SpaceX’s mighty Starship rocket has made it into space on its third test flight. The rocket, launched around 9 a.m. ET today, March 14, took to the skies over the Starbase launch facility in Boca Chica, Texas, and is currently on its flight path headed for splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
The vehicle consists of the lower section, the Super Heavy booster, and the upper section, the Starship or ship. The two were stacked together ahead of today’s flight, and achieved separation a few minutes after launch. This tricky maneuver involves cutting off most of the booster’s 33 Raptor engines and disengaging clamps connecting the booster to the ship. The ship then fires its own engines to head onward into orbit.
With the ship in orbit, this is the furthest that a Starship has reached. In two previous test flights, the Starship made it off the pad but exploded in the air soon after launch in the first flight, then made it further to stage separation before exploding in the second flight. Now excited onlookers are waiting for news of whether in its third test flight, the Starship will achieve its aim of traveling on a trajectory through space before splashing down in the Indian Ocean.
SpaceX has already shared footage from the livestream of the test including the liftoff of the Starship:
Liftoff of Starship! pic.twitter.com/FaNcasuKaq
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 14, 2024
And the booster and Starship performing the separation maneuver:
Starship’s Raptor engines have ignited during hot-staging separation. Super Heavy is executing the flip maneuver pic.twitter.com/T593ACilyD
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 14, 2024
Starship is expected to be traveling though space for around the next 40 minutes, and we’ll keep you updated on whether its makes its splashdown at the end of that journey.
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