SpaceX creates history, successfully launches largest rocket ever in a spectacular launch

image credit SpaceX

SpaceX's Starship successfully reached orbit on its third test flight, marking a historic achievement for the company. The launch occurred on March 14, 2024, from the Starbase facility near Boca Chica Beach in South Texas. The rocket, which is the world's largest and most powerful, lifted off at 9:25 a.m. EDT and was witnessed by millions of fans from space community. This successful flight is a significant step forward for SpaceX's ambitions in space travel and exploration.

Flight Details

Starship lifted off without the planned hold at T-40sec. The flame deflector (showerhead) was activated moments before the ignition of all 33 of its raptor engine in a set sequence. As the engines roared and ramped up to full thrust, starship stack gently lifted off the launch table and cleared the towered. At T+1 min 30 sec, starship passed MaxQ and went supersonic At T+2 min 48 sec, starship performed hot staging burn where the ship lit all of its six raptor engines (three Rvac and 3 sea level raptors) then separated from the booster. After that, the booster tried to reorient itself above gulf of Mexico using four of its gridfins and perform a simulated landing burn by relighting its raptor engines unsuccessfully. Meanwhile the second stage was coasting and preparing to perform various tech demonstrations and tests as mission objectives. At T+8 mins 30 sec, starship relit all six of its raptor engines to demonstrate its capability of performing in-space manoeuvres like orbital insertion as well as de-orbit burn. At T+28 mins 30 sec, visuals on SpaceX livestream switched to starship’s cargo bay showing opening of payload door. This was the first time the payload door was operated in space. This is an important milestone as it will allow SpaceX to use starship to launch and deploy starlink v2 satellites in near future. 

image credit SpaceX

At T +46 mins starship tried performing controlled re-entry at a 60-degree angle in a “belly-flop” position, with over 50% of its surface covered in hexagonal heat shield tiles (18,000 of them). These tiles, along with Starship’s stainless steel construction, are designed to withstand temperatures exceeding 3000+ degrees during re-entry. Livestream showed spectacular glowing plasma around its surface, indicating the extreme heat and pressure endured during this part of this mission. Shortly, both video and telemetry data were lost at about 40 miles altitude, and it’s unclear if Starship survived re-entry over the Indian Ocean. The spacecraft did not attempt to reignite its engines for a controlled descent and was subsequently lost. 

image credit SpaceX

SpaceX never intended to recover the ship, which was nearing a planned entry into the Indian Ocean minutes later. It presumably either burned up or came apart during re-entry. “The ship has been lost. So no splashdown today,” said SpaceX’s Dan Huot. “But again, it’s incredible to see how much further we got this time around.” Elon Musk, SpaceX’s billionaire founder, said on X, his social media platform: “SpaceX has come a long way.”

Nasa’s chief, Bill Nelson, congratulated SpaceX on what he called “a successful test flight” in a statement posted on X.

The rocket outperformed the previous two test flights, achieving various milestones while breaking numerous world record in space industry. SpaceX's Starship is a futuristic vehicle designed to eventually carry astronauts to the moon and beyond. Elon Musk envisions Starship as a versatile spacecraft capable of missions to the moon and eventually Mars. Before crewed missions, the rocket is expected to undergo numerous uncrewed flights like launching starlink satellites. Key milestones set by Nasa also need to be achieved for a successful moon landing with American astronauts under Artemis program.
The spacecraft's potential to revolutionize space travel is significant, but challenges continue to persist. SpaceX remains optimistic about the future of Starship, despite the hurdles encountered in previous tests.
As-the world watches the progress of Starship, the space industry anticipates the next steps in SpaceX's ambitious journey towards interplanetary exploration. This test flight will be a pivotal moment in determining the future of the spacecraft and its role in shaping the future of space travel.