Starship launch draws attention, falls short of landing goal
Starship, the largest rocket in the world, ascended into outer space during its sixth test launch. The event was closely observed by a group of specialists and President-elect Donald Trump, who was in the company of SpaceX founder Elon Musk. Unfortunately, the attempt was not entirely successful.
The sixth test flight of the Starship, owned by Elon Musk's company SpaceX, was scheduled for Tuesday. The 30-minute launch window opened at 4:00 PM local time. The rocket launched from the Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas.
Starship is a two-stage mega-rocket measuring over 397 feet in height. Its first stage is the Super Heavy booster, and the second stage is the Starship spacecraft. The rocket is designed to deliver the largest payloads to orbit, significantly reducing transportation costs.
The Starship launch was observed from the Starbase not only by Elon Musk, but also by President-elect Donald Trump.
There was no success
The test plan required a safe landing of the Super Heavy back at the launch site after being caught by the mechanical arms of the launch tower, known as Mechazilla. However, this did not happen.
While the Super Heavy booster did detach from Starship after launch, instead of returning to the launch tower, it landed vertically in the water.
Just four minutes into the test flight, the rocket capture was canceled for unspecified reasons, and the booster hit the water three minutes later. "Not all of the criteria for a booster catch was met," said SpaceX spokesperson Dan Huot. He did not specify what went wrong.
Mechazilla has "caught" the rocket only once
Starship test flights have rarely ended successfully so far. During the first attempt in April 2023, the spacecraft exploded in mid-air. The explosion occurred four minutes after launch, as it failed to detach from the Super Heavy booster carrying it.
The second unsuccessful attempt took place in November 2023. The upper stage of the rocket separated from the first stage but then exploded.
During the third flight in March this year, Starship managed to enter the atmosphere from space for the first time. Although it was destroyed during this flight, SpaceX assured us that engineers had collected valuable data.
During the fourth test flight on June 6th, a few minutes after launch, the booster separated and then fell into the Gulf of Mexico. The starship survived reentry, and although several malfunctions occurred during the flight, they did not compromise the attempt.
The fifth test—on October 13th—ended in complete success. The starship survived reentry, and most importantly, the Mechazilla successfully "caught" the Super Heavy booster for the first time.
