SpaceX Starship orbital test flight

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This article is about the first attempt at orbital flight. For other Starship flights, see List of SpaceX Starship flight tests.
Starship Flight Test
StarshipLaunch.jpg
Fully stacked Starship vehicle during its first flight
Mission typeFlight test
OperatorSpaceX
Mission duration3 minutes, 59 seconds (achieved)
90–100 minutes (planned)
Orbits completed0 (achieved)
<1 (intended)
Start of mission
Launch dateApril 20, 2023 08:33 CT[1]
RocketStarship
Launch siteStarbase, Texas
ContractorSpaceX
End of mission
DestroyedApril 20, 2023
Orbital parameters
RegimeTransatmospheric Earth orbit (intended)
Periapsis altitude50 km (31 mi) (planned)
Apoapsis altitude250 km (160 mi) (planned)
 

The SpaceX Starship Orbital Test Flight (called Starship Flight Test by the company) was the first integrated launch of the Starship spacecraft with the Super Heavy booster, developed and manufactured by SpaceX. Prior to this test, only the Starship upper stage was flown in a series of flight and landing tests. The launch made Starship the tallest[2] and the most powerful rocket ever flown, with twice the thrust of the Saturn V.[3]

According to SpaceX, this test flight only has a minimal requirement of flying out of the launch pad and achieving later flight milestones is considered as a "bonus".[4] The spacecraft was planned to be placed into a transatmospheric Earth orbit where the spacecraft would do nearly one revolution around the Earth, passing through the Strait of Florida, before dipping down and reentering into the atmosphere near Hawaii. The Super Heavy first stage would have performed a controlled landing on the Gulf of Mexico.[5]

The test launched Super Heavy Booster 7 and Ship 24 from SpaceX's Starbase launch site near Boca Chica, Texas.[6] At liftoff on April 20 at 8:33 a.m. CT (13:33 UTC),[1] the rocket had already lost 3 of its 33 booster Raptor engines, and 2 more engines were lost during flight, leading to a total of 5 lost engines. Despite these engine-outs, the vehicle cleared the critical max-q mark.[7] While attempting stage separation, however, the spacecraft went into an uncontrolled spin, and the safety personnel activated the flight termination systems, destroying it at 8:37 a.m. CT (13:37 UTC) over the Gulf of Mexico.[8]

Background

Further information: SpaceX Starship development and List of SpaceX Starship flight tests

Starship is a super heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by SpaceX.[9] The launch vehicle is the largest and most powerful ever developed with a projected 150 metric tons (330,000 pounds) of payload capacity in a fully reusable configuration, and a height of 120 meters (394 feet). The first stage of Starship is the most powerful rocket ever launched, as its 33 Raptor engines generate nominally more than 16 million pounds of thrust. This is roughly twice that of the Saturn V between 1967 and 1973, more than the SLS produced 8.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff in 2022, and well above the 10 million pounds thrust from 30 engines that powered the Soviet Union’s N1 rocket between 1969 and 1972.[10]

Both stages are designed to perform controlled landings at the launch site and be reflown multiple times. SpaceX plans to use the launch vehicle for various applications including satellite deployment, space tourism, and interplanetary spaceflight.[11][12]

Starting in 2019 SpaceX built several prototypes for the upper stage and launched them for a total of 9 times culminating with a launch on 5 May 2021 of Starship SN15 which achieved a soft landing after 6 minutes.[13] After this, SpaceX continued reiterating builds of the upper stages, and completed construction of several first stages, continued ground tests without any flights while waiting for governmental launch clearances. An environmental review of the launch site concluded with the issuing of a 'mitigated FONSI' (Finding of No Significant Impact) ruling in June 2022, requiring the company to implement various mitigations to local wildlife and historical sites but otherwise permitting a launch license to be issued.[9]

A flight readiness review was completed on April 8, 2023.[11] A planned launch rehearsal scheduled for April 11 was later cancelled.[14] The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an orbital launch license for the vehicle on April 14, 2023.

Flight profile

The spacecraft flight plan was to conduct powered flight until reaching the desired transatmospheric Earth orbit, estimated to be around 250 × 50 km (155 × 31 mi), which would have caused Starship to decay reentry the atmosphere after roughly 1 hour, 17 minutes of flight, after nearly completing a full orbit.[5]

Though both Starship's rocket stages are planned to eventually be reusable, this test flight planned to not make any soft-landing attempts and instead discard both of the rocket stages at the end of their flight.[15] Both the booster and the spacecraft would have performed controlled touchdowns on the ocean surface.[5] According to filings with the Federal Communications Commission, the booster would have performed a boostback burn and targeted a landing about 20 miles (32 km) offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, while the Starship spacecraft would have targeted a landing in the Pacific Ocean about 62 miles (100 km) northwest of Kauai.[16]

