By John Ikani
Just minutes after takeoff from a launchpad in South Texas on Thursday, SpaceX’s Starship rocket exploded above the Gulf of Mexico.
Despite failing to reach orbit, the test flight wasn’t a total catastrophe.
Before the launch, the company’s CEO, Elon Musk, had cautioned that it might take multiple tries for Starship to succeed. The goal of the test flight was to reach high enough speeds to enter orbit before crashing down close to Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean.
The FAA approved the company’s proposal for an uncrewed test flight just last week. The agency is responsible for issuing licenses for commercial rocket launches.
SpaceX’s Starship may be used to transport humans from one spacecraft to the lunar surface during the Artemis III mission, which could launch as soon as 2025. However, SpaceX must first demonstrate that Starship is capable of reaching the moon.
Due to the craft’s sheer size, it will need to be refueled while still in Earth’s orbit. A single lunar lander could require more than a dozen launches, each carrying nothing but fuel, to cover the 238,900 miles (384,500 km) between Earth and the moon.
Before SpaceX can address this challenge, it will need to achieve orbit with Starship. Thursday’s test flight only aimed to reach near-orbital speeds and make a partial orbit of the planet.
Musk tweeted his congratulations to the company after the unmanned Starship rocket was launched, saying that they have learned a lot in preparation for the upcoming test launch scheduled for a few months from now.
