The second test flight of SpaceX’s super rocket Starship ended in a double explosion of the first and then the second rocket stages, but is still “a tremendous success,” according to Elon Musk’s rocket company.
At 2:03 PM (UK time), the 33 rocket motors of SpaceX’s Starship rocket fired and the 400-foot (121-meter) rocket, the largest ever, slowly began its flight and lifted off above the launch pad in Boca Chica, on the east coast of Texas . After 3 minutes and 25 seconds, the stainless steel colossus was already at an altitude of 70 kilometers, and it was time to disconnect the second stage.
This was the moment when the previous test flight, on April 20 this year, started to go wrong. Starship, the fully reusable rocket that will one day take people to the moon and also Mars, consists of two stages, both powered by Raptor rocket engines that burn on liquid oxygen and methane.
In April, the two stages failed to separate, and the entire rocket began to tumble. A self-destruct command caused the rocket to explode, although it took an alarmingly long time. The launch had already gone wrong when the force of the starting rocket motors pulverized the concrete under the launch platform. Large clouds of grit and blocks of concrete splashed around, hitting cars, fuel tanks nearby, and splashing into the sea miles away.
Inverted shower head
The complications resulted in a mishap investigation from the American aviation authority FAA, and a long list of requirements that had to be met before a new attempt could be made. SpaceX stated that it had made more than a thousand technical changes to the rocket and procedures. Among other things, under the launch pad was a water deluge mounted, a large inverted shower head that sprayed hundreds of thousands of liters of water to protect the platform from the flames.
That new launch attempt was today. Early this week, the Federal Aviation Authority gave its blessing for the test launch. The intention was that Starship would circle the Earth, just short of entering orbit. North of Hawaii, the rocket would then sink straight and controlled into the sea. The first stage, Superheavy, should also have landed in a controlled manner in the Gulf of Mexico.
Such upright landings, but on land, should make Starship the first fully reusable rocket, after SpaceX’s successful Falcon 9 rocket, which is only partially reusable. SpaceX eventually wants to go to Mars with Starship, and has been contracted by NASA for manned flights to the moon.
Double explosion
But it did not happen on Saturday due to a double explosion. One of the technical changes implemented is the so-called hot staging, where the engines of the second stage start while the stage is still attached to the first, so as not to lose speed. This seemed to work well: the two stair parts now disconnected. But seconds later, Superheavy, the first stage, exploded. The second stage then continued for another five minutes, but exploded at an altitude of about 90 miles, for reasons still unknown.
Still, SpaceX employees were excited about the success lift-off and hot staging. The launch pad shower head had also worked well. “An incredibly successful day, even though we had a Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly [snelle ongeplande demontage, ofwel een explosie] of both stairs,” said Kate Tice, who commented on the launch to the public.