Starship SpaceX. The world's largest rocket rose into space

The sixth test flight of Elon Musk's SpaceX Starship rocket was scheduled for Tuesday. The 30-minute starting window opened at 4 p.m. central time, i.e. 11 p.m. in Poland and just seconds after it hit, the rocket took off from the Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas.

As SpaceX representatives explained, the upcoming test flight focuses on several important phases of the launch process. The purpose of the test is to return the carrier part to the launch site and land it safely, restart the ship's engine in space, and analyze the thermal shield and maneuvers during re-entry and landing in the waters of the Indian Ocean. Engineers hope that the collected data will bring them closer to creating a “reusable” system.

Starship is a two-stage mega rocket measuring over 121 meters. Its first stage is the Super Heavy booster, the launch module, and the second stage is the spacecraft itself. The system is intended to carry the largest payloads into orbit and significantly reduce the costs of such transport.

According to SpaceX, in the future Starship is to have a key role in the colonization of the Moon and later – Mars. A sufficiently large fleet may even allow for a permanent transport connection to the Moon. He also has hopes for the SpaceX mission NASAwhich wants to send its astronauts to the Moon using the Starship rocket as part of the Artemis 3 mission scheduled for 2026.

Starship test flights were not always successful. During the first attempt, in April 2023, the spacecraft exploded in mid-air. The explosion occurred 4 minutes after launch when it failed to detach from the Super Heavy rocket carrying it. The second failed attempt took place in November 2023. The upper stage of the rocket detached from the first stage, but then it exploded. In its third flight (March this year), Starship performed an atmospheric entry maneuver from space for the first time. It was then destroyed, but engineers collected a lot of valuable data during the flight.

During the fourth test flight on June 6 this year. minutes after liftoff, the booster separated and then fell into the Gulf of Mexico. The Starship survived atmospheric entry, and although there were a few malfunctions during the flight, they did not affect the test. The fifth test on October 13 was also successful.