SpaceX’s Starship megarocket blasted off from Texas on Thursday, the fourth test flight of the spacecraft that NASA and Elon Musk are counting on to take humanity to the Moon and Mars.
The world’s largest and most powerful rocket – nearly 121 meters tall – was empty as it flew over the Gulf of Mexico and headed east on a planned hour-long flight. The spacecraft at the top intended to circle the planet with a splash in the Indian Ocean.
SpaceX sought to avoid explosions this time by controlling descents. Minutes after liftoff Thursday morning, the first stage booster separated from the spacecraft and splashed into the gulf exactly as planned, after firing its engines.
“And we have splashdown!” SpaceX launch commentator Kate Tice announced in Mission Control at the company’s California headquarters.
It was a critical milestone in the company’s plan to eventually return Starship’s Super Heavy booster to its launch site for reuse.
SpaceX was close to avoiding an explosion in March, but lost contact with the spacecraft when it left space and exploded before reaching its objective. The booster also ruptured during flight, a quarter of a mile above the gulf.
Last year’s two test flights it ended in explosions shortly after taking off from far south Texas, near the Mexican border. The first opened a crater on Boca Chica beach and sent debris thousands of feet (meters) away.
SpaceX updated the software and made some changes to the flyback rocket to improve the chances. The Federal Aviation Administration signed off Tuesday on this fourth demonstration, saying all safety requirements were met.
Starship was designed to be completely reusable. That’s why SpaceX wants to control the thruster’s entry into the gulf and the spacecraft’s descent into the Indian Ocean – the aim is to serve as practice for planned future landings. Nothing was recovered from Thursday’s flight.
NASA has ordered a pair of Starships to two moon landing missions by astronauts, available towards the end of this decade. Each lunar crew will rely on their own NASA rocket and capsule to leave Earth, but will rendezvous with the Starship in lunar orbit to descend to the surface.
SpaceX is already selling tourist trips around the Moon. first private lunar clienta Japanese tycoon, pulled out of the trip with his entourage last week, citing the frequently delayed schedule.
The SpaceX founder and CEO has bigger plans: Musk envisions fleets of starships launching people and the infrastructure needed to build a city on Mars.
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