Status: 04/20/2023 4:42 p.m
The first test flight of the longest rocket system ever built “Starship” ended a few minutes after the start with an unplanned explosion. The aerospace company SpaceX rated the test as a success.
The largest and most powerful rocket system ever built “Starship” broke apart on its first test flight a few minutes after launch.
Elon Musk’s private space company SpaceX still rated the test as a success. “As if the flight test wasn’t exciting enough, there was a rapid, unplanned breakup of the Starship prior to stage separation,” SpaceX tweeted. “Success in a test like this depends on what we learn, and today’s test will help us improve the reliability of ‘Starship’.”
The team will now evaluate the test data extensively and work towards the next test start.
The test should have lasted 90 minutes
The “Starship” initially took off from the ground in Brownsville, Texas, with a lot of fire and smoke. A few minutes later – shortly before the two rocket stages separated – the live images showed how the rocket system began to tumble and finally broke up with fire.
Actually, the test should have lasted about 90 minutes and ended with the landing of both stages. During the test flight, the first rocket stage should have crashed into the Gulf of Mexico after the separation. The “Starship” space shuttle should fly to an altitude of more than 150 kilometers, orbit almost the entire earth and then fall into the Pacific.
“We wanted to make it to the end, but we’re glad we made it this far,” said SpaceX staff.
“Starship” should enable manned missions to the moon and Mars
The test flight had been eagerly awaited. “Starship” – consisting of the approximately 70-meter-long “Super Heavy” booster and the approximately 50-meter-long upper stage, also called “Starship”, is intended to enable manned missions to the moon and Mars.
The first test start was actually planned for Monday, but was then postponed to Thursday due to a problem with a valve. Approval for the test flight was only granted by the US Federal Aviation Administration last Friday.
The “Starship” system is designed in such a way that the spaceship and rocket can be reused after returning to earth. The upper stage had already been tested on its own several times, but this was the first combined flight test of the entire missile system.
System around 120 meters long in total
On paper, Starship, with a total height of 120 meters, is almost twice as powerful as the US space agency Nasa’s “Space Launch System”, which launched the Orion capsule on an unmanned flight around the moon in November.
The “Starship” system, which is around 120 meters long in total, should be able to transport well over 100 tons of cargo in the future. The rocket is powered by 33 “Raptor” engines that run on liquid methane and liquid oxygen. The system should be able to be refueled in space.
NASA has selected “Starship” to fly humans to the moon again for the first time in more than 50 years at the end of 2025 on the Artemis 3 mission. Even flights to Mars and beyond should be possible with the rocket.