Donald Trump's encouragement will not have been enough to repeat the feat of a month ago. SpaceX launched its mega Starship rocket on Tuesday but had to give up trying to catch its first stage with mechanical arms.
The rocket's sixth test flight took off at 4 p.m. from the company's Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas. The president-elect arrived wearing his iconic red cap, and Elon Musk said he was “honored” by his presence. They thus displayed their new proximity and their interest in the conquest of space.
NASA is counting on SpaceX to aim for the Moon
SpaceX aims to use Starship, the world's largest and most powerful rocket, to colonize Mars. The development of the spacecraft is also closely monitored by NASA, which is counting on it to bring its astronauts back to the Moon.
The rocket consists of the Super Heavy first stage (70 meters high) and, above it, the Starship (50 m). After propelling the ship, Super Heavy detaches from it and begins its descent. In October, rather than ending his journey in the sea, he had succeeded in an unprecedented maneuver. Slowed down using retrorockets, he returned to his launch pad and, just before hitting the ground, mechanical arms installed on the launch tower closed around him and immobilized him.
But this time, SpaceX announced shortly after takeoff that the criteria were not met to attempt this operation, and Super Heavy ditched in the Gulf of Mexico where it disintegrated. For its part, the Starship continued its flight, before landing in the Indian Ocean during the day, allowing precious images to be filmed for the first time.
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The rocket must ultimately be fully reusable and that is why SpaceX is seeking to catch up on its first stage. This strategy aims to be able to launch more machines more quickly, and for much less money than if it was necessary to use new equipment each time.
During the October test, the rocket gained a new admirer in the person of Donald Trump. In his victory speech on presidential election night, he described watching the rocket being caught and feeling like he was “in a movie.” “I said, that’s why I love you, Elon, that’s great. »
A banana on board
The boss of SpaceX spent tens of millions of dollars to support the Republican's campaign, and in exchange landed an advisory position, ignoring possible conflicts of interest, SpaceX having numerous contracts in progress with the American government.
The development of Starship is being carried out vigorously by the company, launching prototypes without cargo, in order to quickly correct the problems encountered in real flight situations. SpaceX, however, revealed that it was carrying cargo on board for the first time on Tuesday: a banana.
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