Another failure for Elon Musk? SpaceX loses contact with Starship rocket on reentry over Indian Ocean
Soon after Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched a Starship rocket from its launch site in Texas, the team said it has lost contact with the Ship during reentry over the Indian Ocean on Thursday. It means that no splashdown will be taking place today.
Despite this, the SpaceX team declared the third test flight as successful since it advanced further than the previous two tests. The launch was conducted on the 22nd anniversary of SpaceX’s founding.
The rocket flew for around eight minutes before the SpaceX announced that it had lost communication and terminated its live stream. However, the upper portion of the rocket successfully detached from the booster, which then detonated.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk congratulated the team after the launch of the Starship. Taking to Twitter, he wrote: “Starship reached orbital velocity! Congratulations SpaceX team!!”
The SpaceX team also announced during its livestream that the Starship rocket has travelled “farther than we’ve ever come before.”
According to reports, all 33 raptor engines on the Super Heavy fired up, and all six engines on the aircraft effectively propelled it into orbit.
All you need to know about the SpaceX Starship launch
Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built, took off from the southern tip of Texas near the Mexican border and flew out over the Gulf. There were no persons or satellites on board.
Minutes later after the launch, the rocket parted from the Ship and splashed down in the Gulf. The spacecraft proceeded to fly eastward, reaching a height of 100 miles (160 kilometers) and approaching orbital speed, surpassing earlier attempts.
The rocket and futuristic-looking spaceship stand 121 meters (397 feet) tall, considerably surpassing Nasa’s previous and current Moon launches.
However, Super Heavy failed to complete a last burn as it returned to Earth, forcing it to splashdown “hard” in the Gulf of Mexico, SpaceX stated during its livestream.
During the mission, SpaceX wanted to show a variety of operations and abilities, such as opening and closing the spacecraft’s payload door and moving propellant between two of ship’s tanks in orbit. The space agency stated that it will need to review post-flight data in order to assess if those objectives were met.
According to experts, the new tactics tried during Starship’s third flight would be useful for SpaceX’s future satellite deployment missions, as well as pave the way for NASA’s Artemis moon mission.