SpaceX Starship: Elon Musk promises second launch within months
- by BBC
- Dec 12, 2023
- 0 Comments
- 0 Likes Flag 0 Of 5
With the vehicle out of control, the flight had to be terminated
The entrepreneur had tried to temper expectations before the launch. Just getting the vehicle off the ground and not destroying the launch pad infrastructure would be considered "a win", he said.
His wish was granted. Starship cleared its launch complex on the US-Mexico border and picked up pace as it headed out over the Gulf of Mexico. But it was evident within a minute or so that not everything was going to plan.
SPACEX Starship reached a maximum altitude over the Gulf of 39km
The top segment of Starship, also known as the ship, had taken flight previously on short hops, but this was the first time it had launched with its lower-stage.
This immense booster, called simply Super Heavy, was fired while clamped to its launch mount in February. However, its cluster of engines on that occasion were throttled back to half their capability.
If, as promised, SpaceX went for 90% thrust on Thursday, the stage should have delivered something close to 70 meganewtons.
That's double the thrust put out by the Saturn V rocket that famously sent men to the Moon in the 1960s and 70s.
Starship may not have destroyed its launch pad but later pictures indicated the forceful departure had done a fair amount of damage to concrete surfaces.
The plan for the mission had been to send the ship on one near-complete revolution of the Earth, ending with a splashdown in the Pacific, a couple of hundred km north of Hawaii.
There was no expectation that the ship or Super Heavy would be recovered. However, long term, this is the plan. The idea is to land both halves, refuel them and launch again - over and over.
If this can be achieved, it will be transformative.
Starship has a prospective payload performance to orbit of more than 100 tonnes per flight. When this is allied to the low cost of operation - principally, just the cost of fuel - it should open the door to an exciting future.
"In the industry, there's certainly a very high expectation at the potential of this vehicle for disruption," said space consultant Carissa Bryce Christensen.
"Its massive capacity, from a commercial standpoint, could be significant. A very large vehicle that's human-rated could be important for the emergence of space tourism. The other element is the vehicle being inexpensive. So, you've got a vehicle with two transformational aspects - massive capacity and, potentially, at a very low price," the CEO of BryceTech told BBC News.
SpaceX
Please first to comment
Related Post
Stay Connected
Tweets by elonmuskTo get the latest tweets please make sure you are logged in on X on this browser.
Sponsored
Popular Post
Tesla: Buy This Dip, Energy Growth And Margin Recovery Are Vastly Underappreciated
28 ViewsJul 29 ,2024