All 33 Raptor engines powering the first stage fired throughout the boost phase of the flight and a new "hot staging" system, in which the Starship's engines ignited before separation, worked as designed. The second time around, the rocket got farther and several of the systems that derailed the first test flight appeared to work normally. The launching came nearly seven months after an April 20 maiden test flight ended in a spectacular conflagration four minutes after liftoff, triggered by multiple first stage engine failures, problems separating the Starship from the Super Heavy and a catastrophic tumble. Gulping more than 40,000 pounds of methane and liquid oxygen per second, the 397-foot-tall, 11-million-pound rocket slowly climbed skyward, thrilling thousands of area residents, tourists and journalists who looked on from nearby South Padre Island. EST, instantly engulfing the rocket in billowing clouds of dust and steam. Shattering the morning calm at SpaceX's Boca Chica launch site on the Texas Gulf Coast, the Super Heavy's 33 methane-burning Raptor engines ignited with a torrent of flame at 8:03 a.m. Here's to the next chapter of pushing the boundaries of space! /hX61Rxej8G- Bill Nelson October 2, 2023 Since then, we've broken barriers, shattered limits, and made the impossible possible. SpaceX will no doubt resolve the issues that derailed Saturday's flight, but every delay poses a threat to NASA's moon landing timeline.Īmerica's spirit of possibility led to the creation of 65 years ago. While SpaceX's philosophy is to fly as soon as possible and learn from any mistakes, NASA will require a long string of successful missions before the agency will deem it safe to put astronauts aboard. People watch as SpaceX's next-generation Starship spacecraft atop its powerful Super Heavy rocket lifts off from the company's Boca Chica launchpad on an uncrewed test flight, as seen from South Padre Island, Texas, Nov. Viewed as a successful learning experience by SpaceX, it was the second failure in a row to get the Starship upper stage into space, a frustrating disappointment for Elon Musk's rocket company and a potentially major setback for NASA, which is counting on the Starship to carry Artemis astronauts to the surface of the moon in the next few years. The Starship, in turn, blew itself up as it neared space. ![]() SpaceX's gargantuan Super Heavy-Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, blasted off on its second test flight Saturday, and while the initial stages of the mission went smoothly, the first stage broke apart moments after separation from the Starship upper stage. ![]() SpaceX's Starship test launch ends in explosions 01:48
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