SpaceX Launches Landmark Starship Flight to Demonstrate Full Reusability of Orbit-Class Rocket

SpaceX launched its massive Starship rocket on the 15th of the program test flight Friday, a 22-hour mission including planned captures of the booster launch pad and the Starship upper stage.

The booster sent the spacecraft into orbit as planned, but some problem prevented a return to capture the launch pad. Instead, the rocket ditched off the Texas Gulf Coast and quickly caught fire.

SpaceX successfully snagged a Super Heavy booster on three previous test flights, using giant mechanical arms on the launch gantry to hook the rockets as they descended tail-first thanks to the power of three of their 33 Raptor engines. But the flight plan also includes an option to land if a problem arises preventing a safe capture.

It was a disappointment for SpaceX workers who hoped the 15th test flight of the Super Heavy-Starship rocket would be the first to demonstrate full reuse in an orbit-class rocket. The company still plans to attempt its first-ever capture on a Starship upper stage launch pad on Saturday, when the mission ends.

Loaded with 8 million pounds of very cold liquid oxygen and methane, the rocket’s 236-foot-tall first stage, powered by 33 methane-burning Raptor engines, came to life and majestically propelled the booster away from SpaceX’s “Starbase” launch site on the Texas Gulf Coast at 5:47 p.m. EST.

Moving away toward the southeast, the Super Heavy booster propelled the rocket out of the thick lower atmosphere before falling again about two minutes and 20 seconds after liftoff.

As the 171-foot-tall spacecraft continued its climb toward space using its own six Raptors, the booster turned around and fired a set of Raptors to reverse course and return to the launch site.

But a little more than six minutes after takeoff, flight controllers ordered a diversion to a water landing on the Gulf Coast due to a technical problem. Long-range cameras captured the large thruster slowly descending toward the Gulf, enveloped in steam and then a fireball as residual thrusters ignited.

The Starship, meanwhile, followed a suborbital trajectory, ensuring a safe landing in the ocean in the event of a problem while giving SpaceX flight controllers time to assess its health before committing to a final push toward orbit.

But no problems were detected and after 18 minutes of coasting, a single Raptor reignited for a short 10-second burn to push the craft into its intended orbit. Eight and a half minutes later, the first of 26 upgraded Starlink version 3 Internet satellites was to be pushed into space to fly autonomously.

For the remainder of the flight, controllers planned to closely monitor the Starship, periodically assessing its health to ensure it could be safely desorbed in the event of problems that could prevent a safe return to the capture site on the same platform where it was launched Friday atop the Super Heavy booster. This will be SpaceX’s first attempt to return a spacecraft to its platform for possible refurbishment and relaunch.

“During this extended coastal phase, flight control teams have several options to terminate the mission early and return the Starship to previously authorized areas of the Pacific Ocean if necessary,” SpaceX said on its webpage.

“These locations include early- and late-mission water landing options around Hawaii and a mid-mission water landing opportunity several hundred miles off the coast of Chile. These pre-authorized areas… provide a safe place to land the craft if conditions arise that may prevent the ability to safely conduct reentry.”

An hour after a final “return check” Saturday, a single Raptor is scheduled to fire at 3:21 p.m. to lower the far side of the spacecraft’s orbit deep into the atmosphere for a 56-minute belly-first reentry and return to the Texas Gulf Coast.

“During re-entry, Starship can change its flight path by moving its four control flaps,” the company said. “This will allow Starship to maintain a safe, known trajectory while guiding itself with high-precision control to Starbase.”

As it descends, the Starship will make “a series of small turns in its trajectory to intentionally fly over sparsely populated areas of northern Mexico and southern Texas.”

“As Starship approaches Starbase from the west, the vehicle will make its way around the major cities of the Rio Grande Valley, passing north of South Padre Island and over the Gulf… as it makes its final turn south toward Starbase.”

As it approaches the launch pad, the 171-foot-tall spacecraft will first flip the three Raptors around. Once the maneuver is complete, a Raptor will be stopped as the rocket descends between the mechanical arms of the gantry. Finally, with a single engine fired to slow the rocket to a near-stop, the mechanical arms will move to catch the spacecraft.

But all this depends on a trouble-free descent. If problems arise that could lead to an uncontrolled landing, flight controllers can ensure the vehicle disintegrates before it has any chance of reaching a populated area.

“During reentry, flight controllers will have several options to end reentry early and safely by intentionally tilting the spacecraft to ensure it disintegrates in the atmosphere before reaching earth,” SpaceX said.

“There is also a late re-entry option to send the spacecraft into the Gulf…if any of its systems or the tower itself experiences a problem after re-entry that would prevent safe capture at Starbase.”

SpaceX calls the development of a fully reusable rocket “the holy grail of rocketry,” opening the door to an airplane-like cadence where a vehicle flies quickly again.

NASA is counting on a Starship variant to carry Artemis astronauts to the lunar surface in 2028. But development of the rocket has taken longer than initially expected and the space agency is now hedging its bets, saying it is open to using Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 2 lander depending on which spacecraft is ready.