Starship completes 13th test flight largely as planned

Structure of the Starship system

After launch, all 33 engines of the booster ignited and accelerated it to 5,970 km/h. The booster then successfully turned around and entered a return trajectory. It was subsequently set down in the sea near the launch site as planned, with radio contact being lost upon touchdown. „Mehrere Testflüge waren allerdings auch bereits deutlich hinter den Erwartungen zurückgeblieben."

The upper stage reached space without further incidents and headed toward its highest trajectory point of 198 kilometers north of the east coast of Brazil. During re-entry, however, only ten of the 13 engines ignited for the third braking maneuver – slightly more than on the previous flight, in which one engine had failed. Within a few seconds, two more engines failed, and later another three. Nevertheless, the stage completed the flight.

For the second time, "Version 3" of Starship was used on this flight. „Dabei handelt es sich nach Angaben des Unternehmens um eine unter anderem im Hinblick auf Design und Leistungsfähigkeit komplett überarbeitete Version der Riesenrakete." „Zum zweiten Mal kam bei diesem Test die 'Version 3' des Starship zum Einsatz." According to NASA, this even counts as the third attempt for this test flight, since a weather-related delay on July 23 is included in the count. „Der erste Startversuch dafür war Mitte Juli gescheitert."

Version 3 and simulated satellite test

The deployment of satellites was also simulated again. This time it involved 20 functioning "Starlink" internet satellites, which, as planned, burned up in the atmosphere shortly after deployment. The suborbital test with the 20 fully functional satellites is considered a novelty. Some satellites were equipped with cameras and lights to inspect the heat shield after launch. According to initial assessments, no visible damage was seen on the heat shield, as stated in the livestream. Later, however, it was reported that the heat shield had failed on this flight. „keine sichtbaren Schäden zu sehen gewesen seien"

In the livestream, SpaceX initially congratulated itself on „einer weiteren eindrucksvollen Landung", but later acknowledged a „etwas zu hohe Landegeschwindigkeit". „einer weiteren eindrucksvollen Landung" On this version, the engines also serve as a heat shield, and the speed of the stage on this flight was higher than on all previous flights. In a tower catch maneuver, the rocket must hover in the air for about ten seconds using engine thrust. For a tower catch, the rocket uses a preceding braking maneuver to reduce aerodynamic loads.

The upper stage then flew unmanned through space for about an hour before it came down in a controlled manner in the Indian Ocean – slightly more than on the previous flight, in which one engine had failed. In earlier test flights, the upper stage had already reached space and in some cases touched down in a controlled manner in the Indian Ocean. „Das größte jemals gebaute Raketensystem der Raumfahrtgeschichte" „Beide Teile sind so konzipiert, dass sie nach der Rückkehr zur Erde wiederverwendet werden können."

The Starship rocket system was first tested in April 2023 and on that occasion exploded completely after just a few minutes. It is regarded as the largest rocket system ever built in the history of spaceflight. Starship was developed by the private space company SpaceX, which was founded by tech billionaire Elon Musk. Musk's goal with the rocket is to reach Mars one day. „Mehrere Testflüge waren allerdings auch bereits deutlich hinter den Erwartungen zurückgeblieben."

Background: SpaceX and Starship

The U.S. space agency NASA also plans to send astronauts to the Moon using Starship. „SpaceX hatte vor kurzem den bislang größten Börsengang in der Geschichte des Nasdaq hingelegt, zuletzt fiel die Aktie allerdings unter den Ausgabepreis." The successful test flight therefore comes at a time in which SpaceX had recently completed the largest initial public offering in the history of the Nasdaq, although the issue price of the stock had recently fallen below its starting price.

According to observers, the 13th flight of Starship proceeded largely according to plan. Even though the heat shield showed damage and the booster's landing speed was slightly too high, the system achieved its test objectives.

Outlook for the Moon, Mars, and the stock market

This brings the Starship program one step closer to its ambitious schedule – both for the planned Moon mission and for the long-term goal of a crewed Mars flight.

If everything goes according to plan, further tests are to follow in order to also trial the tower catch maneuver, in which the booster stage lands directly on the launch structure, under real conditions.

At the end of the test, SpaceX congratulated itself on „einer weiteren eindrucksvollen Landung", without going into further detail about the problems with the heat shield and the landing speed.