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Starship flight test 1

Coordinates: 25°59′46″N 97°09′18″W / 25.996°N 97.155°W / 25.996; -97.155
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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
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, 13:33 UTC (08:33 CDT)[1]
RocketStarship
Launch siteSpaceX Starbase
ContractorSpaceX
End of mission
DestroyedApril 20, 2023, 13:37 UTC (08:37 CDT)
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 SpaceX) was the first integrated launch of the Starship spacecraft with the Super Heavy first stage booster on April 20, 2023, at 08:33 CDT (13:33 UTC). The test flight consisted of prototypes Ship 24 and Booster 7. No crew was inside the spacecraft during the mission. The flight made Starship the tallest and the most powerful rocket ever flown, with twice the thrust of the 1960s Saturn V.[2][3]

Starship Vehicle Ship 24 aimed to fly nearly one orbit around the Earth before reentering the atmosphere and performing a controlled splashdown in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii.[4] The Super Heavy booster was to have performed a controlled landing in the Gulf of Mexico about 20 miles (30 km) off the Texas coast.[5]

Instead, Starship began to tumble a few minutes after liftoff, leading its autonomous flight termination system to destroy the spacecraft.[6]

The launch caused considerable damage to the launch pad, blasting away large pieces of concrete that caused moderate damage to nearby facilities.

Before the launch, SpaceX officials said they would measure the mission's success "by how much we can learn" and that various planned mission events "are not required for a successful test."[7] CEO Elon Musk said another metric of success was “Just don’t blow up the launchpad" because it would “probably take us several months to rebuild the launchpad if we melt it”.[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 with a height of 120 meters (390 feet). The first stage of Starship is the most powerful rocket ever launched, as its 33 Raptor engines generate nominally more than 16,000,000 pounds-force (71,000,000 N) of thrust. This is roughly twice that of the Saturn V (7,750,000 lbf (34,500,000 N)[10]) between 1967 and 1973, more than the SLS, which produced 8,800,000 pounds-force (39,000,000 N) of thrust at liftoff in 2022, and well above the 10,000,000 pounds-force (44,000,000 N) of thrust from the 30 engines that powered the Soviet Union's N1 rocket between 1969 and 1972.[11]

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 launching satellites, space tourism, and interplanetary spaceflight.[12][13]

Starting in 2019, SpaceX built several prototypes for the upper stage and launched them a total of nine times, culminating with the May 5, 2021, launch of Starship SN15 that soft-landed after six minutes.[14] SpaceX continued to build new upper stages, completed several first stages, and performed ground tests while waiting for governmental launch clearances. In June 2022, the environmental review of the launch site concluded with a "mitigated FONSI" (Finding of No Significant Impact) ruling, 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.[12] An April 11 launch rehearsal was canceled.[15] 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 a 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 re-enter the atmosphere after roughly 1 hour, 17 minutes of flight, nearly completing a full orbit.[5]

Though both Starship's rocket stages are eventually intended to be reusable, SpaceX planned this test flight to discard both of the rocket stages at the end of their flight.[16]

The test flight consisted of prototype vehicles Ship 24 and Booster 7. 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 boost backburn and sought to land about 20 miles (32 km) offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, while the Starship spacecraft would have sought to land in the Pacific Ocean about 62 miles (100 km) northwest of Kauai.[17] SpaceX officials said completion of milestones after liftoff were "not required for a successful test."[7]

Planned mission timeline[5]
Time Event April 17 April 20
−02:00:00 SpaceX Flight Director conducts a 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 the 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, yet later than planned[18]
00:02:49 Main engine cutoff (MECO) — ?[19]
00:02:52 Stage separation — ?[19]
00:02:57 Starship ignition — Did not take place
00:03:11 Booster boost backburn startup — —
00:04:06 Booster boost backburn 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 CDT). The launch was aborted at T-8:05 due to a frozen pressurization valve on the Super Heavy booster (first stage) that caused concerns about the pressurization of Booster 7. Before the abort, SpaceX launch control worked to fix the problem, aiming to proceed with a launch the same day. But the valve exhibited low responsiveness, so SpaceX proceeded with a wet dress rehearsal that ended at T-40 seconds. SpaceX said it would need at least 48 hours to prepare for a second attempt.[20][21]

April 20 launch

Before the second launch attempt, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk estimated a 50% chance for a successful test, adding that should the vehicle get "far enough away from the launchpad before something goes wrong, then I think I would consider that to be a success. Just don't blow up the launchpad."[22]

A 62-minute launch window opened at 8:28 am CDT (13:28 UTC) on April 20, 2023.[23] Liftoff occurred at 08:33 CDT (13:33 UTC). After a successful lift-off that caused severe damage to the launch pad, the Super Heavy booster experienced multiple Raptor engine failures throughout the flight. The vehicle reached an apogee of about 39 km before losing altitude and entering an uncontrolled tumble. The flight termination systems were initiated for the Super Heavy booster and Starship, destroying both after about four minutes of flight.[24] No injuries or public property damage were reported by the Federal Aviation Administration.[22] The initial cause of the failure is currently unknown.

