SpaceX has successfully completed a test flight of its largest and most powerful new Starship model ever developed. It is an upgraded spacecraft that NASA is counting on as a key tool for future moon landing missions.
The newly designed super rocket went on its first public flight two days after SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced plans to go public. The rocket was launched from the new Starbase launch site at the southern tip of Texas, and was originally scheduled to launch Thursday evening, but it was postponed by a day due to last-minute technical issues with the launch site.
The flight marks the 12th test flight of Starship, which Musk is developing to eventually send humans to Mars. The last flight of the previous generation Starship was in October last year, and the new third-generation version, the so-called "V3," measures 407 feet (about 124 meters) long, more than a meter larger than the previous model. The thrust of the engine has also been greatly strengthened, and the first-stage booster has grown in size and strength instead of reducing the number of grid pins used for direction control on return. The transfer pipe, which fuels the 33 main engines, has also been redesigned to a level equivalent to SpaceX's Falcon 9 first-stage booster. The main body of the spacecraft has been newly added to the docking condo for increased number of cameras, improved navigation and computer performance, and future docking and lunar exploration.
The flight went on a trajectory that circled half the earth for about an hour, and 20 test Starlink satellites were successfully separated and discharged in the middle. The spacecraft succeeded in reaching its final destination, the Indian Ocean, despite some engine problems. Afterwards, it charged into the Indian Ocean in a vertical position while maintaining almost complete control, and immediately exploded by falling sideways. According to SpaceX, this last explosion was an expected scenario.
SpaceX feared a repeat of a situation in which an aerial explosion dumped debris into the Atlantic Ocean on a series of test flights last year, but this time it continued its flight without a major explosion until the last minute. Meanwhile, no equipment was recovered from the flight, and the first-stage booster crashed into the Gulf of Mexico. Starship is basically being developed with the goal of full reuse, and it envisions catching a return rocket in the air with a giant mechanical arm installed on the launch pad.
The immediate task of Starship is the moon, not Mars. NASA has paid billions of dollars to two companies, SpaceX and Blue Origin, to develop a lunar lander that will land Artemis astronauts on the moon. While Starship has already reached its space boundary for about an hour through several test flights, Blue Origin's Blue Moon lander, founded by Jeff Bezos, has yet to be launched. However, preparations for a prototype for a test flight to the moon are underway within the year.
Following a close-to-the-moon flight involving four astronauts in April, NASA plans to conduct a real docking test in Earth's orbit next year. The Artemis III mission will allow astronauts to practice docking procedures with the Orion capsule and Starship or Blue Moon. It will then be possible for the Artemis IV mission, in which two astronauts will land on the moon in 2028, and the actual model will be the safer and first-prepared landing craft among Starship and Blue Moon. If the mission is successful, it will be the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972.
NASA's idea is not just a landing. We are steadily moving toward our long-term goal of building a permanent lunar base run by astronauts and robots near the moon's south pole.
Jaehyung Kim (jhkim03@ytn.co.kr )
The explosion was an expected part of the process.
Therefore, despite the issues with the launch vehicle, the focus should be on the fact that all planned objectives were carried out during this launch.
It appears that, at least in terms of launch vehicle technology, they are still more than one step ahead of other companies.
The construction of a lunar base also seems to be just a few years away.