SpaceX on Thursday successfully landed its prototype Starship rocket during a test flight in Texas. It was quite a big deal – the four previous prototypes all went up in a ball of flames.
The news was confirmed by Elon Musk on social media, tweeting “Starship landing nominal!” Here’s why the successful launch is such a big deal.
Starship flight test – What you need to know
What is a Starship test flight?
During testing, the rocket shuts off its three Raptor engines one by one as it peaks during the flight. It then tips sideways before plunging back down to Earth.
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SpaceX launched and landed an upgraded prototype for the company’s next-generation Starship vehicle in South Texas on Wednesday, the company’s first Starship test flight since winning a $2.9 billion NASA contract to use the craft to land astronauts on the Moon.
Elon Musk, SpaceX’s founder and CEO tweeted: “Starship landing nominal!”
The 164-foot-tall (50-meter) stainless steel rocket flew to an altitude of about 33,000 feet (10 kilometers) over SpaceX’s rocket development and test facility in Cameron County, Texas, after lifting off at 6:24 p.m. EDT (2224 GMT). Around six minutes after takeoff, the rocket landed vertically back at the same test site at Boca Chica Beach near Brownsville.
I tend to be somewhat optimistic with respect to schedules. I feel I should acknowledge this, Musk said, laughing. So take that with a grain of salt. But I think it s not out of the question that it could fly people in a couple years.
Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has booked tickets for him and eight others to board a week-long Starship flight around the moon in 2023. The group is set to become the first civilian passengers on a Starship mission.
The spaceship has a long way to go, though. An illustration of SpaceX s planned 39-story Starship rocket system launching from Boca Chica, Texas.