The Starship spacecraft, intended for trips to the Moon and Mars, succeeded in landing for the first time on Thursday, after its return to the Earth’s atmosphere, SpaceX said. Its test flight lasted about an hour and it was the fourth takeoff of this megarocket.
“Ditching confirmed!” wrote the company of billionaire Elon Musk on the social network “said one of the SpaceX commentators, shortly before the landing.
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Takeoff of this fourth Starship test flight took place at 7:50 a.m. (2:50 p.m. in Switzerland) from SpaceX’s Starbase space base in Boca Chica, in the far south of Texas.
Two floors
The rocket is made up of two stages: the Super Heavy propulsion stage and, above it, the Starship, which by extension gives its name to the entire rocket. This, the largest and most powerful in the world, measures a total of 120 meters high.
A few minutes after takeoff, Super Heavy detached from the ship and began its return to Earth. For the first time, it then successfully landed in the Indian Ocean, SpaceX announced. The ship continued its journey until reaching space. After about an hour, it in turn re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere, at around 20,000 km/h. This speed causes friction that can raise the temperature to around 1,400 degrees, according to SpaceX.
An “improved” vehicle
During its last flight less than three months ago, the spacecraft had also gone well beyond the boundary of space, but its signal was lost 49 minutes after takeoff, as it descended towards Earth. The cause was identified as loss of control of its orientation in flight due to clogged valves, SpaceX explained. Several vehicle “improvements” have been added since then.
The first test flight was carried out in April 2023. During the third test flight, a fuel transfer test was carried out: liquid oxygen was transferred from one tank to another within the rocket, according to SpaceX.
Developing this function is essential because to reach the Moon (read box)Starship will have to refuel once in space, by sticking to another vessel previously filled and serving as a space gas station.
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