After weeks of anticipation, SpaceX has finally announced a date for the launch of their latest Starship, and the date for the launch of the world’s most powerful rocket Starship is closer than we think. Let’s see…
SpaceX is poised to launch another prototype vehicle, i.e., the outwell-known SpaceX Starship, but this time in August 2024, even though the last launch was just last month. According to the results from their last launch, which we witnessed on Thursday, June 6th, along the shores of South Texas at 8:50 am, it was reported that the launch was a massive success which met the major goals of the test and achieved what this prototype integrated flight test had in mind.
During Integrated Flight Test 4, Starship 4 successfully separated from its booster. The Super Heavy booster then made a spectacular vertical landing in the Gulf of Mexico and then splashed down in the Indian Ocean. Flight 4 also recorded a successful splashdown of S29 after re-entering Earth’s atmosphere, even though the ship sustained significant damage. But despite the damage, this was still a major breakthrough for SpaceX and demonstrated Starship’s ability to successfully separate from its booster and survive atmospheric re-entry.
Although the super-heavy booster and S29 were not recovered during this flight test, SpaceX commentators argued that the data obtained from this flight test was of utmost importance. They believe that this data will help in the development of further flight tests, of which IFT-5 is a major part. It’s worth noting that SpaceX never planned to recover the Starship or super-heavy booster during this mission. Instead, the primary goal was to test Starship’s ability to make a successful re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere and achieve a successful vertical landing. Fortunately, Starship, which is considered the world’s most powerful rocket, successfully accomplished SpaceX’s long awaited objective in this test, building upon its progress from the previous flight test.
However, it is rather unusual that SpaceX is conducting another integrated flight test, IFT-5, within such a short period. The question then is: why so soon? Well, according to SpaceX, due to the successful performance of Flight 4 on June 6 2024, there have been fewer issues to analyze ahead of the next launch. This is because there was no need for a mishap investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Consequently, by June 12th, this was further confirmed, allowing SpaceX to proceed more quickly with preparations for their next launch. The FAA had previously listed the three specific outcomes that would trigger a mishap investigation.
One of these outcomes would be if the Raptor engines on the Starship failed to relight for re-entry and landing. However, after completing an orbital trajectory flight, S29 successfully re-entered the atmosphere and performed a vertical landing. The second scenario pointed out by the FAA is if the flaps cannot properly control the spacecraft. Again, SpaceX seems to have made progress in this area. And the third scenario involves the S29 burning up during re-entry, which was a critical part of the IFT test. Even though S29 sustained significant damage, it still completed the vertical powered entry to Earth, demonstrating a successful achievement of these criteria. Because of this, there was no need for a mishap investigation, and this significantly contributed to the decision to move forward with the early launch of the next Starship.
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