Fast Facts
- SpaceX successfully launched its Starship rocket in its third test of the vehicle Thursday morning.
- This third test outlasted both previous tests, successfully making its way into outer space and back.
Nearly a year after its first test flight, which resulted in the explosion of its launch pad and a mid-air explosion just a few minutes after take-off, SpaceX's Starship rocket rode a column of fire, smoke and exuberant cheers toward space.
Watch the launch live here.
Watch Starship’s third flight test → https://t.co/bJFjLCiTbK https://t.co/1u46r769Vp
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 14, 2024
Starship number 3 successfully completed a separation stage called "hot staging," in which the upper stage engines begin to fire before the initial stage engines have stopped firing. Starship number two also completed the hot staging stage successfully.
"We've got a Starship on its way to space and a booster on its way to the Gulf," SpaceX said during a live broadcast several minutes after takeoff. "Making it this far is farther than we've gone."
The booster made a controlled re-entry into the atmosphere, splashing down in the Gulf.
Starship's six raptor engines successfully shut down at around nine minutes after takeoff, allowing the rocket to coast through space; the vehicle's payload door, which will be used to deliver Starlink satellites, successfully opened and closed. The vehicle also completed a propellant transfer while coasting through space.
The live broadcast of the flight ended around 12 minutes after lift-off but resumed at the 40-minute mark as Starship began its return to the planet.
Related: The critical differences between Elon Musk's first and second Starship flight
"While it's not happening in a lab or on a test stand, this is absolutely a test. What we're doing today will provide invaluable data to continue rapid development of Starship," SpaceX said in a statement before the launch, adding that this "rapid iterative approach" has acted as the basis behind all of SpaceX's programs.
SpaceX said in a statement preceding the launch that this third test flight aims to build on what the company learned from previous flights, while attempting a number of "ambitious objectives."
Starship re-entering Earth's atmosphere. Views through the plasma pic.twitter.com/HEQX4eEHWH
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 14, 2024
These objectives include the successful ascent burn of both stages, opening and closing Starship's payload door, a propellant transfer demonstration and the "first-ever" re-light of the rocket's engine while in space.
SpaceX decided to skip its demonstration of the rocket engine re-light during the flight, though it did accomplish its other major objectives.
"We believe that if you're not failing, you're not learning," the company said in a live broadcast before the launch.
SpaceX lost connection with Starship after re-entry; the vehicle broke up above the Indian Ocean before splashing down.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said after the flight, which lasted about an hour, that "Starship will make life multi-planetary."
The successful flight test comes on the 22nd anniversary of SpaceX's founding.
Related: The environmental dichotomy of Tesla CEO Elon Musk
The first two Starship flights
SpaceX launched Starship for the first time on April 20, 2023.
The rocket made its way off the launchpad — destroying the pad in the process — and flew for four minutes before exploding in the air.
In the wake of the launch, which Musk said was a success, SpaceX became bogged down in regulatory proceedings, working through adjustments required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) before it could fly again.
The second test of Starship occurred on Nov. 20, 2023.
If Starship manages to make it all the way to reentry, we'll collect valuable data on reentry at hypersonic speeds, or more than 5 times the speed of sound pic.twitter.com/jYXrttLcuE
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 14, 2024
This test flight flew for more than seven minutes — without destroying the launchpad, this time — before exploding on the edge of space in what the company calls a "rapid unscheduled disassembly."
"With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s test will help us improve Starship’s reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multi-planetary," SpaceX said in a statement following the launch.
The explosion resulted in a standard mishap investigation from the FAA that wrapped up just a few weeks ago. The FAA approved SpaceX's launch license Wednesday night.
In the nearly seven months between the first and second flights, SpaceX made about 1,000 design changes to the rocket.
Related: Why Elon Musk feels the need to guide humanity to Mars and beyond
Musk's Starship goals: The Martian
Musk has made clear on numerous occasions that his goal is to colonize Mars; Starship is designed to accomplish this goal.
The nearly 400-foot-tall rocket is meant to support both a crew of 100 people, in addition to millions of tons of supplies and equipment necessary to create a self-sustaining city on Mars.
"The reason it's so gigantic is that if you're on a long journey to Mars, I think being cooped up in something the size of a minivan would be unappealing to most people," Musk said in October.
Last year, Musk predicted that an uncrewed Starship could reach Mars within the next four years.
Starship’s flight trajectory for today's test pic.twitter.com/1YJbO1tRxz
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 14, 2024
His urgent motivation to take life multi-planetary is one of survival: "If we do not become interplanetary and go beyond our solar system, annihilation of all life on Earth is a certainty," Musk said.
At the same time, scientists have noted that the increase in rocket launches, powered by SpaceX and Musk, results in the injection of soot particles and other chemicals into the upper layers of the atmosphere, which increases the warming of those upper layers.
The impacts this will have on the planet, especially with more and more rocket launches, is not yet known.
"Until we have a viable alternative to clean ways of launching things into space, we should be making serious decisions about what are the most necessary launches that should be taking place," Dr. Eloise Marais, the head of University College London's Atmospheric Composition and Air Quality research group, told TheStreet last year.
Contact Ian with tips and AI stories via email, ian.krietzberg@thearenagroup.net, or Signal 732-804-1223.
Related: Elon Musk shares exciting updates about the future of interplanetary travel
