SpaceX completes a largely successful 12th orbital test flight of Starship/Superheavy
SpaceX today successfully completed its 12th orbital test flight of Starship/Superheavy, with Superheavy lifting off and getting Starship into its preliminary flight path and Starship then firing its engines and getting into a workable orbit that naturally decayed over the Indian Ocean.
There were issues with several Raptor-3 engines, being used in flight on both Superheavy and Starship for the first time. During launch one Superheavy Raptor-3 engines cut off prematurely, forcing the other 32 engines to compensate for the loss. Then, after stage separation (shown in the screen capture to the right) Superheavy’s boost back burn cut off prematurely. As a result, the booster did not come down off the coast for a soft vertical splashdown as planned, but came down in the Gulf, mostly uncontrolled. It did successfully fire some engines for the landing burn, but that splashdown was hard.
As for Starship, it also had one engine shut down prematurely, requiring the other five engines to burn about 90 seconds longer to get the ship up to an acceptable orbit. Because of these engine issues, the engineering team decided to forgo a test restart of one Raptor-3 engine.
Starship then successfully deployed 20 dummy Starlink satellites, followed by two operational Starlink satellites that were modified expressly to provide visual observations of Starship and its heat shield while it is space. Only a few minutes later engineers were able to broadcast those observations, showing Starship as seen from nearby.
Starship then successfully executed its planned maneuver leading to a soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
Overall this sets the stage for a quick follow-up. Expect new test flights over the summer and fall, coming almost monthly. The company has made it clear it wants to do a two-week refueling mission with two Starship before the end of the year, as well as begin using Starship to deploy the bigger upgraded Starlink version 3 satellites.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
SpaceX today successfully completed its 12th orbital test flight of Starship/Superheavy, with Superheavy lifting off and getting Starship into its preliminary flight path and Starship then firing its engines and getting into a workable orbit that naturally decayed over the Indian Ocean.
There were issues with several Raptor-3 engines, being used in flight on both Superheavy and Starship for the first time. During launch one Superheavy Raptor-3 engines cut off prematurely, forcing the other 32 engines to compensate for the loss. Then, after stage separation (shown in the screen capture to the right) Superheavy’s boost back burn cut off prematurely. As a result, the booster did not come down off the coast for a soft vertical splashdown as planned, but came down in the Gulf, mostly uncontrolled. It did successfully fire some engines for the landing burn, but that splashdown was hard.
As for Starship, it also had one engine shut down prematurely, requiring the other five engines to burn about 90 seconds longer to get the ship up to an acceptable orbit. Because of these engine issues, the engineering team decided to forgo a test restart of one Raptor-3 engine.
Starship then successfully deployed 20 dummy Starlink satellites, followed by two operational Starlink satellites that were modified expressly to provide visual observations of Starship and its heat shield while it is space. Only a few minutes later engineers were able to broadcast those observations, showing Starship as seen from nearby.
Starship then successfully executed its planned maneuver leading to a soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
Overall this sets the stage for a quick follow-up. Expect new test flights over the summer and fall, coming almost monthly. The company has made it clear it wants to do a two-week refueling mission with two Starship before the end of the year, as well as begin using Starship to deploy the bigger upgraded Starlink version 3 satellites.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News