Yesterday Sunday 13 October 2024 SpaceXthe aerospace company of Elon Muskaccomplished a feat that until a few years ago would have been considered science fiction: the fifth launch test of the rocket Starshipthe largest and most powerful ever built, SpaceX succeeded for the first time to return in a controlled manner Superheavythe first stage of the rocket, and literally recover the tall beast “on the fly”. 70 meters while it returned to the ground via a sophisticated system of mechanical arms, in order to allow its reuse. It was a historic undertaking because it demonstrated for the first time that it is possible to successfully recover the stage of a rocket capable of leaving low Earth orbit and arriving on the Moon or Mars: this technology will be crucial to reduce costs launch pad for future human missions on other worlds.
The test started at 2.25pm on Sunday 13 Octoberwhen Starship’s 33 Raptor engines lit up the launch pad Boca Chicain south Texas. The fifth test falls 4 months after the fourth, in which Starship had successfully carried out the first sub-orbital flight and Superheavy had carried out a controlled vertical landing in the Gulf of Mexico. The test was characterized by two big news: The return to the ground of the first stageinstead of the usual ditching, and the revision of the heat shieldcompletely redesigned and rebuilt to solve the problems that emerged during the previous test. The test was a success and brings humans one step closer to returning to the Moon. In the video that accompanies this article you can see the “highlight” sequence of the recovery of the first stage.
How the Starship rocket launch went
The fifth test of SpaceX’s Starship has begun Sunday 13 October at 2.25pm Italian timewhen the mammoth rocket took off from the Boca Chica base in south Texas. THE 33 Raptor engines of the Starship pushed the vehicle into space by first crossing beyond the point of maximum aerodynamic pressure (the so-called MaxQ), about a minute after launch, and subsequently the hot stagingin which the 9 engines of the second stage ignited when the latter was still tied to the first.
About 6 minutes after the start of the test there was the separation of the Superheavy first stage. At this point the most delicate decision of the mission was made, that is, deciding whether to attempt the controlled return to land of the first stage. 6 and a half minutes after launch the flight controller gave the green light to the maneuver and the first stage went from being in free fall to firing 9 of the 33 engines to stabilize the attitude. Alone 30 seconds laterthe Superheavy was literally captured by mechanical arms of the launch facility, also called Mechazillaa spectacular maneuver to say the least.
The second stage instead continued its race towards space, carrying out a sub-orbital flight up to the speed of 27,000 km/h. 42 minutes after the launch the return phase to test the performance of the redesigned heat shield. In the live broadcast, possible thanks to data from the Starlink satellite network, at a certain point you notice a pink glow which marks the beginning of the re-entry phase, just below the Karman line (100 km altitude) which conventionally traces the border with space. Friction with the atmosphere generated intense heat, bringing temperatures up to approx 3000°Cthus generating the plasma responsible for the observed glow.
The new and redesigned heat shield did its job admirably, bringing the Starship to land in the Indian Ocean as planned, one hour and 5 minutes after launch. In the live broadcast you can also see a large fireball rising with the Starship, due to the impact with the ocean surface.
What was new about the test and why it was memorable
The fifth test was practically a repeat of the fourth, if not for two big news. The first was there revisiting the heat shieldcompletely redesigned and rebuilt to solve the problems that emerged during the previous test. The new ablative heat shield is similar to the one applied on the Dragon spacecraft and is positioned under the layer of heat-absorbing tiles. The technology is not new, but it was also used in Soviet times for the Buran, the Soviet equivalent of the Space Shuttle.
The second novelty, the most spectacular one, was the controlled reentry of the first stage on the groundrather than on a platform in the ocean, and its capture “on flight” by the mechanical arms of the launch platform Mechazilla. The video accompanying this article shows the spectacular capture sequence.
This maneuver is particularly delicate and requires additional authorizations by the FAA regulator. In fact, even just a small error is enough for the Superheavy booster to hit the take-off platform, causing an explosion and therefore serious damage to the platform.
Previous tests of the SpaceX rocket: characteristics and results
Today’s was the fifth test of the Starship, which differed from the fourth mainly due to the new heat shield and the return to the ground of the first stage. The first test Starship dates back just a year ago, the April 20, 2023 when the Starship took off from the launch pad, but it exploded only after 4 minutes of flight. In the second test on November 18, 2023Instead, all 33 Raptor engines ignited, and the hot-staging phase of ignition of the second stage took place for the first time. The test ended after just 6 minutes due to a fuel leak. The third test, March 14, 2024went well until the first stage reentry phase, when the engines failed to fire to land gently in the Gulf of Mexico, disintegrating the booster on impact. The Starship even disintegrated at altitude during atmospheric re-entry. The fourth test on June 6, 2024 it was practically perfect, except for the re-entry of the Starship which showed very serious damage to the heat shield observed by the on-board cameras during atmospheric re-entry.
Below you can watch the entire SpaceX live broadcast of Starship’s fifth flight test:
