Starship Reaches Earth Orbit and Lands in the Indian Ocean

SpaceX’s Starship rocket, designed by Elon Musk for future missions to Mars, successfully reached Earth orbit last Tuesday, May 27. However, the initial joy turned into disappointment when the spacecraft broke apart and fell into the Indian Ocean due to fuel leaks during its ninth test flight.

The launch was streamed live and began with a countdown that paused for several minutes before the rocket lifted off from Starbase, a newly opened facility near Brownsville, on the border with Mexico. Standing at 121 meters tall, Starship consists of two parts: the Super Heavy booster, equipped with 33 Raptor engines, and the second-stage spacecraft, also known as Starship.

Although the launch was considered successful compared to the previous two tests, which ended in explosions shortly after takeoff, SpaceX lost contact with the spacecraft about an hour after placing it in orbit. Dan Huot, the company’s communication director, explained that this loss of control was due to the fuel leaks, which are crucial for maintaining proper orientation during re-entry into the atmosphere.

The rocket also failed to open a hatch that was supposed to allow the deployment of several simulated Starlink satellites, one of the key objectives of the mission. Additionally, it was unable to verify the effectiveness of its thermal shields. Musk, in a message on the social media platform X, described the planned separation of the spacecraft’s engine as a significant advancement compared to previous flights, although he admitted that the fuel leak was a determining factor in the mission’s final outcome.

Despite the setbacks, Musk maintained an optimistic attitude, noting that the lessons learned during this flight will help improve the rocket’s reliability in future missions. He also announced his intention to increase the frequency of flights, planning one every three to four weeks.

The mogul has expressed his vision that Starship will facilitate the colonization of Mars, a planet that has been the subject of 18 space missions, all of them uncrewed. In pre-launch interviews, Musk had expressed confidence that the issues faced in previous flights had been resolved, emphasizing the importance of gathering data to improve the design of the spacecraft.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported that it is aware of an anomaly in the mission and stated that it is working with SpaceX. Moreover, it ruled out any material or personal damage related to the incident. Recently, the FAA had given the green light to SpaceX to increase its test flights to a total of 25 per year, despite criticism from environmental groups.