Bengaluru: SpaceX’s Super Heavy Lift launch vehicle Starship blasted off on Thursday after the world’s most powerful rocket was launched from Texas in the US for its maiden test flight.
During the 90-minute test flight, the 120-metre-tall two-stage rocket, which is also the world’s heaviest launch vehicle, was to reach 233 km above the Earth. But the first stage failed to separate at an altitude of 39 km, bursting into flames.
“Starship experienced rapid unscheduled disassembly prior to stage separation,” SpaceX said in a statement on Twitter.
After the explosion, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted that the next flight would be in a few months.
Congrats @spacex Team Starship’s on an exciting test launch!
Lots learned for the next test launch in a few months. pic.twitter.com/gswdFut1dK
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 20, 2023
Understanding Launch
The launch vehicle is composed of the Super Heavy Booster and the Starship spacecraft, which together are known as the Starship. This is the vehicle on which NASA will fly its astronauts to the south pole of the Moon in 2025 with the Artemis 3 mission.
It is designed to eventually launch both crew and cargo to Mars as well.
Powered by 33 Falcon Raptor engines, the Super Heavy Booster is expected to become reusable in the future. In this test, the booster was supposed to separate over the Gulf of Mexico as the rocket took off toward Hawaii.
Starship is also designed to be fully reusable, but in this test flight, Booster 7 and Ship 24 – the versions of the prototype being tested – were to splash down in the Pacific Ocean after burning up in the atmosphere.
The test mission was to reach orbital velocity (at which artificial satellites remain in orbit) but did not complete a full orbit of Earth. At 233 km, it would have reached a speed of 28,160 kmph.
The upper stage of the 50-metre-long Starship was supposed to separate from the super heavy three minutes after take-off, but this did not go as planned. Within four minutes of launch the fused stage began to collapse and exploded.
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First flight of the integrated model
While the Super Heavy Booster and Starship prototypes have been tested separately several times before, this flight was the first for the integrated model.
Reactions to Udaan have been overwhelmingly positive. reports Employees at SpaceX headquarters applauded after the explosion.
SpaceX’s first attempt to launch the vehicle was scheduled for April 17, but was abandoned due to a frozen valve. This was the first successful attempt to launch a Starship.
During the live webcast, SpaceX engineers also explained how the vehicle was a great success in flight. “This is the first test flight of Starship, and the goal is to collect data, clean up the pad, and get ready to go again,” John Insprucker, SpaceX’s principal integration engineer, said on the livestream. “Starship gave us a great ending to a really incredible test.”
Starship’s development began back in 2005, and its basic structure was revealed in 2016. Initially called the Interplanetary Transport System, the name was later changed to BFR, which stood for Big F-Rocket.
Later, Musk changed the expansion to the Big Falcon rocket. Ultimately the deep-space transport vehicle became the Starship.
The new Raptor engines used in flight are fueled by liquid methane and liquid oxygen – both of which could theoretically be produced on Mars, allowing future return journeys. When the vehicle becomes operational, it will be capable of carrying 150,000 kg of cargo into orbit.
(Edited by Tony Rae)
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