Starbase Archives - FLYING Magazine https://cms.flyingmag.com/tag/starbase/ The world's most widely read aviation magazine Wed, 16 Oct 2024 13:55:14 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.1 SpaceX Achieves Historic Booster Catch During Starship Test https://www.flyingmag.com/news/spacex-achieves-historic-booster-catch-during-starship-test/ Mon, 14 Oct 2024 19:12:38 +0000 https://www.flyingmag.com/?p=219517&preview=1 Company successfully catches its Super Heavy booster using a pair of metal ‘chopsticks,’ marking the first time such a maneuver has been completed.

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SpaceX’s Starship program—responsible for developing the largest and most powerful rocket ever flown—continues to make history.

On Sunday, Starship and the Super Heavy booster lifted off around 8:25 a.m. EDT from SpaceX’s Starbase launch pad in Boca Chica, Texas, on the rocket’s fifth suborbital test flight. But rather than splash down in the Gulf of Mexico, as it did on the previous flight, Super Heavy was caught in midair by a pair of metal “chopstick” arms the company refers to as “Mechazilla.”

It is the first time such a maneuver has been successfully completed and represents the program’s most ambitious milestone to date.

“The entire SpaceX team should take pride in the engineering feat they just accomplished,” the company said in a postlaunch update. “The world witnessed what the future will look like when Starship starts carrying crew and cargo to destinations on Earth, the moon, Mars and beyond.”

Built to Last

As SpaceX alluded to, Starship—which stands nearly 400 feet tall when stacked on Super Heavy—is being designed to one day ferry humans around the solar system.

The firm is also working under a $4 billion NASA contract to develop two human landing system (HLS) variants of Starship that will return Americans to the moon for the first time since the Apollo missions. The HLS will first fly on Artemis III, which is tentatively scheduled for September 2026 and will land NASA astronauts at the lunar south pole.

To develop such a vehicle, SpaceX will need to launch Starship hundreds of times. And to do that, both the rocket and booster will need to be turned around quickly. SpaceX therefore designed both components to be fully reusable. That makes Sunday’s mission—which returned Super Heavy to its launch pad intact—a key piece of validation.

“Congratulations to @SpaceX on its successful booster catch and fifth Starship flight test today!” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in a post on X. “As we prepare to go back to the Moon under Artemis, continued testing will prepare us for the bold missions that lie ahead—including to the South Pole region of the Moon and then on to Mars.”

Following liftoff, Super Heavy separated from Starship and reversed course back to Earth, descending at supersonic speed. The booster then fired a handful of engines to apply the brakes, slowing to a hover before Mechazilla snared it from the sky about seven minutes into the mission. It was a bull’s-eye landing and the first time the booster had launched and returned to the same pad. SpaceX captured the moment in real time.

“Thousands of distinct vehicle and pad criteria must be met prior to a return and catch attempt of the Super Heavy booster, which will require healthy systems on the booster and tower and a manual command from the mission’s flight director,” SpaceX said in a post on X.

Super Heavy is significantly larger than SpaceX’s ubiquitous Falcon 9 rocket, which it has successfully landed hundreds of times both on land and at sea. And because it lacks landing legs, SpaceX was forced to get creative.

The company achieved its goal remarkably quickly. Flight 4 was a huge step, as the booster splashed down “with half a centimeter accuracy,” according to Bill Gerstenmaier, vice president of build and flight reliability at SpaceX. Previous missions, however, lost the booster entirely.

According to Dan Huot, a SpaceX communications manager on Sunday’s live feed, “We’re going to start looking real soon at when we can catch a [Starship].”

Starship, meanwhile, completed its own objectives, executing hot-stage separation, ignition, and ascent to outer space. It coasted about halfway around the planet before reentering the atmosphere, flipping itself around, and making a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean. A camera buoy captured that moment as well.

Like Super Heavy during Flight 4, the rocket tipped over and sunk into the ocean. This time, though, SpaceX upgraded Starship’s thermal systems for reentry, where conditions are hot enough to envelop the rocket in plasma. The upgrade appeared to prevent the loss of flaps and other hardware that were jettisoned previously.

