Launching the Biggest Rocket Ever Built: The Starship Launch and the First Launch of a Lunar Landing System Based on 33 Raptor Engines
The massive Starship rocket was successfully launched in a test launch. The rocket took off from the company’s Starbase facility in Texas.
The company has made improvements but it’s still not clear if this will be the launch that proves that the biggest rocket ever built can fly.
“They say that the third time is a charm,” says Paulo Lozano, director of the space propulsion laboratory at MIT. But, he adds, launching a rocket as large as Starship “is not a simple task.”
The biggest rocket ever built was Starship. The first stage of the project is called Super Heavy and it’s powered by 33 Raptor engines that must all work together to get it to its destination.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk believes this massive machine can carry humans to the moon and Mars. Its durable stainless steel construction makes it easy to reuse, at least in theory, and could dramatically reduce the cost of launching satellites and people into orbit. NASA has given billions to SpaceX to develop Starship as a lunar landing system that could deliver astronauts to the lunar surface.
The Third Flight of Elon Musk’s Giant Starship Rocket Is Launching Again. Here’s What to Expect (PDF version)
The second flight in December was more successful. The launch pad was not obliterated by the 33 engines, all of which fired as expected. The Starship also successfully separated from its booster at the predetermined altitude. The booster exploded before it could descend back to the Gulf of Mexico because it failed to reignite its engines properly. After the first flight, the self-destruct system exploded, before it could reach its desired altitude.
This time around, Manley says several additional changes have been made. The fire suppression system appears to have been beefed up and the oxygen-dumping system has been adjusted, according to photos taken by rocket watchers near the site. “That will probably solve that problem,” he says, but adds, “It doesn’t guarantee they’ve solved every single problem.”
Starship has also added additional tasks to the flight test. It is going to attempt to open its doors while in space. It will conduct a test to see if it can transfer propellant from one tank to another. It’s important to get fuel around so the vehicle can top off its tanks for the lunar and Martian trips.
Source: Elon Musk’s giant Starship rocket is launching again. Here’s what to expect
The Starship Experience: Re-Entry into the Earth’s Atmosphere and the First Video Broadcast From The Inelastic Ocean
He said that all of these propellants have high vapor pressure. If they are in the vacuum of space, they will make a lot of noise. Zero gravity makes pumping fuel difficult because you don’t have to press the fuel toward the bottom of the tanks.
After re-emerging Earth’s atmosphere, Starship will try to reignite its Raptors engines. Both of those people say they’ll be watching that process.
As Starship enters the atmosphere, “you need to protect it from massive amounts of heating,” Manley says. The thermal protection tiles on the underside of the ship have fallen off every single time they have been tested, he says. So it remains to be seen whether they can actually keep enough tiles on Starship for it to make it through re-entry.”
Meanwhile, Starship itself had a smooth ride into space. It broadcasted video from above the ground using a satellite network. The video captured the beginning of the re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere over the Indian Ocean.
