SpaceX’s giant rocket exploded just 4 minutes after leaving the launch pad, showing that the goal of sending humans to the Moon and Mars is still a long way off.
On April 20, SpaceX’s Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built to carry crew for future space exploration, launched for the first time. Four minutes after launch, the rocket exploded in mid-air.
SpaceX engineers are still determining the cause of the failed launch. Looks like some of the 33 Rɑptor engines caught fire. Within 3 minutes of liftoff, the lower half of the rocket, the Super Heavy propulsion, was supposed to separate from the upper half, the Starship, but it didn’t. Instead, Starship began spinning wildly, somersaulting through the sky and then exploding. SpaceX said it intentionally sent a detonation command to end the flight.
Success and failure in explosion 20/4
Although the trial ended prematurely, ЅpaceX succeeded in several ways. This is the first time that Super Heavy, a large cylinder containing the thruster needed to pull the ship out of Earth’s gravity, has flown through the air. And the company is still collecting data during the flight, which can be applied to the next test in the coming months, as Elon Musk shared on Twitter.
It’s rare for a commercial rocket to fly successfully on its first launch, and SpaceX itself suffered three failures before successfully launching the Falcon rocket into orbit on the fourth attempt. Today, Falcon 9 is the most used rocket in space missions. However, Falcon 9 is smaller and partially reusable, while Starship has a larger payload and is designed for complete reuse.
Starship rocket just before liftoff time on the evening of April 20.
Starship rocket just before liftoff time on the evening of April 20. (Picture: SpaceX).
But Starship’s inability to part ways with Super Hevy, one of the first steps in the launch process, shows the difficulties ahead for Musk’s grand plan. The billionaire hopes the rocket will usher in a new era of space exploration, carrying people and cargo to the Moon and even Mars.
First, SpaceX must prove that Starship can go into orbit, then return to Earth and land safely.
One of the remarkable characteristics of this missile is its size, almost 120 m high. It is also The most powerful rocket in history. These two factors mean that Starship consumes a lot of fuel to get into orbit, and much more if you want to send people to the Moon and then back.
Therefore, flights will have to stop in the middle of the road, like a car having to stop to refuel. Refueling a rocket like this in space has never been done before, and the supercooled boosters used make the task even more difficult.
With the April 20 test, SpaceX hasn’t taken the first step to getting Starship into orbit.
The even bigger challenge is figuring out how to refuel ships in space. The process is like launching a gas station into orbit, then sending a fleet of ships “petrol truck” to refuel the station and then figure out how to transfer the fuel between the station and the spacecraft in space.
What to expect from the most powerful rocket?
Musk said fully reusable vehicles like the Super Heavy and Starship will perform multiple flights, dramatically reduce the cost of orbiting, and almost create a path in space that has never existed before.
An illustration of a rocket that took a man to the Moon. (Photo: SpaceX).
The US government has also bet on the success of this project. NASA has committed at least $2.9 billion to help develop Starship into a vehicle capable of carrying NASA astronauts to the surface of the Moon as part of the Ortemis program. This rocket is also seen by SpaceX as a key part of the vision to explore the solar system and commercialize space.
It’s hard to estimate how much SpaceX has spent on Starship and how much more will be spent to achieve those goals. Musk said in 2018 that total development costs should not exceed $10 billion. This estimate has not been updated and the company does not disclose any financial information.
Prior to the April 20 launch, when asked how much SpaceX had spent developing Starship, Musk did not answer directly. “It doesn’t matter how much this particular vehicle costs,” the SpaceX boss said.
“For example, if you build a soap factory, the first bar of soap will cost $10 million. But it’s not really the price of a cake, because the price drops when produced in bulk.Musk further explained, and said the goal was to reduce the cost to $2 million per flight.
The completion schedule for Ѕtarship has also not been announced. NASA says the agency will use SpaceX’s vehicles to send humans to the moon by 2025, but the company has been known to repeatedly miss deadlines set in advance. The first passenger flight was due to take place earlier this year.
The moment Starship exploded 4 minutes after taking off on the evening of April 20.
The moment when Ѕtarship exploded 4 minutes after takeoff on the evening of April 20. (Photo: Reuters).
Once Starship can stably enter orbit, SpaceX will first use the vehicle to send everything into space, including larger next-generation Starlink satellites, to increase satellite internet service capacity. But then, to send humans to deep space, such as to the Moon, Mars and to Earth, the ship must be refueled halfway.
A series of technical difficulties await SpaceX
“Putting this monster into orbit is a challenge, and refueling is the next technological challenge.” Gwanne Shotwell, CEO of SpaceX, said at an industry conference in Washington in February.
Refueling the SpaceX won’t be as easy as pumping gas. Starship’s fuel consists of two extremely cold propellants, liquid oxygen and liquid methane, both of which must be maintained at a temperature of approximately -180 degrees Celsius. If heated, the fuel will turn into gas and vaporize.
Fuel is hard to keep cool in space. In orbit around Earth, the fuel craft will spend half of its time in cold darkness and the other half in direct sunlight. To prevent a build-up of pressure, which can have catastrophic consequences, ships need ventilation systems to release vaporized fuel.
The most powerful rocket ever built, Starship, still has many difficult technical steps before it can be used in practice. (Photo: SpaceX).
SpaceX will also have to transfer these extremely cold liquids from the tanker to the station, and then from the station to the passenger ship. The back-and-forth process also causes the fuel to heat up, and engineers have never worked with large amounts of these substances in a weightless environment.
“There are a lot of things we don’t know for sure. The transport of cold fuel through space is still not well understood.”said Lɑuren Ameen, Associate Director in the Office of Frozen Liquid Management at ƝASA.
It is not yet known when ЅpaceX will demonstrate that it can transfer propellant between ships in space. As for the first flight into orbit, SpaceX will likely take at least 6 more months, and possibly longer, said Lisa Watson-Morgɑn, NASA program manager for landing systems in the Ortemis program.
NASA still thinks it’s possible the tarship will go to the moon in 2025. “I have full confidence that NASA and SpaceX will achieve this.”, Watson-Morgan said. But first, SpaceX will have to prove that the spacecraft can reach space without exploding.
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SpaceX’s giant rocket exploded just 4 minutes after leaving the launch pad, showing that the goal of sending humans to the Moon and Mars is still a long way off.
