SpaceX Starship Prototype Faces Partial Test Setback

A test with a prototype of SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft experienced partial failure. The spacecraft was launched into space, but the company lost contact with its upper stage more than eight minutes post-launch.

Elon Musk’s company reported that Starship disintegrated, describing it as a “rapid unscheduled disassembly.” Engines seemed to fail one by one during ascent, and test satellites were not deployed as planned. Due to the test’s partial failure, around twenty commercial aircraft flying over the Gulf of Mexico had to alter their routes to avoid debris.

The upper stage, two meters taller than previous versions, was supposed to make a controlled landing in the Indian Ocean an hour after the launch in Texas. Despite the setbacks, the test is not considered a complete failure.

According to SpaceX, it aids in improving the spacecraft’s reliability. The Super Heavy booster, responsible for the initial flight segment, performed well.

It detached successfully from the upper stage after nearly four minutes and returned to the Texas launch platform about seven minutes after launch, being caught by large mechanical arms. This was the seventh test flight of the largest and most powerful rocket worldwide.

NASA has reserved several Starships for future lunar missions this decade, and Elon Musk’s ultimate goal is to reach Mars. Less than a day before the Starship test, competitor Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket was launched for the first time.

The rocket’s second stage successfully reached orbit thousands of kilometers from Earth, but the lower stage was lost at sea instead of returning as planned to a platform in the Atlantic Ocean. New Glenn is considerably smaller than Starship.

Source: NOS

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