After the flight test, the FAA reported that it would oversee an investigation, saying, "A return to flight of the Starship/Super Heavy vehicle is based on the FAA determining that any system, process or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety".[22]

Aftermath

Launch Site damage

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

Following the flight test of the Starship vehicle, photographic evidence presented acute damage to the concrete underneath the launch pad alongside other damage to surrounding infrastructure at the launch site.[25] The rocket exhaust "scattered debris for hundreds of yards like mortar fire, leaving a crater under its launch mount, dents in nearby storage tanks and questions about the extent of the repairs and when SpaceX might be able to attempt to launch again," the Washington Post reported.[8]

The launch pad was built without any flame diverters or water-based fire suppression systems customarily used to prevent the excessive forces of liftoff from causing damage to it. Astrophysicist and engineer Scott Manley had stated that their omission was a nod to potential operations on Mars, where it would be difficult to build such systems.[19] The decision to omit them was SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's, who in 2020 tweeted that it might be a mistake.[26]

Effects on local communities

Dust "thrown up by the rocket wafted into communities miles away, the Post reported.[8] Some environmental experts and indigenous activists of the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe subsequently criticized SpaceX for not disclosing potential risks, citing an FAA assessment that claimed there would be "no significant impact". The company activated an "anomaly response plan", but otherwise refused to comment on the situation, though Musk had previously said a flame deflector could be needed.[27][28][29]

Reactions

The launch was generally regarded as a test flight that furthered Starship's development progress, citing SpaceX's iterative and incremental development process.[30][31][32] Positive comments regarding the outcome of the test flight have been given by NASA administrator Bill Nelson;[30] European Space Agency Director General Josef Aschbacher;[24] and retired Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield.[18] Ars Technica editor Eric Berger reported that launch industry officials believed that "getting the Super Heavy rocket and Starship upper stage off the launch pad was a huge success."[33]

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".[31] 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 stated that commercial rockets' first launches are rarely successful.[32]

A tweet from SpaceX in the wake of the launch, which described the explosion as "a rapid unscheduled disassembly",[34] a common space industry term, was satirized in online memes.[35][36]

Before the launch, 27 organizations including the Sierra Club, South Texas Environmental Justice Network, Another Gulf is Possible, Voces Unidas, and the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe signed a letter expressing their concerns and opposition to it. They cited gentrification and overpolicing of the area, wildlife habitat and native ceremony disruption, and risk of methane-emitting accidents, among others.[37] After the launch, a representative of Another Gulf also criticized the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's April 20 approval of three unrelated new liquefied natural gas terminals near Port Isabel.[29]