“We were not intending to recover any of the ship’s hardware, so that was the best ending that we could have hoped for,” said SpaceX engineer Kate Tice during Sunday’s live stream.

Under Scrutiny

SpaceX says it intends to churn out thousands of Starships per year at its one million-square-foot Starfactory plant. But the company is frustrated by the pace of the FAA launch licensing process, even going so far as to air its grievances publicly.

The FAA took extra time to review the Flight 5 mission profile.

“SpaceX’s current license authorizing the Starship Flight 4 launch also allows for multiple flights of the same vehicle configuration and mission profile,” an agency spokesperson told FLYING last month. “SpaceX chose to modify both for its proposed Starship Flight 5 launch which triggered a more in-depth review.”

The FAA evaluated a new splashdown site in the Gulf of Mexico as well as what it predicted would be an unusually large sonic boom during the booster landing, prompting respective 60-day consultations with the National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It has also proposed more than $630,000 in fines against SpaceX for allegedly violating the terms of its license during two previous missions, neither involving Starship.

According to FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker, the measures are “necessary” for safety. SpaceX takes a decidedly different perspective. It claims the agency communicated a September timeline for Flight 5 that was later revised to late November. Saturday’s approval of a launch license therefore came as a bit of a surprise.

“We continue to be stuck in a reality where it takes longer to do the government paperwork to license a rocket launch than it does to design and build the actual hardware,” SpaceX said in a September update. “This should never happen and directly threatens America’s position as the leader in space.”

SpaceX also faces scrutiny for failing to contain a liquid oxygen spill at Starbase in violation of the Clean Water Act, the EPA told FLYING last month. The company ate a $150,000 fine but denied it expels anything other than regular drinking water.

What’s Next?

If it sticks to the Flight 5 mission profile for the next Starship test, SpaceX will be able to launch under its current license.

But if the firm makes significant modifications—as it is prone to do, given that each mission has been more ambitious than the last—it could become entangled in another FAA feud.

Starship’s debut crewed flight is intended to be the third mission of the Polaris Program—a series of private flights purchased from SpaceX by billionaire CEO Jared Isaacman, the first of which concluded last month. Before then, SpaceX plans to fly hundreds of missions without crew. CEO Elon Musk even said last month that the firm intends to launch routine, uncrewed Starship missions to Mars within two years.

NASA has estimated that the spacecraft will require about 15 test flights before the Starship HLS is ready to put humans back on the moon. The next step for SpaceX will be to validate orbital flight (all Starship missions so far have been suborbital) and demonstrate orbital maneuvers like propellant transfer. That’s exactly what the firm plans to do as early as next year, launching twin Starships that will mate and transfer fuel from one to the other.

Starship is loaded with about 10 million pounds of propellant, generating some 17 million pounds of thrust from its 13 Raptor engines. It boasts greater fuel capacity than any modern technology. But to give it enough juice to fly to the moon and back, it will need to fuel up at an orbital propellant depot. To hit its Artemis III deadline, NASA will need Starship to complete several missions to stock up that fuel supply. Officials are contemplating alternative mission profiles in case there isn’t enough time..

“The pacing item is the rate at which SpaceX can launch the systems that can fuel the depot,” said Lori Glaze, acting deputy associate administrator of NASA’s exploration directorate, earlier this month.

In furtherance of that objective, SpaceX is developing a second launch pad at Starbase. The company also seeks to launch and recover rockets from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which could increase Starship’s cadence.

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SpaceX Takes Aim at FAA After Latest Starship Launch Delay https://www.flyingmag.com/modern/spacex-takes-aim-at-faa-after-latest-starship-launch-delay/ Wed, 11 Sep 2024 20:56:41 +0000 https://www.flyingmag.com/?p=217570&preview=1 The gargantuan rocket’s fifth test flight will attempt a complex booster ‘catch’ maneuver but not for at least a few months.

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SpaceX this week received disappointing news from the FAA that the launch license for its fifth test flight of Starship—the largest and most powerful rocket ever built—won’t be awarded until late November. And it’s not happy.

