SpaceX failed to use its enormous mechanical arms to capture the booster when it launched another Starship rocket on Tuesday.
The booster was aimed toward a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, in contrast to its success last month. The rocket impacted the sea three minutes after the catch was canceled, for unknown reasons, barely four minutes into the test flight from Texas.
According to SpaceX spokesperson Dan Huot, the flight director did not order the rocket to return to the launch site since not all of the requirements for a booster catch were fulfilled. He did not elaborate on the issue.
Simultaneously, the empty spacecraft, which had been launched from Texas on Starship, flew across the Gulf of Mexico on a nearly complete orbit of the globe, much as the test flight in October. The hour-long demonstration came to a controlled but destructive conclusion when the sleek, retro-looking vehicle skimmed space and targeted the Indian Ocean.
It was the most recent test of the largest and most potent rocket in the world, which NASA and SpaceX intend to use to return humans to the moon and, eventually, Mars.
SpaceX followed the identical flight route as the previous time, but altered the time of day and a few steps along the way. In order to guarantee daylight halfway around the world for watching the spacecraft’s fall, Starship took off in the late afternoon rather than the early morning.
One of the new goals is to start one of the spacecraft’s engines while it is in orbit, which is required for orbital return. The spacecraft also underwent thermal protection experiments, removing heat tiles from certain regions to test the viability of catch mechanisms for use in those locations on subsequent flights. For the upcoming test flight, even additional improvements are planned.
In the most recent indication of a strengthening relationship between the president-elect and SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk, Donald Trump flew in for the launch.
Eventually, SpaceX hopes to bring the 400-foot (121-meter) Starship back and use it. Complete recycling would expedite the process and reduce the cost of transporting people and goods to the moon and Mars. SpaceX has already saved time and money by recycling its Falcon rockets that are currently operating out of Florida and California.
In order to send astronauts to the moon on consecutive voyages later this decade using Starship, NASA is paying SpaceX about $4 billion. One day, Musk hopes to construct a city on Mars by deploying a fleet of Starships.
Since 2023, this was the sixth time a fully constructed Starship has been launched. In the end, the first three exploded.
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