SpaceX launched this Saturday from Texas the second test of Starship – the world’s largest and most powerful ship to reach space – with a successful takeoff and separation of propellant and capsule, which was not achieved in the first test in April. but ended again in an explosion a few minutes later.
The takeoff of the Starship with its huge Super Heavy booster, which has 33 Raptor engines, took place in Boca Chica (Texas) around 7:03 am (13:03 GMT).
Less than three minutes after takeoff, the two phases successfully separated and thanks to a water irrigation system adopted after the failure of April.
The monumental Starship rocket, which is designed to reach the Moon and Mars in the future, and which NASA relies on for its Artemis program to return to the Moon, is scheduled to make an almost complete revolution around the Earth, within a hours. and half, before falling into the Pacific, near Hawaii.
SpaceX expects that the challenge now is to separate the two stages and explains that a new launch failure will contribute to gathering more information to make new changes.
Elon Musk’s company successfully started this critical test this Saturday after about seven months after the explosion in the air during the first test about four minutes after takeoff, which forced the company to cause its explosion.
However, even though it progressed in the process, it still ended in an explosion in the Gulf of Mexico when it was about 145 kilometers (90 miles) from Earth.
The Starship, with a height of 121 meters, hopes to reach near-orbital speeds in its lap, to be closer to fully realizing its potential. The goal of the mission is to reach a close orbit. According to SpaceX, Starship is a reusable transportation system designed to carry crew and cargo into orbit around Earth, the Moon, Mars and beyond.
Among Starship’s customers is NASA, which tapped SpaceX for the Human Landing Services (HLS) contract for Artemis 3, a mission that will bring astronauts to the Moon for the first time since the 1970s.
NASA plans to launch Artemis 3 by the end of 2025.