On Tuesday, as the company occasionally does when facing what it deems to be unfair treatment, SpaceX posted a lengthy update decrying the decision. According to the firm, the FAA had assured it that Starship would get the green light this month. It claims the rocket has been ready to fly since early August, an assertion CEO Elon Musk reiterated last week.

“Unfortunately, we continue to be stuck in a reality where it takes longer to do the government paperwork to license a rocket launch than it does to design and build the actual hardware,” the firm said. “This should never happen and directly threatens America’s position as the leader in space.”

With the ability to be used multiple times on the cheap, Starship is expected to be a game-changer for U.S. spaceflight. SpaceX wants to launch the rocket up to 120 times per year from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Musk last week claimed the vehicle will reach Mars within two years.

SpaceX is also developing a Starship human landing system (HLS), a lunar lander variant of the spacecraft, for NASA’s Artemis III mission, which would return Americans to the moon for the first time in more than half a century. Starship will require a few more test flights before the mission, which is scheduled for late 2026.

That’s not much time, but SpaceX plans to get there using its philosophy of iterative design. Basically, the company puts flight hardware through real-world testing as often as possible to learn quickly and improve the chances of success on the next flight. The strategy helped it commercialize the now-ubiquitous Falcon rocket.

“The more we fly safely, the faster we learn; the faster we learn, the sooner we realize full and rapid rocket reuse,” SpaceX said.

Each Starship test flight has flown farther and accomplished more than the last. The fourth, in June, marked the first time both Starship and the Super Heavy booster made it back to Earth in one piece after the first two attempts ended in explosions.

Keeping with the trend, Flight 5 will feature the most ambitious goal yet. SpaceX will attempt to catch Super Heavy midair using two large “chopstick” arms, returning it safely to the Starbase launch pad in Boca Chica, Texas. 

The maneuver could pose risk to Starbase’s launch tower, but SpaceX says it has been preparing for years. The delay could create a ripple effect that hampers future Starship test flights. Safely returning the booster is a critical piece of the system’s reusability.

“It’s understandable that such a unique operation would require additional time to analyze from a licensing perspective,” the firm said. “Unfortunately, instead of focusing resources on critical safety analysis and collaborating on rational safeguards to protect both the public and the environment, the licensing process has been repeatedly derailed by issues ranging from the frivolous to the patently absurd.”

What’s the Holdup?

SpaceX said the FAA communicated that a launch license would be awarded this month, but the process has been delayed due to “four open environmental issues” it deems unnecessary.

Starship’s maiden voyage in April 2023 was a brief but bombastic one. The FAA grounded the rocket as it investigated the launch and explosion, which shook buildings, shattered windows, and sent ash and debris flying miles away.

The impact was more severe than SpaceX anticipated due to the lack of a flame deflector—a common fixture at launch sites that uses water to absorb energy and heat—beneath Starbase. According to Musk, the system was absent because it “wasn’t ready in time” and the company thought the pad could withstand the launch.

The FAA’s handling of Starship’s initial launch license prompted a lawsuit from five environmental groups, which the agency reportedly has sought to dismiss. With the flame deflector installed, subsequent Starship flights have not destroyed the launch pad.

However, the FAA has approved two 60-day consultations that could extend the timeline for a fifth mission.

According to SpaceX, the only proposed change to the mission’s hot-stage jettison—during which the top of the Super Heavy booster is expelled—is a new splashdown location, which it says would not raise the risk of harm to marine life. Still, the FAA signed off on a consultation with the National Marine Fisheries Service to evaluate the new site.

“SpaceX’s current license authorizing the Starship Flight 4 launch also allows for multiple flights of the same vehicle configuration and mission profile,” the agency told FLYING. “SpaceX chose to modify both for its proposed Starship Flight 5 launch which triggered a more in-depth review.”

SpaceX, though, fears the review could be longer.

“The mechanics of these types of consultations outline that any new questions raised during that time can reset the 60-day counter, over and over again,” it said.

A separate consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), requested by the FAA due to Flight 5’s larger sonic boom radius, could add to the delays. A sonic boom occurs as Starship slows from supersonic speeds on its way back to Earth.

