SpaceX launches Starship rocket into orbit on test flight but loses spacecraft during return to Earth

The rocket accomplished two firsts on its third and most ambitious test flight to date: Starship was able to approach orbit and made its first return to Earth’s atmosphere.
Thursday morning saw the launch of SpaceX’s next-generation mega rocket, which thundered into orbit during a critical test flight intended to showcase new technologies and procedures that will be essential for upcoming moon and beyond missions.

Commemorating SpaceX’s 22nd anniversary of formation, the rocket underwent its third and most ambitious test flight, according to the corporation. The roughly 400-foot-tall launcher, known as Starship, is anticipated to be a key component of NASA’s return-to-the-moon program, so the event was carefully followed.

At 9:25 a.m. ], the rocket from SpaceX’s Star base test facility in Boca Chica, Texas, took flight. Compared to earlier Starship testing, SpaceX’s mission accomplished two significant firsts: first, the spacecraft attained orbit, and second, it returned to Earth’s atmosphere for the first time for more than 40 minutes.

SpaceX officials stated during their live broadcast of the event, “This is the furthest and fastest that Starship has ever flown.”
Data indicates that the spacecraft may have lost contact with Earth during its return journey, prior to arriving at the intended splashdown location in the Indian Ocean, as planned by SpaceX.

The Federal Aviation Administration announced that it was looking into a “mishap” between the Starship spacecraft and the rocket’s Super Heavy first-stage booster after Thursday’s test flight was completed.

The organization released a statement saying, “No public injuries or public property damage have been reported.” “The FAA is supervising the SpaceX-led accident investigation to make sure the business abides by its FAA-approved accident investigation plan and other legal obligations.”

Before Starship can take off again, the FAA must wrap up its investigation and SpaceX must implement any necessary remedial measures.

SpaceX hailed it as a “phenomenal day” despite the unanticipated conclusion.

Thursday morning’s planned liftoff schedule was changed by the firm, but Starship’s launch went off without a hitch. After around three minutes of flight, the Super Heavy first-stage rocket managed to successfully detach from the Starship spaceship.

Super Heavy, according to SpaceX during its livestream, splashed down “hard” in the Gulf of Mexico after failing to complete a last burn as it returned to Earth.

During the trip, SpaceX also wanted to show a number of additional procedures and skills, including as opening and closing the payload door of the spacecraft and moving fuel between two of Starship’s tanks while it was in orbit. The business stated that in order to ascertain if those goals were met, post-flight data analysis will be necessary.

In space, SpaceX also planned to ignite one of Starship’s Raptor engines, but in the end, it decided to omit that part.

Numerous methods used during Starship’s third flight would also assist SpaceX in deploying satellites on subsequent missions

laid the groundwork for lunar landings as part of NASA’s Artemis initiative.

Numerous of the goals, according to the firm, will aid in making Starship a totally reusable system. Although this test mission was not intended to go that way, that is SpaceX’s ultimate goal.

In the future Artemis III mission, which might launch in 2026, NASA chose Starship to transport humans to the moon.

Not long after takeoff in April of last year, Starship’s first flight was cut short by a rocket explosion. The separation of the upper-stage spaceship and first-stage rocket was one of the milestones reached by a second Starship launch in November, but the vehicle was lost from company control soon after.

SpaceX Starship disintegrates after completing most of third test flight

BOCA Reuters, CHICA, Texas, March 14 – On Thursday, SpaceX’s Starship rocket—which is intended to carry humans to the moon and beyond—completed almost a full test trip through space, reaching new heights, but broke apart on the way down to Earth.
As the spacecraft was reentering the planet’s atmosphere at supersonic speed, mission control lost contact with Starship from two satellite systems simultaneously, according to SpaceX commentators during a livestream of the trip.

By then, the spacecraft had traveled roughly an hour from its south Texas launch location to its intended splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
Shortly after a high-definition video feed from a camera placed aboard the vehicle revealed photos of a crimson glow encircling the silvery spacecraft from the heat of re-entry friction as it descended earthward, contact with Starship was lost.
A few minutes later, SpaceX announced that the spacecraft had burned up or disintegrated during the stress of re-entry, resulting in a “lost” status.

