STARBASE, Texas — Starship took off as scheduled Friday from South Texas, conducting its 15th test flight in more than three years.
The launch, largely successful, took place in the early evening; As the massive rocket rose into the atmosphere, the Sun sank toward the western horizon. Conditions were ideal for the launch, with atmospheric winds so calm that the rocket’s white plume did not dissipate for several minutes. The weather in South Texas is not always comfortable; summers are long and hot. Friday night was perfect at Starbase.
The first stage rose smoothly into space, freeing the upper stage above the Gulf of Mexico. From there, the Starship’s upper stage fired its Raptor engines and blasted its way into a nominal orbit. This was the second time SpaceX flew Starship into low Earth orbit.
As we got back to the ground, the first stage fell like a rock. However, due to an unspecified problem, the vehicle was ordered to divert to the Gulf rather than return to the starbase to be caught by the launch tower. This created an incredibly powerful explosion, even for observers more than 10 miles away.
First mission, a success
The main objective of Friday’s launch was the deployment of 26 Starlink V3 satellites from a narrow gate at the spacecraft’s base. This happened about 40 minutes into Starship’s flight, and the 26 satellites, with solar panels that span 60 meters from end to end when fully deployed, safely entered orbit, where they will now use onboard propulsion to increase their altitude.
This means that Starship is now an operational orbital rocket. It is the largest and most powerful machine ever launched by man into space. The challenge for the company now is to make Starship reusable and significantly increase its flight rate.
In this sense, the first part of Friday’s mission was not a success. SpaceX had hoped to return the first stage booster, refurbish it and fly it again. The company has landed and flown Starship boosters before, but has yet to do so with the latest iteration of the vehicle, Version 3.
Gn bussni
