New attempt to test Starship, the rocket with which Elon Musk plans to travel to the Moon and Mars

Because Starship consists of two elements: on the one hand Super Heavy, the first stage with 33 Raptor engines and a height of 70 meters responsible for giving the initial impulse; and Starship -same name as the vehicle as a whole-, 50 meters high and with another 6 Raptor engines that give thrust to this stage at the moment it separates from its companion, which occurs about four minutes after takeoff, which, As usual, it will take place from the company’s facilities near Boca Chica Beach in South Texas.

“The next Starship flight test aims to expand the capabilities of the ship and the propellant and get closer to the possibility of reusing the entire system online,” SpaceX explains in a statement on its website. “The objectives include returning the booster once again to the launch site for capture, re-igniting the spacecraft’s Raptor engine while in space, and testing a series of heat shield experiments and maneuver changes for re-entry and descent. the ship over the Indian Ocean,” they indicate.

A successful fifth flight

This new test precedes a successful fifth flight that took place on October 13. On that occasion, the Super Heavy stage was captured for the first time by giant metal arms, like ‘chopsticks’. The Starship upper stage continued its journey until it successfully re-entered the atmosphere and performed a controlled splashdown maneuver over the Indian Ocean.

“The fifth Starship flight test was a defining moment on the path to a completely reusable and rapid launch system,” they say from SpaceX. “The success of the first capture attempt demonstrated the feasibility of the design and provided valuable data to further improve hardware and software performance.”

If all goes as planned, the booster rocket will again demonstrate that it can land at the starbase during Flight 6, which will take place about seven minutes after liftoff. Otherwise, the Super Heavy will make a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.

Meanwhile, after separating from the booster, Starship will fly the same suborbital trajectory it did on Flight 5. This time, however, the spacecraft will attempt an in-space burnup of one of its six Raptor engines, testing its combustion capabilities. of deorbitation.

The Starship will also conduct a series of experiments with heat shields and changes to re-entry maneuvers (including flying at a higher angle during the final phase of descent) before splashing down in the Indian Ocean about 65 minutes after launch. The window for Tuesday’s test flight is purposely scheduled for the afternoon, which will allow for better daylight observations of reentry, according to SpaceX.

The Moon, Mars and beyond

The ultimate goal is to use this ship to take the astronauts of the Artemis 3 mission to set foot on the Moon again. A launch that has been delayed until September 2026, in part because Musk has not yet ready his rocket. In addition, the magnate’s intention is to use his new ship for at least three private space flights, two of them to transport the first space tourists who will orbit our satellite.

Starship is also the largest rocket ever built: it has a height of 122 meters and twice the power of the Space Launch System (SLS), the NASA rocket that is currently being used in the Artemis program, and which boasts the current record. However, SpaceX’s intention is to expand it by another ten meters in the future. Furthermore, the Moon will not be the only destination for Musk’s megarocket: the idea is that it will transport the first generation of astronauts to set foot on Mars.

“Learnings from this and subsequent flight tests will continue to make the entire Starship system more reliable as we move closer to complete and rapid reuse,” concludes SpaceX, once again promising “excitement guaranteed” for its new attempt. .