One of the primary goals of the test mission was to try to restart one of Starship’s Raptor engines while it was coasting in a shallow orbit, but SpaceX chose not to do so for reasons that were not made apparent. Its future prosperity is thought to depend on reaching that milestone.
Nevertheless, the accomplishment of several of Starship’s planned flight goals signified a step forward in the construction of a spaceship essential to NASA’s moon mission and the expanding satellite launch industry of SpaceX, which Elon Musk started in 2002.

In a message released on social media site X, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson thanked SpaceX for “a successful test flight”. The largest client of SpaceX is the US space agency.
Gwynne Shotwell, President of SpaceX, described the test as a “wonderful day” in an X post.
Launched from the company’s Starbase launch pad in Boca Chica Village on Texas’ Gulf Coast, the two-stage spaceship carried the Starship cruise ship atop its imposing Super Heavy rocket booster. Peak heights for the upper-stage Starship were 145 miles (234 km).

Both of the spacecraft’s previous performances, which were cut short by explosions minutes after launch, were far surpassed.

Both of the spacecraft’s previous performances, which were cut short by explosions minutes after launch, were far surpassed. The corporation had recognized beforehand that there was a good chance that its most recent trip would also terminate in the spacecraft’s destruction before to the completion of the mission profile.
The foundation of SpaceX’s engineering culture is a flight-testing approach that pushes spacecraft to the brink of failure and then repeatedly refines improvements, making it seen as more risk-tolerant than many of the more well-established firms in the aerospace sector.

Many of the mission’s engineering objectives were accomplished on Thursday’s flight, including the transfer of super-cooled rocket propellant from one tank to another during spaceflight, the first test of Starship’s ability to open and close its payload door in orbit, and the replication of a successful stage separation during initial ascent.
In addition to Starship’s re-entry failure and the missing engine re-ignition test, SpaceX also failed to show that it was trying to return the Super Heavy rocket to Earth as part of its standard procedure to retrieve its launch boosters for future use.
Subject to regulatory permission, SpaceX executives have stated that they want to carry out a minimum of six further Starship test flights this year.

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Overall, just a small portion of the final tests and missions that the spacecraft needs to complete before it is deemed safe enough to carry humans into space were covered in Thursday’s test.
Nevertheless, Musk is relying on Starship to help him achieve his objective of building a large, multifunctional next-generation spaceship that can travel to Mars and the moon later this decade with passengers and cargo.
Moreover, Musk believes that Starship will eventually take the place of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as the mainstay of the company’s commercial launch operations. The majority of satellites and other payloads in use today are launched into low-Earth orbit using it.

Although Musk’s frequent flight testing strategy has been welcomed by NASA executives, agency representatives have expressed in recent months that they would want to see further advancements made with Starship’s development as the US and China compete to reach the moon.
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Editing by Will Dunham and Chizu Nomiyama; writing by Steve Gorman; reporting by Joe Skipper in Boca Chica, Texas, Steve Gorman in Los Angeles, and Joey Roulette in Washington

Launched on its third test flight from the Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, the SpaceX Starship rocket accomplished many milestones on Thursday morning before most certainly exploding.

An integrated flight test lasting almost an hour was conducted on the deep-space rocket system. At the end of the mission, the massive spaceship was supposed to splash down in the Indian Ocean, preparing it for future, more difficult test flights and, eventually, a mission to send NASA people to the moon.

However, the team lost contact with TDRSS, or the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System, and Starlink, SpaceX’s internet service, at the same moment after descent.

During the live broadcast, SpaceX communications manager Dan Huot stated, “The team has made the call that the ship has been lost, so no splashdown today.” “But once more, it’s astounding to see how much farther we were able to go this time.”

Furthermore, SpaceX never planned to retrieve Starship following this flight test. It was anticipated that the spacecraft would land hard. In addition, the Starship spaceship flew significantly farther than it did in its two prior testing in 2023.

Failures during these early test flights are typically explained by the corporation as typical. The purpose of these flying tests is to collect vital data that will allow engineers to make necessary adjustments to Starship in order to make it better for upcoming missions.

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