“SpaceX submitted new information in mid-August detailing how the environmental impact of Flight 5 will cover a larger area than previously reviewed,” the FAA said. “This requires the FAA to consult with other agencies.”

According to SpaceX, both agencies have studied Starship booster landings and concluded there is no significant environmental impact from sonic booms. The firm also claims studies back the idea that sonic booms have no detrimental effect on wildlife—but the jury is still out on that one.

According to an evaluation by the California Coastal Commission of SpaceX’s request to increase Falcon 9 launches at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, experts don’t fully understand the effects of noise on animals. The commission rejected the request in part because sonic booms generated by Falcon 9—a less powerful rocket than Starship—force too many closures and evacuations of local parks.

“At Starbase, we implement an extensive list of mitigations developed with federal and state agencies, many of which require year-round monitoring and frequent updates to regulators and consultation with independent biological experts,” SpaceX said.

Among other things, the company says it works with a local nonprofit to transport injured sea turtles for treatment and monitors bird local populations, using drones to search for nests before and after launch and. It also “adopted” Boca Chica Beach through a Texas state program and sponsors quarterly cleanups it says have removed hundreds of pounds of trash.

A CNBC report last month, which SpaceX swiftly rebuked, alleged that the company violated the Clean Water Act. The Environmental Protection Agency, though, told FLYING it did indeed violate that law.

Days before Starship’s third test flight in March, the EPA issued an order directing the company to eliminate “unpermitted discharges,” citing a liquid oxygen spill from the flame deflector’s water deluge system that seeped into the surrounding wetlands. SpaceX was forced to apply for a new permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), which it did in July, but still ate a fine of nearly $150,000 to resolve the violation.

In response, the company denied it ever discharged pollutants or operated the deluge system without TCEQ permission. According to SpaceX, the device uses “literal drinking water” and has been deemed safe by the FAA, TCEQ, and USFWS.

SpaceX further claimed that the EPA issued its order without knowledge of its TCEQ license or “a basic understanding of the facts” of the system’s operation. It added that the fines are “entirely tied to disagreements over paperwork” and stem from a simple misunderstanding.

“We chose to settle so that we can focus our energy on completing the missions and commitments that we have made to the U.S. government, commercial customers, and ourselves,” SpaceX said. “Paying fines is extremely disappointing when we fundamentally disagree with the allegations, and we are supported by the fact that EPA has agreed that nothing about the operation of our flame deflector will need to change. Only the name of the permit has changed.”

The proposed settlement is open for public comment until October 21.

Singled Out?

The implication by SpaceX is that it is being unfairly targeted for its successes.

The company is prolific within the commercial spaceflight industry—experts estimate it accounted for 87 percent of all spacecraft mass space operators sent into orbit in 2023. At the same time, it handles more NASA missions than any of the agency’s private contractors.

That dominance occasionally draws ire from competitors such as Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, or, as SpaceX puts it, “bad-faith hysterics from online detractors or special interest groups.”

“Despite a small, but vocal, minority of detractors trying to game the regulatory system to obstruct and delay the development of Starship, SpaceX remains committed to the mission at hand,” the company said.

NASA has made it known that it intends to become one of many customers within a commercial space ecosystem, rather than a service provider, by the end of the decade. As SpaceX continues to snap up NASA contracts—including an agreement to deorbit the International Space Station, ushering in that new era—rivals and critics may fear that its supremacy will only grow.

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SpaceX Pushes Back on Rocket Launch Pollution Report https://www.flyingmag.com/news/spacex-pushes-back-on-rocket-launch-pollution-report/ Tue, 13 Aug 2024 21:14:49 +0000 https://www.flyingmag.com/?p=213445&preview=1 The company refutes a CNBC report that cites documents from state and federal regulators alleging it violated environmental rules.

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Has SpaceX been polluting the waters around its Starbase launch pad in Boca Chica, Texas?

Not according to the company, which took to social media platform X, owned by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, to rebut a report published Monday.

