Nearly seven months have passed since the first launch attempt of SpaceX’s Starship megarocket. Although Starship successfully took off from the launch pad during the test launch in April, it was destroyed in the air due to a technical problem and the mission partially failed. Now, SpaceX has made its second launch attempt and Starship took off again.Starship, the world’s most powerful rocket, took off again
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SpaceX’s second Starship and Super Heavy booster test flight took off today, November 18, from the company’s Starbase facility near Boca Chica, Texas. Starship took off at 16:03 ET.
A few minutes after launch, the Super Heavy stage separated from Starship as planned. After a somersault in the air, it landed in the target area, but as expected, this part exploded in the air. Starship reached a speed of 24,000 km/h and continued on its way at an altitude of 148 kilometers.
Starship is very important for space
Starship is described as the next generation deep space transportation system developed by SpaceX to take people and cargo to the Moon, Mars and beyond. The vehicle consists of two elements, both designed to be fully and rapidly reusable: the Super Heavy first stage and the 50-meter upper stage spacecraft known as Starship. Together, these two form the largest and most powerful spacecraft ever built. Starship is approximately 122 meters tall when fully stacked.
NASA will use Starship to land Artemis 3 astronauts on the Moon in 2025. But first, SpaceX needs to prove that Starship is ready for orbital flight, which is where this test comes into play. Super Heavy will make a water landing in the Gulf of Mexico approximately seven minutes after takeoff. The Starship upper stage will approach orbital speed as it makes a partial orbit around our planet. It will make an “exciting landing” near Hawaii approximately 90 minutes after launch.
First try failed
SpaceX launched its first Starship on April 20, but it was deliberately detonated after the rocket stages failed to separate as planned. The 33 engines of the Super Heavy’s first stage created a large crater beneath the launch bay, and SpaceX spent months repairing and rehabilitating the crater.SpaceX has since installed a water cooling system under the launch pad to prevent such damage on this launch. This system prevents damage by activating tens of thousands of tons of water within seconds. The company also switched to a stage separation technique for this launch, where the Starship’s upper stage begins firing its engines before separating from the Super Heavy.
[Developments will be reported)
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