There have been multiple postponements at Starbase, Starship’s space center in Boca Chica, Texas. SpaceX, which planned to launch the countdown to the seventh flight of its mega-rocket on January 10, postponed it to the following Monday, then during the week, before firing up the 33 Raptor engines of its 123-meter-high colossus on Thursday, January 17. Among these engines of booster 14, one of them, named Raptor 314, was used during the fifth flight, on booster 12. A new, more discreet feat, which accompanies the arrival of a new Starship, larger, with a 25% larger tank, and more than 30 onboard cameras.
With this trifle of equipment, SpaceX was first able to repeat its feat of October 15, when we discovered for the first time the extent of the work of the American company to ensure the reuse of its main booster in an ingenious way. A feat, confirmed today shortly after 11 p.m. in France, thanks to the arms of the "Mechazilla" launch pad. Under a big blue sky on the banks of the Gulf of Mexico, the 145-meter tower received Super Heavy without a hitch, despite the failure of one of the thirteen Raptor engines, which had been turned off since the separation of the main stage from the Starship.
The separation of the two stages occurred shortly after 2 minutes and 45 seconds, while the rocket was already progressing at an altitude of more than 67 kilometers, at a speed of 4200 km/h. At that time, the SpaceX teams decided to follow the initial plan and send the Super Heavy stage back towards its launch tower, thanks to favorable weather and a nominal trajectory. Three minutes later, the colossus re-entered the atmosphere to find itself less than 3 kilometers from the ground at a still supersonic speed, above 1400 km/h. In a few seconds, it reduced its speed to zero, thanks to the return of the defective Raptor. Thirteen engines were put to full throttle to brake and guide the gigantic cylinder between Mechazilla's rods.
SpaceX has lost its Starship, which exploded
The rest of the mission did not go as planned for SpaceX. The seventh flight of Starship, the upper stage, was unable to follow what it was intended for, namely a launch into orbit, with a delivery of Starlink satellite simulators, then a return to Earth, in the Indian Ocean. Shortly after twenty minutes of live broadcast, SpaceX preferred to cut the live broadcast when the company had no more news of the ship, and could not communicate with it. "We can confirm that we have indeed lost the ship," said Kate Tice, a SpaceX engineer.
"We obviously have to review all the data. It will take time. In the next few hours, the next few days, we’re going to figure out exactly what happened, come back, do the next flight, go further,” added Dan Huot, head of communications, before adding: “as a reminder, this is an experimental vehicle test.” A few minutes earlier, all the data shared by Starship during the live broadcast stopped, and the ship left us with the last information that all its engines had shut down, as planned, except one.
An hour after the end of the broadcast, the aerospace company returned to the X social network to give an update. SpaceX confirmed an "rapid unscheduled disassembly during ascent", which could simply be translated as a total and unplanned explosion of the craft before its launch into orbit. It did not take long for its fate to be confirmed, with the appearance of hundreds of trails, corresponding to each piece of debris from the craft, in the sky north of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. According to data from FlightRadar24, many flights were diverted to bring the planes to safety.
SpaceX did not have time to work on the orbital launch and atmospheric re-entry of its ship, which, let us remember, is brand new compared to the previous one. Although it is mounted on the same booster as the previous flights, and that it looks a lot like the other Starships, this new ship is larger, has new rocket engines, new thermal protection and a totally different geometry of course. With a view to recovering the main stage, SpaceX should now focus on developing the orbital phases and receiving the Starship, during 2025.
It is also in the first half of 2025 that SpaceX intends to catch up with Starship with its launch tower. To do this, however, it will be necessary to make a choice, and sacrifice the booster. Otherwise, SpaceX will have to have a second launch pad ready in time. For such a mission, the Starship must absolutely certify its ability to enter orbit and then deorbit correctly, since it will have to make at least one trip around the Earth, then fly over American lands, before returning to rest in Boca Chica, Texas, home of Starbase.
0 Comments