NASA monitors flight key to Starship’s lunar lander role
SpaceX launched its Starship rocket on its 13th test flight Friday from southern Texas, carrying 20 of the company’s most advanced Starlink satellites, according to the Associated Press. The launch followed SpaceX’s replacement of six of the 33 engines on the booster after they failed to ignite the previous week, ending that attempt in a last-second abort. NASA monitored the flight as a critical step toward using Starship as a lunar lander for moon crews.
Towering 407 feet (124 meters), Starship lifted off from SpaceX’s base at the southern tip of Texas. It was the 13th flight of the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket, the AP reported.
The flight was the second this year of the upgraded Starship version designated V3. Like the previous V3 demonstration in May, which reached an altitude of 125 miles (200 kilometers), neither the booster nor the spacecraft was intended for recovery. The earlier May flight also experienced engine trouble that prevented the booster from making a controlled return.
The first-stage booster was bound for a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, while the stainless steel, retro-looking spacecraft was destined for the Indian Ocean more than 10,000 miles (16,000 kilometers) from the launch site, capping the hourlong mission.