SpaceX conducted its check Starship test launch at 8:50 a. m. m. EST on June 6, by far the most successful so far. The fourth of these launches for the company is the first to successfully land its first-stage Super Heavy booster, as well as the first controlled landing of its second-stage “Ship” in the Indian Ocean.
The 15-stage Starsend is the largest and most resilient rocket ever built and is made up of two stages: a Super Heavy booster and the “Ship” module. The Super Heavy’s 33 Raptor engines powered by methane and liquid oxygen together generate 16. 7 million pounds of Thrust. SpaceX says the second-stage shipment is meant to accommodate up to a hundred team members on trips to the Moon and Mars, if all goes according to plan.
Thursday’s launch was SpaceX’s fourth uncrewed attempt, and each of them made a little more progress toward the overall goal of effectively landing the Starship rocket. The company’s first test in April 2023 lasted just four minutes before SpaceX ground controllers triggered a controlled detonation after the Starship’s two stages failed to separate. The company nearly doubled its flight time in November 2023 and its last attempt in March was limited to about 50 minutes before breaking up during atmospheric reentry.
[Related: SpaceX Spacecraft Keep Exploding, But It’s All Part of Elon Musk’s Plan. ]
As in the previous test, the purpose of the shipment was to land in the Indian Ocean, while the Super Heavy booster fell into the Gulf of Mexico, near SpaceX’s starbase. Initial reports imply that either purpose was fulfilled for the first time. which is a first step forward for the Starssend program.
The Starship’s reliability is key to NASA’s ongoing Artemis lunar program, which is in the process of paving the way for a permanent human presence on the moon’s surface until the end of the decade. SpaceX is expected to provide a fully elevable spacecraft for the manned Artemis. 3 project recently scheduled for September 2026.
This story is being updated. . .
Andrew Paul is the editor of Popular Science covering generation news. Previously, he was a regular contributor to The A. V. Club and Input, and has recently published paintings featured in Rolling Stone, Fangoria, GQ, Slate, NBC, as well as McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. . He lives just outside of Indianapolis.
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