Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starship was destroyed during its return to Earth after nearly completing its third test flight. The 120m system, which weighs about 5,000 tons when fully fueled, took off from SpaceX’s spaceport in Texas.
For the first time, the spacecraft’s cruise vessel flew around the globe, but contact was lost during the final stages of the test, just as it re-entered the atmosphere. It presumably either burned up or came apart during re-entry.
Despite the outcome of the test, all indications are that Starship remains a considerable distance from becoming fully operational.
Elon Musk, SpaceX’s founder, said on X:
“SpaceX has come a long way.”
Both the upper and lower segments of Starship are designed to eventually power themselves safely back to Earth for a soft landing so that they can be reused, which will be significantly cheaper than building entirely new parts for each mission.
Musk hopes Starship will be the first step on a human journey farther into space than ever before. He says he developed Starship so that humans can eventually become a “multiplanetary species”.
To do this, Musk intends to begin colonizing Mars so that humanity can survive a planet-destroying event on Earth.
NASA has contracted SpaceX to land astronauts, including the first woman, on the moon as soon as 2026.
SpaceX’s flight-testing strategy aims to frequently push its spacecraft prototypes to the limit and beyond. The company says frequent flight testing will provide valuable data that will help it design and develop a more robust rocket.
Despite the loss of the spacecraft, SpaceX has several other Starship systems in production for future tests. Moreover, the company has announced longer-term plans to use the spacecraft as a shuttle for commercial travel on Earth, such as trips from London to Tokyo in less than an hour.