Planned mission timeline[5]
Time Event April 17 April 20
−02:00:00 SpaceX Flight Director conducts poll and verifies go for propellant loading Success Success
−01:39:00 Super Heavy booster propellant load (liquid oxygen and liquid methane) underway Success Success
−01:22:00 Starship fuel loading (liquid methane) underway Success Success
−01:17:00 Starship oxidizer loading (liquid oxygen) underway Success Success
−00:16:40 Booster engine chill Success Success
−00:00:40 Fluid interfaces begin venting sequence Not passed Resumed after hold
−00:00:08 Booster ignition sequence begins — Success
−00:00:06 First stage engine ignition — Success
00:00:00 Liftoff — Success
00:00:55 Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket) — Success
00:02:49 Main engine cutoff (MECO) — ?
00:02:52 Stage separation — Failure
00:02:57 Starship ignition — —
00:03:11 Booster boostback burn startup — —
00:04:06 Booster boostback burn shutdown — —
00:07:32 Booster is transonic — —
00:07:40 Booster landing burn startup — —
00:08:03 Booster splashdown — —
00:09:20 Starship engine cutoff (SECO) — —
01:17:21 Starship atmospheric re-entry interface — —
01:28:43 Starship is transonic — —
01:30:00 Starship Pacific impact — —

April 17 launch attempt

The Starship Super Heavy stack was loaded with propellant and set to launch at 13:20 UTC (8:20 am CT), however, the launch was scrubbed due to a frozen pressurization valve on the Super Heavy booster (first stage) at T-8:05, leading to concerns surrounding the successful pressurization of Booster 7. Prior to the scrub being called, SpaceX control worked on resolving the issue and proceeding with a launch the same day. However, due to little responsiveness from the valve as the clock ticked to ignition, mission control had made the decision to make the most of the propellant and pressure while not placing the entire vehicle at risk. Instead of removing the propellant, SpaceX proceeded with a wet dress rehearsal and halted the timer at T-40 seconds. SpaceX said that that it would require a minimum of 48 hours to refill the propellant for another attempt.[17][18]

April 20 launch

Radar scans from the National Weather Service radar in Brownsville, Texas

A second, 92-minute long launch window opened at 13:28 UTC (8:28 am CDT) on Thursday, April 20.[19]

The vehicle launched from Starbase, at Boca Chica, Texas, on the United States Gulf Coast.[11] Following a successful launch and tower clearance at 8:33 CDT, three of the 33 Raptor engines were displayed by SpaceX as shut down as the vehicle lifted from the ground. By T+1:07, six Raptor engines had shut down. After successfully passing max q, the booster and spacecraft failed to separate when scheduled at T+2:52,[20] as it appeared to undergo flipping maneuvers without shutting its engines down first.[7]

During the unsuccessful separation of the Starship and Super Heavy booster, which required the rocket to spin to reorient itself, the stack entered an uncontrolled spin, emitting plumes of white smoke.[21] The stages remained attached to each other for over a minute, until the rocket's flight termination system was commanded, causing a controlled breakup of the vehicle. Starship and Super Heavy were terminated separately: Booster 7 was destroyed at T+3:59, Ship 24 exploded at T+4:01.[4] The vehicle reached a peak altitude of 39 km.[22]

Because SpaceX intentionally minimized the launch protection infrastructure (such as not installing a water deluge system or a flame diverter),[23][24] the rocket caused damage to the spaceport and surrounding infrastructure.[24][25] At liftoff, the rocket kicked up huge plumes of sand and dust at the pad, with reports in Port Isabel, about 10 miles from the launch site, of particles covered cars and other surfaces, and a shattered window at a local business.[26] The concrete below the rocket and launch mount also appeared to show significant damage.[25]

