SpaceX’s giant Starship rocket blasted off from South Texas in a pivotal test attended by President-elect Donald Trump.
The SpaceX launch system, consisting of the Super Heavy booster and the Starship spacecraft, left the tower just after 4pm local time this Tuesday (19), beginning a planned mission of approximately one hour into space and partially around the world.
SpaceX abandoned plans to try to capture the booster in the air with giant mechanical arms — known as “chopsticks” — one of the most anticipated moments of the mission that was successful during the previous flight.
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Trump arrived at a launch viewing site with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk around 3 p.m. local time. Trump, wearing a blue suit and red MAGA hat, was surrounded by allies including Texas U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and Donald Trump Jr. as the group peppered Musk with questions about how the launch works.
Trump’s appearance marks his first appearance at a Starship launch. This follows several appearances with Musk, who has spent a significant amount of time at Mar-a-Lago, participating in transition meetings and phone calls with foreign leaders. The billionaire, who campaigned on behalf of Trump in the crucial key state of Pennsylvania, will lead a newly created Department of Government Efficiency, an entity that will recommend federal spending cuts, alongside former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
Musk, who has been a presence in Trump’s inner circle since the Nov. 5 election, said that , especially regarding Starship, influenced his decision to support the Republican.
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Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket ever developed, is under contract to function as a lunar lander that NASA will use to return people to the moon for the first time in half a century. It’s the center of Musk’s ambitions to start a colony on Mars.
The vehicle also aims to revolutionize that of SpaceX. Designed to be fully reusable, SpaceX claims Starship will be much cheaper to operate than any other rocket on the market and will eventually replace its industry-leading Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets for sending cargo to space.
But to fulfill its promise of delivering a fully reusable rocket, SpaceX needs to improve its technique for recovering all parts of Starship after launch.
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Starship will attempt a “return dive” through the atmosphere, testing an upgraded heat shield to protect it during the fall. It will then attempt to return to an upright position before landing in the Indian Ocean.
Although most of Starship appeared to withstand this process in October, parts of the vehicle appeared to burn. However, the company still managed to land the Starship relatively intact and upright in the ocean.
The company launched during the Texas afternoon, meaning Starship will land in the ocean during the day. This should provide more sunlight to show how the vehicle supports its descent.
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SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said Friday that up to 400 Starship flights are possible over the next four years. This frequency can only occur if SpaceX improves its landing strategy, so that the company can quickly prepare the rockets for its next flights. Shotwell described the process as similar to the way airlines reduce the cost of owning and operating commercial jets.
During the October test, the booster came too close to colliding with the tower, Musk said in a video from his X platform. SpaceX will need to address that issue, as well as a list of other issues, such as refueling the vehicle in space, before that Starship meets the full objective of Musk’s plans.
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