000 kilometers per hour. During its descent to Earth, about 60 kilometers above the surface, a video broadcast live through SpaceX showed obvious damage. to one of its 4 fins, and the camera lens gave the impression of cracking. When it reached the Indian Ocean, it gave the impression of floating before falling into the sea.
This fourth flight test was aimed at taking Starship out of orbit after its previous test reached space for the first time. SpaceX has chosen to perform “soft leavers” in the ocean because a land landing is considered too risky today. The cars use their engines to slow their descent, line up as if they were landing at the base, and gently dive into the water.
Over time, it is hoped that the return of space to the mainland will allow vehicles to be refurbished and reused, as SpaceX is already doing with its Falcon 9 rocket.
Today’s launch is the company’s fourth with Starship and included software and hardware upgrades, as well as adjustments to the launch procedure, following lessons learned from previous checks. The first check in April last year exploded before the first and second floors separated, while a few others in November, the upper moment level managed to reach the space but self-destructed when it stopped transmitting data, and the first level exploded right after separation.
The third verification flight of SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft on March 14 was at least partial good luck, as it reached space, completed fuel movement checks, and traveled farther and faster than ever before. But the spacecraft failed to make the comfortable landing planned after wasting attitude mid-flight.