See also

References

  1. ^ Wattles, Jackie; Vogt, Adrienne (April 20, 2023). "SpaceX's uncrewed Starship explodes on launch attempt". CNN. Archived from the original on April 21, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  2. ^ Amos, Jonathan (April 20, 2023). "SpaceX Starship: Elon Musk's big rocket explodes on test flight". BBC News. Archived from the original on April 20, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  3. ^ Amos, Jonathan (August 6, 2021). "Biggest ever rocket is assembled briefly in Texas". BBC News. Archived from the original on August 11, 2021. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
  4. ^ Jones, Andrew (April 15, 2023). "SpaceX's 1st Starship and Super Heavy launch: How it will work". Space.com. Archived from the original on April 19, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d "Starship Flight Test". SpaceX. April 11, 2023. Archived from the original on April 14, 2023. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
  6. ^ K, Jay (April 20, 2023). "SpaceX Starship Experiences Anomaly In Flight - TLP News". The Launch Pad. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  7. ^ a b "- SpaceX - Launches". web.archive.org. April 19, 2023. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  8. ^ a b c Davenport, Christian (April 21, 2023). "SpaceX didn't want to blow up its launchpad. It may have done just that". washingtonpost.com. Washington Post. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Starship". SpaceX. Archived from the original on February 3, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  10. ^ Thorne, Muriel, ed. (May 1983). NASA, The First 25 Years: 1958-1983 (PDF). Washington, D.C.: National Aeronautics and Space Administration. p. 69.
  11. ^ Simpson, Clive (April 17, 2023). "How SpaceX's Starship stacks up to other rockets". Spaceflight Now. Archived from the original on April 17, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  12. ^ a b Roulette, Joey (February 11, 2022). "What Is Starship? SpaceX Builds Its Next-Generation Rocket". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 12, 2022. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  13. ^ Petrova, Magdalena (March 13, 2022). "Why Starship is the holy grail for SpaceX". CNBC. Archived from the original on May 28, 2022. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  14. ^ Timmer, John (May 5, 2021). "SpaceX successfully lands a Starship test flight". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on May 5, 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  15. ^ Alcantarilla Romera, Alejandro (April 14, 2023). "Starship into final preps for launch targeting the second half of April". NASASpaceFlight. Archived from the original on April 14, 2023. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
  16. ^ Berger, Eric (April 10, 2023). "SpaceX's Starship vehicle is ready to fly, just waiting for a launch license". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on April 11, 2023. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  17. ^ "Starship Orbital - First Flight FCC Exhibit". Federal Communications Commission. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  18. ^ a b CTV News (April 20, 2023). "Chris Hadfield on SpaceX rocket exploding: It was 'enormously successful'". YouTube. Archived from the original on April 20, 2023. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  19. ^ a b c Manley, Scott (April 22, 2023). "SpaceX's Massive Rocket Explodes Due to Rapid Unscheduled Digging". youtube. Scott Manley. Retrieved April 23, 2023. All that missing dirt and concrete that had to go somewhere
  20. ^ Wall, Mike (April 17, 2023). "SpaceX scrubs 1st space launch of giant Starship rocket due to fueling issue". Space.com. Archived from the original on April 17, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  21. ^ Chang, Kenneth (April 17, 2023). "Highlights From SpaceX's Scrubbed Starship Rocket Launch Attempt". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on April 19, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  22. ^ a b c Davenport, Christian (April 20, 2023). "Unmanned Starship explodes over gulf after liftoff". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 20, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  23. ^ Clark, Stephen (April 17, 2023). "SpaceX's Starship test flight delayed until Thursday after valve problem". Spaceflight Now. Archived from the original on April 19, 2023. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  24. ^ a b Therrien, Alex; Whitehead, Jamie (April 20, 2023). "SpaceX Starship live: SpaceX Starship finally launches but blows up after take-off". BBC News. Archived from the original on April 20, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  25. ^ Angle, Richard (April 2, 2023). "Starship delivers excitement, but launch pad damage comes into question". Teslarati. Archived from the original on April 22, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  26. ^ Musk, Elon (October 7, 2020). "Tweet". Twitter. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  27. ^ Davenport, Christian (April 20, 2023). "SpaceX's Starship lifts off successfully, but explodes in first flight". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  28. ^ Albeck-Ripka, Livia (April 21, 2023). "SpaceX's Starship Kicked Up a Dust Cloud, Leaving Texans With a Mess". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 21, 2023. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  29. ^ a b ""Colonizing Our Community": Elon Musk's SpaceX Rocket Explodes in Texas as Feds OK New LNG Projects". Democracy Now!. April 21, 2023. Archived from the original on April 21, 2023. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  30. ^ a b Olson, Emily; Archie, Ayana (April 20, 2023). "SpaceX's massive rocket Starship explodes 4 minutes after liftoff". National Public Radio. Archived from the original on April 20, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  31. ^ a b Dunn, Marcia (April 20, 2023). "SpaceX giant rocket explodes minutes after launch from Texas". Associated Press. Archived from the original on April 20, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  32. ^ a b Grush, Loren (April 20, 2023). "Starship Explosion Shows Just How Far SpaceX Is From the Moon". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on April 20, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  33. ^ Berger, Eric (April 20, 2023). "So what was that? Was Starship's launch a failure or a success?". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on April 21, 2023. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  34. ^ @SpaceX (April 20, 2023). "As if the flight test was not exciting enough, Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage separation" (Tweet). Archived from the original on April 21, 2023 – via Twitter.
  35. ^ Curtis, Charles (April 20, 2023). "The 12 best 'rapid unscheduled disassembly' memes after SpaceX rocket explosion". For the Win. USA Today. Archived from the original on April 22, 2023. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  36. ^ Gerber, Dana (April 20, 2023). "Twitter is having fun with SpaceX rocket's 'rapid unscheduled disassembly'". The Boston Globe. John W. Henry. Archived from the original on April 20, 2023. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  37. ^ "Press Statement: Rio Grande Valley Community React Ahead of SpaceX Rocket Launch Blast on the South Texas Coastline" (PDF). Sierra Club. April 19, 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 20, 2023. Retrieved April 22, 2023.

25°59′46″N 97°09′18″W / 25.996°N 97.155°W / 25.996; -97.155

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