NASA has shared a cool snippet of video captured from the International Space Station (ISS) showing SpaceX’s recent launch of the Starship, the world’s most powerful rocket.
SpaceX launched the Starship on its sixth test from its Starbase site in Boca Chica, Texas, on November 19, as part of continued testing of the new mega rocket.
A couple of days after the November flight, space station astronaut Don Pettit shared a photo of the launch as seen from space. And now we have some footage, too. Shot from around 250 miles away, it’s not the best quality, but you can clearly see the mighty Starship heading skyward, with the Texas coastline and Gulf of Mexico also in the frame.
“While orbiting approximately 250 miles above Earth, external cameras aboard the International Space Station captured the sixth test flight of SpaceX’s Starship after liftoff at 4 p.m. CST on Tuesday, November 19,” NASA said in text accompanying its YouTube post.
It added: “For Artemis III, the first crewed return to the moon in over 50 years, NASA is working with SpaceX to develop Starship as a lunar lander. Prior to the crewed Artemis III mission, SpaceX will perform an uncrewed landing demonstration mission on the moon.”
SpaceX’s 120-meter-tall machine consists of two parts — the main-stage Super Heavy booster, which packs a record-breaking 17 million pounds of thrust at launch, and the upper-stage Starship spacecraft, which will one day carry crew and cargo on adventures not only to the moon, but quite possibly to Mars and beyond, too. Collectively, the vehicle is known as the Starship.
The sixth test was deemed a success, though a last-minute issue meant that it didn’t get to attempt the spectacular “catch” maneuver that it achieved in the fifth test when giant mechanical arms on the launch tower secured the Super Heavy booster as it returned to Earth after deploying the Starship spacecraft to orbit.
Returning the booster in this way allows SpaceX to quickly refurbish and reuse the booster for multiple flights, helping it to significantly reduce the cost of space missions. SpaceX already does this with its much smaller Falcon 9 rocket, though in this case the first stage lands on the ground or on a barge rather than being secured by mechanical arms before it touches down. The Super Heavy’s landing method allows SpaceX to build the booster without landing legs, reducing the vehicle’s weight for better flight efficiency.