The Starship rocket exploded over Texas shortly after leaving the launch pad on its maiden flight into space..
A space rocket explodes mid-flight. (Video: paceX)
The most powerful rocket ever built lifted off from SpaceX’s Starbase in Boca Chica Beach, South Texas, at 9:33 a.m. local time (9:33 p.m. local time). From a height of 120 m, Starship launched into orbit after firing 33 Raptor engines on the first stage. The rocket rose higher and higher with a shiny stainless steel body in the Texas sky.
As expected, the 50-meter-tall Starship upper stage would separate from the first-stage Super Heavy booster about 3 minutes after liftoff, but this did not happen. Both vehicles remained tethered, began to wobble, and eventually exploded just four minutes after launch. According to SpaceX, the “vehicle” duo “unprogrammed quick detach”.
However, the staff gathered at PaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif., to witness the launch process, were still happy with what was achieved after the first launch. The massive vehicle system reaches a maximum altitude of about 39 kilometers, according to SpaceX data. This is SρaceX’s second attempt to launch Starship. The first test on April 17 ended abruptly due to a frozen valve.
According to the flight plan, Super Heavy will return to Earth and land in the Gulf of Mexico approximately 8 minutes after launch. Meanwhile, the upper deck will fire up 6 Raptor engines to reach the destination and partially fly around the Earth. SpaceX’s goal is to take Starship to a maximum altitude of 233 km, then return to Earth’s atmosphere and land in the Pacific Ocean, not far from the Hawaiian island of Kauai, about 90 minutes later. leaving the launch pad.
Spaceship rocket leaving launch pad.
Spaceship rocket leaving launch pad.
However, SpaceX does not expect everything to go well. New missiles often fail on their first test flight. Spaceships are larger and more complex than most launch vehicles. Today’s flight is meant to collect data and react well to whatever happens, according to a company representative.
Starship consists of boosters on the first stage named Super Heavy and on the upper stage also named Starship.. Both vehicles are designed to be fully reusable, a major step towards reaching Mars. Two parts of the Starship launched today are the Super Hevy Booster 7 prototype, and the upper deck, called Ship 24, will no longer fly because SpaceX has no plans to recover the vehicle at sea. SpaceX’s Raptor runs on liquid methane and oxygen. These are two fuels that can be produced on the Red Planet, allowing Starship to launch effectively from Mars as well as from Earth.
Musk imagines spaceships flying above Earth several times a day. Super Heavy boosters return directly to the launch pad after every liftoff for quick checks, refueling and refueling. Increased reuse could reduce Starship’s cost per mission by millions of dollars, Musk says. The spacecraft can carry 165 tons into Earth orbit during each mission in a reusable configuration. Super Heavy’s 33 Rotor engines generate an estimated 16.5 million tons of liftoff thrust, nearly double the previous record-breaking super-rocket, NASA’s Space Launch System, which first flew last November with the Artemis 1 Moon mission.
Article source: VnExpress
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SpaceX’s Starship rocket exploded over Texas shortly after leaving the launch pad on its maiden flight into space. Video…