Sources within the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shared with CNBC previously unreported notices and investigative records, which allege that SpaceX violated several clean water regulations. The company employs a water deluge system, common at launchpads such as Florida’s Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, to absorb heat and vibrations from firing rocket engines.

But according to CNBC, the firm’s use of that system this year—including during the third orbital test flight of Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, and the Super Heavy booster—may be discharging industrial wastewater without TCEQ or EPA permission.

SpaceX swiftly refuted the CNBC report in a lengthy post on X, characterizing the story as “factually inaccurate.”

According to the company, the water deluge system uses potable, or drinking, water and has been authorized for operation by both the TCEQ and EPA, which filed their notices one week and five months ago, respectively.

“Throughout our ongoing coordination with both TCEQ and the EPA, we have explicitly asked if operation of the deluge system needed to stop and we were informed that operations could continue,” SpaceX said.

Neither agency immediately responded to FLYING’s request for comment.

Typically, a launch provider must be compliant with state and federal laws to obtain launch permissions from the FAA. On Monday, the aviation regulator postponed several meetings intended for stakeholders to provide feedback on SpaceX’s proposal to launch Starship from Starbase as many as 25 times per year. The agency did not provide a reason for the postponements.

“The FAA apologizes for any inconvenience,” it said. “Public meetings will be rescheduled; however, the docket remains open to receive public comments.”

Conflicting Accounts

Interestingly, CNBC and SpaceX cite the same sources to make their respective claims, raising questions about whether one party received bad information.

Starbase’s deluge system was installed after Starship’s maiden flight in April 2023, the impact of which sent debris flying miles away, led to an FAA investigation, and brought a lawsuit against the agency and SpaceX from five environmental groups. It was first tested in July with TCEQ personnel onsite, SpaceX said.

But regulators told CNBC the firm skipped a crucial step in the permitting process related to wastewater management. In its notice to SpaceX, TCEQ said it received 14 complaints claiming that the deluge system was harming the surrounding environment, including one last August alleging that Starbase was discharging industrial wastewater without a permit. 

Last month, a TCEQ investigation found that SpaceX did so four times between March and July. According to a SpaceX permit filing viewed by CNBC, some of that water contained concentrations of mercury that exceed water quality limits.

SpaceX on Monday, however, painted a very different picture. According to the company, no water samples tested were found to have mercury levels above EPA limits. It elaborated on Tuesday with another post claiming that the figures the outlet viewed were simply incorrect.

“While there may be a typo in one table of the initial TCEQ’s public version of the permit application, the rest of the application and the lab reports clearly states that levels of Mercury found in non-stormwater discharge associated with the water deluge system are well below state and federal water quality criteria,” the company said.

The firm flatly denied that any industrial wastewater is spewing from Starbase, claiming that the deluge system’s potable water is never used in or exposed to industrial processes.

It also said the landing pad is power washed prior to activating the system and that soil, air, and water samples are analyzed by an independent laboratory after each use. According to the company, most of the water is either vaporized by the heat of the engines or captured in special ponds, with only a tiny amount escaping the pad.

SpaceX further claimed it is well within its right to operate the system.

The EPA sent the company a formal notice of violation of the Clean Water Act the day before Starship’s third test flight in March. But according to the firm, the agency made a mistake.

“When the EPA issued their administrative order in March 2024, it was done without an understanding of basic facts of the deluge system’s operation or acknowledgement that we were operating under the Texas Multi-Sector General Permit,” SpaceX said.

Per the company’s version of events, the EPA agreed to allow it to continue using the system as it worked toward obtaining an individual permit from TCEQ, “because the deluge system has always complied with common conditions set by an individual permit, and causes no harm to the environment.”

It submitted a permit application on July 1 and said the agency is expected to issue a draft individual permit and agreed compliance order this week.

If SpaceX is ultimately found to be in violation of TCEQ and EPA rules, it could have a ripple effect on the Starship program, which is under pressure to meet obligations for NASA’s Artemis moon mission program as well as commercial customers.

According to the company, the rocket is ready to launch on its fifth test flight pending regulatory approval, but that may be difficult to obtain if it isn’t compliant with regulations. The firm will need to complete several more Starship test flights before the spacecraft is authorized for service missions.

