SpaceX launched Starship on a test flight for the third time – Kommersant

Billionaire Elon Musk’s company SpaceX launched a launch vehicle with a prototype of the Starship spacecraft from a spaceport in Texas. This is the third attempt by the American company to send the ship on a test flight; the last two ended in rocket explosions. The flight is broadcast on the company’s account on the social network X (formerly Twitter).

The launch took place at 16:25 Moscow time. After launch, the Super Heavy launch vehicle successfully detached from the ship. It will have to fall into the Gulf of Mexico, and the ship itself will continue to fly. If all goes well, Starship will complete a test flight in the Indian Ocean. SpaceX does not expect to save the rocket and ship.

Starship company’s latest test launch undertook in November 2023. Then the first launch vehicle successfully disconnected, but exploded in the air. Soon the company lost contact with the ship. During the first test launch, which took place in April of the same year, the rocket exploded in the air at the very beginning of the flight.

Starship is a super-heavy reusable two-stage launch vehicle. It was developed to deliver cargo and people to low-Earth orbit, the Moon and Mars. Starship consists of a Super Heavy launch vehicle and the ship itself.

Evgeny Belousov