The fourth test launch of the SpaceX Starship. Everything was successful!
The fourth test launch of the SpaceX Super Heavy launch vehicle and the Starship reusable spacecraft took place. The launch took place on June 6, 2024 at 15:15 Kyiv time.
During the test flight, SpaceX managed to gently drive the Super Heavy, which completely lost its vertical speed and touched down in the Gulf of Mexico. During the next tests, SpaceX will try to “catch” the accelerator with the huge mechanical paws of the launch table.
During the launch, 32 out of 33 Raptor engines were in normal operation, and during the booster’s landing, 12 out of 13 engines were in normal operation.
The Starship reached an altitude of about 170 km and a speed of about 7.3 km/s. The goal was not to enter orbit, so the Starship was not accelerated to the first space speed; this was a suborbital test.
During the controlled descent, the ship used the dense layers of the atmosphere to brake. At an altitude of about 50 km, the Starship began to lose its protective thermal tiles, and one of the front fins began to burn through. But the ship remained stable, the cameras and rudders worked, telemetry was coming in, the ship turned around and got back on track.
The test was almost 100% successful! Congratulations to the SpaceX team.
As a reminder, the first test launch of SpaceX Super Heavy and Starship took place in April 2023 and ended in an explosion at the 4th minute of the flight. The second orbital test in November 2023 also ended in an explosion, but this time the ship worked better. The third test launch took place in March 2024, and that time the Super Heavy worked properly, but the Starship was lost during reentry.
Yesterday, NASA and ULA finally launched the first manned mission of the long-suffering Boeing Starliner. The Starliner has some problems with a leak of helium, which is used to purge the fuel tanks of the maneuvering engines, but for now the mission continues, the ship is preparing to dock with the ISS. Astronauts Barry Y. Wilmore and Sunita Williams are aboard the Boeing Starliner Calypso.