Reactions

  • Bill Nelson, the NASA administrator, and Josef Aschbacher, ESA Director General, both congratulated SpaceX on the launch[27][28], with Nelson commenting, "Every great achievement throughout history has demanded some level of calculated risk, because with great risk comes great reward. Looking forward to all that SpaceX learns, to the next flight test—and beyond."[29]
  • The company said in a tweet that "today's test will help us improve Starship's reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multi-planetary," with Elon Musk saying that the team will try to test the rocket again in a few months.[27]
  • The Federal Aviation Administration said it would oversee an investigation, a standard practice when a vehicle was lost in flight,[30] and there were no reports of injuries or property damage.[8]
  • University of Chicago space historian Jordan Brimm said that "it fell somewhere between a small step and their hoped-for giant leap, but it still represents significant progress toward a reusable super-heavy lift rocket".[26]
  • Bloomberg News space reporter Loren Grush said the explosion "highlights the challenges ahead for Musk’s grandiose plan for Starship to open up space to human travel", and that beyond the engineering work required for Starship to successfully land, SpaceX will still need to work on Starship's life support systems and ability to refuel in outer space. Grush also described the booster's first takeoff as a "win", and said that commercial rockets' first launches are rarely successful.[31]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Wattles, Jackie; Vogt, Adrienne (20 April 2023). "SpaceX's uncrewed Starship explodes on launch attempt". CNN. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  2. ^ Amos, Jonathan (20 April 2023). "SpaceX Starship: Elon Musk's big rocket explodes on test flight". BBC News. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  3. ^ Amos, Jonathan (6 August 2021). "Biggest ever rocket is assembled briefly in Texas". BBC News. Archived from the original on 11 August 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  4. ^ a b SpaceX (20 April 2023). "Starship Flight Test". YouTube. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d "Starship Flight Test". SpaceX. 11 April 2023. Archived from the original on 14 April 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  6. ^ Jones, Andrew (15 April 2023). "SpaceX's 1st Starship and Super Heavy launch: How it will work". Space.com. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  7. ^ a b Wall, Mike (20 April 2023). "SpaceX Starship's explosive test flight: What did we just see?". Space.com. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  8. ^ a b Davenport, Christian (20 April 2023). "Unmanned Starship explodes over gulf after liftoff". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 20 April 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Starship". SpaceX. Archived from the original on 3 February 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  10. ^ Simpson, Clive (17 April 2023). "How SpaceX's Starship stacks up to other rockets". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  11. ^ a b c Roulette, Joey (11 February 2022). "What Is Starship? SpaceX Builds Its Next-Generation Rocket". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  12. ^ Petrova, Magdalena (13 March 2022). "Why Starship is the holy grail for SpaceX". CNBC. Archived from the original on 28 May 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  13. ^ Timmer, John (5 May 2021). "SpaceX successfully lands a Starship test flight". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 5 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  14. ^ Alcantarilla Romera, Alejandro (14 April 2023). "Starship into final preps for launch targeting second half of April". NASASpaceFlight. Archived from the original on 14 April 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  15. ^ Berger, Eric (10 April 2023). "SpaceX's Starship vehicle is ready to fly, just waiting for a launch license". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 11 April 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  16. ^ "Starship Orbital - First Flight FCC Exhibit". Federal Communications Commission. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  17. ^ Wall, Mike (17 April 2023). "SpaceX scrubs 1st space launch of giant Starship rocket due to fueling issue". Space.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  18. ^ Chang, Kenneth (17 April 2023). "Highlights From SpaceX's Scrubbed Starship Rocket Launch Attempt". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 19 April 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  19. ^ Clark, Stephen (17 April 2023). "SpaceX's Starship test flight delayed until Thursday after valve problem". Spaceflight Now. Archived from the original on 19 April 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  20. ^ Acres, Tom (20 April 2023). "SpaceX's Starship explodes minutes after landmark launch of world's most powerful rocket system". Sky News. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  21. ^ Skibba, Ramin. "SpaceX's Starship Explodes During First Orbital Test Flight". Wired. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  22. ^ Skipper, Joe; Gorman, Steve (20 April 2023). "Elon Musk's Starship explodes minutes after first test flight's liftoff". Reuters. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  23. ^ "SpaceX's Texas Rocket is Going To Cause A Lot More Damage Than Anyone Thinks". ESG Hound. 16 April 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  24. ^ a b Davenport, Christian (20 April 2023). "SpaceX's Starship lifts off successfully, but explodes in first flight". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  25. ^ a b Dvorsky, George (20 April 2023). "Powerful Blast from SpaceX's Starship Damages Launch Pad and Wrecks Nearby Minivan". Gizmodo. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  26. ^ a b Dunn, Marcia (20 April 2023). "SpaceX giant rocket explodes minutes after launch from Texas". Associated Press. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  27. ^ a b Olson, Emily; Archie, Ayana (20 April 2023). "SpaceX's massive rocket Starship explodes 4 minutes after liftoff". National Public Radio. Archived from the original on 20 April 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  28. ^ Therrien, Alex; Whitehead, Jamie (20 April 2023). "SpaceX Starship live: SpaceX Starship finally launches but blows up after take-off". BBC News. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  29. ^ https://twitter.com/SenBillNelson/status/1649054379029458949
  30. ^ Amos, Jonathan (20 April 2023). "SpaceX Starship: Elon Musk's big rocket explodes on test flight". BBC News. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  31. ^ Grush, Loren (20 April 2023). "Starship Explosion Shows Just How Far SpaceX Is From the Moon". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
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