Two major advances were obtained with the Starship on June 6, 2024. The Super Heavy first stage was able to land properly in the Gulf of Mexico. As for the upper stage, it survived atmospheric re-entry and ended its course in the Indian Ocean.
This time, atmospheric re-entry was not fatal to the Starship. SpaceX’s brand new spacecraft accomplished a remarkable feat this Thursday, June 6, 2024 by managing to return it to Earth. Earlier in the day, the American company had already managed to land the first stage of the launcher, called Super Heavy.
This double success allows SpaceX to take a big leap forward in the development of its rocket and to send a very positive signal to NASA. Indeed, the American space agency is counting on this machine for its ambitions on the Moon. The Starship must notably serve as a transport shuttle between the lunar station and the surface.
A historic flight of the Starship, with its imperfections
Of course, not everything worked perfectly. During takeoff, one engine failed (the other 32, however, worked without apparent difficulty). It was also unable to power up during the Super Heavy’s return phase, to prepare for the splashdown. As for the upper stage, it seems to have suffered during atmospheric reentry.
The video feed made available by SpaceX, which provided a glimpse of the vehicle during its return to Earth, revealed the intense stresses placed on the structure. For a moment, an element – a front flap – filmed by a camera gave the impression of being gradually torn from the cabin, because of the very strong friction of the air.
At this time, we do not know the exact state of the upper floor. “ Landing is confirmed! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on this exciting fourth Starship test flight! », simply indicated the company on
In any case, the mission remains very valuable for SpaceX. It will allow it to collect new data to analyze, particularly for flight phases which had not yet been reached. It will now remain to confirm all of this during the next test – and to make the appropriate adjustments between now and then.
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