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Starship SpaceX. The world's largest rocket will soar into space again

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Starship, the world's largest rocket, will soar into extraterrestrial space on Tuesday. This is the sixth orbital flight of the system, which in the future will take astronauts to the Moon and even be used to colonize other planets.

The sixth test flight of Elon Musk's SpaceX Starship rocket is scheduled for Tuesday. As the company stated on its website, The 30-minute launch window will open at 4 p.m. Central Time. It will then be 11 p.m. in Poland. The rocket will launch from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas.

“All technical issues and weather conditions look favorable before today's Starship test flight,” company representatives wrote on social media.

Maneuvers and tests

As SpaceX representatives explained, the upcoming test flight will focus 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.

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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 at its base in Boca Chica, TexasDAL Photography/Shutterstock

Failed attempts

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.

Photos from Starship's third test flight in March 2024Joe Marino/Newscom/PAP

Main photo source: Joe Marino/Newscom/PAP



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