Starship, a SpaceX rocket, managed to survive its re-entry into the atmosphere on Thursday. After three failed missions, Elon Musk’s company is now one step closer to sending people to Mars one day.
The approximately 121-meter-long ship was launched in Texas and, 65 minutes later, reentered Earth’s atmosphere and landed in a controlled manner in the Indian Ocean. This information was revealed in a post issued by Elon Musk, on the X website, which also explained some of the damage to the device.
“Despite the loss of several parts and the wing damage, the spacecraft was able to land smoothly in the ocean,” the post read.
During the extreme heat and increased air pressure created by reentry into the atmosphere, parts of the ship broke apart. One piece of debris even damaged the lens of the camera that recorded the moment. Live on X. However, these damages have already been demonstrated as Musk’s biggest fear, in a video shared on the same social network the day before the test mission.
The spacecraft reaches a speed of more than 26 thousand kilometers per hour before it begins its descent.
The company contradicted those who said that the third time was forever and that it needed another attempt to achieve this achievement. The first launch took place in April 2023. However, it exploded about 40 kilometers above the Earth’s surface, minutes after lift-off.
As for the second attempt, it exploded last November, after he arrived in space. The third test flight, in March of this year, went much farther than its predecessors, but collapsed upon re-entering the atmosphere due to adverse conditions.
This fourth Starlight launch mission confirms Musk’s insistence on field testing rather than laboratory testing.
Watch Starship’s fourth flight test? https://t.co/bJFjLCiTbK https://t.co/SjpjscHoUB
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 6, 2024
This attempt represents just a test set for the new reusable version of Starlight, intended to leave and return people and cargo from Mars. Before this prototype, others were tested.
The success of this mission is a major milestone in SpaceX’s plan, in cooperation with NASA, to take people to the Moon and then to Mars. NASA has commissioned a modified version of Starship as the ultimate vehicle to transport astronauts to the Moon, in support of the Artemis mission.
The Federal Aeronautics and Space Administration also took to social media to congratulate the milestone: “Congratulations to SpaceX on the successful test flight. We are another step forward toward returning humanity to the Moon with the Artemis program. And after that, to Mars,” Bell wrote. Nelson, head of NASA.
NASA intends to use a SpaceX rocket in 2026, in a race against China that shows the same ambitions.
