SpaceX has achieved a significant milestone in its development of a reusable space transportation system. Yesterday, the company successfully conducted its fourth flight test of its interplanetary ship prototype, Starship, at its base in Boca Chica, Texas.
The test took place with Starship taking off at 12:50 UTC. The booster rocket, Super Heavy, separated from Starship three minutes into the flight at an altitude of 90 kilometers. Super Heavy made a successful splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico and completed the first objective of the mission.
Starship continued into Earth orbit at a height of 160 kilometers and reached speeds over 26 thousand kilometers per hour towards the Indian Ocean. During the flight, Starship performed a tilt maneuver for re-entry into the atmosphere, which was captured on onboard cameras despite some issues with signal quality. Despite this challenge, Starship managed to land safely in the Indian Ocean west of Australia after an hour and five minutes of flight, completing the second objective of the mission.
In previous tests, Starship had separated from Super Heavy but was lost over the Indian Ocean due to software and hardware issues. The team made significant updates for this flight, including operational changes like scrapping the hot-stage of Super Heavy to reduce rocket mass for the final phase of flight.
Starship and Super Heavy represent a reusable transportation system designed for crew and cargo missions to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond. With a capacity to carry up to 150 fully reusable metric tons and standing at 121 meters tall with a diameter of nine meters, this spacecraft has huge potential for future space exploration endeavors.
Elon Musk’s goal is developing a reusable space transportation system is getting closer as SpaceX continues to work towards efficient and sustainable space travel.
The successful test flight marks an important milestone for SpaceX in their journey towards creating an affordable way to reach outer space that can be done repeatedly without needing new parts every time.
