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SpaceX launched its biggest, most powerful Starship yet on a test flight Friday, an upgraded version that NASA is counting on to land astronauts on the
moon. The redesigned mega rocket made its debut two days after SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced he’s taking the company public. It blasted off from the southern tip of Texas, carrying 20 mock Starlink satellites for release halfway around the world.
This marks the 12th test flight of the rocket that Musk envisions will eventually transport people to Mars. However, the immediate goal involves supporting NASA’s Artemis program for lunar exploration.The previous version of the Starship last launched in October, while the latest iteration, known as V3, took off from a newly constructed launch pad at Starbase, located near the Mexican border. A planned launch on Thursday had been delayed due to last-minute technical issues.
SpaceX aims to prevent the midair explosions that plagued prior launches, which resulted in debris falling into the Atlantic Ocean. Previous flights ended similarly in flames, raising concerns over safety and reliability.
The current model stands at 407 feet (124 meters), surpassing earlier Starship models by over one meter and providing increased engine thrust.
This revamped booster features fewer but larger and stronger grid fins for steering during descent and a more robust fuel transfer line that is comparable in size to SpaceX's Falcon 9 first-stage booster. The updated spacecraft design incorporates additional cameras, enhanced navigation systems, and docking cones to facilitate future lunar missions.
Starship is designed for full reusability, with mechanical arms at launch pads intended to catch returning rocket stages. However, during this trial run, no recovery efforts were made. The first-stage booster fell into the Gulf of Mexico, while the spacecraft and its satellite payload concluded their journey in the Indian Ocean.
NASA has contracted SpaceX, along with Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, for billions of dollars to develop lunar landers for the Artemis missions, which aim to land astronauts on the moon.
Both companies are competing to be the first to deliver a lunar landing solution.
While Starship has successfully reached the edge of space on several occasions, Bezos' Blue Moon has yet to launch, although preparations are underway for a moonshot later this year.
Nasa plans to follow up on April's successful lunar flyaround with a docking trial run in Earth's orbit next year. This test, part of the Artemis III mission, will involve astronauts practicing docking their Orion capsule with either Starship, Blue Moon, or both.
A potential lunar landing involving two astronauts, designated Artemis IV, could occur as early as 2028, depending on which lander is deemed safer and ready first. This mission will mark NASA’s first crewed lunar landing since Apollo 17 in 1972, with the aim of establishing a moon base near the lunar south pole, inhabited by astronauts and robots.
SpaceX has begun accepting reservations for private flights to the moon and Mars aboard Starship.
The first space tourist, Dennis Tito, and his wife, signed up for a lunar flight three and a half years ago, although the timeline remains uncertain.
Recently, another affluent space tourist, bitcoin investor Chun Wang, announced plans to travel to Mars on Starship's inaugural interplanetary mission. Wang previously chartered a SpaceX polar flight in a Dragon capsule last year, becoming the first to orbit above both the North and South Poles.
No details regarding the price or date for his Mars journey have been disclosed.
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