texas1 hour ago
- copy link
After launching the booster, it was supposed to be caught back on the launchpad, but it landed in water.
The world's most powerful rocket Starship was launched from Boca Chica, Texas at 3:30 am Indian time on Wednesday. This was the sixth test of Starship. America's newly elected President Donald Trump also reached Starbase to watch the test.
Starship spacecraft and super heavy rockets are collectively called 'Starship'. In this test, the booster was to be caught back on the launchpad after launch, but due to all the parameters not being correct, it was decided to land it in water.
The engine of the starship was restarted in space. This was followed by landing in the Indian Ocean. The ability to start engines in space is very important for Elon Musk's company SpaceX. It will be used in deorbit burn in upcoming missions.
The starship was flown at a higher angle of attack during its return to Earth. This provided valuable data on flap control and thermal protection systems. With the help of this data, it will be easy to make changes in the design and systems of the starship in future.
America's newly elected President Donald Trump also reached Starbase to watch the test. SpaceX owner Elon Musk received him.
Starship was launched at 03:30 am IST on November 20 for the sixth flight test.
When the starship was about 50 kilometers above the Earth, its speed was close to 14,000 kilometers per hour and the temperature had also reached about 1,430°C.
Like the Super Heavy Booster, the Starship also made a controlled landing in water. It was landed in the Indian Ocean.
Starship on the launchpad before launch. This is the sixth test of the starship of Elon Musk's company SpaceX.
01 hour 05 minutes 24 seconds mission
- 00:00:02 liftoff
- 00:01:02 Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket)
- 00:02:32 SUPER HEAVY MECO (Most Engines Off)
- 00:02:39 Hot-Staging (Starship Raptor Ignition and Stage Separation)
- 00:02:44 Super Heavy Boostback Burn Start
- 00:03:38 Super Heavy Boostback Burn Shutdown
- 00:03:40 Hot-stage jettison
- 00:06:25 Super Heavy Transonic
- 00:06:38 Super Heavy Landing Burn Start
- 00:07:00 Super Heavy Booster Catch (landed in water)
- 00:08:27 Starship Engine Cutoff
- 00:37:46 Raptor In-Space Relight Demo
- 00:47:13 Starship Entry
- 01:02:06 Starship Transonic
- 01:03:12 Starship Subsonic
- 01:04:56 landing flip
- 01:05:01 Landing Burn
- 01:05:24 An exciting landing
The booster was caught on the launchpad for the first time in the fifth test.
The fifth test of Starship was conducted on 13 October. In this test, a super heavy booster sent 96 km above the earth was brought back to the launchpad, which was caught by Maczilla. The Maczilla has two metal arms that look like chopsticks.
The Starship was re-entered into the Earth's atmosphere and made a controlled landing in the Indian Ocean. When the starship entered the Earth's atmosphere, its speed was 26,000 kilometers per hour and the temperature had reached 1,430°C.
Starship has 6 Raptor engines, while Super Heavy has 33 Raptor engines.
The Super Heavy booster was brought back to the launch site after being lifted 96 km above the Earth and caught.
During the entry of the starship into the Earth's atmosphere, the speed was 26,000 kilometers per hour and the temperature reached 1,430°C.
Starship was re-entered into the Earth's atmosphere and landed in the Indian Ocean. This is called splashdown.
The fourth test was successful, landing took place in water.
The fourth test of Starship took place on 6 June 2024, which was successful. This 1.05-hour mission was launched from Boca Chica at 6.20 pm. In this, the starship was taken into space, then brought back to Earth and landed on water.
The main goal of the test was to see whether the starship could survive during entry into the Earth's atmosphere. After the test, company owner Elon Musk had said, 'Despite the loss of several tiles and a damaged flap, the Starship made a soft landing in the sea.'
Third Test: Contact with the starship was lost after reentry.
This test took place on 14 March 2024. SpaceX had said that Starship could not survive during reentry, but it achieved many important achievements during the flight. Elon Musk said that he expects half a dozen starships to fly this year.
- Starship opened and closed the payload door after reaching orbit.
- Several tons of liquid oxygen were moved between two tanks within the rocket.
- The starship was re-entered the Earth's atmosphere, but contact was lost.
In the third test, Starship re-entered the Earth's atmosphere 46 minutes after launch, when the rocket was 65 km above its contact was lost.
Second Test: Malfunction occurred after stage separation The second test of Starship was conducted on 18 November 2023 at around 6:30 pm. Separation of the Super Heavy Booster and Starship occurred about 2.4 minutes after launching. The booster was to land back on Earth, but after 3.2 minutes it exploded at 90 Km above.
The starship proceeded as per the plan. After about 8 minutes, the starship also malfunctioned 148 km above the earth, due to which it had to be destroyed. It was destroyed through the flight termination system.
In the second test, the hot staging process was used for the first time to separate the rocket and starship, which was completely successful. All 33 Raptor engines also fired properly from launch to separation.
SpaceX launched Starship from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas.
Starship successfully took off with the power of 33 Raptor engines.
The rocket booster and starship were separated through a hot staging process.
The booster was supposed to land back on Earth, but it exploded 90 km above.
First test: There was an explosion 4 minutes after launching
The first orbital test of Starship was conducted on 20 April 2023. Booster 7 and Ship 24 were launched in this test. Just 4 minutes after takeoff, the Starship exploded 30 kilometers above the Gulf of Mexico.
Even after the failure of the starship, Elon Musk and the employees were celebrating. This is because the rocket itself flying from the launch pad was a big success. Musk had said two days before the launch – success may be achieved, but excitement is guaranteed.
Starship made its first test flight on April 20. Four minutes later, it exploded about 30 kilometers above the Gulf of Mexico.
SpaceX had said that even before the separation stage, a part of it suddenly separated, although it was not fixed. What we learn with a test like this leads to success. Today's test will help us improve the reliability of Starship. The teams will continue to review the data and work toward the next flight test.
Starship system is completely reusable
SpaceX, the company of the world's second richest businessman Elon Musk, has built this rocket. Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy boosters are collectively called 'Starships'. The height of this vehicle is 397 feet. It is completely reusable and capable of carrying 150 metric tons of load. The Starship system will be able to take 100 people simultaneously to Mars.
starship system
- Height: 397 feet
- diameter: 9 meters
- Payload Capacity: 100-150 metric tons
What can a starship do?
- payload delivery
- Moon missions
- earth-to-earth transportation
- interplanetary transportation
Starship will send humans to Mars
This launching is important because only this spaceship will make humans interplanetary. That means, with its help, for the first time a human being will step on a planet other than Earth. Musk wants to send humans to Mars and establish a colony there by 2029. The spaceship will also be able to transport humans to any corner of the world in less than an hour.
What is the need to establish a colony on Mars?
On the need to establish a colony on Mars, Elon Musk says – 'A life ending event on Earth can cause the end of humanity, but if we make our base on Mars then humanity can survive there.' Millions of years ago, dinosaurs also died on Earth due to a life ending event. At the same time, Professor Stephen Hawking also said in 2017 that if humans want to survive, they will have to expand within 100 years.
Starship spacecraft is part of Artemis program
It is also important for this mission to be successful because the Starship spacecraft is part of NASA's Artemis program. Through this, humans will return to the Moon after 5 decades. Starship will complete the final phase of the mission to the Moon. Will take astronauts to lunar orbit through spacecraft and will also land on the moon.