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SpaceX’s Starship Cleared for Second Takeoff After Obtaining Modified Launch License from FAA https://www.flyingmag.com/elon-musk-says-spacex-starship-could-launch-friday-and-he-may-be-right-this-time/ Wed, 15 Nov 2023 19:07:52 +0000 https://www.flyingmag.com/?p=188014 Musk’s previous predictions haven’t come to fruition, but this time, a fresh launch license backs the SpaceX CEO’s timeline.

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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has not enjoyed a great track record when it comes to predicting the second orbital test flight of Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built. But Musk’s assertion this week—that the 400-foot-tall Starship upper stage and Super Heavy booster could fly again as soon as Friday—looks like it could come true.

“Was just informed that approval to launch should happen in time for a Friday launch,” Musk wrote in a post on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

The SpaceX CEO did not elaborate on who gave him that timeline, and some of his previous predictions have failed to come to fruition. This time, however, Musk’s timeline is backed by the FAA: The agency announced Wednesday afternoon that Starship and the Super Heavy booster are cleared for another takeoff.

“The FAA has given license authorization for the second launch of the SpaceX Starship Super Heavy vehicle,” the agency said in a statement viewed by FLYING. “The FAA determined SpaceX met all safety, environmental, policy and financial responsibility requirements.”

The regulator said the modified license applies to all phases of SpaceX’s proposed operation, from preflight preparation to splashdown, but only for one launch. According to an air traffic control advisory on its website, the launch and reentry mission, “Space X Starship Super Heavy Flt 2,” will take place in Boca Chica, Texas—the site of SpaceX’s Starbase launch pad—on Friday. Backup dates are listed as Saturday and Sunday.

Ready for Launch

On October 31, the FAA confirmed it had completed the safety review portion of its Starship license evaluation. A modified license could not be granted until the evaluation was finished.

The announcement came with the caveat that the agency was still working through an environmental review, which a spokesperson told FLYING is the “last major element” of the process. That step required coordination with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to produce an updated biological assessment of the potential impacts of a Starship launch on the surrounding environment.

Aubry Buzek, who runs public affairs for USFWS’s Texas office, confirmed to FLYING that the agency’s formal consultation with the FAA concluded on Tuesday, clearing the way for a license modification. On Wednesday, the FAA published a written reevaluation of Starship’s environmental assessment, concluding that there are “no significant environmental changes” compared to prior documentation.

According to USFWS, the environmental assessment focused on a new water deluge system that was installed on Starbase to shield the launch pad from the flames of Starship’s 33 Raptor engines. In April, the engines blew a massive crater under the launcher and scattered ash and debris as far as the town of Port Isabel, about 6 miles away.

Starbase did not have such a system for Starship’s inaugural launch, which may have contributed to the damage. Musk said plans to install a water-cooled steel plate beneath the launcher were scrapped because it “wasn’t ready in time,” adding that “we wrongly thought, based on static fire data, that Fondag [concrete] would make it through one launch.”

With a modified launch license in hand, Starship’s second test flight could follow in just a few days—the first one came less than a week after the FAA’s initial green light.

As was the case with that launch, the flight will be broadcast live on SpaceX’s website. In addition to the new flame deflector, it will debut a hot-stage separation system and thrust vector control system for the Super Heavy booster engines.

The flight itself is expected to last about 90 minutes, with the Starship upper stage splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of the Hawaiian island of Kauai.

High Stakes

Plenty is riding on the success of the next Starship launch. NASA picked SpaceX to develop a version of the rocket that will land humans on the moon for the first time in half a century during the Artemis III mission, which is scheduled for 2025. Before then, the company will fly an uncrewed demonstration mission to the moon.

But NASA officials are already “concerned” about the number of test flights Starship must complete even before that demonstration. A top NASA manager said Artemis III will “probably” slip to 2026 as a result.

