Key Takeaways
- SpaceX’s Starship megarocket achieved orbit for the first time after a 14th test flight.
- The rocket, standing over 120 meters tall, successfully deployed 26 next-generation Starlink satellites.
- This test aims to accelerate development of the largest and most powerful rocket ever designed.
Elon Musk’s Starship megarocket reached orbit for the first time on Monday after launching from Texas, marking a significant milestone for SpaceX’s future plans, including trips to the Moon and Mars.
Standing over 120 meters tall, the black-and-silver behemoth blasted off in an ambitious 14th test flight, rising through a thick cloud of smoke.
The upper stage separated from the Super Heavy booster and reached orbit about 26 minutes into the flight, setting the stage for a 10-hour test.
During the test, the experimental rocket’s upper stage is set to orbit Earth several times and deploy 26 next-generation Starlink satellites.
As a precaution, the spacecraft was launched on a suborbital trajectory, but the launch team decided to perform a second burn to reach orbit, a critical step in the mission.
“Starship is orbital,” announced a member of the launch team, as cheers rang out, marking the successful completion of this phase.
Satellite deployment began minutes later, with the plan calling for the rocket to finish its journey in the Pacific Ocean after orbiting the Earth six times.
The huge first-stage booster, called ‘Super Heavy,’ fell shortly after launch into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
From an engineering point of view, ‘just achieving flight and getting data’ would be considered a success, according to Kathleen Curlee, a senior analyst at Georgetown University’s Centre for Security and Emerging Technology.
However, public expectations are high, with spectators and investors hoping for flashy tests to avoid being seen as a failure.
The development of Starship has faced repeated delays, and a Chinese company has recently made progress in the field of reusable rockets, adding pressure to the project.
