Rocket Starship from SpaceX successfully took off on its second test flight after a failed attempt on April 20 forced Elon Musk’s company to make major reforms to both the ship and its launch platform. The launch took place from the company’s space base in Boca Chica, Texas (USA).
A few minutes later, SpaceX’s Starship successfully completed the separation of its two modules: the launch vehicle and the ship. But immediately after that it exploded, immediately after the thirty-three engines of the super-heavy launch vehicle stopped. In the second stage, the spacecraft itself automatically detonates before reaching its intended altitude.
“We believe that the automated flight abort system on Starship’s second stage was activated,” SpaceX engineer John Insprucker explained during the takeoff livestream. The unfulfilled task was to ensure the ship had a stable suborbital trajectory for more than an hour. Subsequently, the Super Heavy launch vehicle was expected to return to Earth and fall into the sea, and the upper stage would also re-enter the atmosphere and fall over the Pacific Ocean, completing a full orbit around the Earth.
Despite this, this is the second test of the Starship marks a fundamental milestone in the American space race. The main goal is to use the SpaceX vehicle to land astronauts on the Moon in 2025 as part of the mission. Artemis 3. But its founder Elon Musk’s goal is to reach Mars.
Key stages of the second SpaceX Starship test
This second test of SpaceX’s Starship reaches several key milestones that will undoubtedly prompt US authorities to conduct more tests in 2024 with improved rockets based on data obtained from this launch.
Firstly, this is the successful separation of the first and second stages of the starship. During the first test, this became a major failure point: both modules failed to separate, and the decision was made to detonate it in flight. To achieve this, SpaceX changed its strategy and fired the upper stage’s six engines at the moment of separation rather than after. This is not a new concept, as other NASA space initiatives, such as the Gemini program’s Titan II, have done something similar. The Russians also use this separation method with Soyuz rockets.
Separating both stages is important. After this, the second stage will continue to rise into low orbit around the Earth. The upper ship’s six engines were successfully ignited and it continued to rise before exploding.
“We are going to analyze the data and improve the separation sequence. We’ll probably improve the hardware for the next flight,” Kate Tice, one of Space X’s top engineers, explained during the livestream.
The second milestone is the launch of the thirty-three Raptor engines of the Super Heavy launch vehicle. Achieving the highest power ever recorded on a spacecraft. The force generated by the rocket and the damage caused to the launch base were essentially the reason the US suspended SpaceX’s license for several months.
The company made significant changes to the Starship’s takeoff system, using a water-cooling system designed to protect the platform from the explosion that occurs during takeoff. Finally, last Wednesday, the US Federal Aviation Administration issued permission for the spacecraft to take off.
SpaceX hopes that Starship will be the vanguard not only in returning humans to the Moon or conquering Mars, but also in the ability to transport much more material into space, an essential requirement for eventually establishing bases on our natural satellite.
Source: Hiper Textual