A delay to Artemis III could throw a wrench into NASA’s other mission timelines. The space agency has already enlisted SpaceX to conduct a second crewed landing demonstration in 2027 as part of the subsequent Artemis IV mission. The goal is to develop a lander “that meets NASA’s sustaining requirements for missions beyond Artemis III,” such as docking with the upcoming Gateway space station and accommodating up to four crew members.

Following Artemis, SpaceX said the ultimate objective for Starship is to ferry hundreds of humans at a time to the moon, Mars, and beyond. Musk himself has claimed the firm will land humans on Mars by 2029. The plan is for the first batch of astronauts to set up a small base, with the aim of one day supporting a colony of 1 million earthlings on the “Red Planet.”

For fans of science fiction, it’s an exciting prospect. To get there, SpaceX will first need to prove Starship can reach orbit without exploding, but the hope is for that litmus test to happen in the next few days.

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SpaceX’s Starship Rocket Explodes Minutes After Launch https://www.flyingmag.com/spacexs-starship-rocket-explodes-minutes-after-launch/ https://www.flyingmag.com/spacexs-starship-rocket-explodes-minutes-after-launch/#comments Thu, 20 Apr 2023 16:14:19 +0000 https://www.flyingmag.com/?p=170422 By Elon Musk’s standards, Thursday’s test flight was “a success.”

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SpaceX’s long-awaited test launch of Starship—the largest and most powerful rocket ever constructed—both started and ended in flames.

The 400-foot-tall rocket and booster departed the company’s Starbase launchpad in Boca Chica, Texas, bombastically, leaving a trail of ignited propellant in its wake.

But a few minutes into the orbital test flight, as Starship’s super heavy booster was preparing to separate from the rocket, the spacecraft exploded, sending a ball of fiery debris hurtling into the Gulf of Mexico. The mission was uncrewed, so no humans were on board.

According to SpaceX spokeswoman Kate Tice, it’s still unclear what caused the explosion. 

For about four minutes, Starship traveled along its expected path, though reports suggest some of the rocket’s 33 first-stage engines failed to ignite. It’s possible the rocket’s flight termination system, sensing the vehicle was going off course, triggered the explosion at the point of separation. Or, it could just be that natural forces tore it apart.

SpaceX called the event a “rapid unscheduled disassembly.”

By SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s standards, though, the test flight was a success. While Starship did not complete its more ambitious goals, it did comfortably clear the launch pad, and Musk on Sunday said he “would consider that to be a success.”

“Just don’t blow up the launchpad,” he half-jokingly told thousands of listeners during a Twitter Spaces that evening.

By Musk’s estimation, the launchpad would take “months” to repair, sidelining test flights for the foreseeable future. So despite the explosion, the launch will give the SpaceX team valuable data for future missions without incurring rebuilding costs.

Plus, this isn’t unusual. Starship prototypes have crashed or exploded in several previous missions, and the company has been known to embrace such incidents as progress toward a greater goal.

“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,” it said in a Tweet.

Even agencies like NASA experience explosions. The most infamous, of course, was the Challenger explosion, but similar incidents are not exactly uncommon.

Bill Nelson, the former Democratic senator from Florida and current NASA administrator, congratulated SpaceX for a successful test flight on Twitter: “Looking forward to all that SpaceX learns, to the next flight test—and beyond.”

Speaking of the next test flight, Musk dropped a hint at when that may take place.

Barring an unanticipated rift, SpaceX will have NASA’s full backing for its next test. The two have already completed several successful resupply missions to the International Space Station using SpaceX’s Dragon, the most recent of which concluded over the weekend.

Now, they want to go deeper into the unknown. Starship was designed to do more than just orbit the Earth—its eventual purpose, SpaceX and NASA say, is to ferry hundreds of humans at a time to the moon, Mars, and beyond.

As it stands, the plan is for SpaceX to help NASA astronauts land on the moon in 2025, which would mark humanity’s first return to its surface in over 50 years. And Musk has claimed that the firm will land humans on Mars by 2029, but he’ll look to beat out a pair of private spaceflight firms that are each targeting rover landings sometime in 2024.

All of those projects will rely on a successful Starship orbital test flight. But despite Thursday’s explosion, Musk and SpaceX have time to iron out the kinks.

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