SpaceX’s
massive
Starship
took
off
from
the
company’s
Starbase
launch
facility
in
Boca
Chica,
Texas,
at
9:25AM
ET
on
Thursday
morning.
This
test
launch
was
more
successful
than
its
two
predecessors,
having
completed
several
planned
maneuvers
and
remained
in
one
piece
until
contact
with
the
Starship
spacecraft
was
lost
shortly
before
its
anticipated
splashdown
in
the
Indian
Ocean.
It
completed
the
hot-staging
separation
from
its
Super
Heavy
booster
and
opened
a
payload
door
intended
to
demonstrate
how
it
could
be
used
for
missions
like
delivering
Starlink
satellites
into
orbit.
The
Starship
skipped
a
planned
attempt
to
relight
its
Raptor
engines
in
space
and
was
scheduled
to
splash
down
in
the
Indian
Ocean
about
an
hour
after
takeoff.
Before
the
broadcast
ended,
commentators
said,
“We
may
have
lost
Starship,”
after
losing
communication
with
the
spacecraft.
“We
haven’t
heard
from
the
ship
up
until
this
point
and
so
the
team
has
made
the
call
that
Ship
has
been
lost.
So,
no
splashdown
today,”
said
SpaceX
spokesperson
Dan
Huot.
SpaceX’s
broadcast
of
the
flight
test
ended
about
an
hour
after
takeoff,
with
the
last
feeds
from
Starship
showing
what
the
external
cameras
saw
during
reentry.
This
was
SpaceX’s
third
attempt
to
test
the
Starship
rocket,
with
the
first
on
April
20th
of
last
year
bursting
into
flames
around
four
minutes
after
launch.
Its
second
attempt
on
November
18th
fared
better
—
while
the
Super
Heavy
booster
also
exploded
after
separation,
the
Starship
spacecraft
continued
its
journey
into
orbit,
where
SpaceX
believes
it
self-destructed
after
contact
with
the
vehicle
was
lost.
Today’s
Starship
test
was
given
the
green
light
by
the
US
Federal
Aviation
Administration
(FAA)
on
Wednesday,
less
than
24
hours
before
its
scheduled
launch
time,
having
determined
that
SpaceX
had
“met
all
safety,
environmental,
policy
and
financial
responsibility
requirements.”
According
to
Space.com,
the
FAA
had
required
SpaceX
to
complete
17
corrective
actions
concerning
things
like
vehicle
hardware
redesigns,
flammability
analysis
updates,
and
the
installation
of
additional
fire
protection
following
an
investigation
into
the
second
failed
Starship
test
—
far
fewer
than
the
63
corrective
actions
identified
during
the
first
test.
(Originally posted by Jess Weatherbed)
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