SPACEX’S MEGA ROCKET Starship was “lost” during re-entry through Earth’s atmosphere during its third test flight.

“We are making the call now that we have lost ship 28,” an announcer said during an online live stream watched by more than 3.5 million people.

The world’s most powerful rocket, Starship successfully blasted off on its third test flight today.

Lift-off from SpaceX’s Starbase in southeast Texas came around 8.25 am local time (1.25pm GMT).

Liftoff of Starship! pic.twitter.com/FaNcasuKaq

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 14, 2024

The mega rocket is vital to Nasa’s plans for landing astronauts on the Moon later this decade and Elon Musk’s asiprations to eventually colonise Mars.

Two previous attempts have ended in large explosions as the company has adopted a rapid trial-and-error approach in order to accelerate development.

Objectives during the flight included opening and closing Starship’s payload door to test its ability to deliver satellites and other cargo into space.

SpaceX also aimed to re-light the ship’s engines in space, and perform an onboard test that will help pave the way for future Starships to refuel one another in orbit.

SpaceX has been developing prototypes of Starship since 2018, and early tests involved short hops of just the upper stage, which is also referred to as Starship.

The first so-called “integrated” test came in April 2023. SpaceX was forced to blow up Starship within a few minutes of launch, because the two stages failed to separate.

The rocket disintegrated into a ball of fire and crashed into the Gulf of Mexico, sending a dust cloud over a town several miles (kilometers) away.

The second test in November 2023 fared slightly better: The booster separated from the spaceship, but both then exploded over the ocean, in what the company euphemistically called a “rapid unscheduled disassembly.”

The FAA closed a probe into the incident last month after identifying 17 corrective actions SpaceX needed to make.

SpaceX’s “rapid iterative development” strategy has paid off for the company in the past.

Its Falcon 9 rockets have come to be workhorses for NASA and the commercial sector, its Dragon capsule sends astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station, and its Starlink internet satellite constellation now covers dozens of countries.

But the clock is ticking down for SpaceX to be ready for NASA’s planned return of astronauts to the Moon in 2026, using a modified Starship as the lander vehicle.

Not only does SpaceX need to prove it can launch, fly and land Starship safely — it must eventually also show it can send multiple “Starship tankers” into orbit to refuel a main Starship for its onward journey to the Moon.

© AFP 2024