SpaceX will try and launch its Starship once more – with a new focus, according to chief executive Elon Musk.
The unscrewed launch will mark the fourth test for SpaceX’s Starship. It is the biggest and most powerful rocket ever made, and SpaceX hopes that it will eventually carry humans to the Moon and beyond.
For now, however, the spacecraft must make it safely through a launch, into orbit, and back down to Earth. The previous three tests have seen the spacecraft spectacularly fail to do so – though it has got closer each time.
Now Elon Musk says it will be focusing on the last part of that plan. “Primary goal is getting through max reentry heating,” Mr Musk said.
That test launch will happen in around two weeks, he said in a post on his own social media platform, without giving any more specific details on timing. The update came shortly after SpaceX successfully rehearsed the countdown procedure for the spacecraft at its launch site in Texas.
That saw the rocket stacked to its full 121-meter height and then progress through the countdown procedure and checks. Mission controllers stopped the launch just before the engines would actually have been lit.
That marks one of the last stages to ensure that the spacecraft is ready to take off. But SpaceX must also gain regulatory approval from the Federal Aviation Authority, which is currently looking into the previous test launch in March.
That test lasted just under an hour, and saw Starship successfully launch into orbit, separate from its Super Heavy booster, and then fly around in space. But as it attempted to return to Earth it was destroyed, at 462 meters above sea level.
The exact nature of that explosion is still unknown, and is one of the details of the test that is being examined by SpaceX as part of the review overseen by the FAA.
SpaceX is working on a range of different versions of Starship, with a view to speeding up the tests, which could in turn let it work more quickly towards a safe version of the spacecraft that can carry humans.
Dr. Thomas Hughes is a UK-based scientist and science communicator who makes complex topics accessible to readers. His articles explore breakthroughs in various scientific disciplines, from space exploration to cutting-edge research.
